Advances in artificial intelligence and emerging evidence for plant learning challenge core Buddhist assumptions about which beings possess minds. The empirical findings suggest that mental capacities may extend far beyond what premodern Buddhist traditions in South Asia and Tibet accepted, raising doubts about whether certain Buddhist moral positions can be rationally justified.
The article argues that psychedelics can be understood as medicine (bhesajja/bhaiajya) rather than intoxicants (majja/madya) within Buddhist ethics, placing them in a therapeutic rather than enhancement sphere. Indic sources recognize herbs (osadhī/auṣadhi) as a known source of extraordinary experiences and capacities (ṛddhi), providing conceptual grounds for linking psychedelic and meditative experiences in contemporary Buddhist communities.