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marijuana in hinduism

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now i have a question, but i dont wanna hear people tell me whats right and whats wrong based on moral values of today's age... i know that smoking marijuana is wrong and most people are against it.

 

but i read that in hinduism, especially in shaivism, smoking marijuana is allowed. i heard it was actually a good way for people to meditate and that Lord Shiva smoked marijuana as well as drank drinks made from marijuana extract, such as soma. can anyone give me an unbiased account of how marijuana is treated by the hindu religion (not by hindu people, but by the religious accounts)

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Hare Krishna,

 

Atleast from what I know of shaivites, drugs are a NO NO. The soma plant mentioned in Vedas are not drugs. Infact nobody knows today which plant this is ?

 

I would advise you not to read about any form of Hinduism from chriatian or muslim websites. They will give you only anti-Hindu material and mislead you.

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but i dont look at marijuana as a drug tho. its a natural herb that was used since ancient times. and i use it to help me meditate and get my mind in the right stateof mind. i dont think it has any bad effects that make my mind wander or anything. i really think about religion when i use it and also, i think philosophically. anyone else have any similar experiences??

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I think all drugs produce a certain amount of 'philosophy' because they alter the perception and cause things to be seen in a different light. This dual appreciation causes both to be considered consciously because the oneness of the previous perception has been challenged by the new perception of what previously was taken for granted/known.

 

In nordic myths alcohol was called 'the spit of the gods' and was drunk to induce varying states of mind.

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It is right that there is a connection in shaivism where Lord Shiva is known as the protector of the cannabis plant and said to constantly be high on charas or ganja or bhang, which are the three intoxifying products of cannabis widely used in India. I did a study on this subject for my degree at the university of Oslo (can be found at http://homefree.freewave.no/~s1331172/ - unfortunately for most of the world written in norwegian), and as a part of this I was staying for six months in Varanasi interviewing the monks (sadhus) of different shaiva-traditions on their view on the connection between Lord Shiva and cannabis. So even though orthodox hindus tend to deny this fact, a lot of sadhus use cannabis.

 

Of course you can argue that their use of cannabis have nothing to do with religion, but is just normal drug abuse, and partly I would agree that this is the case. But the main reason why Shiva has been connected to cannabis is because this drug in a way favours meditation and experience of God. I was also meeting a yogi in Varanasi who didn´t use any drugs; not even tea; he was practising pranayama and japa and dhyan to get the union with Shiva. But once, during Shivaratri, he had tasted some bhang who was presented and he compared the feeling he got from this to the feeling from his dhyan. But still he warned against using drugs, and the reason was according to him that it keeps you attatched to prithivi; the Earth. If you are depending on a drug to experience God´s presence, you will always come down again, and then you have to deal with all the earthly stuff in relation to that; getting money, buying drugs etc. And the idea in yoga is the non-attatchment which is underlying the meditation and favouring this; opening for the union of your self and God.

 

I have had intense religious experiences under the influence of cannabis and other drugs. But the more the time have gone I have shifted into regarding the use of these substances as a hindrance in the long run. So now I mostly stay away from cannabis and stick to drug-free yoga. The thing also with cannabis-use (at least in Europe; I don´t know in USA where they seem to smoke mostly pot) is the mixing with tobacco, and the addiction to this drug and the pollution of your body. When I smoke I get a feeling of the smoke and tar clogging up my body, and it definitely makes the nadis impure and hinder the flow of prana.

 

I definitely agree with you on what you say about the meditational qualities of cannabis, and I have also experienced that it have a muscle-relaxing effect which is very good when doing yogasanas. So if you feel like smoking and meditating, you can continue knowing that you fit into a long tradition both inside shaivism/shaktism as well as some mystic branches of Islam; sufi-sects as Qalandaris, Malangis and others.

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Its beter to use ganja if u have focussing problems or disorders (such as ADHD)... better than freneticly trying...

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Marijuana was used and still in use by tantric shadus in India who are called Goaris. It helps them to concentrate and focus their mind in one direction but it is not for followers of Saiva Sithantha Sanadhana Dharma. For one thing taking marijuana will not help you in your family life in anyway. It is for the shadus who take up celebacy and have no other responsiblilty. So do not experiment with what you are not prepared to do. Tantric is although mentioned in Hindu vedas but it is to be avoided but non tantrics. Read about the tantric sastras before you experiment such methods.

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marjuana is a material substance... there's nothing material that can help to obtain transcendence...

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What if ganja has non-material forces?

And how do you explain the use of ganja by saddhus?

Are you saying that people with disorders just have bad luck?

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my view is that any drug use cannot help progress spiritually.

so, any use is against dharmic principles.

 

now, hinduism dees allow any drug as a medicine allow.

medicine is for gettign well, mostly physically, and sometimes mentally. body is a tool to progress spiritually. once the body gets well, any drug use must stop.

 

now, suppose there is some crazy guy

who would do some violence to society or persons if kept free from a drug. this is his desease.

if such a person takes drug and says put.

then in my view it is fine.

that way - he feels happy, and society is free from trouble.

if however drug use caused problem to society and the user both, then it is not worth using. then it blockes spiritual progress keeling the user in illusion of happiness.

 

 

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What if ganja has non-material forces?

••ganja is a body, vegetal body, material body.. the non material force within ganja is the soul that escapes when you cut the plant to smoke it

 

And how do you explain the use of ganja by saddhus?

