Alcohol

Buddhist ethical conduct including the Five Precepts (Pañcasikkhāpada), and Eightfold Ethical Conduct (Aṭṭhasīla).
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Hanzze
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Re: Alcohol

Post by Hanzze »

Two quotes from Ajahn Fuang are maybe be up to topic and maybe an inspiration:
*** A young man was discussing the precepts with Ajaan Fuang and came to number five, against taking intoxicants: "The Buddha forbade alcohol because most people lose their mindfulness when they drink it, right? But if you drink mindfully it's okay, isn't it, Than Phaw?"

"If you were really mindful," he answered, "you wouldn't drink it in the first place."

*** There seem to be more excuses for breaking the fifth precept than for any other. One evening another student was conversing with Ajaan Fuang at the same time that a group of people were sitting around them in meditation. "I can't observe the fifth precept," he said, "because I'm under a lot of group pressure. When we have social occasions at work, and everyone else in the group is drinking, I have to drink along with them."

Ajaan Fuang pointed to the people sitting around them and asked, "This group isn't asking you to drink. Why don't you give in to their group pressure instead?"
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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BubbaBuddhist
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Re: Alcohol

Post by BubbaBuddhist »

As the song says "I drink alone, yeah / With nobody else / You know when I drink alone / I prefer to be by myself." All you really have to do to give up drinking is spend some time sober in a bar and watch how ridiculous people behave when drunk, and realize that's how you look. That's the cure.

Image

BB
Been there, done that, threw up on the bouncer's T-shirt
Author of Redneck Buddhism: or Will You Reincarnate as Your Own Cousin?
JackV
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Re: Alcohol

Post by JackV »

:goodpost:
Ha ha. It's so true. I can't bear to be out places where there will be loads of drunk people now and I suppose at the time that seemed like part of the problem, that I wouldn't want to go to these places. How things change
Here where a thousand
captains swore grand conquest
Tall grasses their monument.
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Cittasanto
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Re: Alcohol

Post by Cittasanto »

I disagree BB
I looked like the guys in the top photo
proof
Image
the fact I am sat down and clinging onto a friend to stay upright is evidence I looked cool! in 1999 (I think it was) :twothumbsup:
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
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Digity
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Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:13 am

Re: Alcohol

Post by Digity »

What do you guys do when friends invite you out for a beer? Do you justgo and order a club soda?

I ask because I want to cut out alcohol totally, but I still feel the social pressure to drink. I feel lame that I even give into this pressure...although, I think I'm on the road to eventually cutting out alcohol for good. I barely drink as is, but have not totally abstained.
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Hanzze
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Re: Alcohol

Post by Hanzze »

Some post below Digity:
*** There seem to be more excuses for breaking the fifth precept than for any other. One evening another student was conversing with Ajaan Fuang at the same time that a group of people were sitting around them in meditation. "I can't observe the fifth precept," he said, "because I'm under a lot of group pressure. When we have social occasions at work, and everyone else in the group is drinking, I have to drink along with them."

Ajaan Fuang pointed to the people sitting around them and asked, "This group isn't asking you to drink. Why don't you give in to their group pressure instead?"
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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mikenz66
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Location: Aotearoa, New Zealand

Re: Alcohol

Post by mikenz66 »

Digity wrote:What do you guys do when friends invite you out for a beer? Do you justgo and order a club soda?
I don't like club soda. Juice or ginger beer is OK...

:anjali:
Mike
Digity
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Re: Alcohol

Post by Digity »

Well, I went to a bar recently with friends and just drank coke. I think I'm giving up booze for good now, but we'll see.

When people ask you why you don't drink do you tell them about the precepts or just say you don't like it?
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mikenz66
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Re: Alcohol

Post by mikenz66 »

Depends on the people. Usually I say I like to keep my head clear, which is basically accurate. And there are positives. Sometimes not drinking can make you somewhat popular as a designated driver...

:anjali:
Mike
Digity
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Re: Alcohol

Post by Digity »

I told a group of friends I stopped drinking and they acted kind of weird about it. I just said I didn't want to drink anymore. I know as other friends find out they'll try to pressure me to drink, but I don't see myself caving in. I think keeping he precepts is too important at this point. If they have an issue with me not drinking then it's their problem.
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