Lzh Dg Bu Pm 2 Pc 51Drinking Alcohol
Pāli / Sanskrit:Surāpāna
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The Sutta on Drinking Alcohol (Surāpāna)
Background
The Sutta on Drinking Alcohol is one of the important regulations belonging to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha. The Vinaya Piṭaka was compiled for the purpose of protecting the purity of the Sangha, while also supporting monastics practicing on the path to liberation. These regulations are not arbitrary prohibitions, but guidelines established on the basis of specific events that Buddha Shakyamuni witnessed while guiding the monastic community.
The rule concerning the drinking of alcohol is found among the actions prohibited or to be restricted in the Vinaya. This reflects the Buddha’s profound understanding of how intoxicants affect consciousness and the strength of one’s practice. Surāpāna — alcohol or intoxicating substances — includes not only fermented drinks but also extends to other substances that bewilder the mind.
Main Content
According to the spirit of the Theravāda Vinaya, drinking alcohol or similar substances is considered an action unsuitable for the renunciant life. The Buddha established this rule because alcohol is a substance that makes the mind ignorant and deluded (sammohana), disturbs wisdom (paññā), and causes the loss of mindfulness (sati).
According to the Vinaya texts, a bhikkhu or bhikkhunī who drinks intoxicating substances is considered to have committed one of the Pācittiya offenses, a minor offense requiring confession. These rules apply not only to beverages with high alcohol content, but also include anything capable of confusing the nervous system. In the Buddha’s time, such drinks included liquor made from grains, honey-wine, and other fermented substances.
The purpose of this rule is to protect the five common moral precepts (Pañcasīla) that all practitioners must uphold. The violation does not stop at the act of drinking, but also concerns the decline of mental concentration (samādhi) and the ability to govern oneself. Alcohol is regarded as one of the chief barriers obstructing progress on the path of practice leading to nirvana.
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