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marijuana and spiritual practice
have you heard of specifically the Gorokhnat babas in India using the plant as part of their spiritual practice?
they invoke Gorokhnat as they inhale using a pipe - and then meditate.
what are your thoughts on this?
they invoke Gorokhnat as they inhale using a pipe - and then meditate.
what are your thoughts on this?
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One who practices Yoga is called a Yogi. Matsyendranath was such a Siddha or Yogi. Even today he is worshipped in Nepal. God Siva taught Matsyendranath the secrets of Yoga.
Matsyendranath was a Yogi who supposedly learned the secrets of yoga from God himself. He used to beg for a little good at some house or other. One day as usual he went a house and asked for alms.
The lady of the house came out. Seeing that he was a Yogi, the woman said: "Holy Sir, shall we have a child at all?"
Matsyendranath gave her a little sacred ash and said: "Please swallow this. You will be blessed with a child." (editor's note: One of the common magic tricks performed by Gurus in India today is to produce "holy ash" from their closed fist to impress the crowd and duplicate the miracles told in the stories. This magic trick appears to be one of the "secrets" passed on from teacher to disciple).
The lady told her neighbour. The neighbour said: "Do not believe these Yogis. Some of them are cheats!" So the lady of the house threw the sacred ash away on a rubbish heap at the back of her house, and forgot all about it.
After twelve years, Matsyendranath called at the same house. He asked the lady: "How is your child doing?"
The lady told him what had happened. Matsyendranath asked for her: "Where did you throw the ash?"
She pointed: "There, on the rubbish heap.
"Matsyendranath went to where the rubbish was, and prayed for a while. Then he called: "Son, come here!" From out of the heap came a boy of twelve years.
Seeing him, the lady fell at the feet of the Yogi and begged for forgiveness.
Matsyendranath took the boy away with him.
This boy was Gorokhnat, who went on to become a great yogi himself.
My decision to finish taking anti-depressants was taken with medical and family support, and went well (D.g.) Stopping beta blockers was something that I considered for a long time and where I decided that I would live with the 'pebble'.
We really do need to take seriously that very chemical we take into our bodies will have an effect throughout the homeostasis that I call 'Simon'. The result is that we need deliberately and with fullest awareness to engage with the consequences, enabling our practice to evolve to take them into account. My own experience (again, sorry), these 'pebbles' can become very useful moment-by-moment reminders in a world that seems dedicated to distracting me.
the tradition has to be transmitted orally to you, and for that you need various processes and conditions - but they are very interesting and deliver good quality teachings.
is there any reason that you mention this? i know their teachings are not that popular in the west.
As a musician, I have had some experience with marijuana and I found it worked quite well as an aid to being 'in the moment' - nothing else mattered except the single note that I was playing at the time. I also found it to be an aid in reducing the ties to preconceived ideas. Some of these ideas had been my own and some of them were imposed on me by people such as parents or teachers and some by society itself.
I think one of the reasons marijuana is still illegal is because it helps promote alternate ways of thinking that may interfere with 'the system' but that is a subject for another thread.
All that being said, I believe that once a person is open to alternate ways of thinking, it is best to carry on with a clear mind free from any restraints. Whether those restraints are caused by preconceived notions or intoxicants, they will interfere with one's practice and i believe should be removed/avoided.
Personally I am glad I had the experiences that I did and now I choose to carry on with as much clarity and control as I can.
personal choice, still....
fifth precept
And I don't hold with any discussion whatsoever, where there is the slightest hint of encouragement or advocacy, agreement or condoning of trying any recreational drugs just for the helluvit. None.
I have been known to shut threads if that happens.
It's not something which should ever appear on a Buddhist forum.
But if you believe, like I do, that the best way to discover Truth must be with a clear and sober mind, then you might find that Buddhism resonates with you.
About the only "spiritual lesson" I learnt from smoking pot is that smoking pot not only doesn't help one on the Spiritual Path, but actually hinders one's progress. Smoking pot on a regular basis can lead to doubt, to worry, to physical and mental restlessness, to laziness/lack of energy/lack of enthusiasm, to addiction to sensual pleasures. These things are all major obstacles to anyone who wants to purify their minds.
Sure, pot makes you feel good for a little while, but the more you indulge it the more you NEED to indulge in it and consequently the worse the side-effects become. On the Spiritual Path, pot is a dead end. I say this from experience.
I only stopped to smoke more and eventually that Summer ended, by then I was very interested in spiritual pursuits. I was no longer utterly consumed by the need to gain money, I no longer sought pleasures of the flesh with a single-minded tenacity. I can honestly say that while smoking Cannabis, I had a revelation that I should stop doing so.
I have no moral objections to it, and I judge no one for smoking it, no matter their reasons. I however will never partake of it again, but only because I feel I no longer need to, not because I am clinging to some idea that it is bad.
I was only trying to contribute to the discussion because I thought that, because of my experience, I had some insight to offer.
Smoking isnt advertised by the system, I don't know what you're talking about. Cigarettes and alcohol kill over a half million people each year and they are perfectly legal. Yet you see above the influence commercials that are funded by those same alcohol and tobacco companies. The system as it is now is corrupt