Can you be a Buddhist and do drugs?

During my short stay on earth I’ve done many things that I did not like: going to school, watering down my ethics in order to get a job, attempting to fit in the status quo…

It wasn’t really cool, and more often than not I wondered if there was more to life than struggling to adjust to it.

Fortunately, the big picture of my existence brightened up when I found something that I could accomplish effortlessly, with great enthusiasm, I even dare to say with extraordinary diligence: getting high on drugs.

LSD was my main playground for a good 3 years, along with ecstasy and other neuro-blending supplements.
I won’t deny that psychedelics helped me make sense out of many areas in my life and that the magic held for a while but I scared myself at some stage: I had reached this critical point when I had to increase the dosage to reach the same excitement. I should add that lots of my friends landed in psychiatric wards, which sensibly curbed my juvenile enthusiasm for experiments.

After this realization a natural defense mechanism took over and I decided to stop cold turkey and to replace chemical highs with natural ones. That’s when I received my first trainings in meditation and became a Buddhist (eventually a monk).

It’s amazing how many people went through the very same sequence before turning to Eastern spiritualities: questioning everything, then getting high and in the end continuing the exploration using ancient mind-body techniques.

I’ve often asked to qualified teachers: what’s the status of drugs in Tibetan Buddhism?
Drugs seem to have opened the spiritual path for so many people, do they help with meditation?

I’m going to wrap up the answers quickly, to help those who wonder if drugs and Buddhism are compatible:

NO :-(

That’s the short answer of Tibetan Buddhism. Drugs damage the body, they distract the mind and are a serious hindrance to meditation.

I’ll elaborate why drugs don’t work well with Buddhist practice:

We’re just crazy in general, especially when we’re high

Some hold the belief that drugs trigger higher states of consciousness but from the Buddhist perspective a mind on drugs is just experiencing chemically induced delusional states, as opposed to the its experience when sober which is also a confused one, but curable.

In short: drugs don’t really open your eyes, they just make you high.

Heating your fireplace with $100 bills

Some Buddhist teachers such as Ole Nydhal define drugs as activators that burn out your favorable karma and leave you completely broke (Quick reminder: Karma is what allows the positive and negative experiences to take place).

Here’s how the process is described: drug would force the release of positive karma immediately, allowing the manifestation of rewarding experiences for the user. The problem is that positive credit is blown way too fast, a bit like in a casino. The results can be seen after a while with drug addicts desperately trying to revive the initial bliss using colossal amounts of dope (only to get mediocre results), supposedly, they ran out of good karma, all that’s left to them is dope. And addiction.

Invisible casualties

Everybody knows how drug abuse can ruin the brain and internal organs, that area is well covered by modern medicine. But Tibetan Buddhism has a branch that addresses the “subtle body”, its tenets are very close to acupuncture and Ayurveda.

According to Tibetan masters teaching in this field, drugs do serious damage to the energetic part of the body. The consequences can be terrifying for mental and physical health, and they affect drugs users for the long haul.

Spooky origins

The following will make skepticals laugh, the others will take it seriously. According to some teachings that remained hidden until recently, drugs have been originated by non-human beings with the sole intention of hurting them and preventing their spiritual progress.

That’s it. Yet another unsexy article… I’m sorry for those looking for more uplifting information but I felt compeled to put this online as there’s a lot of misunderstanding regarding this particular aspect of Buddhism and I guess anyone should make informed decisions..

The points above are a compilation of what I’ve heard in Tibetan Buddhist circles, I don’t know about the other schools and the historical Buddha never taught anything about drugs since they seemed to be nearly inexistent in ancient India. The teachings refering to drugs were given after the Buddha passed away by more recent accomplished teachers.

For those of you who wonder if I personally think that drugs are bad, I’d say that I’m still mildly convinced, particularly as quite a few civilization seem to have put psychedelics at the heart of their spiritual practice.

I’m not sure what to think, but if you’re willing to share your insights, please don’t be selfish: share them in the comments below.

Coders can change the world

Doug D

Great insight. I too spent some time bending my more through drugs, especially that drug called alcohol and was glad when I read that the Soto Zen precepts are pretty clear about keeping a clear mind. Thanks for the write-up.
- Gaël Blanchemain
  
  I’d love to know more about the Soto Zen view on intoxicants, could you share a link or two?
  Thanks for stopping by, Doug
Joan

