Meditation and marijuana?!

[Psychedelic Moss]

I don't want to get into too much detail, but after much research and experimentation, I've decided to regularly medidate (1 hour+ each day) using Osho's tremendously helpful techniques and guidance. I was simply wondering, how will smoking marijuana affect my new level of awareness? Is is good? bad? is it ultimately up to me to decide that? I have my own theories of course, but I'd like to get a second opinion from a more experienced guru. Any help will be gratefully accepted. :D

[NatureFreak412]

Yes meditation with grass is awesome. depending on your tolerance to grass, you can smoke just the right amount to put you in this great sense of awareness, but not the groggy stoned out feeling. Be sure to burn the appropriate kinds of incense to make it even better.

[Mui]

there was a book written by some monks in tibet or india about meditation and marijuana... i forget the name of the book though... prolly coz of the ganj.
google it.

[2cesarewild]

I've always heard that marijuana and meditation are not too good because marijuana clouds the mind. LSD and meditation is what I've heard is key.. but I don't meditate myself so I can't say I know first-hand.

[cerridwen]

I really don't believe in involving drugs with meditation or ritual work... drugs altar your conciousness, and I need to stay a bit more focused when meditating...

[FeelinGroovy]

I find that just the right amount of bud is really good for relaxing the body, quieting the noise and stimulating the mind during meditation. For me, the best combination is a special blend of herbal tea and just one good hit of some decent bud and I can meditate deeply for about an hour.

[Sesen]

I would say it depends on what type of meditation you are doing. I quit smoking for a while because I'm using meditation to observe my mind and penetrate into deeper levels that I'm not usually aware of, and if I was stoned during my meditations I would be observing my mind on pot instead of my sober mind. However if your meditating simply to relax or reach altered states of consciousness I would say smoke up if you want to, it will put you into a meditative state anyway and can be an excellent tool for getting into deeper meditations.

[jim_w]

Meditation while high may well be fun, but it's pointless. If you want to get high, then get high. If you want spiritual development, then meditate. Conflate the two at your peril! Also, an hour a day is way too much for a novice. I hate to sound rude (and I don't mean to be), but if you're at a stage where you're wondering if you should smoke weed and meditate, then trying to do an hour a day is probably counterproductive. On what basis did you choose that time?

[cerridwen]

Yes meditation with grass is awesome. depending on your tolerance to grass, you can smoke just the right amount to put you in this great sense of awareness, but not the groggy stoned out feeling. Be sure to burn the appropriate kinds of incense to make it even better. I would kind of expect this sort of answer from a 17 yr old (no offense).... When your priority in life is drugs over authentic spirituality, then mixing the two somehow is rationalized in being ok... But someone who meditates can and will find true enlightment w/o the help of any sort of drug.

I've always heard that marijuana and meditation are not too good because marijuana clouds the mind. LSD and meditation is what I've heard is key.. but I don't meditate myself so I can't say I know first-hand. Right... LSD just makes everything better ;)


Meditation while high may well be fun, but it's pointless. If you want to get high, then get high. If you want spiritual development, then meditate. Couldn't agree with you more...

[2cesarewild]

Right... LSD just makes everything better ;)

I know.

[FeelinGroovy]

I strongly disagree that smoking is pointless for meditation. I began meditating in highschool and before I ever smoked. I meditate both with and without smoking, and for me, yes, it provies a slightly different medium by wich to relax and focus my mind, but definately has its benefits.


I guess the bottom line here is that it is a personal preference and what is good for one person may be bad for another. I would say experiment and find out what works best for you.

I find that some of my friends use psychadelics and pot only in social settings to enhance their "good time". If I'm socializing in a large group I actually preffer to be sober and have loads of fun that way. I am more likely to use these drugs either alone or in a very small group/partner setting and often will emmerse myself deep within my head, and reflect with those around me and have deep conversations.

So different people react differently and have different preferences when it comes to the use of drugs.

[Aerosolhalos]

I was once in this car with two of my friends who had just gotten blazed as shit. They spent 20 minutes trying to attempt to close a CD case, then another 20 minutes laughing about it. I am a mere novice, so I had no idea what levels of enlightenment and divine union they were reaching.

