Female Sadhus? And Mushrooms?

Shit sometimes I get really sick of square-straight life and if I ever felt like giving up on "normal" society or returning to the forest I'de probably luv to become a Sadhu;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhu

How awesome to just wander as a free spirit around smoking pot while giving up worldly attachments. Kinda like the hippy days back in da day except more serious and focused on enlightenment (which I wouldn't mind if I ever decided to go into this lifestyle).

The only problem is that there aren't any female sadhus. Well I kinda understand why since the idea of a sadhu male is to give up all worldliness including sex. Then again why can't females do this too? Cause like I've seen very little regarding female sadhus.......definitely not as common as males. And I doubt it's because women can't give up worldly pleasures like men can, maybe there was just some gender bias from ancient times.

Why am I so interested in it? Well I wouldn't mind having a female sadhu as a companion if I ever did this, lol. I doubt it isn't too difficult to do either since there is no institution dictating what a sadhu must do (thankfully).

Still, why would I want a female sadhu as a companion if I entered the lifestyle choice? Aren't I suppose to give sex up as all other worldly things? Well yeah, but I don't think it's a commonly accept requirement to give up your fundamental drives and needs. I mean it isn't as if sadhus stop eating, in the same way I don't see why givin up sex or love makin should be seen any different. Guess if each sadhu had a lover partner they would be known as tantric sadhus, lol. And the idea of a male teaching sadhu taking in a female student sadhu (or even vice-versa) sounds pretty nice aesthetically speaking.

And what about the use of psilocybin mushrooms? I know cannabis use is definitely spiritual......but I'm not sure whether even the strongest hashish can induce ego death. I doubt psilocybin mushrooms are illegal in India since they are legal in most countries so the sadhus can easily start some arrangement with mushrooms as well as they do with ganja.

 

There are in fact female mendicant sadhus - however, since they take a vow of celibacy, it's unlikely you'd get one as a girlfriend. Also you would have to give up sex to be accepted in all probability.
The most famous female Indian saint is probably the medieval poetess and minstrel Mirabai.

Although psilocybin mushrooms grow in northen India, there is a general ban among Hindus on eating mushrooms of any type. Mostly sadhus rely on other techniques such as meditation and devotion to get beyond the ego.

 

Hi BlackBillBlake ,

Yah, I hear that! I'm glad though that sadhus have no absolute standards, just general guidelines. I imagine a tantric sadhu "sect" (so to speak) wouldn't be met with persecution. Especially if they are meditated enough to understand how language and concepts are different for different people . Especially if you strive for the middle way to avoid the pitfall of desiring to not desire more than you can desire.

I wouldn't be too surprised if psilocybin mushrooms grow in India now, but what I'm wondering for how long have they been doing so? I mean the entheogenic use of psilocybin mushrooms was found in Mexico 500 years ago, I'm thinking it arrived in India later but I could be wrong. I think I've read that the Amanita Muscaria mushrooms have been used by Hindu monks as a entheogen. So I'm not sure what you mean by ban on mushrooms among Hindus, is it a ban on all mushrooms for whatever purpose as religious law, or is it based on a prohibition governmental law? Because I doubt there are any governmental prohibition laws on mushrooms.

Yeah sadhus do a lot of meditation, some are into devotion. Many smoke cannabis too, so I'm thinking that adopting mushrooms on a wide scale if accepted wouldn't be hard, especially since it is all natural and very safe. Especially in the hands of a sadhu.

Though I really wonder, according to Terrance Mckenna very strong charas (hashish) can supposedly be strong enough to produce ego death. Which is maybe why cannabis-based preparations has always been a preferred entheogen of India.

 

Well regardless of what you label the eating of magic mushrooms, people have supposedly been eating them for well over a million years.
I would imagine that the reason many Hindu's do not feel the need to eat them, is because they have come to God in their own way. Magic Mushrooms are amazing tools to open up to your Self, but once that is accomplished, Nature has a way of revealing itself without having to force you into any mentality. You see, mushrooms like this are not in existance for themselves, they are a part of Nature and act as little tools to open you up to the realization that all natural life is aware of itself. They can teach you many things about your own lower mind, but one thing claimed by nearly everyone who eats them is that they feel a Oneness, a sort of connection with Nature that transcends duality. That, I believe, is why they exist.
As for ego death, the potency of any chemical is not going to automatically cause ego death, you have to do it for yourself. Unless you are talking about blacking out :tongue:
God Bless!

 

The ban on mushrooms is part of dietary restrictions observed by many Hindus. They are considered to be bad, as also is garlic, onions and other things. Don't ask me why this is - with garlic it may be the bad breath thing, but I haven't a clue why fungi should be considered bad. Maybe it's in case people picked the wrong ones and get poisoned. I once asked an experienced Krishna devotee about this and he couldn't give me an answer.


