Marijuana and yoga

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#181

Being High is just a joy. Once we are high, do we really need to practice more? as if we have not reached the point where we were suppose to be.

Yoga is about being Free, Being High isn’t free.

It may not be helping anyone or maybe helping some in someways but isn’t it a way to escape from the plane of reality which is right here, right now in you as you are?
I am not against any drugs or flying high by any means, but all the Balance, the Space, i have for me is just because of going beyond all the methods.
In the end call is yours my friend, pick what suits you there are plenty of stimulants out there.

[QUOTE=skye;4730]Hi. I’m a Senior Editor with HIGH TIMES magazine. For those who may not know, HIGH TIMES has been around nearly 35 years and is considered the Bible of cannabis. I am a former fitness pro and star aerobic instructor who spent 15 yrs in the fitness industry. Hired many yoga instructors in my time. From experience, I know many exercisers like to get high prior to working out. And I know that many yoga practitioners feel equally favorable toward catching a buzz prior to class. It helps, they say. “It make me feel more in tune with my body,” more than one person has stated. How do you feel about yoga and marijuana. Are they compatible?[/QUOTE]

#182

Everything is just a tool - use it how you must, in order to get rid of your illusions. While we take pharmaceutical drugs by the handful and allow people to drink, then get into their cars and kill innocent people, we have a ‘war’ on drugs - its all quite laughable, but even as a yogi who doesn’t necessarily use marijuana as one of my ‘tools’ I think we have been hoodwinked by corporations (namely pharmaceutical companies) who want the ancient traditions of altering consciousness to be hijacked so that we stay dumb. Yoga and meditation do what marijuana and LSD trips do, only without the side-effects. Magic mushrooms and ayahuasca are just a means to open the pineal gland and allow an awareness of other dimensions. All of this has been made to seem too sci-fi strange to the masses, but its changing. There is meditation in schools and hospitals now. A 2007 government study done in the US showed that over 20 million Americans were meditating - and we are the materialism brokers! All is changing. Pot smoking is just another way - if its not yours, that’s cool, but people should educate themselves. I’d personally rather not have lung cancer - maybe pot brownies are better. :slight_smile:

#183

Most of the negative things said about cannabis are true. Most of the positive things said cannabis are true. I think anyone who’s really experienced the plant would agree with that. With so many different variables playing a role in the type of effect it’s capable of producing it’s no wonder you hear so many different perspectives on it.

Personally, I have found it to be incredibly helpful in bringing awareness to my body and my emotions. I should mention that I began using it after four years of practicing yoga without it. Before using it I enjoyed yoga simply for the exercise. It was essentially calisthenics. I didn’t know how to get anything more out of it and I pretty much stopped expecting that I ever would find some sort of spiritual or emotional benefit. One evening a friend came over and got me high - my first time in years. It wasn’t how I remember it in college! I was so distracted from her because I was amazed by all the physical tension that was suddenly being revealed. How could I not sense that before!!! Anyway, I think one of the previous posters, Ococo, and I share very similar experiences with the plant. Yes, I saw all the criticism she received… Just remember, not everyone has the same response to it. My friends laugh and shake their heads when I try to explain it to them. Their experience is different. The effect it had on me while I was younger is much different than the effect it has on me today. Once again, many variables are at play.

Like any drug it can be abused. I stopped using it college because I felt it made me dull, sluggish, and socially awkward. I known a few people who are habitual smokers and they are incredibly boring to be around when they’re high. I stopped smoking it when I discovered that the negative side-effects (lethargy, impaired cognition, poor sleep quality) are not a problem if I use the edible form. I also don’t get a cerebral high or the munchies. What I enjoy is the heightened awareness of my whole musculoskeletal system in relation to gravity and how movement and breath can remove tension that I wasn’t even aware existed. Now I hear all the critics at this point, and yes, you are correct, this can and should be done without the crutch of cannabis. I’m working toward that. But I wouldn’t have the slightest clue where to begin or what to aim for if it weren’t for yoga’s greatest performance enhancing drug.

One poster commented something along the lines that marijuana users have a bad aura. Maybe that’s true for some but how do you know that bad aura is caused by pot? Several of my instructors remarked that my practice and presence was noticeably improved right around the time I began using cannabis.

Sorry to go on about myself like this but I was inspired to register for this site and post when I saw Ococo describe an experience that up until now I thought was unique to my strange self.

