Speaking about alcohol, let's say I got an advice for people that don't drink, like they don't want to look too religious to others, let's say, because I certainly don't like when somebody like, anyway, if somebody wants to go out or somewhere, just go drink two up to three beers, you're not going to get drunk, and it's a good solution.
It's not bad if you just get two beers just to, you know,
show that you can drink, but not to the extent that you get drunk.
Well, even if it were that simple, I would say no.
If I go around telling people to, or simply put, you're setting a bad example for people.
You are reinforcing the belief that drinking is okay.
So even if you weren't getting drunk as a result of drinking two beers, which
Actually, you are.
Even the smallest bit of alcohol, it makes you the smallest bit drunk.
There's not a line or something.
Whoops, now I'm drunk.
It comes gradually.
You're not going to get drunk.
But do you understand what I'm saying?
There is no such thing as drunk.
Drunk is just a line in the sand.
The more you drink, the more drunk you are.
It's not a line where suddenly, whoops, I'm drunk.
Up until this point, I was fine, but suddenly, boom, I'm drunk.
No, it's not like that.
It's poison.
So it poisons you.
If you have a little bit of poison, you're a little bit poisoned.
I mean, I'm talking from experience.
I've been there.
I'm a bit of a lush myself, but I can hear where that person's coming from, saying, so hungover, they don't have much to add to the discussion.
Pickled.
Hmm.
It's always unpleasant.
It's always unpleasant when somebody asks me to drink something.
But there's so much more to it than that as well.
There's the crowd that you're hanging out with.
You're hanging out with people who are drinking as well.
And you're encouraging it.
You're engaged in this situation.
I mean, it's very hard.
Because in real life, let's say you meet with your friends and they really got nothing else to do than get drunk.
And it's just kind of pathetic when you see that you can't deal with your social life in the Buddhist way, really, because people are just, you know, I mean, let's go and get drunk, or let's smoke weed, but weed is all right, because it's not messing you, I mean, it doesn't give you, it might show you some reality, at least, might show you that,
Your mind is... You're talking about marijuana?
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Showing your reality.
I mean, it might show you... It might show you some sort of... You know, I mean... Some people say, hey... No, some people say, oh, I don't smoke really because I don't feel good.
I say, you know what?
Because every day, that's how you feel every day.
That's what I think.
So I think that marijuana is not that bad in social life.
Yeah, I mean, if social life is the goal, it's not that bad.
Well, it's not a goal.
I mean, I don't have a need for social life, but sometimes in front of your situation...
that you basically become a loner.
You know what I mean?
Sounds wonderful.
Yeah, well, I think it's like, what are people going to think about me, you know what I mean?
Well, that doesn't sound very skillful a thought.
Yeah, it doesn't sound very good.
Do I want them to think that I'm normal, you know what I mean?
Is that a skillful thought or an unskillful thought?
Is that a skillful desire or an unskillful desire?
You see, I stopped drinking a long time ago, but if somebody asked me, I came to the conclusion, like, I'd rather have two beers and have it off my back, that why I don't drink and why this, you know.
You could open up a whole new line of conversation if you could talk to people about...
A great reason if people want to avoid that kind of thing, you could say it's because I want to take care of the other people who are drinking.
Be the designated driver, for example.
Because I'm much happier when I can take care of people, when I'm in full control of my senses.
What an opportunity you're missing by becoming drunk to...
Well, to laugh at drunk people is possible.
But no, to help or to be the designated driver, for example.
But, you know, you're in the wrong crowd if you've got to, you know, if your friends can't, what was this thing, if your friends can't have fun without drinking, you need new friends.
I mean, that's about, I'm talking about population here.
I'm not talking about friends.
I'm talking about your people.
I'm talking about
The whole society.
Lots of good people.
Look at the people here.
We're not drinking.
Yeah, that's why I'm here.
Well, there you go.
Find a better society.
There's more to it than that.
Really, the key is when you drink two beers, you become two beers drunk.
It's a bad idea.
Sorry about it, but if you have really light fears... Sorry about it, I'm not... Just stating that it's a shame in many ways, because what it does to your mind and your...
idea of what's right and so on and you know the dulled state that it brings to drink and the opportunities that are missed to change your life to change your society that would be forced by having to confront this by having to draw the line in the sand and say no I won't cross this
you know i have no problem i don't know i'm so confident about it because i believe well then start this conversation i don't want to i mean start the conversation i don't drink and and here's the reason why yeah but it sounds like um it makes me uh feel like i'm old you know what i mean like choose the path
Choose the path that you want to follow.
If you want to follow the social life, the friends and everything along those lines, then follow the path.
If you want to follow the Buddha's teachings and follow that path, you have to make a choice.
You can't have a bit of one and a bit of the other.
You see, I wasn't drinking for two years.
I stopped drinking two years ago.
And I committed myself to this because I used to drink a lot.
I'm from Poland.
I started drinking vodka when I was 11.
So I know quite a lot about drinking, not to mention my family and many other families.
But I'm confident to that point that I can drink and by no means enjoy it.
And I was like...
I was after two years not drinking, my mate asked me like, hey, let's go have a few, because he had some problem with something, and let's have some, I help you, let's go and have a good time, have some beers.
And I drank those, these two beers, three beers.
And I was like, I didn't enjoy it, you know?
I mean, I didn't like it.
You're only talking from within your own... Sorry, I don't mean to sound too hard, but I just like to argue.
I don't mean to come down on you, but just the point that I would observe is that
you you can only we can only look at our own position we can only look from our own position we can't look from outside and see what actually is going on and I would be willing to bet and I'm not trying to be harder like some religious person saying no bad you but I'm willing to bet just as a you know kind of a friendly wager that if you did stop if you did
go to the extent of not drinking those two beers.
Or let's talk about someone who does that on a weekly basis, say, because for you it might just be whenever the occasion occurs.
But suppose someone said, well, every weekend I have a couple of beers with my friends, that if they stopped doing that, it would change their life in some meaningful way.
Maybe not a huge, profound way, but in a meaningful way by stopping that, their life would change.
Their mind would be affected.
And moreover, their surroundings would be affected.
The other people would be affected.
Their whole life would change.
So the rules are sikapada.
They're rules of training or they're paths of training.
They're for the purpose of leading you onward.
They're not to just maintain the status quo and not go to hell.
They're a means of enlightening you.
The concentration that comes from morality, morality is what leads to concentration, and the concentration which comes from morality that is properly developed is of great benefit.