Exploring the Path - Pāli Course

Idamavoca bhagavā, idaṃ vatvāna sugato athāparaṃ etadavoca satthā –

‘‘Pāṇātipāto adinnādānaṃ, musāvādo ca vuccati;

Paradāragamanañceva, nappasaṃsanti paṇḍitā’’ti.¹

At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the bamboo grove, Veḷuvana, at the Squirrel’s feeding place, Kalandakanivāpa,² and encountered on his way for alms to Rājagaha a youth by the name of Siṅgālaka.³ Siṅgālakahad risen early morning to perform his sacred ritual by paying respect with folded hands, wet hair and clothes to the six directions:

 … nikkhamitvā allavattho⁴ allakeso pañjaliko puthudisā namassati – puratthimaṃ disaṃ dakkhiṇaṃ disaṃ pacchimaṃ disaṃ uttaraṃ disaṃ heṭṭhimaṃ disaṃ uparimaṃ disaṃ. …⁵

Siṅgālaka performed this reference out of respect to his father, who had instructed him on his deathbed to do so.⁶ The Buddha advised him then that if he wished to pay proper respect to these directions, he needs to avoid fourteen evils. He told Siṅgālaka that he like any ariyasāvako should completely:

•  shun the four unwholesome, defiling actions - cattāro kammakilesā pahīnā honti;

•  not perform any evil based on four basic reasons (motivators) - catūhi ca ṭhānehi pāpakammaṃ na karoti;

•  not follow a life that would diminish and waste his substance in six ways- cha ca bhogānaṃ apāyamukhāni na sevati.

•  and the Buddha further pointed out that the quality of company and friends one associates with naturally influences harm and mischief - pāpamittatāya cha ādīnavā - or the opposite: helpful and increasingly beneficial.⁷

The very first of the four reasons which result in evil actions that the Budhha specifies is ignorance of the danger that arises through intoxications, drugs and inebriants: surāmerayassa cha ādīnavā. The sutta itself specifies some of the results that may happen due to consumption of intoxicants and points to the unfortunate actions one may perform under the influence of lost mastery and clarity of one’s mental disposition. The commentary further reinforces the need and determination to stay away from all intoxicants. While all the other precepts have been discussed in the respective chapters,⁸ this last, the fifth but very crucial precept for every householder: surāmerayamajjapamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī-sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi – shall be investigated here in more detail.

In today’s world someone who usually abstains, especially from all alcohol, is mostly considered to be an ‘outcast who doesn’t know how to enjoy life’. This view is so strong that even some, who generally try to abstain, compromise their sīla with the argument of ‘socially accommodating needs and expectations’. So some deeper understanding about the significance of keeping this precept may be encouraging.

By analysing the individual terms of the complex expression: surāmerayamajjapamādaṭṭhānā in more detail the concept becomes more clear:

•  surā – liquor, intoxicating (distilled for concentration of flavour and strength);

•   meraya – wine (fermented);

•  majja – bewildering, besotting (the mind);

•  pamāda – negligence, carelessness;

•  ṭhānā – place, location, ground for, reason, occasion for.

The Aṭṭhakathā gives the following explanation:

Majjanti tadubhayameva⁹ madaniyaṭṭhena¹⁰ majjaṃ, yaṃ vā panaññampi kiñci atthi madaniyaṃ, yena pītena matto hoti pamatto, idaṃ vuccati majjaṃ.¹¹

Both (surā + meraya) are besotting in the sense of causing intoxication, or alternatively, whatever else causes intoxication by drinking of which one gets mad or negligent is called besotting.

It further points to the volition and intention that lies behind:

Pamādaṭṭhānanti yāya cetanāya taṃ pivati ajjhoharati,¹² sā cetanā madappamādahetuto¹³ pamādaṭṭhānanti vuccati, yato ajjhoharaṇādhippāyena¹⁴ kāyadvārappavattā surāmerayamajjānaṃ ajjhoharaṇacetanā ‘‘surāmerayamajjapamādaṭṭhāna’nti veditabbā.

The ‘opportunity for negligence’ (pamādaṭṭhāna)is the intention that causes one to drink or to swallow. That is called ‘opportunity for negligence’ because it is the cause for subsequent madness and negligence consequently what should be understood as the ‘opportunity for negligence’ – it is the choice of swallowing the liquor, wine or besotting drink, as the very desire to swallow and occurring through the body door.

This commentarial explanation points once more to the volition that originates unwholesome activities and actions in general. In the case of surāmerayamajjapamādaṭṭhāna, it is the intention driven by a firm desire to become intoxicated that results in dullness of one’s mental capacity and can end in complete stupidity – both are invited as an unwholesome base for stirring actions that often may be regretted after the effect of the intoxication has subsided. It should be pointed out that regardless of the kind of intoxication,¹⁵ as long as this underlying desire to experience the emotional condition of sensations and mollifying mental mood is not eliminated, no addiction can be appeased or eliminated.

Therefore Vipassana meditation is an effective tool for overcoming addiction because it addresses the root cause: attachment to sensations. The practice involves the objective observation of all bodily sensations—whether or not they are related to past drug use—as they arise and pass away. Since the core mechanism of addiction is the clinging to the stimulating or soothing effects of intoxication, the consistent practice of Vipassana allows this attachment to subside. As the clinging diminishes, the desire for intoxication naturally fades. With patient and determined practice, the mind's previous fondness for the effects of drugs will eventually transform into repugnance.

May sincere determination to refrain from all intoxication along with persistence to regular practice of meditation subjugate all desire to inebriation and thus finally result in its elimination: may this crucial precept be maintained by more and more beings!