To cease from harm means to refrain from harming oneself, other people, animals, plants, soil, the water and the air of our Earth. Imagine someone who says, “I don’t do harm.” It may be true that he doesn’t pick fights and avoids hurting living beings whenever he can. Instead, his major pastime is sitting on the couch eating potato chips and watching horror movies and action films. How can he do any harm that way?
The first precept isn’t just about the harm we do to others; it is also about the harm we do to ourselves. Avoiding exercise except for walking back-and-forth to the kitchen or remote control is doing harm. The body and mind need nourishing stimulation in order to be healthy. The mental ingestion of violence for violence’s sake will do harm to the psyche. This doesn’t mean that watching violent movies or playing violent digital games will necessarily cause us to go out and perform violent acts, but these activities will desensitize us and dampen awareness of violence in our own thoughts and actions. They make it easier to harden our hearts against suffering.
Let’s use the metaphor of the mind as a glass of muddy water. The mud represents negative dispositions, habits and influences. The water represents a clear mind. An objective of Buddhist practice is to set aside negative influences so the “water” clears and we can move toward positive influences. When we don’t stir up the water by habitually exposing ourselves to images and sounds of others doing harm through violence, the mud naturally settles to the bottom and the “water” clears.
Think about how you feel after watching violent acts (queasy, excited, nervous, agitated, anxious) and recognize that these are negatives. They stir up the mud at the bottom of your mind. On the other hand, exposing ourselves to positive actions and thoughts add clear water that will dilute the mud so much that it will hardly be noticeable.
When we sit in meditation, the muddiness of our thinking settles, and our minds become clear. When this happens, it is natural to cease from harm. In meditation, we listen to our inner voice of enlightenment and connect with the truth of our interdependence with everyone and everything. Over time and through practice, our bodies and minds are sufficiently empowered to speak and act out of tenderness.
The first of the three pure precepts, “Cease from harm,” is the root of all Buddhist teaching and practice. When we bring this precept into daily life, we naturally and effortlessly benefit ourselves, each other, the plants, the animals, the air and the water that sustains us. But it takes tremendous effort to wake up from culturally ingrained habits that seem to do no harm, but that rob us of being truly alive.
Suggested practice: For the next two weeks, notice what kind of images and ideas you are putting into your mind. Do they harden your heart, or do they promote and encourage tenderness?
Kuya Minogue is the resident teacher at Creston’s ZenWords Zen Centre. For more information, she can be reached at 250-428-6500.