Buddhism can you drink

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Is moderate drinking acceptable in Buddhism? Ask Question. Asked 7 years, 3 months ago.

Active 1 year, 8 months ago. Viewed 54k times. Is there a limit or something regarding drinking alcohol according to Buddhism? Improve this question. Crab Bucket Similar not exactly the same question at buddhism. See for additional viewpoints on this issue.

Drinking alcohol, or more precisely the ethanol, has been linked to an increased risk of mouth, throat, larynx and tongue cancer. Thinking about limits that may be applied by Buddhism is one thing, but please do think of your health! Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Lama Palden Drolma's opinion on the matter seems to summarize well the thinking in the Tibetan tradition: To refrain from taking intoxicants is one of the primary vows that laypeople may take and that monastics have to uphold.

Improve this answer. Good point, there is this old joke about a monk that is forced to decide by a lady, he has to pick one: Drink a bottle of wine, sleep with her or kill her goat for dinner, he decides to drink the wine because it would be the less "offensive", next day he wakes up naked with her, the bottle is empty and the goat became dinner.

It is an old joke but it shows the risks of being intoxicated. I tend to agree that if you have control over what you are doing, like a glass of wine, it should be ok, but this is based only in my commom sense — konrad That's a great anecdote! By the way, I think you might enjoy this article, titled "Mindful drinking? See also this answer to a related question buddhism. I'll sum up the 3 main views that I've encountered most: 1.

Theravada In this article Bikkhu Bodhi explains that The taking of intoxicants is defined as the volition leading to the bodily act of ingesting distilled or fermented intoxicants.

Mahayana Trading or selling alcohol goes against the 5th Boddhisattva precept so that is a major offence. Also in the story of Svagata in the Divyavadana the Buddha said: Monks, there are these and other transgressions involved in drinking alchol. THelper THelper 1, 13 13 silver badges 34 34 bronze badges. Rabbit Rabbit 2, 1 1 gold badge 13 13 silver badges 25 25 bronze badges. They have a function. They protect us from bad karma. Methexis Methexis 5 5 silver badges 6 6 bronze badges. This is an excellent and balanced thought that I will refer to in my answer.

You may think that the point is to not get intoxicated, but the Buddha was quite clear: a practitioner of his teachings does not drink alcohol. Buddhi Kavindra Buddhi Kavindra 2 2 silver badges 13 13 bronze badges. But of course this is not the case. Inaction is mostly less useful than incomplete action. Wittgenstein, a German philosopher once famously said, My propositions serve as elucidations in the following sense: anyone who understands me eventually recognizes them as nonsensical, when he has used them - as steps - to climb up beyond them.

He must, so to speak, throw away the ladder after he has climbed up it. It is easy to see the non-dogmatic aspects in Buddhism - as stated here by Venerable Sumedho: Suttas are not meant to be 'sacred scriptures' that tell us what to believe. And two other quotes that seem to fit the context that I am creating: When I do not know who I am, I serve you.

Fen-Yang Note : I am aware that this response jumps around. Interestingly when looking up another quote for my response, I found the following quote: The true meaning of the precepts is not just that one should refrain from drinking alcohol, but also from getting drunk on nirvana.

This is a extremely interesting answer - especially this statement - 'The problem with most answers to this question is that they render Buddhism worthless to many people'. Thank you. It's a shame it's a late answer to a popular question so will be marooned at the bottom of this question.

It's a limitation of the system - but hopefully you will pick up a few more positive votes if people scroll down this far — Crab Bucket. I think I remember somewhere saying that if what you can practice is four precepts, then try to practice four precepts. I like that. You could also say Better to practice two than one and better one than none. A very late comment, but - I think this is a very deep, beautiful answer and it resonates with my experience, particularly: "If one reaches the point where what is between him and the next level of awakening is to discontinue intoxicants, he will know that before he could learn it from a precept.

