About 10 years ago, I ditched caffeine. My daily ritual was chugging two or three cans of Coke during work, pounding back a Red Bull on lunch, and indulging in a bottled Starbucks Frappuccino. I went cold turkey for a month or so, suffered the worst withdrawal headaches of my life, and I was good to go after that.

This was a fairly drastic response to physical symptoms I had suddenly noticed in myself. Lying in bed one night, I became acutely aware of my heart pounding and my thoughts racing out of control. In between compulsive tossing and turning, I resolved to cut my caffeine way back. To zero. Feeling this way sucked, and I was over it.

With a few exceptions here and there, my caffeine intake has remained at or close to zero since then. Occasional periods of not paying attention (or simply wanting the greater convenience of caffeinated versus decaf beverages ) have derailed me a few times, but I always regret it once the agitation, sleeplessness, and withdrawal crashes set in.

I love the taste of coffee, and it’s very likely you do, too. Still, I put a lot of self-restraint into making sure I drink decaf, and only a small amount every now and then. I’m always wary of crossing that line where I become an irritable, impatient insomniac. It’s not a fun place to be, and it certainly doesn’t do myself or others any good.

As a Buddhist, I’ve often asked myself: Is caffeine something Buddhists should avoid? Does it violate the fifth precept, in which we commit to refrain from intoxicants?

Certainly, the Buddha never taught that coffee is evil. There was no chemical science in his time to discover the existence of caffeine or to pin down its effects. Still, the precepts represent a practice which we must continually renew day after day and year after year. They are the basis by which we maintain mindfulness, reflect on our lives in relation to the Four Noble Truths, and refrain from actions that will perpetuate suffering for ourselves and others.

Clearly, caffeine does not “intoxicate” in the same way that alcohol does. Coffee is not “fermented” or “distilled” in the literal sense of the fifth precept. There are definitely physiological and psychological consequences to consuming it, though, and such things are always intertwined with our practice as Buddhists and as human beings.

Back to Buddhism. On the subject of the Buddhist precepts, Bhikkhu Bodhi writes:

Whereas the first four precepts clearly belong to the moral sphere, a question may arise whether this precept is really ethical in character or merely hygienic. The answer is that it is ethical, for the reason that what a person does to his own body and mind can have a decisive effect on his relations to his fellow men. Taking intoxicants can influence the ways in which a man interacts with others, leading to the violation of all five precepts. Under the influence of intoxicants a man who might otherwise be restrained can lose self-control, become heedless, and engage in killing, stealing, adultery, and lying. [emphasis mine]

Compare that last sentence with the physiological side effects I mentioned above.

I think there’s no doubt that anxiety, irritability, insomnia, unsafe neuron firing, increased stress hormones, and a prolonged “fight or flight” response can cause an otherwise restrained man or woman to lose self-control, become heedless, and violate other precepts or bring suffering to others. Just think about road rage, stressed out parents snapping at their kids for no reason, irritable customers shouting at retail employees, that grumpy friend of yours who “can’t face the day” without her morning cup o’ java, and the like.

Bhikkhu Bodhi continues:

[The precept] prevents the misfortunes that result from the use of intoxicants: loss of wealth, quarrels and crimes, bodily disease, loss of reputation, shameless conduct, negligence, and madness.

Clearly, there is the potential for loss of wealth if you become so addicted to caffeine that you stop at Starbucks on the way to work every morning, and drop $4 or $5 on a cup of coffee. There’s the definite possibility of quarrels if your stress hormones are out of whack. Bodily disease is no stretch if your liver is being assaulted by massive doses of caffeine and sulfides every day. And so on…