The nature of a drugged spiritual experience is pretty passive. It’s all about acceptance. Just let go, and everything’s really already wonderful. But we can’t function that way. We’re acting in the world.

"I think a large part of the problem is that many people come to Buddhism having had their first spiritual experience with drugs. The nature of a drugged spiritual experience is pretty passive. It’s all about acceptance. Just let go, and everything’s really already wonderful. That may be good when you’re on drugs, but we can’t live that way. We can’t function that way. We’re acting in the world. We have to realize that the mind is not passive.

When you start being passive like that, you can do it only for a little bit of time. Then you’ve got to get active again. Look what happens to people who are hooked on drugs. Anything! They’ll do anything in order to get that drugged experience again. This is where the ugly side of the eating nature of the mind shows itself, when you look for your happiness based on something that’s impermanent like that.

You have to realize that the Buddha’s vision begins with something utterly different: realizing the importance of your actions. We’re all looking for happiness, and we’re all going to have to be proactive in doing it. The question is, how you can do it in such a way that you’re not harming yourself and not harming others? Because you do want your happiness to be long-term. And if your happiness depends on other people’s suffering, they’re not going to stand for it. It’s not going to last."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Buddha's Shoulds"

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