19 August 2010

The Four Requisites

According to the Buddha, there are four requisites for living a life devoted to practice:

food sufficient to prevent the affliction of hunger and adequate to maintain the health of the body;

clothing sufficient to appear socially decent and conducive to the protection of the body from any harm from the natural environment;

housing which gives sufficient safety and security conducive to one’s serious engagement in the culture of the mind;

and medicine and health care which cures and prevents disease.

Pretty straightforward, it would seem. What I pause on is 'sufficient'. I clearly have sufficient, and I clearly have more than sufficient. To tell the truth, I sometimes can't believe just how well-off I am. I want for nothing.

Now, how to get to the sufficient alone?

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