Many people look to Siddhartha Gautama as an example of someone who attained nirvana, a buddha. Every other week in this column we look at what it might be like if Siddhartha was on his spiritual journey today. How would he combine Buddhism and dating? How would he handle stress in the workplace? "What Would Sid Do?" is devoted to taking an honest look at what we as meditators face in the modern world.
Every other week I'll take on a new question and give some advice based on what I think Sid, a fictional Siddhartha, would do. Here Sid is not yet a buddha; he's just someone struggling to maintain an open heart on a spiritual path while facing numerous distractions along the way. Because let's face it: you and I are Sid.
This week's question comes from Chuck: "On another blog you mentioned 'Right Drinking' in one of your posts. What is that? I often drink too much. How can I make drinking not be detrimental to my meditation path?"
To start off, I should note that nowhere in Buddhist texts will you find the term "Right Drinking." I first mentioned it in my post on whether or not our fictional Sid would take a job as a bartender. (I said he would.) But in fact, many traditional Buddhist teachers stick pretty strongly to the whole "I undertake the vow to abstain from intoxicants that cause heedlessness" thing.
As is often discussed in this column, traditional monastic systems clash with the reality of a modern existence in the West. Given this, we need to determine for ourselves what it means to consume intoxicants that can easily lead to confusion and recklessness -- because if you've seen sites like textsfromlastnight, you know that there's a lot of heedlessness to be had when you drink. The first question I might pose to any practitioner pondering this question would be, "Do you want to drink at all?" If you feel like you can't be a practitioner who drinks, that's fine. That is your truth, and it's worth sticking to.
However, it seems that your question, Chuck, was not so much, "Is it okay to drink?" as, "How can I drink without losing my head?" That is a great question. How often have you seen an alcohol ad that ended with "Drink Responsibly"? What does that even mean? The alcohol companies aren't going to tell us, so we have to figure it out for ourselves.
If there's Right Speech, then why can't the modern-day practitioner engage in Right Drinking? We know that the historical Sid did drink in his youth, but as the Buddha he acknowledged that alcohol is a dangerous fire to play with. Over time, as Buddhism spread and encountered new lands, it morphed to accommodate those cultures. Today in many monasteries in Tibet and India, Vajrayana practitioners will incorporate alcohol as part of their practice.
The intent is not to get the monks wasted but to take what is seen as a poison and transform it into a tool for spaciousness. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche attempted to lead his Vajrayana students in the West in what he referred to as "mindful drinking," with mixed results. Some students engaged the practice to the point where they felt a loosening up on their ego and their dualistic sense of "me" vs. "the world." Others threw up.
One student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche said that they were encouraged to "drink just enough to relax, to appreciate your situation and to help your ego go to sleep." The idea was to watch how the alcohol affects you and see how it can relax your mind. When you feel that loosening inside you, then you stop.
Unfortunately, most of us don't stop there. Most of us go out with the intention of loosening our mind, celebrating something with friends, or having a low-key get-together and don't have the discipline to say "no" to one more drink.
With that said, I think Right Drinking would include the following:
Alcohol is easy to abuse. I don't want to seem like I'm trying to make binge-drinking OK by saying it is meditation. That's the opposite of what I'm trying to get across. Instead, I'm saying let's bring mindfulness to the act of drinking. Let's not overindulge; let's work with our craving in a fashion similar to the way we work with it on the meditation cushion. Let's enjoy the experience without falling into the trap of confusion.
At the end of the night of a Right Drinking, don't be surprised if instead of feeling woozy you feel refreshed by the experience.
Have a question for this column? E-mail it to this address with the subject line "What would Sid do," and your question will likely appear in a future post.
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Alcohol intoxicates us. Much like we become intoxicated by emotions. Holding that in consideration, it can be an amazing training tool.
I guess my thesis is: We should maintain humor and a sense of adventure, all under the umbrella of discipline.
It is good to have a Guru to guide you but keep in mind they are not yet perfect beings and are not perfect in wisdom yet. If you believe in rebith then you can see the present Dalai Lama took so many lifetimes to get to the present state of wisdom, that too, through the pratice of compassion.
Do continue your Dharma Duta work. May you be well and happy.
Now, let's replace the cigarrete scene with a drink only this time lay Buddhist get the opportunity to emulate the monks.............................
Seriously are you a practicing Buddhist or just 'Buddhist' in a Buddha Bar?
Suppose a monk is offered a certain type of food call tapai which contain alcohol causing mild intoxication but because of his practice of equanimity he remains mindful and in full control. He does not take this food again less he set a bad example for others to follow nor will he encourage other inexperience monks to take this food knowing that not everyone can handle things with equanimity.
