Party - Alcohol

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grasshopper
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Party - Alcohol

Post by grasshopper »

Hey people,

I have been invited to a dinner (only 4 people in total) and the "norm" around here is people take a bottle of champagne/ wine/ 6-pack of beer etc. as a guest, without going empty-handed. But I do not drink, period. What else is there to take to a party of young people other than booze? It would be rude to take a bottle to the party but decline a drink from the very bottle that you just gave them, wouldn't it? All suggestions are much appreciated, thank you :)
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retrofuturist
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings

Ask them in advance if they need you to bring anything (e.g. dessert, salads)... then that can be the thing you bring.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Dan74
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by Dan74 »

According to the anecdote I heard, a famous monk (Mahayana though) when visiting the US in the late 70ies, when invited and given wine, would happily toast with his hosts but not actually drink. Throughout the whole trip noone seemed to have noticed.

So if you brought the wine and you were poured some, you don't have to drink it. If they notice you can say why. If they don't, well...

It depends on the environment of course.
Last edited by Dan74 on Mon Nov 15, 2010 10:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
_/|\_
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Take some chocolates.
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Paññāsikhara
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by Paññāsikhara »

Sparkling grape juice, fruit juice, ... there are plenty of things.
The chocolates idea is a good one, too. (Just not the liquer center ones!)
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Ben
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by Ben »

I take a bottle or two of softdrink and something else, like a desert, salad, bread, chocolate.
And I've never had any grief over it.
And its no big deal being a non-drinker these days. We're everywhere!
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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grasshopper
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by grasshopper »

Thank you very much all! Chocolates and dessert! Gosh, how could I forget, lol. The plan is to take garlic bread, ice cream and also a pot plant for the lovely hostess :D
Mawkish1983
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by Mawkish1983 »

Ben wrote:And its no big deal being a non-drinker these days. We're everywhere!
True :)
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Monkey Mind
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by Monkey Mind »

grasshopper wrote:Thank you very much all! Chocolates and dessert! Gosh, how could I forget, lol. The plan is to take garlic bread, ice cream and also a pot plant for the lovely hostess :D
Smooth! Nicely done! I asked a bhikkhu about this very situation. Answer: if you told people that your doctor has advised you to stop drinking, no one would question this. Buddha often compared himself to be a physician, so...
"As I am, so are others;
as others are, so am I."
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed.

Sutta Nipāta 3.710
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Hanzze
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by Hanzze »

_/\_
Last edited by Hanzze on Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
Sanghamitta
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by Sanghamitta »

Hanzze wrote:
grasshopper wrote:Thank you very much all! Chocolates and dessert! Gosh, how could I forget, lol. The plan is to take garlic bread, ice cream and also a pot plant for the lovely hostess :D
Mahayana Buddhist would tell you that garlic is not that good. It develops hormones which are not beneficial for a peaceful mind. Chocolate hormones are good but some could identify it as happiness drugs :-)
Give your self your happiness and joy is a good present. :-)

Someone said one up a comic movie: Be just in the present... That is why it is called present! :-)
Lets not confuse the issue by adding proscriptions that are not considered relevant in the Theravada....garlic has all sorts of health giving properties.
If the hostess was a Mahayana Buddhist it might be relevant.....
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

Bhikku Bodhi.
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Hanzze
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Re: Party - Alcohol

Post by Hanzze »

_/\_
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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