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Patcha's Daily Precept Vow - feel free to join in! Mods: If there is a better place for this thread, please move it. It's not 12 step based, or solely alcohol or drug focused, so I didn't know where to put it. I am not a Buddhist but I do my best to practice the 5 precepts daily and also the 8 precepts on occasion as a spiritual top up. To keep me accountable I'm going to make a daily vow to maintain the precept of abstaining from intoxicants (generally known as the 5th precept). Feel free to join in if you want to. I follow the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who teaches compassion-based mindful meditation and I'll post a quote from him or another dharma teacher each day, too. The 5 precepts are: No killing No stealing No sexual misconduct No wrong speech No intoxicants They aren't in a specific order of importance and there are many interpretations of the precepts, including what constitutes "intoxicants", so I'm not looking for a debate, please. I was taught that even one drop of alcohol darkens the mind, and I want to have a bright, luminous mind. Alcohol causes me suffering and my suffering causes me to cause suffering to others. So, I'm making a daily vow to abstain from intoxicants and to practice compassion-based mindful meditation. If anyone is interested, I use the Plum Village app and do morning and/or evening 20 or 30 minute meditations each day. I started with 10 minutes and grew from there. I have learned a lot from youtube videos of talks by Gelong Thubten, a Tibetan Buddhist monk who teaches secular mindful meditation. |
Friday 4 July 2021 Today I vow to refrain from intoxicants in order to allow my mind to brighten. I dedicate the merit of my meditation to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” Thich Nhat Hanh. |
Welcome back Patcha :) Good to hear from you again :) D |
Hi Dee! Thanks for still being here! |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and abstain from intoxicants so I suffer less and cause less suffering to those around me. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation to true happiness and the end of suffering for all beings. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand. - Thich Nhat Hanh |
6 July 2021 In the spirit of the 5th Precept, I vow to abstain from intoxicants in order to brighten my mind and lessen suffering. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. "If you suffer, and make your loved ones suffer, there is nothing that can justify your desire." - Thich Nhat Hanh. |
7 July 2021 Today I vow to maintain the 5th Precept and renounce intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation practice to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. Oprah: What if in a moment of mindfulness you are being challenged? For instance, the other day someone presented me with a lawsuit, and it’s hard to feel happy when somebody is going to be taking you to court. Nhat Hanh: The practice is to go to the anxiety, the worry… Oprah: The fear. First thing that happens is that fear sets in, like, What am I going to do? Nhat Hanh: So you recognize that fear. You embrace it tenderly and look deeply into it. And as you embrace your pain, you get relief and you find out how to handle that emotion. And if you know how to handle the fear, then you have enough insight in order to solve the problem. The problem is to not allow that anxiety to take over. When these feelings arise, you have to practice in order to use the energy of mindfulness to recognize them, embrace them, look deeply into them. It’s like a mother when the baby is crying. Your anxiety is your baby. You have to take care of it. You have to go back to yourself, recognize the suffering in you, embrace the suffering, and you get relief. And if you continue with your practice of mindfulness, you understand the roots, the nature of the suffering, and you know the way to transform it. |
8 July 2021 Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and abstain from intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation practice to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. "It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent, when they are not." - Thich Nhat Hanh |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and abstain from intoxicants. I know that even one drop of alcohol causes many layers of suffering. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation practice to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free. - Thich Nhat Hanh |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept as renouncing intoxicants brightens my mind and reduces suffering. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation practice to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. “The fact is that when you make the other suffer, he will try to find relief by making you suffer more. The result is an escalation of suffering on both sides.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and abstain from intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation practice to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. "Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today." - Thich Nhat Hanh |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and renounce intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation practice to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. “The secret of Buddhism is to remove all ideas, all concepts, in order for the truth to have a chance to penetrate, to reveal itself.” - Thich Nhat Hanh |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and renounce intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation practice to the end of suffering and addiction for all beings. "At any moment you have a choice that either leads you closer to your true nature or further away from it" - Thich Nhat Hanh |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and abstain from intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of today's meditation to my dad, who passed away peacefully yesterday after a long and difficult illness. “This body is not me; I am not caught in this body, I am life without boundaries, I have never been born and I have never died. Over there the wide ocean and the sky with many galaxies All manifests from the basis of consciousness. Since beginningless time I have always been free. Birth and death are only a door through which we go in and out. Birth and death are only a game of hide-and-seek. So smile to me and take my hand and wave good-bye. Tomorrow we shall meet again or even before. We shall always be meeting again at the true source, Always meeting again on the myriad paths of life.” - Thich Nhat Hanh. |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and abstain from intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. “Peace can exist only in the present moment. It is ridiculous to say “Wait until I finish this, then I will be free to live in peace.” What is “this”? A di*ploma, a job, a house, the payment of a debt? If you think that way, peace will never come. There is always another “this” that will follow the present one. If you are not living in peace at this moment, you will never be able to. If you truly want to be at peace, you must be at peace right now. Otherwise, there is only “the hope of peace some day.” - Thich Nhat Hanh. |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and abstain from intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.” - Buddha |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and abstain from intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. "The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring that person joy." – Thich Nhat Hanh |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and renounce intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. “I will practice coming back to the present moment…not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past or letting anxieties, fears, or cravings pull me out…” - Thich Nhat Hanh |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept and abstain from intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. "When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love." - Thich Nhat Hanh |
Today I vow to keep the 5th precept, to abstain from intoxicants. I dedicate the merit of my daily meditation to the end of addiction and suffering for all beings. "Only the present moment contains life." Thich Nhat Hanh |
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