The question asked by one of our members for this month is whether social media is, from a Zen perspective, an “intoxicant” — with it’s reliance on triggering our brains’ dopamine receptors? However you regard the claim or the science behind it, anything that we find ourselves returning to again and again, to a degree that begins to appear obsessive-compulsive, or addictive, would have to be regarded as an example of craving or clinging, identified in the Twelvefold Chain of Interdependent Origination as the primary source of human suffering.

On the other hand, anything that we find ourselves avoiding like the plague — other than an actual plague — would be an example of he other side of the coin of attachment: that of aversion. Both attachment and aversion are regarded as complementary, that is, variations on the same theme, as indicated in the opening line of Hsinhsinming—Trust in Mind, the first and longest of the three Ch’an Buddhism teaching poems featured in Soto Zen liturgy. (For more on Soto liturgy please register for my Master Class at https://aszc-sto.regfox.com/master-class-march-2023.):

The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences

A caveat may be in order here, to remind all that the great Master Sengcan (b. 496?-606) is not referring to a preference for chocolate over vanilla ice cream, but the deeper exercise of preference to wholly accept, or reject, the real-world circumstances — causes and conditions — of our existence, whether pleasant or unpleasant in our judgment.

I suspect that this persistent meme of Zen Buddhism began with Buddha’s exposition (so attributed) of the Twelvefold Chain, and was probably reinforced with the assimilation of Taoism in its evolution through China. The Chain is often presented as representing the typical way of transmigration through the Ocean of Samsara, but also reversible, representing the Buddhist way of emancipation. So we could conditionally regard the problem of addiction, to any activity, sensation or substance, as inherently reversible. If so, whether or not engagement with social media qualifies as intoxicating would be up to the sober judgment of the individual, while the process of reversing it to become a path to emancipation may require the intervention of experts.

In Zen Buddhism, we regard everything as a form of addiction, if anything is. That is, an addictive substance, for example, is defined by what happens to the addict when it is withdrawn. The AMA describes it as a “significant degree of discomfort,” a catch-all phrase that clearly applies to such substances as oxygen, water, and food — the withdrawal of which results, respectively, in significant discomfort, damage and death in about 5 minutes for air, a week or two for water, and a bit longer for food. We can suffocate, die of thirst or starvation. So by the AMA’s definition these necessities of life may be regarded as “additive.” This provides a perspective on the other compulsions and substances that are not necessarily life-threatening, though they can be. See: fentanyl.

An intoxicant, such as alcohol, is not necessarily addictive, though it can be. My understanding of the difference, explained to my by a half-dozen MDs who visited the Zen center from a halfway house for addiction, is that the addiction is a symbiotic type of relationship between the individual and the toxic or addictive substance. Some will become addicted to alcohol or marijuana, others will not, depending on their metabolism or some more complex combination of biological and psychological influences. And it should be noted in passing that substance abuse, or sexuality, are probably not the most insidious classes of addictions. Lust for wealth and power may be far worse, in their effects both in the personal sphere, as well as those upon the social sphere. See: politics.

So we would have to conclude that social media is not necessarily and intoxicant, though it can be. It depends upon the symbiotic relationship to the person engaging it.