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How does Buddhism look upon Marijuana and Alcohol. How about other drugs?
I used to enjoy smoking a joint or pipe from time to time, but would have instant anxiety even before smoking because I would have bad trips and anxiety at times. Aside from Buddhism frowning up smoking cannabis what do you think I could turn to to calm myself and enjoy myself if I run into a bad trip? Has anyone meditated while using cannabis or done anything cannabis avec Buddhism related?
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most drugs fall into that.
Avoid substances which cloud the judgement, dull the mind and addle the thinking.
Drugs taken for prescribed medical conditions, that are necessary for the treatment of some mental conditions are completely acceptable. But taking "Mind-altering drugs" for purely recreational purposes, is inadvisable, unskilful and against the precept.
This includes alcohol.
For my part, as a moderator, I also tend to come down quite hard on those who advocate, recommend or encourage the taking or experimenting with any and such drugs, in open forum.
I used to smoke pot regularly and heavily. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Those who use marijuana and don't ask for advice - I generally let them be. Those who use marijuana and ask for advice - I try to convince them of two things:
1) The harm in continuing down that path
2) The benefits of giving up that path
What is the harm in continuing to smoke pot?
1) It is addictive: It doesn't matter how many times you tell yourself it isn't, no matter how many of your friends tell you it's not, it is, I know from experience. The longer you do it, the more ingrained the habit becomes, the harder it becomes to adapt to (or even imagine) a life without pot. The goal of Buddhism is to end suffering (which is caused by craving), addiction is going in the opposite direction.
2) It is bad for your health: Granted, this is less of a factor if you eat it instead of smoke it. But I am sure we are all aware of the dangers of smoking any substance.
3) Generally speaking, it decreases one's wholesome mental states and increases one's unwholesome mental states. The three root defilements are greed, hatred and delusion. Greed was definitely a bigger influence in my life when I was a regular user. Delusion definitely had greater control of me. Hatred and ill-will is arguably decreased as a result of smoking pot, however, I know from experience that it is vastly inferior to cultivating Metta (without the undesired result of increasing greed and delusion).
4) The mind is clouded as a result of drug use. There are already plenty of things we go through in life hich will cloud the mind, there is no need to add drugs to the equation.
5) Meditation tends to "bring things to the surface". Weed tends to stir up the mind. The result of combining these is that the mind can go into over-drive. Your anxiety is likely to increase if you smoke pot regularly and meditate regularly (Again, I speak from experience here). This is why Sila (morality/5 precepts) is such an important foundation for meditation practice.
6) It costs a lot of money in the long run. If you are selling it to support your habit this is worse because, although you are saving money, you are still contributing to the other problems not just for yourself but also for other people.
There are plenty of other consequences, I encourage you to look for yourself to see how many you can find, I don't want to do all the work for you.
What is the benefit of giving up pot?
1) You are not a slave to addiction: You don't have to worry about trying to score some weed. You don't have to drive around late at night buying the stuff at dodgy places. You can focus your mental energy on more important things in life.
2) You feel healthier: You can breathe deeper, the air seems fresher, life is more enjoyable (which, ironically, is often the reason people get hooked to pot in the first place - chasing after that first unrepeatable high).
3) Your mind is much more capable of developing Right Effort.
4) You can think more clearly without it. Your mind is not as frequently caught in day dreams which is so characteristic (at least it was for me and other people I know) of the stoned person's mind.
5) You don't have to deal with superficial problems when you meditate. Your mind is much more free to develop peace and wisdom. Meditation makes you happier rather than magnifying your suffering.
6) You save money. You are not a drain on society.
Likewise, there are plenty more benefits, but these will get you thinking in the right direction.
The more you reflect in this way the more naturally you will decide that its time to quit, at least this was how I quit (haven't touched the stuff in 2 years). Wisdom power is much stronger than will power. Be kind to yourself and believe that you can give it up if you really want to. The question is, do you really want to?
I sincerely wish you the best whichever path you choose in life.
Metta,
Guy
From my own experience I would say, that cannabis is very harmful towards ones ability to concentrate. It can temporarily up ones level of awareness, but without concentration, it's kind of useless in the grand scheme of things.
Meditation while under the influence of cannabis is harder (maybe even impossible), than when sober, because it severs concentration.
I really suggest you to consider giving up all intoxicants and see for yourself.
Of course I'm fully aware, that others suggestions are never as useful as ones own experiences, so I'll just wish you all the best and hope you'll find the way that's most beneficial for you.
I have enough trouble with an already clouded mind without adding to the pollution. And I don't know how I would handle the knowledge that I had harmed another sentient being as a result of some intoxicated state.
psychedelics are not "drugs" in the traditional sense.
Psychedelics are THE traditional drugs....
I first smoked ganja when I was 14, then went on to experiment with LSD, shrooms, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, 2cb, valium, clonazepam, lorazepam, xanax, DXM, basically everything apart from heroin and crack. Now I am 22 and I can safely that in my opinion/experience any mind altering substance will hinder your path to enlightenment. The only drug I have come across that gives profound insight at times is LSD.
However, it is still an intoxicant and it can cause problems. It is one of the most safest drugs around yet it is a class A substance. Saying that, if you get anxiety from weed then stay away from LSD and shrooms as you will probably have the worse time of your life. If you are intent on smoking weed, then valium or some sort of benzo will calm your anxiety. I would suggest stop it all together....
All the best, Tom
As Alan Watts said (to paraphrase about his use of psychedelics):" When you get the message , hang up the phone. "
He , however, smart as he was, could not "hang up " vodka.