As a journalist visiting New York in the 1960’s I chanced to spend a day at Timothy Leary’s establishment in an old mansion surrounded by woods in Millbook, NY. Psychedelic fashions were all the rage that year, and some of the less-zonked-out trippers
were busily making slides (the kind used for slide shows in electric projectors back then in the pre-computer age.) featuring the kind of abstract multicolor shapes one might envision on an LSD trip. A group of Buddhist monks were residing in a suite of rooms on an upper floor–a haven of peace and enchantment above the chaotic sadness of the tripping-out areas. The monks were doing the cooking, and serving wherever they could to keep the LSD seekers from harm. One of the monks explained—-“We don’t agree with what they are doing here. But we feel that everyone is better off with us here, than with us not here.” He said that, while he did not believe that enlightenment could be reached by way of LSD, still it was worth looking into since the folks living there had chosen that path. I believe that my love of Buddhism began there. I was there to interview Leary, but I found the Buddhists far more interesting.
- Gaël Blanchemain
  
  Joan,
  
  I feel privileged that you took the time to provide that kind of feedback. As you probably know, Timothy Leary’s experiments in his Millbrook’s spaceship have become legendary in my generation. It’s great to get a personal testimonial on what the place felt like, so far I only heard how it is said to have been.
  
  That was an unusual way to have a first contact with Buddhism, I guess, but I’m assuming that the monk’s dedication and openness in that rather gloomy context were more convincing than Leary’s sermons.
  Thanks :)
Gaby

I think you have a good point. However, I think after almost 60 years of Taboo, the term DRUGS could be reanalyzed and recategorized. It is a COMPLETELY different story to have an addiction to drugs such as crack, cocaine, heroin, speed, etc, than to consume cannabis, lsd, and other shamanic drugs sporadically. Don’t get me wrong, an addiction is an addiction and it is as negative and misleading as any other but I am a bit tired of this worn out, social-driven-satanizing discourse on “drugs” when there are other addictions more socially accepted like Alcohol, antidepressants, tobacco, sex/porn, and shopping, that nobody relates to the term “drugs” and can be equally or more harmful than the ocasional lsd trip. And within the practicing lay buddhists as well.
- Gaël Blanchemain
  
  I’m struggling with the same cultural limitations, “drugs” is a term that doesn’t mean much to me either. We make something a drug or not depending on the relation we have with it (addictive, therapeutic,spiritual) it’s not a drug per se, no matter what governments or media try to make it.
Tom

It’s not obvious to me that drugs should actually be either good or bad – not even discussing the existence of ‘good’ and ‘bad’… (I’m the ugly)
Do drugs harm your body and soul on high consumption? As you said, we can all testify that it does and that damages on body energetics is a no-brainer… :)
Is it useful (at least under certain circumstances and with certain goals)? Again, we can…

I have the same feeling as you and Doug about Buddhism and derivatives’ approach about drugs.
My feeling is that meditation is everything but a trance ; therefore drugs can’t help in meditating (that’s only my un-educated opinion…). In other cultures (that I absolutely respect and somehow admire), drugs are often a mean to access trance.

Still, what is it ‘doing drugs’ ? What’s the issue here ? Doing or drugs ???
I love the idea that the problem is actually addiction/dependence related.
Can you be a Buddhist and do chocolate?
As a Buddhist I don’t know (I don’t consider myself a Buddhist).
But, would chocolate be a hurdle on my path if I was a chocolate addict?
As a self-educated meditator (widely inspired by Krishnamurti, Taoism and Kung-Fu :D), I can definitely answer that one…
Anything I need is a hurdle to freedom

Thanks for your post! great soul workout on a sunday morning :)
- Gaël Blanchemain
  
  Well, I guess you nailed it, Tom. BUT DRUGS ARE INHERENTLY EVIL! ;)
  - jo
    
    hmm. i’m glad to see this topic addressed but this article doesn’t go nearly far enough.i know plenty of people who have come to mature, sustainable, sober spiritual practice through drug experimentation. i feel that communication is stifled when we come from “drugs = bad” perspective…and my experience of mindfulness is that nothing is “inherently bad” – otherwise we’re denying the truth of interdependence, surely?!
    - Gaël Blanchemain
      
      I agree with you although I didn’t want to elaborate on this article. The point of this post was only to expose Tibetan Buddhism view on psychoactives, and it’s a negative one.
      
      My personal opinion is quite close to yours: drugs are only substances, they don’t contain any “evil molecules” in them. Motivation, knowledge, set up, all these factors make a difference between a destructive use and an enlightening experience. Yet I guess western media and government block public awareness on the real potential of psychoactives.
Ryan

This is quite interesting, I enjoyed reading it!
- Gaël Blanchemain
  
  Thanks Ryan :)
Paulo

Gael, really nice to read your articles, saludos from Costa Rica

What i ve seen in some friends, is that even cannabis is an obstacle from whom wants to observe her / his mind, because the person begin to be focus in the experiences of the drug instead the one who experiences. So, strictly from meditation perspective is not recommended cannabis or any drug.

In my personal experience with alcohol for example, if one night I drink a couple of beers or wines, my meditation is like usual also the other day.

