Yes and yes.Moth wrote:In your opinion, is moderate use of mind-altering plants such as Ayahuasca and Psilocybin Mushrooms a violation of the fifth precept and more importantly a detriment to Buddhist practice?
Uppers, downers and booze were never a temptation in the good ol' daze - the psychedelics were in another category.
Remember what the dormouse said - feed your head...
Personally, they really seemed to instill a great need for personal inner change. It seemed they showed that the "mundane, material" style of living was a dead end - that moral, ethical and virtuous values were worth more than fame and gold and - that more drugs were not the correct way to make the change! They did their bit to encourage change, but it takes a "straight" mind to make those changes real and permanent. They did not show the "whole" path - but they were a start.
Others used the same drugs and became neo-nazis and alchoholics. Kamma?
Metta