weed and meditation

[Repulsive Monkey]

Someone said that old masters indulged in Opium in the past. That is true but they certainly didn't do it to improve themselves, they did becasue they were addicts. The absolute truth is that internal practice requires a lessening of attatchment so that one can attain a clear, undiluted and natural grasp of the nature of the mind. Any substance of strength ingested or absorbed into the body will affect that initial reasoning. And whether it feels nice, blissful, super-sensitive and sexy, it will ultimately only do one single thing, and that is, DETRACT AND DEVIATE from ones initial quest. It will never help you along the path to internal cultivation. Thats a fact.!!Lao Tzu quotes in the Tao Te Ching " Education requires that you gain daily, the Tao requires that you lose daily". Meditation is about ridding oneself of falseness and achieving clarity of what is real. Do you honestly believe that allowing drugs into your internal cultivation you are getting closer to realisation??? To advance in this path one must ultimately when the time is right realise that drugs just like many other factors are the obvious things that need to be got rid of. If you don't feel the need to let go of them yet then you are not ready to gain realisation yet. I know this sounds terribly black and white, but it is considered to be the truth just by me but of those who have gone before us and achieved spiritual enlightenment.

[prana]

Repulsive Monkey

sadu ! sadu ! sadu !

Also to add, one of the sila

one shall not take any intoxicants

[dezhen2001]

Hi - i'm new to this forun but i find that this question gets asked many times on many different forums - even in magazines and things......here is my opinion.

When practising Meditation especially, you are trying to reach a state of mindfulness so you become aware of yourself and everything. Qigong wise so that you can feel any tension in your body and let it go.
Using weed (from my experience) or any other drug puts you in a state of mindlessness - which is actually very different. Although some people may say that the 'effects' are similar, actually they are not.

You need to have a very clear and open mind to reach any stage of development in martial arts/qigong/meditation, so i don't think it is advisible to mix training with drugs.

thanks,
david

[hazhardy]

ok, so here's my theory,,,
smoking marajuanha (or however it's spelt) may increase your chi count. . .
the other day i smoked some and had chi rushing all over my body like i had never felt before. it was insane. has anyone else felt this sh!t?
cool.
the hza

[Jason Martell]

How do you know that was CHI? And not just the effects of the marijuana? I know when I was a young lad the the first few times I smoked it, I got a weird sensation through my whole body?

[hskwarrior]

wierd sensations?

Like what?

and where can i get some purple paralyzer?

"don't give me no bammer weed, don't smoke that $hit in the SFC (Sucka Free City---or San Francisco, same thing!)

big props to all herbalists, its gods gift to man.

matter of fact, hold on ------that hit was for my folks (cough! cough! Choke) god******, call the ambulance my head done fell off.

hsk

[Judge Pen]

Good theory. I've heard the stronger the drug, the more intense the chi experience. Just watch out for acid as you can also experience a bad chi day as well.

I wonder if the UFC will catch on? Smoke some weed and let the chi balls fly in the octagon.

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

Like any herb, cannibis has useful attributes.. routine recreational use, however, will contradict the more useful benefits.. suggested use is as a "sacrement", occasional and with reverence for the energies it enhances.. i've known too many stoners that eventually decline into couch potatos hypnotized by the music and their own hands.. stronger psychoactive substances (natural, of course) should only be used infrequently, with clarity and purpose, not for recreation.. mood or mind altering substances are generally not conducive to good training, but may serve a more esoteric goal.. that, ultimately, compliments one's journey.. in such matters consult herbalists, masters, and shamans.. and, use good common sense..

Be well..

[TonyM.]

As it messes with your equilibrium, I'd say weed is not good for chi circulation. If it happens to relieve some tight muscles and allows some trapped chi to escape I would say that was a fortunate happenstance.

[herb ox]

it's funny... the ol' cannabis thread pops up now and again. I'd have to agree most with TaiChiBob - moderation is the key to success with just about anything.

Chinese medicine acknowledges the mind as a possible genesis of a disease state. As such, the use of 'jah herb' can relax a mind fixated on events and release emotional states and thus relax the body - when the body is relaxed, the Qi will flow smoothly. On the other end of the spectrum, cannabis is not for everyone, as some will become more tense or distracted, thus disrupting the smooth flow of Qi. Herb is best taken as a sacrament with a clear mind. A clouded mind will only grow more cloudy after smoking...

Just my dime-bag's worth (...oops, did I say that? I meant 2 cents...)

peace
herb ox

[Jason Martell]

I agree with the ,ast post whole heardedtly. It can make you way more tense, or even nervous if attacked on the street.
On the side note
Did you guys know that it prevents heart disease and diabetes. That was just rescently discovered by scientists. I read about it in either Popular Science or Discover Magazine. I can't remember which, but I know it was last month.

[herb ox]

hmmm... you're sure it wasn't High Times?

[GeneChing]

...now what was I sayin'? Oh nevermind...

There's been a lot of work in psychotropics and zen - it's a surprisingly long tradition.
One of Tricycle's best selling issues was there psychedelic special...hmmm, maybe that's what Kung Fu Tai Chi needs... Seriously, the best work on the subject now in my mind is Zig Zag Zen - which contains essays from many Zen thinkers and psychotropic advernturers. My personal take on the matter tends to agree with many of those writers in that volume - students who indulge in psychedelics do tend to progress faster to a point. But, and this is a big one, they tend to plateau and never make the big final leaps. There are exceptions, of course. Who can forget the Zen Haiku master Bassho and his odes to marijuana? I think there is something fundamental in practice that cannot be short cut, just like in Kung fu. Sure, an external 'dan' like steroids may get you somewhere faster, but without the spiritual underpinning of hard work, it lets you down in the end. Then, there is Master Shuzan’s famous answer to the koan "What is the mind of the ancient buddhas?" - his answer - "three catties of hemp".

Sorry, what were we talking about again?

[herb ox]

let's see... whoa! three catties of hemp is roughly equal to 58 ounces!


Better start your Zen practice now!





herb ox

[PangQuan]

anyone know any cool taoist pipe fighting forms?