Allison Yarrow offered up this piece about Lodro Rinzler’s class at the Shambhala Center in NYC. I thought it quite interesting and struck me as so congruent with a great deal of our quasi-Buddhist approaches that we celebrate at Infinite Smile.

Rinzler authors a weekly column on Huffington Post and he has a new book, The Buddha Walks Into a Bar: A Guide to Life for a New Generation. The column, What Would Sid Do, offers an “honest look at what meditators face in the modern world,” reminding readers that “before Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) attained enlightenment he was a confused 20-and 30-something looking to learn how to live a spiritual life.”

via The Daily Beast.

As I so frequently say from the cushion, there is nowhere that the Dharma is not being offered. There is no place that exists without the fullness of the teaching. Ego itself is infused with the magesty of Spirit’s continual grace. This includes alcohol, as Rinzler points out, as well as sex. I couldn’t agree more and I’m glad to see that the Dharma’s application in the “real” world is facing these and other issues fully.

Chogyam Trungpa

On the other hand, I’ve also found that if this approach isn’t treated, ahem, soberly we can find deep divisions can present themselves in our practice. The founder of Lodro Rinzler’s tradition, Chögyam Trungpa, as well as many of his followers, fell into these traps and caused an assortment of problems. So we need to continually remind ourselves that despite the fact that our vices can be met mindfully doesn’t mean that they will not be potentially very harmful to both self and other.

For the record, I’m not trying to moralize. I am, however, pointing out that a certain spiritual finesse is needed in our work both as teachers and as students. Any of us really on the path to awaken continually needs to lean into the notion of “Do No Harm” as we live in the world. Yes, people will get hurt in break-ups. I know this first hand. And yes, occasional overindulgence may tax our bodies unnecessarily. I used to be much more familiar with this kind of pain. Not so much these days. Regardless, it is in the clarity of an individual’s intention that an awareness can unfold which allows her to awaken to a spaciousness that is “grounded” in a field beyond all vanity and all desire. Skipping the steps that get us to this fundamental peace, means that we bypass the very climb that is most needed if we are to truly awaken. Anything short of this often allows for the structures of the ego to stay intact in the most subtle of ways thereby giving rise to a very small self that mistakenly sees itself as Big.

Shambhala SunSpace offers up The Smoking Monk:

The fifth precept of Buddhism tells us to “refrain from taking intoxicants.” This seems pretty clear. However, a decade ago, if we asked the monks in Cambodia whether Buddhist should smoke, many of them would have excused it. Now those numbers are starting to decline.

The vow I took at my Jukai read,”refrain from abusing intoxicants.” Is there a difference? Is the vow broken if I, or anyone else, smokes an occasional cigar? Drinks the occasional beer, wine, or cocktail?

Interesting questions although there seems so much release comes from letting our lives embody unattached moderation and celebration as we move in the world.

NPR contributor, Ted Rose, offers up a very interesting piece on mindfulness and the consumption of alcohol. It’s well worth the read.

Money quote:

…once a meditator has developed basic Buddhist discipline (known as Hinayana training) and adopted the intention to dedicate his or her life to benefit others (the Mahayana view) the practitioner is ready to incorporate Vajrayana teachings, in which the simple prohibitions outlined in traditional Buddhist sutras are re-evaluated. When a meditator reaches this point, which usually takes a number of years, a dangerous substance like alcohol is viewed—within a context of strong discipline and clear intention—not as a conventional escape, but instead as a tool for loosening the subtle clinging of ego.

The key here is that in the ultimate sense everything is an advanced practice, but we can’t shortcut this process. Ego’s will try, but this is why we take vows. The vows offer a moral code that is structured in ways that make it harder for the ego to think that it’s enlightened. Chogyam Trungpa perhaps exemplified this kind of misstep in his many “advanced” practices. And to be sure, I do my best to be mindful as I enjoy a glass of wine or my pizza and beer. But I (and the rest of us) must be careful with our “advanced” practices. Especially if they aren’t grounded in vows.

Bows, elephant journal.

Gerald, over at The Level 8 Buddhist takes on the use of alcohol:

As the Buddha taught, alcohol and intoxicants cause heedlessness. The more you drink, the more heedless you become. It’s not that you become heedless after X number of drinks only, any amount will impair mindfulness and make it harder to practice Buddhism on some degree or another.

While I agree that the abuse of any substance can impair one’s practice, seeing that our attachments to stories surrounding the substance can also inhibit realization. Getting fundamental about abstinence can be an addiction that veils awakening from our sight. In a similar way, knocking back several shots of tequila in order to numb our experience can do exactly the same thing.

This isn’t to say that the use of alcohol should be embraced among otherwise sober Buddhists. Instead each of us should look to see if we’re caught by our use, or non-use, of any intoxicant be it something tangible or intangible; be it a form or a thought. This leads us into an even deeper level of inquiry where we get to ask ourselves questions like: Is this pint of Guiness an abuse of an intoxicant? What is my relationship to it? Or perhaps, is my abstention from alcohol an appropriate response in this moment? Is my vow not to abuse alcohol the same thing as never using it?