I Guard My Mind

In the same way that someone in the midst of a rough crowd guards a wound with great care, so in the midst of bad company should one always guard the wound that is the mind.

Santideva; Bodhicaryavatara 5.19

From: 365 BUDDHA

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Since I have abstained from alcohol and drugs, I am sometimes asked how I cope with people at parties and still maintain my integrity. This is an important question and a challenge to most mendicants. First off, I don’t believe I am on a superior spiritual path. For most people; toxins, such as alcohol and drugs, are vehicles to the same end: to relax and enjoy life in it's fullest. Just as I don’t see one religious belief as superior to another, I can’t allow myself to get self-righteous about drugs and alcoholic consumption. Yes, I used them to get out of my mind and anyone that uses a cocktail or takes a toke off one’s bong after work to relax, is essentially doing the same thing to a lesser degree: the same end as meditation and prayer. As Frank Zappa sang in 200 Motels: "I gotta be out of  it before I get into it." A drink after a hard day brought my mind home. Another, released my mind of grasping and I relaxed. Isn't that what meditation does for me? The difference is that my mind absorbs alcohol and drugs differently than most people. One toke or one sip isn’t enough for me and, because I have chosen sobriety for my own mental health’s sake, I know I have an addictive mind; and thus, I know that I can’t imbibe. However, when I am in a situation where folks are drunk, and even belligerently obnoxious, it is counter-productive to look down my nose at them. I guard my mind. If there is no productive purpose to stay and it is possible to leave, I do. I can stay whenever, and wherever, it is useful to be there. If not, I go.

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