Longchenpa's View on Alcohol?

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EmptyLightfulness
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Longchenpa's View on Alcohol?

Post by EmptyLightfulness »

I have been thinking that Longchenpa always praised alcohol. But I read in somewhere that he gave up alcohol in his later years, is this true or not? Thanks.

"From Longchenpa's final testament, Immaculate Light:

As alcohol and lovers are the source of afflictive emotions,

Abandon the mind that craves and obsesses over them.

Emulating the way of the sages,"
Malcolm
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Re: Longchenpa's View on Alcohol?

Post by Malcolm »

EmptyLightfulness wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:22 pm I have been thinking that Longchenpa always praised alcohol. But I read in somewhere that he gave up alcohol in his later years, is this true or not? Thanks.

"From Longchenpa's final testament, Immaculate Light:

As alcohol and lovers are the source of afflictive emotions,

Abandon the mind that craves and obsesses over them.

Emulating the way of the sages,"
Not advice for himself, but his immediate students.
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Sādhaka
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Re: Longchenpa's View on Alcohol?

Post by Sādhaka »

I remember seeing a post to the effect that his praise of alcohol was supposedly satire....

In any case, you have the instructions on the possible role of alcohol or you don’t.

If you don’t, then probably better to avoid frequent or even regular consumption.

And if you do have any, well then that’s between you and your Lama.
EmptyLightfulness
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Re: Longchenpa's View on Alcohol?

Post by EmptyLightfulness »

Malcolm wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:43 pm
EmptyLightfulness wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:22 pm I have been thinking that Longchenpa always praised alcohol. But I read in somewhere that he gave up alcohol in his later years, is this true or not? Thanks.

"From Longchenpa's final testament, Immaculate Light:

As alcohol and lovers are the source of afflictive emotions,

Abandon the mind that craves and obsesses over them.

Emulating the way of the sages,"
Not advice for himself, but his immediate students.
Thanks a lot for your answer Ācārya Malcolm. Is there any source on this matter which I can read? The person whom I quoted this presented this quote as a conversion of Longchenpa on the matter of alcohol. It is totally misguiding, then.
Sādhaka wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:47 pm I remember seeing a post to the effect that his praise of alcohol was satire....

In any case, you have the instructions on the possible role of alcohol or you don’t.

If you don’t, then probably better to avoid frequent or even regular consumption.

And if you do have any, well then that’s between you and your Lama.
I don't use alcohol of any sort, I just didn't understand and wandered about whether a fully realized master like Longchenpa changed his mind or not.
Last edited by EmptyLightfulness on Fri Jun 26, 2020 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Malcolm
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Re: Longchenpa's View on Alcohol?

Post by Malcolm »

Sādhaka wrote: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:47 pm I remember seeing a post to the effect that his praise of alcohol was supposedly satire....
Yes, it satirized all the people who drank secretly.
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Grigoris
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Re: Longchenpa's View on Alcohol?

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I had the great joy of receiving a lung for a drinking song written by Dudjom Rinpoche.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Nemo
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Re: Longchenpa's View on Alcohol?

Post by Nemo »

It's all about how much you drink. All you need is a sip. Watching a moronic alcoholic think they are fooling anyone is always so sad.
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Grigoris
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Re: Longchenpa's View on Alcohol?

Post by Grigoris »

I should add that according to my teacher Loppon Ogyan Tanzin Rinpoche (who gave me the lung for the practice) Dudjom Rinpoche was not a drinker.

I should also add that according to a number of sources, including my teacher, a ngkapa/ngakma can (should?) drink a kapala of chang per day. Note that Tibetan chang (as opposed to the Thai beer) is quite weak (3% alcohol).
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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