I have been asked: “Is there anything wrong with having a drink ever so often? I find it to be relaxing”.
The wise said, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” But a drink a day keeps the doctor with you. Whatever variety of drink you have, whether wine or whiskey, it is playing on your chemistry to make you feel peaceful and relaxed; it is just soothing you a little bit. If a small quantity of it is so relaxing, then if you drink a bucket of it you must be really relaxed. But it does not work like that.
I am not against drink or pleasure. The question is not about, “Is this wrong or is this right?” This is not about a moralistic standpoint. I just think it is a pity that human beings are settling for such small pleasures when something far bigger is possible within them. You can be drunk all the time. Free! No hangover and no doctor! The fundamental question is: Are you for life or against life? If you are for life, what is it that you call life?
Right now, you know you are alive because you are alert enough. Suppose you fell asleep, do you know whether you are alive or dead? All experience has disappeared. Essentially in your experience of life, awareness is aliveness. How aware you are is how alive you are. Because the experience of life is such: only what you are aware of exists for you; the rest does not exist for you. Awareness is aliveness. But any kind of intoxication, it does not matter what kind, lowers your aliveness or awareness. This is why they are telling you, you cannot drive with a drink because it lowers your awareness.
If you become fully aware, instead of existing here as a piece of creation, as a piece of flesh and blood, you will exist as the creator himself. That is the choice you have. Either you live here as just a piece of creation or you live here as the creator himself.
If you want to exist as a creator, your awareness has to spread. But your depressions, your unhappiness, your confusions, your alcohol, everything is putting your awareness down. If all you are seeking is a little bit of pleasure, I am not against it. But if you are a pleasure seeker, wouldn’t you be interested if you were given an opportunity to have a much bigger pleasure? If you could learn how to be drunk all the time and fully alert, wouldn’t you be interested?