The Fifth Precept

Alcohol is a chemical produced by fermentation, which suppresses the central nervous system and causes intoxication when ingested. The word alcohol comes from the Arabic al meaning `the' and kahal meaning `collyrium' and was originally an alchemic term. Alcoholic drinks are usually categorized into three different types - beers made from fermented grains, wines made from fermented fruits and spirits made by distilling either beers or wines. Drinking certainly seems to have been widespread in ancient India, at least during certain periods. The Ramayana describes Ayodhya as a city pervaded with the aroma of wine and streets full of drunks staggering about. Sounds like Melbourne on a Saturday night! Four main types of alcoholic drinks are mentioned in the Tipitaka. Sura was brewed from rice or flour (Sn.398; Vin.I,205), meraya was distilled alcohol made from sugar or fruit and sometimes flavored with sugar, pepper or the bark of a certain tree (M.I,238). Majja was made from honey and asava was made from the juice of the palmyra palm or the wild date palm and could be either just brewed or distilled (Vin.II,294).

The fifth Precept which all Buddhists undertake to practice, is to abstain from consuming alcohol or any other recreational drugs. In the case of alcohol, this is mainly because alcoholic intoxication clouds the mind, while the whole rationale of Buddhism is to clarify the mind. However, drinking alcohol may also result in several other personal and social disadvantages. The Buddha says: ‘There are these six dangers of drinking alcohol: loss of wealth, increase of quarrels, ill-health, a bad reputation, making a fool of oneself and impaired intelligence’. (D.III,182). In the Dhammapada the Buddha warns, ‘The person who drinks alcohol digs up his own root in this world’ (Dhp.247). The Buddhist tradition says that if one breaks the fifth Precept, this can easily lead to breaking the others and there is some evidence that this is true. A very high percentage or crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol.

How Did The Buddha Wear His Robe?

How did Buddhist monks in ancient times wear there robes? There were two ways, what might be called the open style and the closed style. The open style consists of wearing the outer robe around the body, under the right arm and over the left shoulder. Even today monks wear there robe in this way when in their monastery. However, the Vinaya stipulates that when monks are in towns or villages or going to peoples’ homes they should cover both shoulders, which would be what I have called ‘the closed style’. But exactly how did this ‘closed style’ cover both shoulders? The closed style worn by all Theravada monks today seems to have evolved in Burma in the 14th/15th centuries from where it spread to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. This rather complicated way of wearing the robe consists of rolling it into a tight tube around the body and opening out the top to form a collar, and holding it all together by pressing the robe between the right side of the body and the right arm (picture).

Nothing like this can be seen in ancient depictions of monks from India and I haven’t even been able to find representations of it from Theravada countries from before the 14th/15th centuries. The earliest depiction of the ‘closed style’ comes from Gandhara (northern Pakistan, north-east Afghanistan) from between the 1st to the 4th centuries CE. Gupta period (3rd-5th centuries) sculptures from northern India depict the Buddha wearing his robe in the same way.

This ‘closed style’ shows no join in the robe which hangs loose at the front, drapes over the upper-half of the body and a corner of the robe is clearly seen in the Buddha’s left hand. How is this done? Well, like this. Take the top corners of the robe and hold them out in front of you (picture 1). (Several hours of trying to upload this and the next picture have failed so you will just have to imagine what I am describing). Put the left corner of the robe down behind the right sholder (2). Put the right corner of the robe under the edge of the robe and down behind the left shoulder (picture 3). As you do this, take the edge of the robe at the right elbow, bring it across and ‘hook’ it over the left shoulder (4).

As you do this it is essential to keep hold of the left corner of the robe. (If you don’t do this the whole thing will come undone). You will then find that part of the robe is hanging down your right side. Pull it over to the left and tuck its edge into your belt and Walla! You have your robe in the same ‘closed style’ as it was worn by Indian monks at least at the turn of the first millennium and quite possibly as it was done at the time of the Buddha. And the whole procedure takes less than a minute.

Let's Go After The Buddhists

During George Bush’s administration many groups fell foul of his policies and his attempts to prosecute to the ‘war on terror’. But, according to Roy Zimmerman, there was one potentially dangerous group that escaped attention. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dtMpjeAMtk

The Way...To Decline?