Addiction has a way of taking over a person and leaving a shell as in the case of Mr. Watts. I would not recommend dabbling in any substance that alters the mind to any other person. Though you may be able to handle it, your example of "handling" may lead to disaster in another who tries and sinks as a result of your leadership. This includes, as Fed suggests, a forum such as this.
I do believe drug use is quite common in most societies but I see the recreational use as unskillful. Moreover, addictive personalities are as common as the drugs they are offered. I do not want to be their beginning by , in any way, condoning the activity.
In general, I think we often project our our abilities, in this case the ability to use a drug and leave it alone thereafter, as common to all men. This is not the case.
I guess the ultimate question is: How many times does one do a "non-traditional" drug , a psychedelic, before it ,and the user, become common so to speak, become addicted?
Does everyone ," Get the message?"
You know what? I hate to say this. Of all my friends and relatives and friends of relatives? I KNOW which ones had habitual RECREATIONAL drug use. This is 70s and 80s drugs, NOT turbocharged sh*t (sorry) of the 90s and 00s. Anyway, of these guys every one of them has a child who has or had problems! Verrrrry weird. Not saying this is scientific. Serious to mild learning, behavior or personality problems.
Just saying, not trying to be an [insert common expletive which begins with an "a" here].
oops, might be OT, but might enlighten someone on this serious topic too.
So medical research correlates with your observations.
Essential what you are saying is: "How do I get my hand to stop burning after I stick it in the fire?"...
The 70s are over. O-V-E-R!
Fed, please continue to be vigilant in policing this kind of thread.
As Alan Watts said (to paraphrase about his use of psychedelics):" When you get the message , hang up the phone. "
He , however, smart as he was, could not "hang up " vodka.
Addiction has a way of taking over a person and leaving a shell as in the case of Mr. Watts.
Personally, I tried smoking pot several times in my younger years, being surrounded by friends who smoked it. I NEVER got high. I'm serious, I think I am immune to pot, because I never got anything out of it but a headache. And there were always those friends who would say "No, THIS is the good stuff, try this!" and I did, and again, no high. So for me, pot was useless. It was a good thing really, it discouraged me from using drugs and I never tried any other drugs and don't use any drugs today.
But I would ask the question that's already been mentioned. Why, if trying to follow the Buddhist path of "awareness" would you want to hinder that very thing? You can't possibly be "fully aware", as Buddhists strive to be, if you are numbing your mind with any drug. It totally defeats the purpose. The "insight" you get from drugs is NOT insight, it's being stoned. It's false "insight" based on delusions. There's a huge difference. Getting high will do the exact opposite of what you seek if on a buddhist path, which is to become "aware".
It's kind of like saying "I want to become a nun" and then sleeping around. It makes no sense, with all due respect.
As far as a prior comment about "policing" this topic; I respectfully disagree. This is a valid inquiry to buddhist practice. Obviously, I agree with Federica that we should not be condoning drug use or the advocation of it in any way, but discussing it is healthy and may help the OP.
As far as "people saying what they want to say", I see a high level of tolerance for that on this site, perhaps more than I personally would tolerate. To be perfectly honest, I get somewhat annoyed when people "just say stuff" without some kind of reference to Buddhism or the topic at hand.
Threads about marijuana use come up about once a month, by my observation. Maybe I should just not read them any more, but sometimes I get bored enough to do that anyway. I find myself wishing people would search existing threads and read those instead. But just to cite one example, in one of the last threads about psychedelic substances, someone openly stated that MDMA had been a strong influence on their own spiritual path, and that post did not get moderated out. This site is much more tolerant than you might think. As a newcomer maybe you should read more threads before reacting- Federica does not cruise the threads looking to "chain" anybody's expression. She just has to keep the site legal and hopefully focused and on topic.
IMHO you should get a better feel for this site before making remarks like:
"That's like a chain, to not let everyone say what they want to say..? But I do agree drugs can be harmful."
(And the posts above about DMT and ayahusca- as long as it's clear that the owner of the site does not condone illegal activity, it's information.)
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." - Kierkegaard.
Freedom of speech doesn't absolve you of responsibility.
Talk about what you want. if it's unskilful or clearly steps into the realm of what I personally would see as unacceptable - don't be surprised if I step in. Nope. I don't think she was.
This is a Buddhist forum, predominantly for those new to Buddhism, or those beginning an interest in it.
We have the 8Fold path to tread on, and the 5 precepts to adhere to.
And who's this 'we'? and what freedoms are you all trying to establish, here, exactly?
Freedom of speech may be a right, but as I have said, be sure that you'd be just as happy to accept the consequences here, of what you decide to freely speak.
Edited to add:
people should not confuse Freedom of Speech with Appropriate or suitable content on forum.
In UK, I do not have freedom of speech to plan a bank robbery, for instance, incite racial hatred or betray the secrets of MI5 (not that I have the ability or desire to do any of those things). Ironically, my latest essay for my philosophy course is on this very subject.
Anyway, here in UK, a lot of drugs are illegal and encouraging people to take them could be considered "incitement to commit crime". Which is an illegal, arrestable offence.
Not only that, having studied a biochemistry degree way back in the past, and knowing the risks of some of these drugs, it would be morally reprehensible of me to do anything other than discourage their use, except under medical instruction.
Lets be clear on what I said. Buddhism was helpful to me although I did drugs and alcohol. I am not advocating drugs and alcohol.
About calming down during a sort of anxiety attack type episode.
When I was practicing meditation and was having some success at it I was able to calm my mind down after a day of smoking pot by meditating. However, I could see that I wish I hadn't. (mindfulness of breathing)
However, I felt that I wished I hadn't have smoked pot in the first place and I think that it caused a sort of imbalance for me over time and lead me down a path that wasn't the best.
IMHO.
I like what Osho said about drugs, "meditation is the perfect drug, no side effects," ect.