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Anyone can drink alcohol any time they want to..  I have a couple drinks every year.  As time goes by  you understand that intoxicants really disturb peace of mind and tranquility and is not a preffred state of mind.

Thank you, Jason.
In my case, the Fifth Precept is very clear and literal. I believe that this approach helps everyone around me.

Then why did The Buddha say “Do not consume more alcohol than can fit in a blade of grass and say you are my student.”

I guess this is what happens when traditions start re writing what the Buddha taught instead of handing them down intact from teacher to student.

Unfortunately my Root Lama who was the highest holder of wisdom alive in the Tibetan Tradition when he died, and someone I saw as a fully enlightened emanation of a Buddha who evidenced high siddhis daily used to teach that consuming one cup of beer with joy was a cause for hell.  Each cup, every time.  That’s for everyone, not just Buddhists. For someone breaking a life time vow it’s worse.

That is my relationship with the 5th precept.  
I would encourage people to actually study Buddhism from an actual teacher that is qualified or you will come across wrong view such as this.  

The same said Lama also said that, the only reason  break the intoxicant rules was for medical reasons.  The same Rinpoche convinced me, when I was anti cannabis, that Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Medicine regarded it as a medicine to be used when the patient was sick.  

Probably because he knew I was going to need it 20 years later to save my life when I was dying of incurable autoimmune diseases, but Aryas as I said, he was enlightened and and could do that.

So, unfortunately both The Buddha and The vinaya sutra are very clear about this, and I know 2 Hlarampa #1 Geshes who taught that one cup of beer taken with a desire just for it was absolutely a cause for hell.  

The Lam Rim and he states most of us put the cause and effects for a hell realm rebirth into our minds every 15 minutes, which is why the confessional practices are taught to be recited 3x a day.

The more I see people who are drunk, the less I partake myself.

traditionally in Japanese Zen temples it was often the case that the end of a practice period would be celebrated by much sake drinking

🙏🏼☸️🪷 as a Buddhist I tried to go around the fifth precept, I tried with just one beer a week, but was not after I gave it all up and started keeping the 5 precepts 100% that I started seen improvement in my practice, so my personal opinion is to take all 5 precepts very seriously, No alcoholic drinks, at least for me 🙏🏼☸️🪷

September is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder awareness month. It's known as FASD, and is caused by pre-natal exposure to alcohol.  Yesterday was international FASD awareness day. With no known safe amount during all stages of pregnancy it's very relevant to your topic 🙏🙏🙏

Hi Jason ,

Thanks for your teaching 🙏. Sobriety is apart of my practice and practice helps to bolster my sobriety.

I struggled with addiction and anxiety. Practice has helped me to stay on a sustainable path of abstinence from substances. I became too attached to drinking because it made me feel “good”! However I have no problem with the idea that Buddhists can indulge in such a way that does not lead to heedlessness or attachment.

Love your videos…not a Buddhist? Great cliffhanger!!!!

🙏🏻Jason

My pre-watch assumption from my limited knowledge, yes but

The Buddha was very clear about the fifth precept. You can make the choice to drink, but trying to come up with a sneaky gotcha debate trick against dhamma is for midwits. The Buddha said you shouldn't, so if you make the choice to, at least try not to encourage others.

As a Chan Buddhist and recovering addict, I would say that the precepts are not commandments so much as guidelines and vows that we can (and perhaps should, if the causes and conditions are right) take. Western Buddhism is often arrogantly dismissive of the realities and insights of Asian Buddhism, and one way this manifests is the dismissal of morality in favor of meditation myopia, undergirded by a frankly deluded and often self-serving antinomianism. The Five Precepts (refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication) and the Six Perfections (generosity, ethical discipline, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom) are really as basic as you get.

That said, in our tradition, as in most others, you can take all or none of the precepts or some combination thereof. If you're a very occasional drinker and layperson, it might not seem urgent to you to take the Fifth Precept. For me, it was profoundly obvious that my reliance upon drugs and alcohol for that openness, disinhibition, and pleasure was harmful to my health, relationships, and sense of moral integrity. It's very, very hard to square a practice of compassion and mindfulness with a habit that, by its nature, produces fewer of the prerequisites. Moderate drinkers might say, "Yes, but it only produces a very small, time-bound dent in my clarity of mind, and it's a social lubricant." If the point of your practice is to be rid of delusion and dissatisfaction in order to help others find some measure of peace, where does this habit take us? I don't really have any interest in speaking for others (in fact, I'm often vicariously happy to see those able to enjoy their occasional drinks without the various problems and hangups this invites for others, though this scene can also inspire false confidence in some people). For me, the answer is that it is incompatible with a practice based in clarity and true presence. My only advice would be to really observe the effects of drinking on your mind, body, and speech. If you're able, extend that awareness to how it subtly affects others too. You will find your own answers that way.

As for whether Buddhists CAN drink, many, of course, do. And I think it's a great aspect of our various traditions that we don't impose high barriers to entry or beat people over the head with what we should do. We simply share the wisdom of the great buddhas, bodhisattvas, and sages before us so that we can find in communal and individual practice the experiential truth of their Dharmic teachings and examples. 南無觀世音菩薩 🙏🏼

Thanks PSN!!

I have a similar relation to caffeine as well. Funny thing, I did not know it until I've stopped consuming in various forms. I was very attached to my "liquid of power"...I'm not in a point of my life where I can consume it again mindfully, and don't know if I ever will. But this right here is enough for me in this moment. Already complete.

If you need a justification for drinking alcohol - it's already an addiction. There are so many natural pleasures in life, so why would alcohol feel so important?

If buddhists can invent gunpowder warfare and conqueror China with it

Im sure a few drinks couldnt hurt

Cheers!

I now know the dharma is everywhere ❤