[jim_w]

Fair enough - you're absolutely right about everyone finding what works for them. I think it's undeniable, though, that no-one's going to reach any spiritual heights (excuse the pun!) smoking weed. It may well result in all kinds of pleasant/relaxing sensations, but ultimately being high can only obscure your mind, not free it.

Clearly we have different views of meditation - I see the goal of meditation as the freeing of the mind from the fetters that we make for it, of which smoking weed is one.

[FeelinGroovy]

Fair enough - you're absolutely right about everyone finding what works for them. I think it's undeniable, though, that no-one's going to reach any spiritual heights (excuse the pun!) smoking weed. It may well result in all kinds of pleasant/relaxing sensations, but ultimately being high can only obscure your mind, not free it.

Clearly we have different views of meditation - I see the goal of meditation as the freeing of the mind from the fetters that we make for it, of which smoking weed is one.

Hmm. I think our views on meditation are, indeed, pretty similar. I'm actually very surprised that so many feel similar to: "I think it's undeniable, though, that no-one's going to reach any spiritual heights (excuse the pun!) smoking weed". I personally know of many people who would disagree.

To each their own I guess.

There are many different types of minds out there, that respond in many different ways to pot. I have seen the "goofy" results, but for me and my close friends pot doesn't cause this. It causes a deeper focus, phylosophy, and closeness between us. And, as I have said, I have had some of my deepest and clearest meditational experiences aided by a modest amount of pot. And, as I also have said that I do experience a different meditational state while completely sober. For me, each provides their own contribution to a well rounded and mentally satisfying experience.

[jim_w]

You may well be right; at the very least, you know your path better than I do. I know exactly the feeling you talk about - very well! :) I definately agree that ganja can have profound effects on the mind, but that's exactly the reason I don't think it goes with meditation; the aim is to free the mind, not cloud it further. I definately have 'insight' when I'm stoned, but what's the point in having insight that comes from outside of you?

Anyway, that's just my view; I don't claim any level of learning or whatever, so feel free to disagree violently! :)

[FeelinGroovy]

I think the "key" to my personal point is the "moderate amount" of pot. I agree that being fully stoned inhibits clear and natural meditation. I take no more than one hit if intended for meditation.

[TrippinBTM]

I've decided to regularly medidate (1 hour+ each day) using Osho's tremendously helpful techniques and guidance. Can you share these tips?

anyways, weed can help, weed can hinder. Depends on the individual, and the situation. Sometimes I feel much freer to meditate, it comes easier, when I'm high, but more often, it just makes me think like crazy. The good thing is, when you're thinking, you sorta become one with the thought (like you're supposed to), you don't fight it, don't reject it. But the trouble is later remembering how to do that when youre not high.

[jim_w]

Yes, I fully respect your point. But to me, the effect the weed has is irrelevant - whatever it's doing to my mind, I don't want it to. Well, I *do* of course, because I love to smoke weed. :)

But I shouldn't, and that's my point. It's undeniably true that smoking weed is great, in a range of different ways. But that liking for weed is a function of attachment; weed, like any other like/dislike, is ultimately a fetter. My meditation is about cutting fetters, not rejoicing in them! :)

Just my 2p.

[TrippinBTM]

^that's true. But then, if it's there to be smoked, I say, go for it. Even an enlightened being should have some fun now and then, hahaha.

[BlackBillBlake]

Cannabis is a great intensifyer of experience, so it can just put you quite spontaneously into a meditative state. But it does depend on your mind set when you smoke. If you've got thoughts rushing about here and there, it can intensify that. But if you're relaxed, and esp. if your thoughts are of a spiritual or meditative kind, it can lead to some quite magical spaces.

Just listening to music on dope can become a form of what hidu yoga calls dhyana, absorbed concentration.
When it comes to trying out meditation techniques, it can be a help or a hinderance, depending on the technique involved, and the usual psychological background issues.
But - it isn't a shortcut to enlightenment. It may be a help on the way - a little light shining, but in and of itself it isn't the whole answer.
I see it as a gift from the Divine. But not a gift given to all - because for some people, it has no effect of making them more meditative or contemplative at all.

