Buddhist- do you drink alcohol or smoke? How is that viewed in your religion?

Answer 1

There are not rules in Buddhism that say 'thou shalt not....', but guidelines that we can choose to follow. One aim of Buddhism is to be able to reach enlightenment, though understanding our minds - we cannot do this if they are clouded by chemicals. The choice is ours. Some lay Buddhists choose to drink etc. in moderation to be sociable.

It all depends on whether the Buddhist a lay person or ordained monk, and what Tradition they are from. Zen monks are vegetarian and should not eat garlic/chives/onions/leeks. Tibetans don't eat fish. Theravada monks eat whatever they are given unless they think that an animal has been killed specially for them. Lay people tend to make their own decisions about diet according to their circumstances.

Answer 2

I lived in a Zen temple for a few months. Usually, on the weekends, we would have red wine with our dinner. Sometimes, we would pop open an extra bottle or two.

The most important aspect in zen is not to be attached to anything, even Buddhism itself. If we didn't break our own rules, we would be causalities of our own rules.

Plus, getting out of your normal consciousness (being drunk or high) is beneficial, because it gives you an awareness towards your normal state of conciseness. The trap is becoming dependent on the intoxicant. If you don't get attached to the intoxicant, then it's actually good for zen practice to indulge a bit, once in a while. They say that there are lots of paradoxes in zen, well we have just found one.