Now if you really want to take your yoga practice to the next level, crack rock is a…LOL I’m just kidding

#184

Remember Baba Ram Dass ? He gave his Guru a hand full of strong L.S.D. ,his guru showed no reaction it shocked Ram Dass , his guru I think if I remember right said could be helpful to some people . Is there not a group of yogis in indian that smoke gunja everyday .not for me though I am giving up attachments and making myself as pure as possible .
Do what works for you to be happy and fulfilled
Cheers

#185

[QUOTE=Fixed;80959]Remember Baba Ram Dass ?[/QUOTE]

If I remember correctly he actually gave extremely high doses to more than one prominent yogi; one had no visible reaction said he felt nothing, the other said it gave him a slight headache and the other said it did remind him of lowerarchy states of meditation.

#186

[QUOTE=ray_killeen;81002]If I remember correctly he actually gave extremely high doses to more than one prominent yogi; one had no visible reaction said he felt nothing, the other said it gave him a slight headache and the other said it did remind him of lowerarchy states of meditation.[/QUOTE]
I remember this story.

The Yogi in question was Neemkaroli Baba. He just said ‘it did nothing’.

I actually continued smoking cannabis until very recently and I agree with the sentiment expressed by Baba.

Weed is cool and all, but the ‘high’ I get through loving and being in love with God…totally and unconditionally is a million times stronger than any drug out there.

Once I reconnected with that love and joy I used to feel, I had no desire to smoke pot anymore.

I still did a few times out of habit, but felt rather hypocritical after it.

I can’t serve Lord Shiva and serve my own desires simultaneously. That’s all I know now.

#187

[QUOTE=Nobody;81109]I remember this story.

The Yogi in question was Neemkaroli Baba. He just said ‘it did nothing’.

I actually continued smoking cannabis until very recently and I agree with the sentiment expressed by Baba.

Weed is cool and all, but the ‘high’ I get through loving and being in love with God…totally and unconditionally is a million times stronger than any drug out there.

Once I reconnected with that love and joy I used to feel, I had no desire to smoke pot anymore.

I still did a few times out of habit, but felt rather hypocritical after it.

I can’t serve Lord Shiva and serve my own desires simultaneously. That’s all I know now.[/QUOTE]

Well said imho
Cheers
Peace

#188

[QUOTE=Fixed;81121]Well said imho
Cheers
Peace[/QUOTE]
Thank you. Peace to you as well.

A few times it has been said to me: “why [I]wouldn’t[/I] a fan of Shiva smoke cannabis? drink Bhang? eat Datura? ‘Bham Bham Bhole’ and all that?”

So, about these Cannabis-smoking sects of India you were mentioning before…

Ask yourself this (as [I]I[/I] asked myself); now, what would be a really good reason as to why the being who ‘invented’ Samadhi would need to alter His consciousness chemically?

In my honest opinion, the whole myth was created so those who smoked ganja would have an excuse to keep on doing so under the guise they are ‘worshipping Shiva’ because ‘Lord Shiva is a stoner’, you know? what a crock of bullshit. lol

The truth is that ‘ganja shops’ of northern India, Nepal and Tibet would use religious symbology for advertising purposes (like calendars depicting Lord Shiva) and hence how the whole myth came into existence.

I have tried to meditate while stoned and it’s exactly the same as meditating when I am not, so why get stoned to do it?

#189

If I had to look back and try and define that [I]exact[/I] moment when my ‘spiritual journey’ started.

I [I]could[/I] say it started in Malaysia at 10, when I got lost in the crowd at a Thaipusam festival and saw things I still couldn’t possibly relate on here, yet being able to do so at 10.

I [I]could [/I] say it started in Bali at 13, when somebody who shouldn’t have known anything about me knew everything (including my name) just by looking in my eyes.

Or years after that at 16, when I somehow got lost in a mirror meditation, saw my face change and it freaked me totally out.

Nah, it was when I was 19 and sitting on top of Borubadur Temple in East Java (one of the most sacred sites on Earth and standing on 3 Lay lines - I felt 2). I dropped Acid for the first and only time in my life.

It’s an experience one can only have/appreciate once.

#190

it?s been years10+ (so fast)

sometimes i miss kodaikanal & the mmushrooms

#191

Re-visiting this.

Since stopping my cannabis use, I am tending to overcompensate on other things, like cigarettes, masterbation and chocolate.

I’d rather be smoking pot. lulz

I know it’s a ‘bad thing’, but I think if smoked in moderation (say 2-3 bowls/week) it’s not all that bad.

