Taking intoxicants that confuse the mind, if we see how difficult it is to meditate when we have a clear mind and to see how difficult it is to see our intentions with a clear mind and how valuable a clear mind is, we don't want to cloud it with any substances that make us less aware of our intentions, that cause us to do unbeneficial speech or actions that do harm to ourselves or to others. So through Compassion and our wanting to lessen drinking alcohol, this may help us to see the substance as a danger to our awareness which may not allow us to show Compassion to ourselves and others.
When we look into the world and the Dukkha that arises due to alcohol, we see just how much Dukkha arises due to it. Family abuse, alcohol is one of the main reasons for family abuse. Physical abuse, many families break down because of it. When we worked with the drug and alcohol people in Australia, when we were social workers many years ago, there were some statistics that one third of all the hospital beds were filled with people because of alcohol related accidents on the roads, as well as abuse.
A lot of problems arise because of the abuse of alcohol. One of our assistants told us of a friend who was with a drinking party. They were having a so-called good time and drinking quite a lot. Then one of the guys decided to do a handstand on the veranda of a high three-storey building. When they did the handstand, they fell down and died. It caused a lot of suffering for their families. Many people do a lot of strange things when they are intoxicated.