Personally, I think mushrooms are ok. No doubt people have been using the magic variety for a long time. I'm not sure though that there is much real evidence of their use in India on any widespread level.

 

There is no centralized authority that bans things in hinduism, so there are people who eat everything, including mushrooms and if you go extreme- there are dog eaters, horse eaters, elephant eaters. etc. Those who live in tribal villages may eat cows as well.

A hindu spiritual aspirant tends to avoid eating anything other than plants because he wants to refrain from harming things unecessarily.

Mushrooms are not considered vegetarian, they are not considered plants, so they are not eaten.

An advanced spiritual aspirant might avoid eating garlic and things that increase tamasic tendencies. Garlic is said to increase sexual desire hence it is not eaten. Onions are said to lead to same "increase" in sexual desires and violent tendencies , hence onions are avoided.

Some people even avoid excessive use of salts and spices and avoid eating of spicy foods , because they believe that a salty or a spicy diet may increase things like anger and frustration.

 

I do recall Paramahansa Yogananda going into this once in a book, actually.
God Bless ~

 

lol if you wanted to smoke , do drugs and have no responsibilities in life then why do you bother with hinduism? you can just do these things without ever labelling yourself.

Just start now, go and smoke pot, ruin your life, end up in an Emergency Room and an ER doc will save your life, and you can go ahead ruin your life again. After a while, you will die, and be born again, and you can continue to destroy your life then too.

goodluck with everything, I will see if I can save your life in the Emergency Room once I learn how to deal with you losers.

 

Jedi, the only way marijuana is going to cause you to need a trip to the emergecny room, is if someone drops 100lbs of it off a skyscraper onto your head. You been eating too many onions lately my friend?

 

stop doing drugs.

 

Im not disagreeing with you at all, drugs are a permanat busy singal to the Soul so long as you continue to use them. But people have their own karma to pay off, and their sensous attachment doesnt exactly qualify them as losers. God loves all children on the Earth, and because you may be more advanced spiritualy than another, well I just think that's kind of mean to say to someone. But I guess at the same rate, wake up calls for hardheads tend to have to be pretty unnerving.
God Bless ~

 

Yes, I see your point and I agree.

 

I should know! I got myself clean off of heavy Morphine daily abuse cold turkey after several years of addiction. My positive feelings and general well being have not been so wonderful in a long time
God Bless ~

 

oh yeah morphine addiction, thats another demon alot of people battle with everyday.

thats really admirable relayer, it takes alot of courage to face up to the world with all its pains and suffering head on, and then changing it for the better with one's own derived spiritual strength, without resorting to escapism.

good luck with everything.

 

Thank you Jedi. I could only realize how truly blind I was and how beautiful life is after quitting, which of course was my own hell for a few weeks, but has recently become just a part of this loaned body's past. I realized that I wasnt even feeling true love for my son, only a false sense of happyness when I was taking the opiates. It truly is not worth anything other than a waste, as you said.
God Bless ~

 

Personally I don't think diet plays a very essential role in developing spiritual consciousness. It's effects have been over stated. In some traditons such as Christianity, there are no restrictions, others have wierd and unexplained restrictions, like ISKCON with the mushroom ban, which as I say, it seems they themselves are unable to explain satisfactorily. Hence one gets the inpression that this is actually superstition.

I cant see how eating a bland and non-nutritious diet can possibly help anyone. In some cases the frustration and anger may actually be a result of too severe a view of what comprises right action for one on a spiritual path rather than chemicals in food.
Swami Vivekananda somewhere says that in his view, too much emphasis on a veggie diet had led to a lack of capacity for worldly development and action among the population of 19thc India.

On a lighter note - perhaps garlic increases sexual desire - I can't say I have experienced this on eating it, but actually, it is not a good tool to have in one's repertoire of seduction techniques because the bad breath would put off any potential sexual partner who hadn't eaten it themself.

 

It is more of a personal choice than anything BBB.

 

It is only in Sri Lanka that socialist democracies were pretentially attempted for the betterment of conclusive and productive citizenry of Peace.

It failed there, and no one but the stubbornly meditative continued to believe that it can recognize the Conscience of the just money being applied to the aims of good/Nature loving people.

The Tamils may still live in harmony with the Singhalese. This is no self-pretention/

 

haha

 

Yes, thats it. And of course, different people have different dietary needs. I think the only thing I'd say can be applied to all is to try to eat fresh and wholesome foods, and avoid the modern junk food diet.