Different from the precepts of killing, committing sexual misconduct, etc., since this precept of singing and dancing does not offend others, it has never been taken seriously by me. I feel that it doesn’t matter whether I uphold this precept or not, so it’s okay. When I was a child, I liked to watch movies and TV to pass the time.
But how could the great Buddha preach the precepts without any reason?
Because I did not pay attention to this precept, I encountered many obstacles in my spiritual practice. After sorting out and summarizing them, I found that their existence can explain from another perspective "not to watch songs and dances without reason" "Importance.
(1) Leading to Desire and Increasing Sorrow
1. Leading to Desire
Eros: Whether the theme of mainland TV dramas is the workplace, ancient costumes, history, or even lawyers, These directors and screenwriters who have grown up their brain circuits can always turn them into "romance movies". It is said to be a romance film, but the presentation method uses "sex" to advance and sublimate the plot. Therefore, the screen is full of scenes of "kissing", "flirting" and "sexual intercourse". If a person who practices the holy life sees these intimate and intimate moments, How can one's heart be pure with the scene of an infatuated man resenting a woman?
Of course, the object of love is not necessarily a person. Love includes lust, but is not limited to lust. After watching TV dramas about the life of a rich man, you may feel happy, which can also be said to be the function of lust. When you see other people's dogs on TV being very obedient, you also want one. This can also be regarded as the growth of lust.
The further growth of love is greed, liking beautiful heroines is love, and when you start to dislike your girlfriend for not being beautiful and want to find a more beautiful one, that is greed.
But the most powerful form of expression of love is lust, and the biggest disadvantage caused by watching and listening is also because it has the effect of increasing lust.
2. Increasing sadness
This sadness is not the sadness of compassion, but the sadness of sadness - most of our sadness comes from unfulfilled desires.
I want to find a beautiful girlfriend but there is no beautiful woman who likes me. I want to buy a house in Beijing before I am 30 years old, but I still can’t even pay the down payment when I am 40 years old - blessing and greed. This gap caused by inequality is the source of sadness and the cause of trouble.
Although it is very sad not to ask for it, humans are animals that are good at self-comfort. The small happiness and happiness everywhere in life can always help us gradually forget the troubles that burn our hearts, but once you turn on the TV. The filtered information will flood in, reminding you of your incompetence and powerlessness.
It is worth noting that desire and sorrow are not a simple cause-and-effect relationship, but a cyclical relationship. Desire can increase sorrow, and sorrow can also stimulate desire - people with a hard fate tend to have stronger desires and ambitions.
In addition to TV movies, most of the songs we listen to are also full of all kinds of unrequited love and love and separation. It can be said that it is the latter that gave birth to the entire Chinese music scene. Listen to these sad sounds For those who practice the holy life, it is really asking for trouble.
(2) Influence on the cultivation of tranquility and insight
1. Listening to music affects the cultivation of tranquility
My roommate has been using Huang Ling’s Itchy as a cell phone ringtone for a year , the impact it has on me is that whenever I sit in meditation in extreme silence, this song will make me deeply understand what "magic sound surrounds my ears".
You must know that when we practice samatha, your feelings begin to become more and more sensitive, and your memory system also starts to work because thinking stops. If you listen to beautiful songs during the day, it will definitely interfere at this time. You, let your attention begin to wander involuntarily, and your mind is distracted, which is a taboo for practicing tranquility.
2. Watching TV and movies affects your meditation practice
If you watch a lot of TV movies, those more exciting scenes will definitely flash up and interrupt you when you are practicing meditation. Visualization, especially movies, has to tell so many stories in just a few hours, all of which are full of various "stimulations" and essences. The essence can ensure that the key points are not missed, and the stimulation can ensure that you will not leave halfway through. people.
After you watch the movie, there will always be some of these essences and stimulations that suit your taste that remain in your mind - after you stop thinking and calm down, the memory system will start to process them. If you If you happen to be practicing vipassanā, you can imagine how much trouble you will have - human attention resources are like a narrow highway and can only process limited information in a period of time, and the competitiveness of the image of Buddha and Bodhisattvas will never Stronger than "Fight Scene" and "Love Action Scene".
(3) Passively receiving information is easy to enter garbage
When watching TV, we are passively receiving information. In this dizzying state, we cannot think effectively. When processing information, it is impossible to decide which information to pay attention to, and it is even more impossible to effectively block spam information.
Therefore, watching junk movies and TV shows is equivalent to feeding junk food to the brain. This has been going on for a long time, and the IQ is worrying.
(4) A waste of time
The purpose of TV programs has never been to help us improve, but to steal our attention and serve advertisers.
However, people’s attention does not need to be used here or there. It can be generated and spent at any time. It can neither be closed nor saved, so we often feel that it is worthless.
But please think about it seriously: Aren’t all human resources produced from attention?
As everyone’s most precious resource, “attention” cannot escape the clutches of businesses. But because the brain is very good at ignoring information. Most of the information actually received is ignored, and the more common it is, the easier it is to ignore. This means that merchants cannot compete for readers’ attention by simply bombarding them with information, so they can only increase the dose to give the audience new stimulation. The most direct strategy is to go in the direction of becoming more and more vulgar - these vulgar things can certainly stimulate you, but they cannot give you any help. In the final analysis, they can only consume you and not achieve what you want. May I nourish you.
(The views in this paragraph are referenced from Wu Xiuming - "The Attention Merchant")
(5) Killing the brave heart
The old monk Guangqin once had a famous saying : It is easy to have a courageous intention, but it is difficult to have a long-term intention. But in my opinion, this does not mean that bravery is not important.
If the power accumulated by a long-term attitude is as powerful as dynamite, then the fleeting bravery is the lead. Only by combining the two can your life be bright and brilliant.
My master once sent me a message: The most important thing in practice is the thought at the moment. You must always be aware of whether your current thought is free of attachments - if not, use a brave heart to cut it off. Persistence.
What I am ashamed of is that a lot of my bravery has been quietly worn away by watching and listening day and night, which will lead to a vicious circle - because you need a large dose to quit watching and listening. Only a brave heart can cut off this "comfortable bondage". The more persistent you are in listening, the greater the dose required. The more persistent you are in listening, the more bravery is consumed.
My master used the courage to quit smoking when he was young - he took out a cigarette from the cigarette case, smoked it calmly, burned all the cigarettes in the house, and never smoked again. Surprisingly, this trick really works - but only for brave and strong-willed people like him.
If you think you are also brave, please delete all the movie songs from today and work with me to work together.