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Buddhism's ban is on drugs that cause heedlessness. It can be argued magic mushrooms do not cause heedlessness, so they are not banned in many circles. It bec

Buddhism's ban is on drugs that cause heedlessness. It can be argued magic mushrooms do not cause heedlessness, so they are not banned in many circles. It becomes opinionated as to what causes heedlessness, so there is a divide between groups when it comes to what one is and isn't allowed, so I get you could argue magic mushrooms should not be allowed. As food for thought, brain scans show mushrooms lights up the brain in a near identical way to jhanic meditation, so it's common to use mushrooms as an advertisement. "One day you can do this with meditation."

spicymaki 7y ago
I would immediately question the seriousness of those Buddhist circles. Dependency on magic mushrooms to shortcut through the path violates the spirit of Buddhism. Technically the fifth precept is about alcohol: Surāmerayamajjapamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi -> I undertake the precept to refrain from fermented drink which lead to heedlessness. However, the hermeneutical understanding of that precept is it applies to any mind-altering substance. Why? Because losing control of yourself can trigger violating other precepts. For example intoxicants could lead to sexual misconduct which can lead to lying, and so on.
- proverbialbunny 7y ago
  >Dependency on magic mushrooms to shortcut through the path violates the spirit of Buddhism. I wouldn't call it a short cut. I hope I didn't accidentally imply it is. Wisdom is built up through experience, be it meditative experience, social experiences (like dispelling ill-will), or written experiences (like suttas). When there is enough wisdom from awareness the fetter of ignorance breaks. There is no short cut when it comes to dispelling ignorance and misunderstanding. >However, the hermeneutical understanding of that precept is it applies to any mind-altering substance. Why? Because losing control of yourself can trigger violating other precepts. For example intoxicants could lead to sexual misconduct which can lead to lying, and so on. I would say losing control of yourself is heedlessness. There isn't a loss of control when it comes to magic mushrooms. However, you could argue magic mushrooms causes heedlessness because you can't control how long the meditative-like state is, which could be a reason to ban it. What magic mushrooms do is increase awareness. Buddhist tradition does it's best to not offend. Because Buddhism tries not to offend, the general rule of thumb is: if it's illegal in that part of the world, Buddhism does not encourage law breaking behavior. Where I live, for example, magic mushrooms are legal. There are many places in the world where they are unregulated. Likewise, in many circles in the west, over 50% of new practitioners came from psychedelics often having seen a glimpse of nirvana and are looking for that. Some come from yoga too. The idea is to let those people know there is more out there, so they don't get stuck. I'm not trying to take sides here or say it's right or wrong. I'm just trying to help.

spicymaki 7y ago

I would immediately question the seriousness of those Buddhist circles. Dependency on magic mushrooms to shortcut through the path violates the spirit of Buddhism. Technically the fifth precept is about alcohol: Surāmerayamajjapamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi -> I undertake the precept to refrain from fermented drink which lead to heedlessness. However, the hermeneutical understanding of that precept is it applies to any mind-altering substance. Why? Because losing control of yourself can trigger violating other precepts. For example intoxicants could lead to sexual misconduct which can lead to lying, and so on.

proverbialbunny 7y ago
>Dependency on magic mushrooms to shortcut through the path violates the spirit of Buddhism. I wouldn't call it a short cut. I hope I didn't accidentally imply it is. Wisdom is built up through experience, be it meditative experience, social experiences (like dispelling ill-will), or written experiences (like suttas). When there is enough wisdom from awareness the fetter of ignorance breaks. There is no short cut when it comes to dispelling ignorance and misunderstanding. >However, the hermeneutical understanding of that precept is it applies to any mind-altering substance. Why? Because losing control of yourself can trigger violating other precepts. For example intoxicants could lead to sexual misconduct which can lead to lying, and so on. I would say losing control of yourself is heedlessness. There isn't a loss of control when it comes to magic mushrooms. However, you could argue magic mushrooms causes heedlessness because you can't control how long the meditative-like state is, which could be a reason to ban it. What magic mushrooms do is increase awareness. Buddhist tradition does it's best to not offend. Because Buddhism tries not to offend, the general rule of thumb is: if it's illegal in that part of the world, Buddhism does not encourage law breaking behavior. Where I live, for example, magic mushrooms are legal. There are many places in the world where they are unregulated. Likewise, in many circles in the west, over 50% of new practitioners came from psychedelics often having seen a glimpse of nirvana and are looking for that. Some come from yoga too. The idea is to let those people know there is more out there, so they don't get stuck. I'm not trying to take sides here or say it's right or wrong. I'm just trying to help.