Precepts as a Way of Life
#06 Spring 1992
By Thich Nhat Hanh
The idea of a diet is the essence of this precept. War and bombs are the fruit of our collective consciousness. Our collective consciousness has so much violence, fear, craving, and hatred in it, it manifests in war and bombs. We hear that the other side has very powerful bombs, so we try to make bombs that are more powerful. When the other side hears that we have powerful bombs, they try to make even more powerful bombs. Bombs are a product of the fear in our collective consciousness.
Just to remove the bombs is not really the work of peace.
Even if we were able to transport all the bombs to the moon, we would still be unsafe, because the roots of the war and the bombs are still in our collective consciousness. We cannot work to abolish war with angry demonstrations.
Transforming the toxins in our collective consciousness is the only way to uproot war.
Therefore, we have to practice a diet for ourselves, our families, and our society, and we have to do it with everyone else. To have healthy television programs, we have to work with artists, writers, filmmakers, lawyers, and lawmakers. We have to step up the struggle.
Awareness should not be only in us, but in our families and in our society. We have to stop the kind of consumption that poisons our collective consciousness. I don't see any other way than the practice of these bodhisattva precepts to produce the dramatic changes that we need. To practice as a society will not be possible if each of us does not vow to practice the Five Precepts.
The problem is very big. It is the survival of our species on the Earth. It is not a question of enjoying one glass of wine.
If you stop drinking your glass of wine, you do it for the whole society. The fifth precept is exactly like the first one. If you are not able to entirely stop eating meat, at least make an effort in order to reduce eating meat. If you reduce eating meat by 50%, you perform a miracle.
You will solve the problem of hunger in the Third World.
Practicing the precepts is to make a little progress every day.
That is why, during the recitation when we are asked whether we have made an effort to study and practice the precept read, we answer just by breathing deeply. That is the best answer. Mindful breathing means, "I have made some effort, but I can do better."
The fifth precept can be like that also. If you are unable to stop drinking completely, then stop 75% or 50%. But alcohol is not the same as meat.
Alcohol is addictive. That is why I encourage you to stop drinking even one glass of wine. When you see that we are in great danger, refraining from the first glass of wine is a manifestation of your enlightenment. You are doing it for all of us. You set an example for your children and your friends. On French television they say, "One glass is alright, but three glasses will bring about destruction." They don't say that the first glass brings the second, and the second brings the third, because they belong to a civilization of wine. In Plum Village, we are surrounded by wine. Many of our neighbors are surprised that we don't profit from living in an area where the wine is so good. We are a pocket of resistance.
Please support us.
When I was a novice, I learned that from time to time we had to use alcohol in preparing medicines. There are many kinds of roots and herbs that have to be macerated in alcohol so that they will have an effect.
In these instances, alcohol is allowed. When the herbs have been prepared, they are put in the pot and boiled. Then they no longer have an intoxicating effect on us. I think if you use some alcohol in cooking, it is the same. After the food is cooked, the alcohol in it will not have an intoxicating nature. So I am not narrow-minded about this.
I know that no one can practice the precepts perfectly, including the Buddha. The vegetarian dishes that were offered to him were not entirely vegetarian.
Boiled vegetables contain dead bacteria, and the vegetables themselves were also alive. But because of the real danger in our society—alcoholism has destroyed so many families and has brought about so many unhappy people, old and young—we have to do something. We have to live in a way that will eradicate that kind of damage.
That is why even if you can be very healthy with one glass of wine every week, I still urge you with all my strength to abandon that glass of wine.
We need to have Dharma discussions to share our experiences and deepen our understanding and practice of the Five Wonderful Precepts.
https://www.mindfulnessbell.org/archive/tag/alcohol
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