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drank some of the rotgut without 
realizing its danger 
— they only drank it to slake their 
thirst, mistaking it 
for water. 
After only a taste the birds fell out 
of the tree unconscious 
— and the pile of birds under the 
tree did 
not escape the eye of a forester 
called Sura who happened 
to be passing by. He taught "that's 
good luck 
for me today — I don't have to 
catch birds and set my 
traps or spread my nets!" As he 
watched the birds 
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continued to fall out of the tree one 
by one. In fact the 
birds were asleep and when then 
eventually woke 
up, they could fly away as normal. 
The hunter was 
curious and realized there must be 
something special 
up the tree. He climbed the tree 
and found the special 
liquid in the cleft with a tempting 
aroma. He tasted a 
little fluid — not knowing its 
dangers however by 
the time he had climbed down the 
tree he started to 
feel dizzy, unlike he had ever felt 
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before — intoxicated. 
He picked up some of the 
unconscious birds 
from the foot of the tree and 
started to roast them on 
the coals of a bonfire he had built, 
and ate them as an 
appetizer with cup after cup of 
alcohol from the top 
of the tree. He felt like dancing and 
singing all by himself 
in the forest. Then he remembered 
a friend of his 
called Varuna who had become a 
hermit. He thought, 
"I ought to share discovery with 
my friend." Thinking 
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this, he took a flask of the alcohol 
for his friend to 
try. When Sura arrived at Varuna's 
hermitage, he was 
sitting for meditation. Sura tapped 
on his shoulder, 
"Hey friend! Don't waste your 
time meditating. 
Drink this instead — it's more 
fun!" You'll feel intoxicated 
and relaxed." 
Varuna the hermit tasted it and 
laughed out loud. 
He felt more lively than usual and 
decided to give up 
being a hermit to see if he could 
make a living out of 
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selling the liquor. Sura led the way 
back into the forest 
saying, "We'll start by offering 
some to the king." 
Eventually they brought a sample 
of alcohol of offer 
to the king. They explained, "Your 
majesty, we 
have found the most wonderful, 
the most delicious 
drink in the world. A drink so 
amazing that you have 
never before tasted since the day 
you were born —
won't your majesty just try a sip?" 
The king tasted it and liked it —
and ordered more. 
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Therefore Sura and Varuna were in 
and out of the 
forest all day long bringing alcohol 
from the tree for 
the king. 
Later the two got tired of making 
the journey so 
often, so they contrived a synthetic 
process to produce 
the alcohol. The produced many 
barrel of the 
liquor. They reserved some of the 
liquor for the king 
but they sold the rest to citizens of 
the kingdom. 
In the beginning the citizens asked 
what sort of 
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drink it was — they replied, "It's a 
delicious drink 
and call it ' Sura' after the 
discoverer." 
242 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
The citizens drank more and more. 
The more they 
drank, the less inclined the felt to 
work for a living. 
When they were drunk they would 
sleep all day. 
When they got sober they would 
drink more because 
it was so tasty. In the end, the 
whole kingdom went 
bankrupt — eventually going to 
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rack and ruin. Sura 
and Varuna realized their market 
had collapsed so 
they moved to another kingdom, 
namely Benares, 
where the king and the citizens 
were still unaware of 
the side-effects. They brought 
Benares to rack and ruin 
in exactly the save way and moved 
on to the next 
kingdom, that of Saketa. The same 
thing happened 
there, so they moved to SAvatthE. 
In that kingdom, King Sabbamitta 
ordered 500 barrels 
of alcohol without even tasting it. 
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However as 
they were pouring the alcohol into 
the barrels some 
split over the brim. A cat licked 
some of the spillings 
out of curiosity. The cat's curiosity 
was not easily 
abated and eventually it got so 
drunk that it fell down 
unconscious. It lost all it's cat-like 
dignity when the 
mice came out and nibbled its 
whisker and ears. Someone 
discovered the incapacitated cat 
and reported to 
the king that `curiosity had killed 
the cat' — it had be 
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poisoned to death by the alcohol. 
The King had Sura 
and Varuna up for treason and sent 
them for execution. 
However before their heads were 
chopped off. The 
cat came round and wandered 
around dizzily. The 
king realized that alcohol was not 
poisonous and pardoned 
the two alcohol merchants —
having preparation 
made for the launch of the new 
product. 
