I’ve never heard anyone say that.

I have never heard anyone who said that.

your the first never heard of that before

`It goes back to the 60’s and the Hippie “revolution. Many so called Hippies adopted Buddhism because of the message of peace and love. But they only accepted it on the surface. Most looked no further than the surface. I am of that generation, but I looked deeper. I accept the Taoist philosophy along with being a witch. The 2 go hand in hand quite well.
BB
)O(

they don’t in my experience

Indeed, you quote the 5th precept very well. As for the drug use connection, I think I can explain. I’m not 100% sure, though.

I think they are associating Buddhism with meditation, which is pretty much correct. But then they are associating meditation with the pot smoking hippies from the 60’s, which is not correct.

Hence associating Buddhism with pot smoking.

Don’t worry, we do get a lot of mocking in the Western world. I, for one, often get asked why I don’t shave my head. I simply reply with an equal question:

Why don’t all Christians go to church?

Highlighting the fact that everybody is different, and has different ways of expressing their beliefs and practices, the original question is answered.

((((hugs))))

Peace

‘Hi’ (a natural one) !!!

I’ve lived for short periods of time in various Buddhist monasteries around the world (when I traveled). My local monastery is ‘Amaravati’ in Hertfordshire, England (see: http://www.amaravati.org). where I have been attending practice for 15 years though I can’t say I’m a ‘devout’ Buddhist in terms of all the precepts all the time!

In the west, people who are searching for some sort of spiritual meaning to existence are often intrigued by the insights that altered states of consciousness can sometimes reveal. It is a very contentious issue though; loaded with skepticism, doubt, fear/neurosis by many people (especially hard-line conservative religious buffs! I understand various points of view about drugs and know how misuse can certainly result in heedlessness and self-destruction.

I met many very well respected monks in western monasteries who discovered The Dhamma via experimentation with cannabis, mushrooms, LSD and other drugs. I too, though never a monk, had the same initial path to ‘Buddhism’ (though that word immediately identifies something which has no identity). My experiences on drugs gave me very profound insights into the nature of the four noble truths. I had some incredibly beautiful ‘timeless’ moments on mushrooms. I certainly don’t regret my use of drugs as a way to go some way towards understanding the dichotomy of the conditioned/unconditioned. It has to be said though that most drug users just take them to escape the self rather than to look into what the self is not. After all, when we experience a place of ‘less, or no self’ it can feel wonderfully ‘high’ and of immense rapture.

To describe a state as ‘clear’ or ‘clouded’ can often be an oversimplification/simplistic. There are sometimes many layers of mental phenomena in operation at the same time within human consciousness and they have their stages of development and purpose. To ‘chunk’ things into categories is a limitation of the human language/communication. It’s a necessary compromise in our wordily conventional structure.

From my observation, anyone who has gained insights from drugs learns that they are not to be depended upon, nor attached to, and in fact, are to be relinquished. They can only take you so far, then the serious Dhamma practice begins!

Shinkirou, I wouldn’t take personally; people’s false assumptions about Buddhism being a ‘Hippie religion’. Take it lightly and perhaps even as a compliment – after all, the Hippies, though often naive, had a beautiful ideal! A lot of them did turn to Buddhism when they ‘grew up’.