All important precept and the mind

By M.V.S. Fernando

The All Enlightened One, the Buddha, has recommended to his lay followers the ob servance of five precepts which if properly carried out, will ensure to the individual and the society he lives in, a peaceful existence. The first four are briefly the abstinence from killing, stealing, wrongful sensual behaviour and telling lies. It is the fifth one with which we are interested here.

By this precept the lay follower undertakes to abstain from partaking of intoxicants. That the Buddha should have given this precept a place among the other four is unassailable proof of its grave importance to the individual and society. Intoxicants fall into the categories of alcoholic spirits, tobacco and drugs and in fact any substance that can befuddle your brain.

The adverse consequence of taking intoxicants are already well known. It almost always begins as a seemingly harmless pastime, ''just for kicks'', and later qualifies into a brand of 'social drinking' which again is an innocuous exercise. More often than not this seeming social grace graduates into ''compulsive drinking'' and finally finds conclusion in ''Delirium Tremens''. Apart from the physical consequences of illnesses such as cirrhosis, paralysis, strokes etc., the effects of taking intoxicants on the dependent members of the family, the workplace colleagues, or associates and a society which encompasses road accidents, drunken assaults, etc., causes untold harm to the people and country.

Buddhist philosophy is quite clear on the role the individual has to play in seeking his own deliverance from the Sansaric cycle. The mind is all important and its proper control is the means to attain the paths to release. A befuddled brain has no control over the mind. Awareness and mindfulness, the two main requisites leading to, ''Ekaggatha'' or ''One Pointedness'' can never be achieved while taking intoxicants.

Intoxication mars all thought processes. It brings out hidden inhibitions, old scores are there to be settled, there are ''Dutch Courage'' performances and very often true opinions of others, which sophistication generally blankets, come out into the open and the innermost closely guarded secrets are confided and a host of other activities publicly executed. The intoxicated person sometimes becomes bestial in character and is therefore no longer human. Such people are unable to think clearly and what can you expect from non-thinking people but disaster? They have no regard or consideration for other people's feelings and they will trample on the most sacred ideas of their dearest friends with impunity. There are innumerable instances in life which point to the self-destructing ways of liquor-addicts. They fall from high positions, lose their inherited wealth, neglect their worldly responsibilities and thereby become burdens to themselves, their families and to society.

But transcending all this is the inability of an intoxicant to bring his mind under his control. Without bringing his mind under control he will never be able to achieve the practice of mindfulness or ''Sathi."

Without observing the Fifth Precept one can easily lose control of ones ability to abstain from the preceding four precepts of killing, stealing, wrongful sensual behaviour and telling lies. This is what makes The Fifth Precept ever so important and indispensable to a Buddhist.

More Plus * Kishali Pinto Jayawardena writes

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