>Dependency on magic mushrooms to shortcut through the path violates the spirit of Buddhism.
I wouldn't call it a short cut. I hope I didn't accidentally imply it is. Wisdom is built up through experience, be it meditative experience, social experiences (like dispelling ill-will), or written experiences (like suttas). When there is enough wisdom from awareness the fetter of ignorance breaks. There is no short cut when it comes to dispelling ignorance and misunderstanding.
>However, the hermeneutical understanding of that precept is it applies to any mind-altering substance. Why? Because losing control of yourself can trigger violating other precepts. For example intoxicants could lead to sexual misconduct which can lead to lying, and so on.
I would say losing control of yourself is heedlessness. There isn't a loss of control when it comes to magic mushrooms. However, you could argue magic mushrooms causes heedlessness because you can't control how long the meditative-like state is, which could be a reason to ban it. What magic mushrooms do is increase awareness.
Buddhist tradition does it's best to not offend. Because Buddhism tries not to offend, the general rule of thumb is: if it's illegal in that part of the world, Buddhism does not encourage law breaking behavior. Where I live, for example, magic mushrooms are legal. There are many places in the world where they are unregulated. Likewise, in many circles in the west, over 50% of new practitioners came from psychedelics often having seen a glimpse of nirvana and are looking for that. Some come from yoga too. The idea is to let those people know there is more out there, so they don't get stuck.
I'm not trying to take sides here or say it's right or wrong. I'm just trying to help.
I wouldn't call it a short cut. I hope I didn't accidentally imply it is. Wisdom is built up through experience, be it meditative experience, social experiences (like dispelling ill-will), or written experiences (like suttas). When there is enough wisdom from awareness the fetter of ignorance breaks. There is no short cut when it comes to dispelling ignorance and misunderstanding.
>However, the hermeneutical understanding of that precept is it applies to any mind-altering substance. Why? Because losing control of yourself can trigger violating other precepts. For example intoxicants could lead to sexual misconduct which can lead to lying, and so on.
I would say losing control of yourself is heedlessness. There isn't a loss of control when it comes to magic mushrooms. However, you could argue magic mushrooms causes heedlessness because you can't control how long the meditative-like state is, which could be a reason to ban it. What magic mushrooms do is increase awareness.
Buddhist tradition does it's best to not offend. Because Buddhism tries not to offend, the general rule of thumb is: if it's illegal in that part of the world, Buddhism does not encourage law breaking behavior. Where I live, for example, magic mushrooms are legal. There are many places in the world where they are unregulated. Likewise, in many circles in the west, over 50% of new practitioners came from psychedelics often having seen a glimpse of nirvana and are looking for that. Some come from yoga too. The idea is to let those people know there is more out there, so they don't get stuck.
I'm not trying to take sides here or say it's right or wrong. I'm just trying to help.