What happens if an arahant takes drugs? (Smoking weed, LSD, Alcohol,...)

Is there a difference?

They get high.

They will become high but can switch back to being almost normal in an instant as if a switch has been turned on/off.

No claims to Arahant-ship, but yes there is almost certainly a difference.

The only drug that I have significant experience with is alcohol.

Here is an old entry from a journal I used to keep on this forum, soon after that baseline shift...

[quote= DZ's Journal]- Went to a party, had a couple of drinks (there was a phase following stream entry where alcohol resulted in incredible disorientation and headaches, not just the regular inebriation / hangovers). There is no feeling of getting drunk whatsoever. Although I think I might have been getting drunk and didn't notice it, in the sense that my actions were that of a drunk person, but my awareness remained unaffected. But not sure this might also have just been the lack of anxiety in action.


I think at the time I wrote that post, there was a still some threshold after which the alcohol would hit me. But after some more recent progressions I basically never feel buzzed or drunk, but I still get drunk physiologically. Alcohol still has some pleasantness, and loosening up actions is sometimes good in certain social situations..

It took some getting used to, because I was subconsciously using feeling buzzed as a signal to stop drinking. There were one instance where I didn't feel drunk at all, till I started throwing up. Then I had a multiday hangover.

After that I started being much more careful about it, and drastically cut down on the drinking.

These days I have far less motivation to drink and party compared to before. And when I drink it is only, in measured amounts. I am sure this has played a some role, but there are probably a number of factors..

Actually, they are drugs. People are still scraping off pieces of Mahasi and smoking him. Trufax.

I hate to say this, but I got drunk on two glasses of wine about 4 months post SE. Of course my tolerance has always been low, and I have had very little alcohol for years, plus the occasion was late afternoon, on a near-empty stomach. But the experience was one of mental fog, altered vision, and unpleasant pressure in the ears. Not something I have any desire to repeat.

It isn't pretty.

I hit the A&P right before drinking with a friend. I put away six beers in a couple hours without noticing. This doesn't mean I wasn't drunk, just that I was so manic I didn't take notice.

Conversely, right after coming off a 9-day retreat, my attention was so finely tuned, I noticed the effects of just one beer. Also, food tasted wonderful - the way it does when you're stoned.

I thought it was like this.

Hilarious! Nice to know I'm not the only yogi who is still totally immature.

It depends whether you want to become an arahat or an arahahahat :-)

I sometimes like tagging things with #arhatsnotasshats