[Pinecone]

I can barely free my mind when Im not high. When im high its going soooo fast it cant be helpful. except when it just makes me tired.
I say you should just try it and compare it for yourself.

[Sebbi]

I am strongly of the school of thought that believes that narcotics are a hinderance to these experiences.

During mystical practice you have got to be able to distinguish between what is real and what is not (in all aspects of life). All though narcotics may increase you sensitivity to extraphysical realms, you will not be able to distinguish between what is a genuine faery and what is a genuine hallucination.

I am also of the school of thought that mysticism begins with the mundane so you wouldn't need any particular sensitivity to the extraphysical anyway, not for a while.

Blessings

Sebbi

[Pinecone]

by the way, moss, the buddha taught to never get intoxicated at all... maybe another thing to think about. Not a teaching for me... :) I think you said to me something once like, "Ask some buddhists. They usually know what they're talking about." so, maybe consider your own advice? but you've never really made it clear to me how much of that stuff you like to follow.

[mati]

while getting stoned the other day I noted the similarities with descriptions of meditation. Maybe the descriptions of meditation were an attempt of the ancient stoners to describe the experience of getting stoned? And the attempts of meditators are an attempt to recreate the experience of getting stoned when they can't find any smoke. So maybe down through all the years of history things have gotten turned around so that all these spiritual seekers are spending years of training and discipline to acheive a state that can be attained simply by smoking some herb. A state that was attained and described by the ancients by doing exactly that(smoking the herb) but somehow the description(of the meditative state) and how it was attained(smoking) have gotten divorced from each other and now the meditators no longer realize that it can be attained by smoking also.

[Sebbi]

while getting stoned the other day I noted the similarities with descriptions of meditation. Maybe the descriptions of meditation were an attempt of the ancient stoners to describe the experience of getting stoned? And the attempts of meditators are an attempt to recreate the experience of getting stoned when they can't find any smoke. So maybe down through all the years of history things have gotten turned around so that all these spiritual seekers are spending years of training and discipline to acheive a state that can be attained simply by smoking some herb. A state that was attained and described by the ancients by doing exactly that(smoking the herb) but somehow the description(of the meditative state) and how it was attained(smoking) have gotten divorced from each other and now the meditators no longer realize that it can be attained by smoking also.
Maybe along with enlightenment comes a sense of peace and euphoria which can also be experienced by smoking a herb.

Peace and euphoria are BY PRODUCTS of spiritual awakening if this is the case. They are the added bonus, not the aim.

Blessings

Sebbi

[BlackBillBlake]

Peace and euphoria are BY PRODUCTS of spiritual awakening if this is the case. They are the added bonus, not the aim.

So what is the aim?

[Sebbi]

Spiritual awakening of course.

Or happiness, it depends.

Blessings

Sebbi

[FeelinGroovy]

I am strongly of the school of thought that believes that narcotics are a hinderance to these experiences.

Pot is not a narcotic as far as I am aware.

How does meditation differ from an acid trip? Just curious what people's views are on this.

Do you think anything spiritual or intellectual can be gained from a trip that pure meditation cannot provide?

[BlackBillBlake]

Spiritual awakening of course.

Or happiness, it depends.

Blessings

Sebbi
Some say that both cannabis and psychedelics can lead to a spiritual awakening.
That has been the experience of many people.

[BlackBillBlake]

Pot is not a narcotic as far as I am aware.

How does meditation differ from an acid trip? Just curious what people's views are on this.

Do you think anything spiritual or intellectual can be gained from a trip that pure meditation cannot provide?
Pot isn't a narcotic, you're right.

I think the intensity of a trip would be hard to get via any other channel. But who can say?

[Sebbi]

Some say that both cannabis and psychedelics can lead to a spiritual awakening.
That has been the experience of many people.
I have come across across many people who say that but I have come across anyone who has actually had a spiritual awakening as a direct result of intoxicants (if narcotics aren't the word, I'm not exactly an expert enough to know the different terminology for "mind altering substance"). Generally the awakening I hear is "pot will solve all your problems". Most of the people who've had an "awakening" that I've met have slipped back into their old "unenlightened" ways. With this in mind anyone who's surprised I'm an utter cynic on this one shouldn't be.