On my own I decided to stop drinking because I felt it was hindering me. I had actually forgotten the precepts until I looked them up today. Show 2 more comments. So the fifth precept of I undertake to abstain from taking intoxicants that dull the mind. Crab Bucket Crab Bucket No need to beat yourself for not practicing them - just practice them. If you aren't ready to practice them, don't beat yourself up, just say, "I am not ready to practice them.

Myself and others will experience the natural consequences of that. The important point is not to reframe them. Euphemisms are the enabler of many harmful actions. No drinking alcohol at all. Lal Lal 31 1 1 bronze badge. David M.

Perlman David M. Perlman 2 2 silver badges 6 6 bronze badges. Also sparked another thought: Given a rigid observation of a Dogma, one is more likely to be dishonest with themselves about their own violations. Thus dishonesty at the level of Self - probably more detrimental than a Guinness.

Nothing dispels the wrong view that the Buddha was against rules more than reading the Vinaya, the collection of rules for monks and nuns, of which is the Five Precepts for householders is a small part. Murathan1 Murathan1 1, 1 1 gold badge 6 6 silver badges 8 8 bronze badges. Sivaguru Srinivas Sivaguru Srinivas 59 3 3 bronze badges. Allowing yourself one drink, sometimes not every day , seems to me to be: Relatively harmless Not incompatible with the Middle Way neither extreme austerity nor extreme self indulgence It may also be unnecessary; different Buddhists might suggest different limits, one of the limits sometimes suggested is "none at all".

I no longer approve this answer, but I won't delete it because some people found it useful. Having studied experienced the subject for a while longer I think that, at least for me, "moderate drinking" will be associated with "moderate suffering". Buddhism and Alcohol By Sanja Blackburn Alcohol consumption is inconsistent with a Buddhist's quest to understand and develop the mind. I like this one! Community Bot 1.

JohnB JohnB 1. Hello and welcome to Buddhism. We've put together some information to help you get started here. Have to point out one thing: It is technically incorrect to imply that the Buddha specifically mentioned tobacco.

Tobacco did not even come to India until years after his parinibbana. The Buddha did not even mention psychoactive drugs. Though monks are allowed to use marijuana for a specific medical condition. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that if he were alive today, he would have included both tobacco and drugs as prohibited under the Fifth Precept. Yes it is acceptable in the sense that "I accept". A monk I doubt would say "I accept". Does that include killing, stealing, cheating, and lying?

Do you have a reference for this position? Killing, stealing, cheating and lying exists only when suffering is present. When a being ceases to suffer, killing, stealing, cheating and lying cease too. Are you referring to enlightened beings? I believe the question is being asked on behalf of ordinary beings. Most people don't have to be enlightened to know that killing, stealing, cheating and lying is bad karma.

There are other things that are bad, but we don't even perceive them as bad until we enlighten ourselves. There are also other things that are good or neutral but we perceive them as bad until we enlighten ourselves. It is a serious but common wrong view to think that it would be possible to break any of the Five Precepts without craving and clinging. An ordinary person breaks them because of clinging, and an enlightened person arahant is free of craving, clinging and aggression, and thus would not even want to break them.

Trending Videos View All Videos. Aruba Feb 11, Sponsored The art of sharing places: New Hampshire Jul 16, Faka'apa'apa Apr 22, Top Regions. North Carolina. Puerto Rico. United States. Top Cities View All Destinations. Buenos Aires. Dallas-Fort Worth. Mexico City. Trending Regions. Buddhists often say that when you break the moral precept of not drinking, you can easily break all the other moral precepts.

Consider the parable below:. A man is faced with a decision. Although all are against his morale code, he must choose between drinking one bottle of wine, sleeping with the woman or killing and and eating the lamb.

The man is given 24 hours to make and carry out his decision. The sun rises the next morning and the man is discovered hungover, in bed with the woman and the lamb has been slaughtered and consumed.

It turns out that the man, with good intentions, drank the first bottle of wine. Then, being fairly intoxicated he drank the rest. From there on, he was completely intoxicated and decided to kill and eat the lamb since he was hunger and to sleep with the woman to fulfill his desires.

Yes, giving up alcohol may seem like only a small thing.