I am doing more yoga and meditation now and trying not to be come ‘attached’ to things…but it’s hard not to become attached to a psychological addiction.

People have told me they like me better when I am stoned anyway…I am more relaxed, open and more ‘fun to be around’. When I am sober, I am really sarcastic and cynical with a really bad sense of humour. =/

Hopefully, my ‘stoned state’ will become my ‘natural state’ through meditation for those times when I am not meditating, but all that takes time.

So difficult…so difficult…

Aum Namah Shivaya

#192

Consider how the temporary effects of recreational drugs influences the brain/body with superficial experiences in illusion and yet the yogic sciences is considered an antidote in clarity for the primordial drug Maya; the grand illusion of being born, living in sorrow, fearing death, endlessly seeking pleasure etc.

#193

Someone close the doors there is a bad smell coming in and it is smelling up the whole house imho

#194

If we step back from our position of either defense or offense on this sensitive subject, and try a rational view-point, Sage Pāta?jali comes to guide in Sutra #1 of Book four: ?(To the untrained eyes) there appears to be a similarity between higher and lower powers gained by incarnation and also by or use of incense or drugs, mantrās (incantations), prayers, through plain compulsive rituals or meditation.?

Drug, a substance; incense, a subtle substance; religious rituals, overt behavior; incantations and prayers, covert vibrations are, though gross or subtle, still matter. Our bodies are still composed of molecules and particles and the drug etc would no doubt affect the bodies and our awareness. However, they all remain external change-agents in their psycho-physio-biological effects. Remove them and any mind-state reached is lost.

What distinguishes the change-agents from meditation and yoga?s general framework is the intended metamorphosis to be brought about consciously and irreversibly. Yoga methods and practices are so designed that one can use them to bring about a change and may not need them once the change holds roots.

What is said in Sutra #3 of Book four is important. ?Yoga practices and methods by themselves, do not bring about elevation of consciousness, but only serve to eliminate obstacles? The practices may till the soil and methods may remove the weeds, but the crop is still a product of the latent seeds. The practices do not grant emancipation nor lead to illumination; they remove the obstacles that prevent it from happening. If it is not in one?s structure, all the practices and prayers of the world will not create transcendence. The same is true about drugs. In the short run, they act as change-agent to deliver the same states that early meditation may bring. But drugs and the other scaffoldings remain external to the whole process since they themselves do not deliver the meditative experience but only remove the obstacles like stress or flitting mind from preventing it.

So, I think this debate should not be about the moral right or wrong, but about developing readiness to do away with any change-agent ? drugs or practices ? when the change happens and a stronger will takes over to drive the further change. Absence of such readiness makes the means overwhelm the end and that is the real problem.

#195

One of the biggest problems with marijuana is its label. It has been labeled a, “Drug”. Therefore is will forever be bad in the minds of many.

Vitamin B12 is one of the essential vitamins necessary for a healthy body and mind. Nobody here (I would hope) would ever argue that vitamin B12 should be given up at some point in a yoga practice. There are specific receptors for vitamin B12 after all in the body. We’ve evolved to NEED it.

There are specific receptors for cannabis in the body as well. Cannabinoid receptors. And marijuana has been shown to be one of the best anti-inflammatories there is. Marijuana is actually extremely beneficial and I might argue, NEEDED by some people. You can read more about the science of marijuana here.

Let go of all the BS that schools and society teach you.

#196

How can there be something such as right/wrong rather there are likes/dislikes of human minds, 7 billion human minds each having their own like/dislike, direct experience trial and error is the only conformation.

#198

Marijuana has important healing properties for cancer:

#200

Great series of posts Siro, thank you.

#201

Ever since Fixed closed the doors in post #189 on that “bad smell” coming in there have been some really insightful posts all around. Nice contributions people!

Suhas Tambe - You make a good point about the more important issue here being the development of a readiness to do away with change-agents altogether, but where do you draw the line in determining which activities/habits are considered expendable change-agents?

#202

Rainy day in Australia, so a perfect day to read through this thread!

what a great read and is great to see so many honest opinions.

I have smoked and then done some asanas, and at the time enjoyed it.
But my body does not deal well with outside substances, so the next day i would feel terrible. Even too much meat means a sleepless night for me.

But everyone is different, I have friends that can eat a kilo of beef and a few beers and sleep deep and peacefully all night.
So I’m sure there is people who it helps medically and spiritually…
why not… :slight_smile:

I guess its just listening to your body and knowing what is good or bad individuality.

Peace