Thrilled to investigate this.daverupa wrote:This might be an interesting thread: is yoniso manasikara possible while intoxicated? I think it's a simple answer, but it might be worth an exploration since this comes up fairly regularly.Viscid wrote:All things in the world, if looked with enough objective scrutiny, offer the potential for insight.. the state of the mind when intoxicated included.
First, what do we mean by 'intoxicated?' My original post was referring mainly to psychedelics, particularly LSD. Generally people who are tripping on LSD don't even refer to the experience as being one of 'intoxication,' but let's say it is. If so, then not all intoxicated states are equal. Some, as with alcohol, are extremely dulling and would likely hinder one's ability to wisely reflect, and others may interfere less with the conditions appropriate for yoniso manasikara.
Whether one can reflect wisely while intoxicated is also dependent on their intentions in becoming intoxicated in the first place-- if they became intoxicated for the purpose of escape, it's unlikely they're going to utilize the intoxicated state as an object of reflection. In Western culture drugs are generally used to escape mundanity, so it's unlikely an intoxicated Westerner will be applying yoniso manasikara. In cultures with an established shamanic tradition, I argue, where ingestion of 'intoxicating' substances is a serious, sacred act, I have absolute conviction that yoniso manasikara is present.
If someone on LSD had 'insight' into impermanence-- if they, in the middle of the trip, realized 'nothing lasts!' I would say that such a thing is a genuine insight, a Buddhist insight, one that could potentially lead to dispassion-- but it's unlikely to have a profound long-term impact on the individual.. they will sober up and gradually forget about that insight. Having an established Vipassana practice however, allows the meditator to habitually reinforce dispassion toward the world.daverupa wrote:This ignores conditionality altogether, doesn't it? "Remain its old", indeed...Viscid wrote:having gaining genuine insight about the nature of consciousness or the world, your mind will remain its old suffering self.