I have worked very hard to get where I am spiritually and I believe that any spiritual progress that doesn't come from working for it is not going to stand up to the stage where everything you've learned is tested.

Blessings

Sebbi

[BlackBillBlake]

I have come across across many people who say that but I have come across anyone who has actually had a spiritual awakening as a direct result of intoxicants (if narcotics aren't the word, I'm not exactly an expert enough to know the different terminology for "mind altering substance"). Generally the awakening I hear is "pot will solve all your problems". Most of the people who've had an "awakening" that I've met have slipped back into their old "unenlightened" ways. With this in mind anyone who's surprised I'm an utter cynic on this one shouldn't be.

I have worked very hard to get where I am spiritually and I believe that any spiritual progress that doesn't come from working for it is not going to stand up to the stage where everything you've learned is tested.

Blessings

Sebbi
Maybe you met the wrong people. I'm not suggesting for one moment that just smoking cannabis will get you into a meditative or spiritual state automatically. It is a well known fact that dope only intensifies what is in the mind of the user - so if you take it when feeling up-beat you'll get high, if you smoke it when you're depressed, it can intensify the depression.
Certainly it won't solve all your problems. That's a kind of immature 'kiddie' reaction to it. It can give insights. and open doorways in the mind. It can give a deeper appreciation of beauty and art. In the right person, that is. Give it to monkeys and you'll get a monkey reaction.
It is quite possible to use cannabis and to follow other methods at the same time. Thats done in India, and in Morocco. In Morocco, it plays a big part in much of the traditional culture which goes back to pre-Islamic times. It is an established thing. To see it as a kind of short-cut is mistaken. To get the real benefit it has to be approached in the right way. Some Moroccan sufis say it is the gift of God. As do many Hindu sadhus and Rastafarians among others.

[mati]

psychedelics help people toward the realization that "life is a dream and the externality of relations is an illusion"

[BlackBillBlake]

psychedelics help people toward the realization that "life is a dream and the externality of relations is an illusion"
Can't say they made me realize that. It doesn't seem to me that life is a dream.
Our perception of it, our ideas about it may all be faulty, but I think there is an actual world out there. With actual people in it. With whom one can have various relations.

[mati]

it is a metaphor that might be useful. when we dream, or are stoned, the unconscious is closer to the surface. syncroncity awareness. take 10 hits with your friends, archetypes appear. the illusory nature of time and space. its' psychological and full of meaning. loss of ego, or at least it doesn't seem so important at the moment.

[MelT]

I'd have to side with the 'MJ helps meditation' crowd. It's been used by various traditions as an aid to meditation for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and I personally find that it helps tremendously. I meditate both with and without on a regular basis and it's just a different way of appraoching the same thing.

I would learn how to meditate without it first though.

MelT

[2cesarewild]

http://gallery.brawl-hall.com/data/media66542/5/old_thread.jpg.

[aesther]

it's a good thread that's relevant to me, so i don't mind if bringing it back to visible sight gets some more responses and opinions about it =]

[BeaverKoffi]

Guys- what does meditation give you ? what exactly is that meditation makes u see deeper levels of ur mind... you just think of it, tryign to get into it doign for an hour , or imagining that you are somewhere ebyond ur mind.. what are teh benefits ?? Monks say that you MUSt give ur self a few minutes a day to think just one-on-one with urself, but meditation isisnt it waste of time ? or you essentialy need it to calm... relax ???

[MelT]

Guys- what does meditation give you ? what exactly is that meditation makes u see deeper levels of ur mind... you just think of it, tryign to get into it doign for an hour , or imagining that you are somewhere ebyond ur mind.. what are teh benefits ?? Monks say that you MUSt give ur self a few minutes a day to think just one-on-one with urself, but meditation isisnt it waste of time ? or you essentialy need it to calm... relax ???
Hi Beaver. It's a question that's got a very broad answer. On one hand it allows you to relax, which you might not think is so important, but sometimes life can be so hectic that unless we set aside some time in the day to allow ourselves to step out of life, tension and stress become cumulative, We can get to a point where eventually we can't relax even when we want to.

