--- In [email protected], I am the eternal <l.shad...@...> wrote: > > On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 7:01 PM, Joe Smith <msilver1...@...> wrote: > > It's not possible to transcend while stoned on pot because as any pot > > head will tell you, there's this constant flow or stream of > > consciousness-thoughts while stoned, the opposite of settled > > awareness. The whole cycle of settling down, having a thought, feeling > > the mantra on a subtle level, settling down, etc. can't be achieved > > while stuck in an astral-thought kaleidoscope. Being stoned is the > > antithesis of quiet mind-transcendental consciousness.
Your opinions appear to be based on hersay, not direct experience. Caveat emptor. Have you ever considered why Shiva is called Lord of cannabis and is often depicted with "paraphenalia"? Or that as someone noted similarly, 100's of thousands of sadhus make use of cannabis as part of their sadhana -- the crown of it. And it is considered a blessing to offer some cannabis to sadhus. And bhang is drunken copiously at religious celebrations. There are even "vedic" mantras used to chant prior to use of cannabis as an offering to Shiva. Do you really believe the is absolutely no connection between spirituality, the holy quest and cannabis? Cannabis comes in a million varieties -- with different effects -- the two major flavors being Indica and Sativa -- quite different. So the effects cannot be classified in a single category. And people react differently, and the effects of the same substance can change over time with the same user. Sweeping generalizations as the ones you make are quite like someone with their head in the sand -- making bold pronouncements about the world they know nothing of. I have had experiences much as LShad describes. No thoughts -- and the famous lack of short-term memory aka being totally in the present. It seems the height of spiritual bigotry, parochialism and folly to believe one is quite superior to sadhus who are devoting their life to their spiritual quest -- and using cannabis as a spiritual fertilizer. Such know-nothingness is what keeps many thousand in jail for pursuing their choice of spiritual discover. (Not that cannabis is not used in non spiritual settings also but I venture a speculation that the vast majority in jail for cannabis related activity have gained spiritual benefit from it. Live long and prosper on your path. Let others do likewise. > Hmm. That's interesting. When the guys passed around the joints in > my sophomore year in college I gave it a try. I got very, very > concerned that I could not hold a thought. I would be thinking then > I'd be gone for God knows how long. I'd come back, desperately try to > have and hold on to another thought. I was sort of like Sisyphus. >
