I've been dismayed recently when some Buddhist magazines and blogs began promoting drug use to "enhance" the mind. Clearly this violates the fifth Buddhist precept - "I vow to abstain from alcoholic drink or drugs that are an opportunity for carelessness."
So it was with interest I read a feature in Tricycle magazine (Buddhist) by Brad Warner who emphatically states: "People get mad when I say it’s not right for drugs to be promoted as Buddhism. But that’s OK with me. Sometimes you have to make people mad."
In his past, Warner experiment with various drugs finding them to be hindrances rather than helps for consciousness and mind expansion. Here are some of his comments and observations:
The idea that psychedelic drugs can somehow enhance Buddhist practice makes no sense to me at all. How is my real experience of life in the present moment enhanced by messing with the chemistry of my brain?
I do know that for a lot of people, sobriety is a very fragile thing. They’re looking for any excuse at all to get back into the drugs. I can’t say anything positive about drug use and still maintain a clear conscience.
When lots of Buddhists start rambling on about how drugs can be a doorway to deeper practice or accelerate spiritual growth, I feel like there are people out there who need someone with the authority to do so to tell the truth, they need someone to say clearly and unambiguously that that is a lie.
Read the entire article at : https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/psychedelics-buddhism/)
So it was with interest I read a feature in Tricycle magazine (Buddhist) by Brad Warner who emphatically states: "People get mad when I say it’s not right for drugs to be promoted as Buddhism. But that’s OK with me. Sometimes you have to make people mad."
In his past, Warner experiment with various drugs finding them to be hindrances rather than helps for consciousness and mind expansion. Here are some of his comments and observations:
The idea that psychedelic drugs can somehow enhance Buddhist practice makes no sense to me at all. How is my real experience of life in the present moment enhanced by messing with the chemistry of my brain?
I do know that for a lot of people, sobriety is a very fragile thing. They’re looking for any excuse at all to get back into the drugs. I can’t say anything positive about drug use and still maintain a clear conscience.
When lots of Buddhists start rambling on about how drugs can be a doorway to deeper practice or accelerate spiritual growth, I feel like there are people out there who need someone with the authority to do so to tell the truth, they need someone to say clearly and unambiguously that that is a lie.
Read the entire article at : https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/psychedelics-buddhism/)
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