Lzh Sarv Bu Vb Pc 79Drinking Alcohol
Pāli / Sanskrit:Surāpāna
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Discourse on Drinking Alcohol (Surāpāna)
Background
The Discourse on Drinking Alcohol (Surāpāna) is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Pātimokkha section of the traditional Theravāda Vinaya. These are regulations on conduct for bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs in the Sangha community from the time of the Buddha.
The Vinaya Piṭaka was compiled to maintain discipline and purity in the Sangha. These regulations are not arbitrary punishments, but preventive teachings that help monastics avoid harmful things and protect their own peace of mind and wisdom.
The Buddha’s establishment of a rule regarding drinking alcohol reflects deep understanding of the mechanisms of the human mind. Alcohol causes the loss of heedfulness (appamāda), disturbs wisdom (paññā), and leads to careless actions, thereby causing suffering for oneself and others.
Main Content
In the Pātimokkha, drinking alcohol or substances that agitate wisdom is listed as a Pācittiya offense, a penance offense, meaning a fault requiring confession before the assembly. Specifically, this rule states that a bhikkhu or bhikkhunī must not drink any substance capable of confusing consciousness, including wine, beer, or other fermented drinks.
This rule does not only prohibit drinking pure alcohol; even using any substance known to disturb the mind is considered a violation. The Buddha emphasized that a practitioner must carefully guard the sense faculties (indriya). Alcohol is an intoxicating substance that blurs the boundary between right and wrong, wholesome and unwholesome.
The reason for establishing this rule is rooted in five extraordinary considerations concerning the consequences of drinking alcohol: alcohol causes loss of control, loss of heedfulness, leads to inappropriate actions, harms the honor of a practitioner, and covers over beautiful qualities such as loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.
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