But with more than a couple of drinks, is evident that increases posibility of a headache the other day, and also increases some lazy state of mind next day, so it begin to be an obstacle also to the meditation.

Hope it helps :)
- Gaël Blanchemain
  
  From the perspective of Buddhist meditation, it seems obvious that most drugs are a no-no. In the field of spirituality at large however, I don’t know…I’m still hesitant. Some drugs offer a radical shift of perspective that force the mind to abandon unfounded certainties and I regard it as a progress.
  
  I’m still curious to see what’s possible with psychoactive even if the way illegal substances are used now is mostly a waste.
  
  Thanks for manifesting, Paulo, greetings from Vilma and I :)
MKB

Thanks for this article – good read! I’ve always been fascinated with discussions on the topic of drugs equally as much as I have always been interested in discussions on religion or spirituality. So, an artcle on the two things together – one of my drugs. :)

As I am very new in learning about Zen, I can’t say much on whether or not Zen and drugs mix well but I can tell you that I would not be the person I am today if I had not taken LSD, Ecstacy, or smoked pot when I was a little younger. Ecstacy completely changed my outlook on life and the first time I used it was almost a magical experience. I took it at a time when emotionaly I was a mess, and though a spur of the moment choice, it was a grand decision that made me see things in a new positive light and not just see the negative.

I mainted some of the insight I had when taking it and it led me to actually live my life differently. It did not lead to any kind of vicious addiction which I have seen happen to good people.

Maybe something that can help is that yes drugs have negative side effects – they are chemically interacting with your brain in ways that aren’t normal, but the best thing I was ever told is that while you are high, to always maintain in your thoughts that the only reason you feel like you do is beacause of the drug you are on. In other words, be mindful of the fact that you are on drugs – it changes the experience and you can use that mindfulness to get something out of the experience rather than just being high. When I say this, I’m talking about things like ecstacy, LSD, pot, and mushrooms, not cocain, crack or meth since the high is largely not psychedelic with those drugs and they’re just not as fun.

So, I guess I could agree with you in saying that I wouldn’t be entirely convinced that certain drugs can have a place in the spiritual side of life.

Glad I stumbled upon your website, thank you again for this particular article.
- Gaël Blanchemain
  
  Thanks for stopping by. I have the same perspective on “drugs” and I come from the same place: LSD forced me into reconsidering everything and getting started with spirituality, it didn’t cripple my mind or send me to jail.
  
  I can’t advocate for drugs either, a lot of my friends paid a high price for using them badly.
  
  Simply put, I think that the public debate around drugs lacks maturity: if we address the problem with questions such as: “should drugs be legalized or not?” the conversation won’t go anywhere.
  
  “Are drugs bad for you?” is also a bad start. The reflection led around drugs has been started with the wrong questions, and chances are we’ll keep coming up with the same idiotic answers if we don’t change the premises.
  
  What drugs?
  In what circumstances?
  To achieve what results?
  
  Those questions are hardly ever asked, current society is still at the infancy stage when it comes to psychedelics, there’s a lot more to explore and understand before we have a meaningful relationship with these molecules.
  - MKB
    
    Gaël, very much agreed on all points. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my comment (and to everyone else’s). Also, congratulations on getting hitched! :) I look forward to anything else you have to post in the future on this topic – thanks again.
Anonymous

Tea is a drug.
- Gaël Blanchemain
  
  indeed.
AndyB

Generally I agree here, although exploration and curiosity is part of our Buddha nature, and psychedelic substances are no less worthy of investigation than any other part of the natural world. A stable and mature mind can learn a great deal from psychedelic experiences. Meditation is itself an exploration, and just as we may use different meditation techniques to explore reality, occasionally doing so while under the influence of a psychedelic isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The middle way teaches that total abstinence is a sign of an unsettled mind just as much as total hedonism. The precept to avoid intoxication is a suggestion for those who have not yet found peace in their heart. Once you have found your Buddha nature the desire to get wasted will have evaporated anyway.
Gaël Blanchemain

I can’t argue over that Jason! But in the long run (according to Buddhism) it’s said to be safer to stick to sobriety. Personally I didn’t commit to either or. I’m not excluding Ayahuasca, but it’s hard to identify genuine shamans…
- Jason Crockett
  
  at the time i wasnt a shaman, i was just someone searching for god when i didnt understand the bible (mainly because of all the contradictions and who wants to burn in hell anyway?). i now get the revealed message. now im doing a bit of ascetism, some right hand path stuff and im hoping to go to the budhist shrine in manchester – those other realms sound appealing :D got too many guilt tripping voices and a few spiritual attackers to sort out.
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NO :-(

We’re just crazy in general, especially when we’re high

Heating your fireplace with $100 bills

Invisible casualties

Spooky origins

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