What Does Wine Etiquette Reveal About One's Character?

Q: Is the state after drinking alcohol the habitual tendency of the manas, revealing the true nature of the manas itself?

A: After drinking, the brain nerves become numbed, the functions of the five sense faculties weaken, the discerning power of the six consciousnesses diminishes, and the thinking capacity of the mano-vijnana (mental consciousness) weakens. In this state, the six scouts (the six consciousnesses) cannot accurately perceive the objects of the six sense fields. Consequently, the manas partially or completely severs the source of information, and the advisory function of the mano-vijnana becomes largely ineffective. At this point, everything relies entirely on the innate wisdom of the manas itself, and the inherent quality of the manas is fully revealed.

The saying "Wine tells the truth" means that the words spoken after drinking are entirely the voice of a person's manas, expressing their genuine thoughts without the concealment or pretense of the mano-vijnana. What people often refer to as "drinking character" and "personal character" actually point to the moral quality of the manas, which represents a person's true, original nature.