This is an interesting article on religious change in Singapore. I’d just like to clarify a few points in it though. The growing of interest in Buddhism amongst the young in Singapore has nothing to do with Richard Gere or Tiger Woods. And more importantly, Shenism, the worship of traditional Chinese folk gods and spirits, is really quite different from Taoism (and Buddhism for that matter) although the author of this article, and indeed many Chinese, assume they are the same. http://blogs.straitstimes.com/2009/7/15/which-way-to-the-tao

Impermanence, Selflessness And Love

One of my regular readers, Vesile, made some interesting observations about yesterday’s post. He wrote, ‘It dawned on me that love - not just mercy, not just compassion, not just care, love proper - makes no ultimate sense if it is not forever and if the personal identity is always changing or absent at all. This is putting me in serious difficulty with Buddhism at the moment. If the goal is extinction of personal identity, what's left of love then?’
There are a few interesting points here, the main one is that love would make no sense if it does not last forever. But Vasile, your love for your wife is not going to last forever. It has probably already changed – perhaps from desperate hungering passion, to less passionate and more appreciative affectionate love. In years from now when you have grown old together, your love may have no passion in it all. The love you have for each other then might be almost like a brother/sister love or best friends-type love. As you change so does how you love; as your wife changes so does your love for her. And of course, sometimes love changes, not by becoming deeper and more mature, but by souring into indifference or even dislike.
When I was in Milan I went to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper and was deeply moved by it. Does it mean that because that feeling has now faded leaving behind a treasured memory and a deeper understanding of Leonardo’s creativity, that the experience I had while gazing at his painting was worthless? I don’t think so. And when Leonardo painted his picture he must have known that it would not last forever (and it is indeed badly decayed). Does that mean that when he put his heart and soul into his painting that he was wasting his time? I don’t think so. All things are changing and impermanent, love included, but they are no less important because of that.
Vasile, you ask, ‘How do I care for my beloved if she's not gonna be herself into eternity and if my goal is to never be reborn again?’ But surely you did not love her when she was a 2 month old fetus, when she was a one year old baby or when she was a willful spotty-faced gap-toothed 13 year older, indeed you probably didn’t even know she existed. You only had the joy of loving her after she had changed enough to be a fully matured woman and when you had changed enough to feel sexual and emotional attraction. And before that she was cared for quite okay without you and you got along quite okay without knowing her. Believe me, it will be like that in the distant future.
Your love for your wife is, and hopefully it will remain for a long time, part of your life. The Buddha said that if a couple love each other deeply enough and they have similar kamma, they may even meet again in the next life. But just as your love had a beginning, it will, according to the Buddha, eventually have an end. Rejoice in it while it is here while developing an understanding of the truth of impermanence.
Now Vasile, the fact that the Buddha’s teaching of impermanence (anicca) and no-self (anatta) has come as such a shock, this suggests that you have assumed that Buddhism teaches something like a eternal life in an eternal heaven after death. If so, Vasile, you have either not studied Buddhism very deeply or have been badly misinformed. I would encourage you to do some reading on the Dhamma.

Oh! And give my regards to your lady. She must be a very special person.

A Comment On Rebirth

Yesterday a reader made a comment saying that concepts like rebirth, reincarnation and resurrection are the same because they all grow out of the desire for continuity after death. ‘Simply put, we just hate to leave the world…and want to live forever’. It’s an interesting observation but, as far as the Buddhist concept of rebirth is concerned, a rather unconsidered one. I think that all non-Buddhist after-life theories did grow out of the fear of death and the desire for continuity. But the Buddha’s idea of rebirth could not have. Think about it! All the other religions say that if you believe in the right god or do the right thing, you’ll live forever. The Buddha said that if you don’t attain enlightenment, if you don’t reach the goal, you’ll live forever. All other religions hold out eternal life as a reward; Buddhism sees eternal life as a problem to be solved. So whatever the origins of the Buddha’s teaching of rebirth, it could not have been the desire for eternal life.

The reader also asked… ‘why is Buddhism so concerned with rebirth? Is it attachment to life?’ My above comments mostly answer this question and I will just add this. Buddhism is concerned with rebirth because it is seen as a problem to be solved. To be reborn is to redie again and again and that is dukkha. Is not everyone concerned with overcoming their problems?

A New Dhamma Game

Some time ago (25th and 26th February) I wrote about the dearth of Dhamma material for children and young people. Well, now the Buddhist Relief Mission has made its contribution to overcoming this problem with the issue of its new game Buddhist Knowledge Quest. In this challenging board game, players move around the Wheel of Life by answering questions based on the Dhamma, the life of the Buddha and Buddhist history. The first player to complete the circle is the winner. The questions are grouped into four levels of difficulty, with 36 questions at each level. Questions are determined by a roll of a dice.
The game is greatl for Dhamma classes, English-as-a-second-language classes, Sunday schools, families, and any group interested in learning about Buddhism while having a bit of fun at the same time. Not only in answering their own questions, but also in hearing the questions and answers of others, players can learn a great deal about Buddhism and deepen knowledge already acquired.
Each set of Buddhist Knowledge Quest contains a beautiful game board, eight colored markers, a dice, 144 color-coded question-and-answer cards, and complete instructions for playing the game. For advanced learners, many of the cards include references to the Buddha's teaching in the Pali Tipitaka where more information about the answer can be found. To order log on to http://www.brelief.org/bkq/announce.html

A lot of thought and effort has gone into creating and producing this game, so you might like to put a notice about it on your blog.