The basic Buddhist teachings on alcohol consumption are quite clear. Alcohol is a poison that clouds the inherent clarity of the mind. Nonetheless, Bodhichitta is a winery that operates in the very clear minded Buddhist spirit to serve others. Owner and Winemaker, Mark Proden, donates 100 percent of the proceeds to charitable causes. If you are going to have a drink, why not express your Bodhisattva nature at the same time?

Bodhicitta is the medicine which revives and gives life to every sentient being who even hears of it. When you engage in fulfilling the needs of others, your own needs are fulfilled as a by-product. – H.H. Dalai Lama

Bodhicitta may be defined as enlightened mind or awakening mind.  According to Wikipedia, bodhicitta combines both “limitless compassion for all sentient beings and the falling away of the attachment to the illusion of an inherently existent self.”

Patrul Rinpoche elucidates three levels of bodhicitta in his Words of My Perfect Teacher. The lowest level is the way of the King, who seeks his own benefit but realizes that his benefit depends on that of his kingdom and subjects. The middle level is the path of the boatman, who ferries his passengers across the river and simultaneously, of course, ferries himself as well.  The highest level is that of the shepherd, who places the welfare of his sheep above his own.

“The development of bodhicitta is the core of the Buddha’s teaching, and the main path.  Once the development of bodhicitta  has taken place, the practitioner endeavors to apply the altruistic principle throughout his or her life.  This leads to what are known as the ‘bodhisattva ideals,’ including the ‘six perfections’- the perfections of generosity, morality, patience, enthusiasm, meditation or concentration, and wisdom.

The point I wish to make here is that the practice of compassion is at the heart of the entire path.  All other practices are either preliminary to it or a foundation for it, or they are subsequent applications of this core practice.  I would also like to point out that there is a consensus between all Buddhist schools on this,  in both Mahayana and non-Mahayana traditions.  So compassion lies at the root of all the Buddha’s teaching, but it is within the Bodhisattva ideal that we find special emphasis  on the concerted development of compassion by means of cultivating bodhicitta.”    -H.H. Dalai Lama, The Dalai Lama’s Book of Transformation