That is the message I am trying to pass on.
It surprises me you would say being a bartender is "right livelihood". While it is okay, i think, to drink in moderation, it's difficult for me to think selling booze for a living is right livelihood. How could you know you were not feeding some one's terrible habit?
It's should also bed noted many of these strong opinions about drunkenness come out of Asian cultures, like Tibet, that really saw suffering when the tribal peoples began to have access to booze. Tribal peoples don't do well with alcohol. Most Europeans have had at least a couple of thousand years to lose the genetic codes that couldn't handle alcohol. Some Asians have had alcohol at least that long, but many Asian cultures are as new to alcohol as Ireland or the tribal peoples of the Americas. Of course they would have strong opinions about it.
I agree that gossip can be more harmful than having one (or even more than one) beer with a friend. But while it's pretty easy to identify which beverages qualify as alcoholic and which do not, people often disagree about what is and isn't gossip.
Some speech may be harmful to some while helpful to others. Those who find the speech in question threatening may consider it harmful and may dismiss it as gossip (as when Pope Benedict dismissed allegations of sexual abuse against Catholic clergy as "petty gossip"), while others may find it helpful. (A bishop in Italy who oversaw the parish of a priest suspected of molesting 30 children and on trial for molesting 7 said he ignored complaints "because you hear so many rumors." Some rumors are indeed gossip, but some rumors merit further investigation, and sometimes silence can be anything but "right speech.")
I'd love to see you write a piece about "right speech" sometime.
I do believe however, that there is such a thing as "responsible drinking" - knowing your limit, not causing others or yourself harm when you drink, not drinking as part of an addiction.
I'm realistic about my practice and my life. I know that I'll never achieve/realize/attain enlightenment while I'm drinking alcohol. Won't happen. But I honestly don't think my 3-5 beers/ week are a major source of my suffering. I'm more concerned with some of the other skandhas than my beer with dinner or occasional homebrewing hobby.
The 5th precept to me is quite clear for lay people: don't become intoxicated because if you do, you cannot remain mindful and alert. An enormous part of the practice is remaining mindful and alert - at all times, not just on the meditation cushion.
Occasionally too many friends might get together and too much mead might get poured around. When that happens, there is no way to excuse that behavior as "skillful" or "mindful". But there's also no reason to demonize the occasional party with friends, especially for us lay people. It's okay. Buddhists can have fun too. We should just be realistic about the effects that "fun" has on us.
My actions are the ground upon which I stand.
I think I understand your intention.
I do not understand how you might think the split would continue because you prefer it that way.
In a village where the Buddha visited much excitement was stirred up over Sagata's battle with the Naga. The villagers wondered how to honor Sagata. One said that white spirits .. being so pure .. would be a good blessing.. So Sagata when going from home to home asking for alms was given powerful alcohol at each.
Soon he was so drunk he passed out.
Fellow monks found him laying on the road. They carried him to the Buddha who made fun of him saying "Did not Sagata conquer the great Ambahtitta Naga?.. now he could not even conquer a salamander."
It was at this point that the Buddha declared alcohol off limits for serious meditators.
If people want to drink that should be fine -but they are not following the Buddha's path.
There are plenty of tales about Shambhala Mountain Center's drinking, drugging and sleeping with teachers and participants.
That we should see rationalizations and invitations to join in drinking coming from there is hardly a surprise .. it IS a shame however ... and it is not good teaching Or... in the case of career Buddhists and writers, it is not right livelihood.
I found this quote interesting:
The Most Profound View
"From among all the proponents of all the philosophical tenets there might be, there is no one who thinks that they have an inferior view to somebody else. Therefore, any specific follower of any tenet will always say that their view is the most profound, because if they think that their own view is inferior to someone else's, they will not be very enthusiastic about listening to teachings about it and meditating on it.
So when we hear this presentation of the philosophical views, it is really up to us to decide what we think is the most profound presentation. When the Buddha made these presentations of the different philosophical views, the point was to allow people to use their own intelligence to investigate the various teachings. The Buddha's methods help us become skilled in the different philosophical views, and teach us how to analyze things for ourselves."
-- Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, From The Two Truths, Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal publications, p. 3. Translated and edited by Ari Goldfield
It is the pedestalization and emulation of the Rimps -and Sakyongs - their vices and political shenanigans- that is a shame to see.
Go ahead and point your feet at the Buddha if you want.
I just am saying that publicly encouraging and excusing twisting the precepts it is not right livelihood.
I have quite a few friends dead or suffering now after 30 years of what they thought was "right drinking" under Trungpa's influence.