Mentally it's the same idea, that you need to give your brain a complete rest as often as you can if you have a busy life. Before I started I had a pretty hectic job where I had to be creative on cue, and I eventually found it almost impossible to switch off the creativity and my internal voice. Meditation helped me get back enough mental control so tha I could switch off my body and my analytical mind whenever I needed to.

But on the deeper side, once your mind IS clear you begin to feel, see, taste, etc, everything much more acutely, and life becomes more enjoyable because of it. You also become much more aware of how your own mind works, and how much your own emotions can sometimes work against you. Again, having control over your mind allows you to get beyond this.

Deeper again and we're into the realms of 'real' meditation, where the clarity of mind you gain allows you to be aware of subtle states of mind and sensations. The clarity gets deeper and you begin to experience 'bliss states', or moments of intuition about the nature of reality, or even an experience of self as the whole of the Universe, seeing it as it truly is. These experiences are called 'glimpses' in Buddhism, small events of realisation that may one day lead to full enlightenment if they're worked with in the right way.

Meditation is whatever you want it to be: a Path, or just a way of coping with the world.

MelT

[JesusChristPose]

how do you meditate?

[JesusChristPose]

I've always heard that marijuana and meditation are not too good because marijuana clouds the mind. LSD and meditation is what I've heard is key.. but I don't meditate myself so I can't say I know first-hand.
the clouds in my mind when i smoke weed is like a metaphor for something. i say become the clouds.

[dd3stp233]

There have been many great insights discovered while people were high. All depends on how you think about it. Some have said that some thoughts are so vast that you need to be high order to realize them.

[The manticore]

yeah being high helps you meditate

[gr0g]

From Conversations With David at: http://truthseek.info/portal.php?view_type=&category_id=53&category_level=2&page=2&action=view_article&item_id=299

"Now that you've brought up the subject of smoking habits, I am wondering if you'd comment more on that. A part of myself enjoys smoking marijuana, and another part of myself feels very opposed. I am constantly waging little internal battles with myself about smoking marijuana. Is it wrong?"
"Many aeons ago, we made a drink from dates. I believe you would call it an alcohol. We had other names for it. It was a terrible thing to taste, and yet we drank it, for it gave us a pleasure. All things have their own level. It is not that any one thing in this universe is so totally out of balance. That is a thing which is natural in itself, but when that thing is utilized in excess or becomes the master or dominant force, then it is a tool of darkness. It is natural that a man must beware of all things which bring him balance and comfort and joy and pleasure, only in so much as he does not allow them to become his god. Look to your total being. If you provide the body with dietary balance, exercise, spiritual time for growth and meditation, then we find no imbalance if amongst your other responsibilities, you take time for a peculiar form of relaxation."

"Will you also comment on the use of marijuana and meditation? Does smoking pot cause one to meditate poorly, or does one perhaps open doors of consciousness that way?"

"One opens only doors on the second plane. Doors do indeed open, but they are illusion, for any fetter of the earth or chain of the earth level cannot rise with you. As you would truly rise into the higher plane, if you would, to coin the pun, 'come fly with us', you would not be able to have with you any vibration of that type. Do you comprehend?"

[BlackBillBlake]

"One opens only doors on the second plane. Doors do indeed open, but they are illusion, for any fetter of the earth or chain of the earth level cannot rise with you. As you would truly rise into the higher plane, if you would, to coin the pun, 'come fly with us', you would not be able to have with you any vibration of that type. Do you comprehend?"


Better quit eating then, and come to that, using language, as these too are 'fetters of the earth'.
This is disingeneous BS.

[gr0g]

Well, you probably shouldn't be eating or using language of any sort while meditating, unless it's abstract mantra's like OM. The point that the being "David" is trying to make is if you are trying to reach higher spiritual realms through meditation, don't smoke ganja 'cos it will tie you to earthly thoughts and feelings.

If you don't believe in higher spiritual realms and/or archangels, and meditate because it seems to have some positive physiological effect, then smoke all the weed you like while meditating.

[BlackBillBlake]

The point that the being "David" is trying to make is if you are trying to reach higher spiritual realms through meditation, don't smoke ganja 'cos it will tie you to earthly thoughts and feelings.

