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If you have a habit of….puff, puff.
Vastmind
Memphis, TN Veteran
I know that girl Mary Jane/weed/pot/ganja has become legal in more states here in the US…just a little tidbit from one of the Vens I follow on TT, …..I find him pretty relatable and current with social issues. 🙂
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRyfA1sM/
He’s also on YouTube. Ven Tri Dao
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Comments
I agree with Ven Tri Dao that weed is a coping mechanism and it can create a very poor state of mind.
The social circle it creates is also a vicious circle. The drug becomes like the joining piece that sticks your character and theirs to reality. It is very sad how when you quit, those friendships tend to evaporate very fast, while leaving habits that take time to heal...
My view on taking drugs is, if you can be really present, and take what it can offer you and not become chained to it. Then good. It is an experience, like any other. However, if you are going to lie yourself and just become a chain smoker and lose mental health... also I've read that problems with cannabis dependency and other mental illnesses is increasing not only in the US but also in Europe. This shows that most current people can't handle drugs very well... and we shouldn't be commercialising it and selling it just like alcohol and ciggies back in the 50s and 60s. It isn't cool, there is nothing "extraordinary".
So yes... I like his advice... "Smoke less, meditate more"
The link to his YT video is this one: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IJlWtzlIwlw
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for sharing @Vastmind . It's nice to see more public approaches that aren't so do-or-die. Growing up in a world of illegality to a world of legality, it can be tough to shift old internalized beliefs from what perceptions used to be to how they are now. Years of being trained to sneak around, remain hidden and undetected, to feel shame about self exploration all with no real education or communication doesn't just go away when a law changes from illegal to legal. And from personal experience, the stigma, albeit changing, makes addressing it much more difficult.
I'm not sure if most chronic smokers have much if any social circle to even lose these days. Post-covid appears to have dampened or destroyed a lot of in-person connections. At least in Cali it would seem the shift to work from home, have your food and drinks/drugs delivered, live in your PJs, and never leave the house has become a trend.
Even cigarettes have an effect on the mental state. But I think its best to examine substances individually, in some cultures these substances coming from plants have an important role.
not any more
… however fortunately there are many other things to stop wasting effort/precious money/time on
List of lobster vices available on request … may be rather long
From what I gather ganja has been used for hundreds if not thousands of years for a "spiritual" high ...and now the West is finally beginning to realize the beneficial nature of its "medicinal" properties ...
The late great Peter Tosh "Legalize it don't criticize it"
Ok I'm curious. I do need a few more vices to stay busy with. Maybe trade some out for new ones.
@Shoshin1
There's is a song from Isan -East Thailand- which I like about a father being caught smoking weed by his children and he sings to them...
"Gancha nanbenya seh pit" Weed is a forbidden medicine.
Haha
If someone can speak Thai / Isan dialect, I would really appreciate them translating the entire song because the person I was with at that time -Thai speaker- said it was a bit hard to completely understand..
Title: Sangwan Lokum* Songlao Mao Ganja (Ganja Better Than Booze)
Definitely better than booze or cigarettes for sure. Just take a tour of your local hospital and compare who is there because of tobacco, who is there because of booze and who is there because of cannabis. Not even close.
be careful, some virtues have dangers too …
https://newbuddhist.com/discussion/15949/the-red-flag-of-virtue
Absolutely true. But it stays a question of indulging with care, too much cannabis can affect the brain. Although its not to say that booze doesn’t.
Here is a list of things that effect my brain, some for better, some for worse:
Do I feel superior to those relaxing with a spliff? No of course not, we all have our ways and daze.
Just be super careful. Here in the US, Psychosis is becoming a problem due to THC levels being way too high in the legal stuff and the street stuff laced with fentanyl. The young folks are also consuming too much in small time frames. The Ven mentions this by saying “Don’t end up in the emergency room”
If you can (legally and logistically), grow your own.
Not to mention….old rule of…don’t smoke anything you didn’t see rolled.
And for shits sake, stay away from all those new forms. It’s only adding more health complications.
This is true, a lot of cannabis grown by professional growers is put under 24 hour sunlight lamps, so the plants don’t get the usual 12-hours sunlight, 12-hours darkness of the day-night cycle. The effect of this is to supercharge the levels of the psychoactive chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), so that when smoked it feels a lot stronger than ordinary cannabis.
Here in the Netherlands it is legal to have up to five plants which you can grow for your own use. More than that and you are considered a plantation and the cops can come and bust you.
Which I don’t do by the way, because I don’t smoke, tobacco or cannabis.
What kind of spiritual experience is supposedly being observed which forms the habit? What is the supposed medicine? I have a term for it as it relates to why I see it as a habit but the term feels ignorant toward what it attempts to emulate.
The medicine aspect is considerable
https://www.cnbs.org/cannabinoids/thc-tetrahydrocannabinol/
As i & I know (or wee as it is known) rastafarian means kingman, females are queens. PAH!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/rastafari/beliefs/women.shtml
Somebody has been at the weed if they think that will cause anything but a smoke scream!
Most people think,
Great God will come from the skies,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights. Jah!
Roberta ('Bob') Marley
… and now back to the pacifier …