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Smoking
Hi,
Does anyone here smoke, or did smoke and managed to give up? I smoked a cigar just as a one off a week ago when things were rough, and now I can't seem to stop.
I think in someways smoking is acceptable, because it dosn't cause intoxication like alcohol or drugs, but I seem to have formed a strong attatchment to it. I can't go without it any more!
I have met laypeople who smoke and think its fine, but I don't want to do it.
So, any advice or ideas, will be well received.
Metta everyone,
Locust
Does anyone here smoke, or did smoke and managed to give up? I smoked a cigar just as a one off a week ago when things were rough, and now I can't seem to stop.
I think in someways smoking is acceptable, because it dosn't cause intoxication like alcohol or drugs, but I seem to have formed a strong attatchment to it. I can't go without it any more!
I have met laypeople who smoke and think its fine, but I don't want to do it.
So, any advice or ideas, will be well received.
Metta everyone,
Locust
0
Comments
Anything addictive, anything that we become attached to, "clouds/intoxicates the mind." Some things are more addictive than others. The first precept, which the others stem from, is to do no harm to any being. Smoking is harmful to yourself and others. We're all trying to end harmful habits and addictions (really the whole point of Buddhism), it's just that smoking's a particularly harmful one, and one that's hard to stop... best to kick it now, before a physical addiction develops on top of it.
I'm a proud smoker. The day I turned 18, I got my first pipe. My smoking career originally began with cigars. I like them, but it's an expensive hobby when you're young if you do it frequently. So I got into pipes instead, and I've got quite a collection now.
I'm not addicted though contrary to what people might think. I've never met anyone addicted to pipes where they go into withdrawals or anything. I've gone weeks at a time without smoking pipe tobacco and I function just as normally as I would on a day where I smoke a lot.
I don't see anything wrong with it. It's not a moral issue as far as I'm concerned. If anything, I'll go out of my way to smoke a pipe when youngsters are around just because I can't stand the PC anti-smoking culture that's developed. They're always fascinated.
If you are opposed to smoking on moral grounds, I don't think you can be consistent. You have to be opposed to anything that's bad for you health in that case. Cheetos are a no-no and a host of other delicious foods that will kill you with consistent consumption. And I know there are people like that out there. A sad world I think they live in.
I quit by going for a 3-day drive with a non-smoker. And swilling water from a bottle every time I wanted a cigarette. And saying, "I don't do that anymore" in response to every craving.
Cravings weren't bad but took a long time to dwindling out. No withdrawal symptoms.
Good luck. (p.s., I still drink a lot of water!)
If you don't want to do it, you have to realize that you like other aspects of living just as much and more. YOu have to realize that smoking isn't really that good. You might spend most of the time thinking about it, and probably maybe 20 minutes a day doing it. What's the trade-off? Maybe 13 hours where you are busy doing other things, and a further hour or two thinking about doing it. When you CAN't do it, you are likely to think about it more.
BUT, you don't have to think about it. If you really want you can be busy, like you normally are now just without the 20 minutes per day or less smoking AND non of the torture that comes with thinking about getting a smoke in.
It's just too unhealthy to do. It is quite a trade-off, like any drug dependency, you create the disease by smoking. Smoking is both the disease AND the cure.
In my head I know what it is like to want it. In reality I'm now content to feel and function as I am. The main benefits are that my range of emotional experiences are much wider. I sense and experience more. Smoking does in a way suffocate your feelings. You have emotions; you feel- explore and enjoy how you feel.
More so than frequent servings of McGriddles? Or Big Mac's? Why is smoking so much worse?
smoking is terrible for the subtle elements, channels, and winds in the body, when these are a mess our meditation practice is a mess and when our practice is a mess we dont get far.
No one said it was worse.
The OP clearly said that he "can't stop" (i.e. addicted) but does want to, so I'm not sure why you'd expect people to encourage him to continue smoking. If someone wants to give up any unhealthy addiction, whether it be smoking or cheesy poofs, then good for them. :wtf:
I'd also rather someone sit next to me and indulge in food rather than force me and my baby to smoke right along with them.
Interesting...I find pipe smoking breaks to be the most reflective and meditative moments of my day. It's when I do the heavy thinking or depending on the day, just not thinking about anything at all.
nicotine is known to have properties that can create this kind of feeling.
there are very old terma's that discuss the negative impact of smoking tobacco on the systems of channels, winds and energies in the body of practitioners.
it is only really something to worry about if you are practicing anuyogatantra , mahamudra, or Dzogchen.
its still really bad for you though.
As I morbidly tell my friends, dying from tobacco use means that I successfully survived my military career.
Plenty of things are bad for me. I indulge them just the same. I run over 20 miles a week, play sports whenever I can, lift weights, and do countless push-ups and sit-ups daily. A good way to balance it I think.
And I'm of the opinion that our moods and general outlook on life influences our health just as much as our activities. And I'm always in a good mood.
Absolutely right. And in a similar vein ... we do what we want to do. Oh, we may not want to do it 100%, but at least 50.5% of us wants to do it. If this wasn't the case, then we wouldn't do it.
Goes for smoking, too. As soon as 50.5% of us wants to quit ... we do.
make ur own decisions, dont look to buddhism for reassurance all the time.
Smoking is particularly reviled in our culture in a way that fast food and other unhealthy habits are not. I'm asking why.
I wasn't encouraging him to continue his smoking. He asked who smoked and I raised my hand is all. I'm just objecting to the idea that smoking or health in general for that matter is a moral issue. It's not.
That's a separate issue. But I opposed the silly state smoking ban a few years ago in restaurants. If you own the building, you make the rules. I also think that second-hand smoke is blown way out of proportions.