If you don't believe in higher spiritual realms and/or archangels, and meditate because it seems to have some positive physiological effect, then smoke all the weed you like while meditating.
That doesn't actually answer my point, as food and even air will also tie you to 'earthly thoughts and feelings'.

Anyway, I'd argue that cannabis can, in some people, lead to some experience of the 'higher' realms.

[splices0]

Personally, do research. Virtually all greatness has been found under the influence of some sort of "mystical" drug. Even if back then it was called "alchemy" or "mushrooms". For those of you who feel that drugs keep you earth bound, guess what - THEY DONT. I'm telling you from personal experience.

Take yourself out of the box for a moment, what...really..is a drug? Chemical compositions or alkaloids that have various effects on your body dependent on your chemistry? If a drug is considered a drug because of a various peculiar effect it has on your body, then if you were allergic to nuts - would that make a nut a drug? What if you ate...cholocolate, a stimulant, prior to your meditational period - would that make you a drug user who meditates ?

In the world we live today, you really have to think out side the box into the bigger picture. I LOVE LSD. I'll trip for 4-5 days straight on it, doubling doses, and staring at the stars - lost in my own little world, exploring things people never thought possible. My ONLY regret is that I didn't write down some of the most sacred things I learned.

In terms of weed, I never really liked it. However, before I sit down to meditate, if I take a couple nice hits - the closed eye visuals are great. I can even control them with my eye movement while they are closed. It's so cool because I could be going through a forest with my eyes closed but then change my eye direction and and navigate a different way in my visuals.

Yeah, flame me, don't care - drugs + meditate = where its at. Lose the snobby, uptight, im better than you, drugs are bad hype. Drugs saved my life. Believe me.

[Thel]

I can barely free my mind when Im not high. When im high its going soooo fast it cant be helpful. except when it just makes me tired.
I say you should just try it and compare it for yourself.One of the goals of meditation is to train your mind to stop going so fast - without the use of drugs. What happens when you can't smoke but you need to slow down and RELAX? Well, as long as you are here, you have your breath. And that is meditation's tool - the breath of life - of connection to everything.

Splices0, LSD is fun. It is an indescribable experience that leads you to new dimensions, new realities and the doors to your wildest dreams.
But, the point of meditation is not to receive some wild visualization. The effects of meditation are real and lasting.
Unlike drugs, which only leave you wanting more.
Meditation is NOT about catching a glimpse of divinity. It is about receiving, knowing and becoming ONE.
Peace!

[Fallout55]

On that note my thoughts never stop racing on pot.

[prismatism]

i don't like the attitude that spiritual experiences on drugs are an illusory reflection of genuine spiritual experiences.

this whole goddamn trip that is life, in all the billions and billions of forms, and all existence itself, is NOTHING BUT a spiritual experience. doesn't it seem kind of full of shit to pretend any realization is more or less real than another? unless the full picture is so in your face that it becomes like air and you barely even percieve it's presence.

i guess you can measure it in terms of how well you integrate the experience you have into your everyday reality, and how much it actually helps you out in the areas where before you would've broke down or whatever you're trying to avoid would've happened. but still, if you think of it that way, there's no way to even pretend drugs don't change you as much as "real" meditation.

like splices0 said, if you trace history back, the most magical and spiritual and beautiful things go back to drug use.



OH MY GOD I AM SO REDUNDANT.

[prismatism]

oh yeah and smoking pot makes meditation a lot easier for me, but not if i smoke too much :D.

[prismatism]

OH AND ALSO

meditate means:
To think or reflect, especially in a calm and deliberate manner.
To think deeply
To engage in thought or contemplation; reflect
To consider as something to be done or effected; intend; purpose
Think intently and at length, as for spiritual purposes; "He is meditating in his study"
To train, calm, or empty the mind, often by achieving an altered state, as by focusing on a single object.



no definition i can find says "to sit cross legged and sober and breathe a certain way". :)

[Duende]

marijuana is air, express yourself with the beauty that you an god create
and you can do water fire
love
Duende

[MelT]

I agree in part with both sides here. It depends on so many factors governing whether it's of any value in a strict meditational context and whether or not it will help you reach enlightenment. But as something purely to explore and experience, there's little like it. I see nothing worng with combining the two as long as the limitations are taken into account.

