Gordon,
I love your response. I think it hits it all right on the head. Nothing more for me to add. 
I know you say you smoke small amounts. What you’re experiencing probably seems great to you, but from the outside, it might not be so pleasant.
I had friends who were big pot-smokers in college and they were claiming how brilliant their thoughts were while under the influence.
I didn’t see them reach higher forms of consciousness.
Instead all I saw were two red-eyed people stuffed into one chair, drooling, talking nonsense and making me serve them grilled cheese sandwiches. 
Smoking dope is a waste of time. It won’t expand consciousness. As someone who has smoked dope before.Just my opinion of course.A distraction for sadhana.
I think when you’re at college or that age and still exploriing the world and yourself it might appeal and hold some attraction blow a few fancy lights in your head but you do typically tend to grow out of it in my experience(often taken over by responsiblities etc).And i think the middleaged hippies that still smoke it in a sense perhaps they have never really grown up.They want to remain like kids. I don’t know.
#“We dont need no educAtion dee dum dee dum dee”# lol
You know that pop video with Bob Geldoff slumped in the armchair with the ounce of hashish on one side while staring into the neon tube.Don’t take drugs is my last piece of advice.Of course what are some folk, i.e the young(and foolish or stupid perhaps but many of us have been there and perhaps lived to tell the tale), inclined to do when you say that?..Gimme Gimme… I want to try…lol
Cannabis can be a gateway drug for some people leading to more addictive substances so just be careful.
[QUOTE=Asuri;46944]Well said, my friend. I’ve seen it written somewhere that this is a trap. Higher consciousness is not about seeing pretty lights.[/QUOTE]
Really?
Hmmm.
The Chakras give off pretty lights.
[QUOTE=trademarked;46529]It’s challenging to find like minded people to discuss yoga and/or meditation related topics, and I tend to further convince my friends that I’m losing my mind when discussing these types of things, so I’ve figured it would be best to share my situation here. It’s long, so I’ll apologize ahead of time and hope you still read it
When I was a small child, I would see a dense colorful static when closing my eyes, or in dim light. It was similar to an incorrect TV channel, but with indistinguishable colors. As I was growing up, I would see this “static” from time to time, and think nothing of it. The more I focused on it, the easier it was to see. As high school came around, I would occasionally smoke cannabis with friends. After high school I stopped, until one day when I was about 23. After partaking and enjoying a relaxing quiet moment, I closed my eyes and saw the “static” again. This time, however, the colors from the static had worked together to form complex geometric patterns moving in sync. The level of detail was astonishing, and was comparable to 100x that of a kaleidoscope. Over the years, I would see these beautiful patterns from time to time when smoking, but never without smoking.
Seemingly unrelated, I started practicing hot yoga about a few months ago. One night when I was smoking (which i really don’t do very often) I got the urge to practice some asanas. The result was remarkable! The patterns returned, but with MUCH more clarity and intensity. Sometimes the patterns turned into numbers and symbols, and the flowed from an outside point into what felt to be my 3rd eye region. It felt like information was flowing into my mind. At times it was so overwhelming I’d have to take my concentration elsewhere to let it fade away. It was simply… Beautiful. (On a side note, The experience is very similar to the famous “Joe Rogan DMT rant” for those familiar with it, and of course I am not using DMT. ) I’ve been able to duplicate the experience when smoking, but I don’t know if I should continue this. I can of course still see the “static” at any time. It’s worth noting that I smoke INCREDIBLY small amounts, probably 1/10th of a gram, and can have these effects. I have friends who smoke 3 grams a day of high quality cannabis and have never experienced anything like this. It’s like a full hallucinogenic experience, I can even control the colors of what I see just be thinking “Green”, “Blue”.
My questions are:
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A yoga instructor that I spoke with claimed that the static I see is energy. Is this accurate?
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Do other people see this, is it normal?
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Should I continue the experiences, in your opinion?
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With more yoga practice will I be able to have similar experiences without smoking?
Thank you! :D[/QUOTE]
First. How old are you?
Now my responses to your query young sir.
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All is energy or so they say.
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Some do. Some don’t.
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You should continue the yoga. smoking weed is up to you.
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and then some…
[QUOTE=The Scales;46989]Really?
Hmmm.
The Chakras give off pretty lights.[/QUOTE]
Is that what those lights were, Chakras? Is that what they mean by ‘seeing the light’?
[I]Is that what those lights were, Chakras? [/I]
Perhaps. But not necessarily. Let me also say this. Depending on the view
(plane/body) you may see the lights or you may see somthing else altogether when your working around the complexes. (chakras)
[I]Is that what they mean by ‘seeing the light’?[/I]
I don’t think so. I think “seeing the light” refers to what the buddhists call “clear light”.
What do yoga fellows here think about the Naga Saddhus, who smoke pot and meditate afterwards?
@panoramix
I think my earlier post here covers this question.
I don’t really think anything at all of the sect you mention, just as they likely don’t think anything at all of me
If those things work for their practice and their intention (read: their work) then that is that and I am not to say otherwise. All we can do is help others see with clarity, identify their purpose, and move toward living it.
When I look at these sorts of things I simply ask whether this person’s thing is bringing light into mater. I project my construct, if you will. Our work, which I remain focused on and committed to, is to bring light into matter and thus help the evolution of mankind to the next stage (as outlined by Sri Aurobindo). If you’re bringing light into your cells and preparing your body to hold the divine force…rock on.
Of course Gordon, I wasn’t staging a kind of judgment of sadhus, just inquiring about their practices… Swap “think” for “know”.
To me sounds fascinating the fact they can meditate after smoking. I don’t know if you have ever smoked, but my mind seemed to speed up, just in contrary direction to the meditation state.