Luang Por Liem: The Ways of the Peaceful - Wat Pah Nanachat

where we naturally have to rely on a simple and uncomplicated
lifestyle. The Buddha said to live at the root of a tree. Living at
the root of a tree – a place where there is silence and seclusion –
we won’t develop upadana, the tendency to hold on to things,
such as thoughts of something being ours or belonging to us, and
similar attitudes. It is for the reduction of mind states of
attachment to our desires that we do the practice of living at the
foot of a tree.
The fourth dependence concerns the practice towards one’s
health. When our body is in an abnormal condition – for example
when it can’t adapt to changes of weather – we may use
something that everybody possesses without exception: urine,
which we drink after fermenting it, following the Buddha’s
advice. The Buddha called it “to adjust one’s elements”, meaning
to bring our body back to having sufficient resistance when
external conditions change.
That was the part dealing with the four nissayas, things that
we are supposed to do. The other part of the announcements is
about actions that we should never do. These are:
– sexual activities (namely, sexual intercourse),
– taking objects that weren’t given to us by others (or that
others don’t consent to us taking),
– practices that lack metta, friendliness and helpfulness (that
is explicitly: not to kill, destroy or create conflicts and the
like).
37