Lzh Mi Bu Pm Pc 57Drinking Alcohol

The Discourse on Drinking Alcohol (Surāpāna)

Background

The Surāpāna discourse is found in the Vinaya Pitaka, the body of Dharma and discipline governing the practice life of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. The Vinaya Pitaka is not a collection of dry commandments, but an expression of the Buddha’s compassion and wisdom, intended to protect the Sangha as well as the teaching.

In the Buddha’s time, within a community seeking liberation, drinking alcohol was a practical matter that needed to be clearly defined. This was not because alcohol is absolutely "evil," but because it directly obstructs the goal of practice: purifying the mind, brightening wisdom, and controlling the senses. A person intoxicated by alcohol cannot maintain mindfulness (sati), cannot judge right and wrong clearly, and easily falls into unwholesome actions.

Main Content

In the Vinaya Pitaka, drinking alcohol or intoxicating substances (surā) is prohibited for all who have gone forth. This is recorded in the Pāṭimokkha rules of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. Specifically, drinking substances that cause intoxication is regarded as a violation of the basic principles of Buddhist ethics.

However, the Vinaya Pitaka also records exceptions connected with health. If a monastic is ill and a physician prescribes medicine containing alcohol, then in that circumstance drinking is solely for the purpose of healing and not for intoxication. Even so, the general principle remains: vigilance and clarity are essential for a renunciant Buddhist.

The Buddha taught that alcohol is an "open door" to unwholesome actions. When the mind loses clarity, a monastic may violate other precepts, from careless speech and violent action to sexual misconduct. Thus, the prohibition against drinking alcohol is not an arbitrary rule, but a protective measure to maintain independence of mind and purity of conduct.