••••they're bogus

 

Are you saying that people with disorders just have bad luck?

••••yes.. bad karma

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If find it quite incredible that there are people who know the answers to such questions such as using drugs. I am quite educated but remain agnostic in my point of views. But here are some interesting things that I have learned:

 

The blue lotus is a highly praised flower commonly depicted in hindhu art and literature. It is also a common sacrifice or gift for hindhu temples. It is also a psychedelic plant that can be drunk as a tea or smoked.

 

The fact that certian plants and fungi that grow from the earth contain highly specific chemical molecules (THC)stimulatns within them that perfectly fit, lock and key, into receptors (anandamide receptor) in our bodies.

 

Many religious groups have used a miriad of psychedlics for religious purposes for eons. Blus lotus (hindu, egyptian), peyote (american indians), ayawauscha (brazil), igobaine (africa), mushrooms and many more.

 

It is interesting to note that many aspects of the experience explained by some forms of drug use (especailly psychedelics) and meditation seem to overlap: timelessness, transendence, visions or hallucinations (auditory or visual), a feeling of undescribability, ego shattering, equality, etc.

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I use to get high and meditate.

I did it all the time.

Once i didn't get high, but meditated anyways.

It was the best meditation i had up to that point.

 

After that i stopped using drugs.

So now i don't need drugs to get high, or transend the noise of my mind.

 

While i don't recommend drug use, if you're going to do it anyways, then atleast use it as a way to God. Then God will show you you don't need to get high, or to get rich, or to get famous. All you need is God, which is within you and is the true nature of your soul.

 

God bless you on your journey.

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<< Once i didn't get high, but meditated anyways.

It was the best meditation i had up to that point. >>

 

i would not belive it.

 

any drug use is adictive.

no aachary has said start with drug to go to god.

 

some one, it seems, is in the business of promoting drugs to devotees here. stay alert.

 

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please understand that you have been colluded by the mass media and society at large for a hatred of the effects of marijuana. our capitalists societies dont like the blunting effects of marijuana, they would rather have us out working to make them money. thats why society believes it to be wrong. but many societies around the world have incorporated it into their cultres. but the Americans havent. thats why the american worshiping world follows their path.

 

marijuana's original home was in india and it is said that Lord Shiva uses the intoxicant. I use it and i can say for sure, im not addicted. im sure you will write back saying an addict denies, but awareness is my alias. and i can say for sure, im not addicted. Why do sadhus use it?

 

i can say that the effects do make one reflect more on things. One tends to contemplate, and if one is more religiously incurred to begin with, then they will be likely to contemplate on religion. Dont get me wrong, if someone uses it for its intoxicating effects alone, then it is wrong. If they get high and then contemplate on other things, then it does nothing to further their enlightenment.

 

just my views

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There is no question that psychotropic substances and hallucinogens have and are being used by religious practioners around the globe - from Indian Yogis to South American and Mexican Indian Shamans. Ganja is probably the mildest of these - used not so much to induce visions (like Mescaline or Psilocybin) but as an aid to meditation, to be able to more successully avoid sensory distractions during the practice.

But that is all it is - an aid. Some use it, some dont. The ganja does not in itself have any mystic or mind opening property. To gain any benefits from meditation or mystic practice, the focus must be on the practice, not on any "aids" that you may choose to use.

 

To focus on the Ganja experience, if you use it to help your meditation, is like focusing on the paper rather than the words written on it.

 

 

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"marijuana's original home was in india and it is said that Lord Shiva uses the intoxicant."

 

Lord Shiva also drinks an ocean of poison to save the earth... so take the complete "sadhana" or behave like a sober spiritualist

 

"i can say that the effects do make one reflect more on things"

 

spirit is not subjected to matter, so there's no material substance who can help religious practice

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<Lord Shiva also drinks an ocean of poison to save the earth... so take the complete "sadhana" or behave like a sober spiritualist>

 

im not sure i understand what ur trying to say...whats a sadhana?

 

<spirit is not subjected to matter, so there's no material substance who can help religious practice>

 

there is no material substance that can help universally. but depending on the person in a certain situation (which you may not udnertand or have to go through), a substance may be helpful. and if it is helpful, then it should be maintained until it has negative effects.

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"To focus on the Ganja experience, if you use it to help your meditation, is like focusing on the paper rather than the words written on it."

 

nice..i like it

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perception has the greatest effect of anything your mind is capable of, your mind is capable of thinking of anything or nothing, 'substances' aren't needed to perceive things 'differently,' but they do help, if your 'using' something for any reason other than to help you, it won't, you're perceiving it as not helping you, forget about drugs, forget about things being bad, use what ever you use for yourself, let it help you, don't think its hurting you, and don't think its helping you, let it do what it will to you and don't worry about what it is doing, don't think about or with the substance think with your mind

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your perception blew me to b i t s !!

 

although i feel " ... <snip> if your 'using' something for any reason other than to help you, it won't, you're perceiving it as not helping you ... <snip>" is extraneous and imho is contrapositive. please read again without the above excerpt.

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"marijuana's original home was in india and it is said that Lord Shiva uses the intoxicant."

 

Lord Shiva also drinks an ocean of poison to save the earth... so take the complete "sadhana" or behave like a sober spiritualist

 

"i can say that the effects do make one reflect more on things"

 

spirit is not subjected to matter, so there's no material substance who can help religious practice

 

 

^Whoever wrote that, shut everyone down. haha hats off to you haha

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