Using drugs to achieve enlightenment is like adding weight to a load that is
already too heavy to lift.
The bad logic is that if the load is made even heavier, then one will build the
required muscle strength faster by attempting to lift it with more weight, and
eventually can reset the load to its original weight and then will be able to
lift it.
What happens most of the time, however, is that one who has doubled the weight
of the load does not build strength by attempting to lift, but strains and
tears the muscles and now can no longer even lift a half of the original
weight. If the addiction or delusion is strong enough, then even more weight
is added, because now the torn muscles need to be built back up. The load
continues to get added weight, while the muscles continue to be strained to
shreds, all while in the very first place, the load could not be lifted at its
original weight with the original muscle strength!
All drugs are substances. They are physical chemicals that affect the body.
Is the effect of drugs on the mind, or is it on the brain?
I know a zennist who is well-practiced and established in zen. He never
pursued psychoactives, but when he was offered a hit of LSD he did not refuse
it. Later, when everyone was giggling and wandering about their senses, the
zennist was found in a calm state, saying that the LSD did not change anything
for him. This is not to suggest that the LSD did not affect him, rather it
hints at a higher state of consciousness on the zennist's behalf.
Because the zennist is strong enough to lift the weight does not mean that when
he sets it back on the ground he is weaker person and when he lifts it he is a
stronger person. The strength is always there.
Our bodies and gross egos are very heavy for the spirit. So that the spirit is
strong enough to carry the gross body so that the body is at the will of the
spirit takes much practice (spiritual muscle building), while for the body to
weigh down the spirit, not only anchoring it, but paralyzing it, is already the
problem. The spirit can not be at the will of the body so the body assumes its
own will based on ego.
...or not.
PS -- Moe-derator: Whatever happened to citation of a source? Would this list
really vanish if all the posters who have no sources stopped posting? My
citation for this post? In the words of Joe Walsh, "It's hard to meditate on
amphetamines."
Bhikkhu Samahita <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dear David Newman:
Remembering, many prior life meditators fall for drugs...
---------------------------------
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/S27xlB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