I've been exploring both, separately and together for about 25 years and I've just released a book on using cannabis and meditation. A lot of us here seem to use it very much in the same way, so I hope you don't mind if I mention it here.

The site for the book is literally not much more than a shopping system at present (though growing by the day), so I'd prefer to point you towards my myspace site for the time being if you want to know more, I don't want to bang on about it too much here or it'll just sound like a big advert. Go to www.myspace.com/marijuanameditation (http://www.myspace.com/marijuanameditation), and if you don't mind, read the first, very short, blog.

I've just put together a PDF of the front cover, contents page, the introduction, and a short later chapter. The book's early chapters deal with lowering tolerance, avoiding dope anxiety and Green Outs, all that kind of thing; but most of the later book is about how to begin exploring consciousness using meditational techniques. If anyone would like me to send them the file, just let me have an email address by PM and I'll send it out to you. You will NOT be spammed.

MelT

Edit - I just got a mail asking if it's a real book:) Yes, ISBN number, full listing, on Amazon.co.uk (though we've been at them for months to change the details because they're inaccurate in terms of price), already sellingm and shortly to be reviewed by the weed magazines, already a couple of comments on my space. Not sure how I can actually prove that it's real, but it is:)

[Duende]

mooooooooooooooooon

[themnax]

and there are many very valuable artifacts in the water

=^^=
.../\...

[misterrain]

As a rule, drugs will always distort more than they clarify.

[mati]

what criteria is used when determining the distorted and the clear? and by whom shall this criteria be determined?

[The manticore]

rastas meditated with weed so it must be the way foward bit each to their own
peace

[Puffis]

Yes meditation is one of the things the herb is meant for. It clears your mind, relaxes you, increases your awareness, and puts you into a heightened consciousness. Thankyou JAH for ganja

[the_most_sadistic]

i find it really hard to meditate while high because i focus on the outside world to much. i find it hard to let myself fall into that state of mind you should be in while meditating. i like isolation tanks for meditation

[floydianslip6]

I first have to say I only glimpsed through this thread, sorry if this has been said.

I think meditating with it would be fine and a cool experience. But I'd caution that you don't confuse the benefits of meditation with the benefits of the smoking you know? Marijuana can be a fine tool, but don't let it "consume" meditation, you know?

[cephadelic]

[QUOTE=jim_w]If you want to get high, then get high. If you want spiritual development, then meditate. Conflate the two at your peril!

I would like to wholeheartedly disagree. Getting high just for getting high is what is perilous. Many culture that use plant psychedelics claim that the plants are conscious entities. They do not want to be used merely to get us humans high. I recently read a book that cited the use of a certain type of mushroom containing psilocybin by two separate individuals. They both met the same beings which appeared to them as giant talking mushrooms. Both men were asked by the mushrooms "why did you eat us?" The first man who had a dream that told him where to find the mushrooms answered "I'm just following my dream". The mushrooms were satisfied with this answer. The second man responded that he just "wanted to get high". The mushrooms told him that if he ate them again they would kill him.

Drugs and especially psychedelics work better when used with intent, and I am coming to believe that the same is true for pot. I smoke it less and smoke it with intent, which often involves meditation.

Personally I have only recently started meditating myself and I have experimented both sober and under the influence of marijuana. I have reached deeper levels while stoned as well as gained the ability to completely abandon the distracting thoughts that are so hard to leave behind when trying to meditate. I would like to someday achieve that state without pot. I also would not have known what that state was like without pot.

Now I am not saying that drugs are for everyone and that meditation needs drugs. I am aware that deep levels of spirituality can be reached without drugs, and that is right for some people. I believe that it is deeply personal for each individual whether or not drugs are needed to achieve spirituality, but I also believe that psychedelics could help a lot of people too.

The book is Breaking Open the Head by Daniel Pinchbeck. A useful book about entheogens. Also check out the podcast Psychedelic Salon :drool:

[MIZZCHEWY]

weed= good and good for meditation