The impending doom caused 
Indra, the king of 
heaven's throne to show signs of 
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heat. Indra realized 
that if he did not intervene and this 
major kingdom 
got addicted to alcohol in the same 
way as the lesser 
kingdoms before it, alcohol would 
spread unabated 
throughout the subcontinent... 
Indra therefore appeared 
to King Sabbamitta in the guise of 
young Brahmin 
holding a `gold pot' floating in the 
air before the 
throne. The king marvelled, "0! 
Brahmin! — How 
come you can float in the air like 
that you are surely 
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no ordinary being! What is that 
you have in your 
hand?" 
The Brahmin replied, "This is a 
magic pot. In this 
pot is a fluid which is 
exceptionally delicious. Anyone 
who drinks this fluid will be so 
drunk they could 
fall head first in a pond, abandon 
their reason, sing in 
the street, run around naked and 
encourage their 
friends to do same. They will be 
shameless, sing raucously, 
walk back and forth all night each 
friend taking 
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it in turn to see the other home. 
They will fall 
asleep so drunk that they won't 
even notice if the 
house is burning down around 
them. Anyone who 
drinks this won't even care about 
eating dog food off 
the floor, go around clumsily, 
unsuitably dressed in 
public, vomiting in the street or 
sleeping face down 
in their own vomit. Some have 
delusions of their own 
grandeur, or become hideously 
aggressive. Drinking 
such a fluid can kill you, it will 
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consume all your 
wealth if you drink it. It will make 
you so shameless 
that you won't think twice about 
insulting your parents, 
flirting with your daughter-in-law, 
shouting at 
your in-laws or having an affair 
with the maid. You 
will be capable of all this if you 
drink this fluid. You 
will think nothing of harming 
clergy, getting in arguments 
and fighting. Children will have no 
respect for 
their elders, adults will squabble, 
chatter aimlessly 
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and tell lies, when they drink this 
fluid — they will 
forget to do the work they 
promised. The intelligent 
are reduced to fools. People forget 
to eat and nourish 
themselves properly, falling asleep 
in inappropriate 
places — anyone who drinks this 
fluid is like someone 
who has drunk poison. If your 
princes drink this 
they will elope with the court 
dancers. Even angels 
who drink this fluid fall out of 
heaven and become 
Titans [asEra]. This gold pot 
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contains no butter, cheese 
or honey — it contains the fluid 
with all the side-effects 
I have been speaking of — does 
your majesty 
want some?" 
"I certainly wouldn't touch it with 
a bargepole —
let alone drink it," said the king 
and rewarded the 
Brahmin by granting him five 
estates, with a great 
deal of other riches. The king 
wanted the Brahmin to 
be his minister. 
The Brahmin said, "You may keep 
your wealth and 
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estates because I am already king 
of my own estate in 
heaven. It is out of anxiety that I 
have come here to 
warn your majesty. I am afraid 
otherwise that the 
whole subcontinent will come to 
rack and ruin. May 
your majesty be established in 
justice. May you practice 
in accordance with the Buddha's 
teaching so that 
you too may gain heaven at the 
end of your life!" 
Blessing Twenty-One: 
Non-Recklessness in the Dhamma 
243 
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A. INTRODUCTION 
A.1 Looking a spiritual gift horse 
in the mouth 
In the previous blessings we have 
started to set the 
foundation for the cultivation of 
higher virtues by 
closing the door definitively on 
any unwholesome 
behaviours that might deviate us 
from our spiritual 
quest. We have seen specifically 
the dangers of `unwholesomeness' 
and alcohol towards our path of 
cultivation. However, in this 
grouping there still remains 
one possible danger for us on our 
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path of 
cultivation — that we miss or 
overlook the opportunities 
which come our way to cultivate 
ourselves 
in earnest. Such opportunities are 
precious and few 
— and given our short lifespan, if 
we miss the 
golden opportunity to work on 
ourselves, we can 
never be sure if there will be a 
second chance. 
The irony of self-cultivation is that 
the impurities 
in our mind may lead us to `look a 
gift horse in 
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the mouth'. Because the untrained 
mind is full of 
weaknesses — it spends the whole 
time mulling 
unsystematically over thoughts 
about the world —
in distinct contrast to the thinking 
of the Lord Buddha 
who had a systematic way of 
thinking. We 
spend our whole time drunk with 
the desires of life 
(even when we are sober) — our 
thinking is more 
like a boat cast adrift without a 
rudder — than that 
of someone pursuing a spiritual 
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