Put every ounce of your effort to stop smoking right now ... its much easier to do so NOW because you smoked for just about a week. As the time goes on... it gonna get difficult, very difficult.
No matter what people say... smoking is bad for your health. By the way, its not only the second hand smoke that annoys non-smokers... but also the stench of stale smoke. ... it seems to grab on to upholstry, curtains, everything ...
I smoked for about 26 years before I gave it up. I'm talking from experience.
May you stop smoking.
May you stop smoking.
May you stop smoking.
.....
With Kind Regards.
Really? Weight and physical health seems to be at the top of the list of concerns. All you hear about is obesity now. The dangers of eating fast food gets much more media attention than smoking these days.
You can think that but science disagrees.
It is wrong to say that smoking doesn't intoxicate you. Nicotine is a drug, and it is more addictive than heroin. According to statistics, only about 7% of those who try to stop smoking actually succeed. As a drug it has drug effects when you smoke it. It activates brain centers for pleasure by increasing dopamine levels in those areas of the brain. When smoked, nicotine reaches maximum levels within 10 seconds of inhalation, which means it has a very rapid payoff for users. The effects also wear off rapidly, creating the need for another hit. A smoker who smokes a pack and a half a day gets about 300 hits of nicotine a day. That's addiction, pure and simple. And it doesn't matter whether the nicotine comes from a cigarette, a pipe, a cigar, chewing tobacco, or a hookah.
Tobacco smoke contains about 4000 chemicals, many of which are toxic, such as carbon monoxide. It has also been found that tobacco smoke contains a substance (it's not known what exactly) that dramatically lowers the level of MAO (monoaminoxidase), an enzyme that normally breaks down dopamine, resulting in high dopamine levels. It works in concert with nicotine to enhance the "high".
So there is no doubt that tobacco is highly addictive and highly dangerous. Medical problems due to smoking account for about $80 billion of health care costs in the US alone. (all the figures are from the CDC, by the way) And as has been pointed out, it is especially dangerous for practitioners as it messes with the winds and channels big time.
Yes, there are other dangerous addictions that are perfectly legal (alcohol, overeating), and I'm not trying to apologize for them. But let's not kid ourselves here.
Palzang
I don't disagree with any of that except the part I've made bold. Almost nobody knows except those who smoke them, but you don't inhale pipes and cigars. You might very well die of cancer, but you won't die of lung cancer from a pipe.
I have also read though that smokers end up saving on health care costs because they die younger. I'll look for the article.
i think Stream is perfectly capable of making his/her own decisions and I see nothing wrong with looking to the dharma for help.
after all, isnt that what we are all doing in one form or another?
The Buddha is the great doctor, the Dharma is the medicine, and the Sangha are the nurses.
Was that supposed to be a counterargument?
Palzang
Yeah, sucking on some burning weeds is really joyful and pleasureful! Oy!
Palzang
Exactly. God help you if you are. If I ever have the misfortune of accidentally inhaling a cigar, I immediate feel ill.
No. I was only disputing the claim that smokers are somehow a burden on healthcare.
I can't explain it but I have often been attracted to what I feel is restricted or forbidden. By not stigmatizing what some consider vices has allowed me to enjoy these activities and then to quickly let them go without feeling guilt or shame.
For a very brief moment it gives the sensations of pleasure, but the short-term intense sensation of pleasure is nowhere near worth the costs of the long-term consequences.
I think it's worth mentioning that this pleasure occurs mostly when hooked- smoking when hooked reinforces the signal to the brain that it is a normal condition. Obviously when starved of nicotine you're going to get upset.
If you don't smoke, but then have a drag, I'll warrant the effects are either not noticably different and either/or quite unpleasant. For an ex smoker the psychological impact can last a very long time indeed. You know, some things are best left well alone. They might be oh so sweet.. but the mental agony and restlessness that accompany some habits.. sigh, I don't know how people put up with some stuff, I really don't.
If I'm sat next to someone smoking a cigarette it almost makes me want to vomit. Seriously we should treat ourselves with respect.
I do not know why we continue hamrful vices? Why do I drink a glass of wine or scotch on occasion? Because I love how it tastes and the alchohol as well.
The taste of Jack Daniels brings home good memories from the past, but I've moved on. That was then and I don't regret doing all those bad things, what is bad is trying to re-enact those pretty memories because sure enough it quickly become horrible in light of my current responsibilities and general outlook on life.
You're right, a little bit is fine- not 'hair of the dog' fine- but in the right situation, in good company, the dynamics of that experience change...
Sort of like juggling with fireballs for a second then running home to safety.
i dont consider it harmful as long as you are in control and know your limits and behaviors.
Palzang
I agree that having one glass of red wine. The problem with any of these is when we pass the threshhold.
Palzang
Hi Stream,
I smoked years ago. I gave up by cutting down to one cigarette after meals and then cutting those out. When I felt I wanted a cigarette, I inhaled air deeply in the same way one inhales with a cigarette. I ended up with mild asthma and a tendancy to chest infections as a result of smoking. My aunt was a heavy smoker and died from lung cancer 6 weeks after having it diagnosed.
Its easy to give up if you're determined. Try it !:)
Kind wishes,
Dazzle
This is the only reason to give up. You can make all the excuses you like about health, money or spiritual welfare, but you will get nowhere unless you really want to. Believe me, I have been there.
Concentrate on why you want to quit & stick with it.
And don't give up on giving up if you weaken & have a smoke.
Giving up smoking is easy. I know, I've done it many times!!! :rolleyes: