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What do you all think about drugs especially in their purported spiritual uses?
I don’t have a lot of experience with drugs (at least, not the illegal kind) other than being an ex-marijuana enthusiast. I think most the time I just used it to make movies funnier, food taste better, music seem more powerful and just relax after work…but there were certainly times I would say I got a spiritual experience out of it. If for no other reason than it helped me to appreciate reality in a different way and helped approach spiritual topics differently. Interestingly, I still strongly considered myself a christian during the time I used it, which always ended up confusing people. If anything I felt MORE “christian” when I used it and now I would just say closer to a God-experience or what have you.
I often felt like I was having a mini revelation on many different ideas, but in hindsight I dont think it was so much revelation as it was clarity to express what I thought deep deep down. I credit it with helping my spiritual journey in that respect.
Thoughts?
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This topic was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by
SavageSoto.
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This topic was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by
My one and only (so far) experience with MJ was anything but spiritual. But I was also informed I’d ingested (edibles) of the energetic type, and not the relaxing kind. So I may never know first hand..I watched an awesome documentary, whose web page I’ll post here at the end, about DMT. It changed my whole perspective on our brains and how we perceive things. It also made me think that spirituality might just be something different to everyone. http://www.thespiritmolecule.com/
AnonymousI have never tried any kind of street drugs – mainly because I do NOT like not being in control of my body/feelings/emotions, plus I did not want to risk doing any kind of damage to my body or brain (and because I was such a goody-two-shoes my whole life.) But in the last couple years I have really wanted to smoke a marijuana joint, just to be able to say I tried it once in my life and because I’m curious what kind of effect it would have on me. I doubt I ever will though.
I’ve heard good things about DMT, I need to read up on it. And yes, I’d recommend to anyone that they at least try MJ once in their life.
AnonymousThis is a very tough and touchy subject. The federal laws of the US are cruel and abusive in this instance/case. The dirth of media distortion concerning pot is immense. I feel sorry for people who can’t use pot. I find it completely charming and perfect for my needs medically and or recreationally. Pot definitely opens up your mind.
LSD is like six months of intensive psychoanalysis, I did my first and only LSD experimentation in my mid thirties, under close supervision. I didn’t like the speed aspect of LSD. I much prefer the relaxation and limited effects of pot on my bod. I have experienced really intense prayer and communion while stoned. I love getting high and focusing on Jesus. Getting high with Jesus is beautiful. I have often thought about that Church in Vermont who use pot as a holy sacrament for worship. That must be an awesome group, I hope they are anyway.
Kathy I love your comments and your perspective. “Getting high with Jesus is beautiful.” What a great statement…grin.
I have never tried any illegal substance though I would smoke a joint in a heartbeat if the laws in my state changed. I would have no qualms about it whatsoever from a moral perspective. As with so many other things in life, it seems to me it would only become damaging with abuse. But at present it would represent too much risk for me and my family in that the mere presence of it in my system would require immediate termination of my employment and we can do random drug tests as well as mandatory ones after any on the job auto accident. Just not presently worth the risk.
But the moment we make it legal (could happen in the next 5 years) I will likely be looking for a way to blend some into my pipe tobacco…LOL.
I always said, Gary, I was going to wait until it was legal and then . . . yay! Let’s give this a shot! But I started sooner and am glad I did. It’s funny you should mention being out of control, Jo, regarding pot. For me (unless you’re ridiculously high, which only happens once in a blue moon for me) I actually feel in more control. I’ve never “smoked pot with Jesus” (love it), but I’ve had some good insights into life come up. Believe it or not, I’d always wanted to do abstract art, but everything that came out of me looked like really bad coffee house art. One night, I was drawing while high, and this little abstract came out of me onto a notecard, and that was it. I started painting abstracts. Weird, but cool, and a gift from 42. (The answer to life, the universe, and everything, for anybody that’s not familiar with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which you probably are and I don’t mean to insult your intelligence!
)I also use it to help with my depression, something I’ve been fighting to overcome (and the battle is mine, folks, the battle is mine!) since I was a teenager. It’s been enabling me to kick that illness’s ass in a lot of ways.
I have friends who’ve had intensely spiritual experience on mushrooms and I really want to try that. I think these substances just unlock areas within us that are always there, but we have trouble accessing for one reason or another. But I’m waiting to do this when I’ve got time, and the people I trust to do this with have the whole day too. It’s definitely not something I would do unsupervised and in anything but a safe, trusting environment.
We alter ourselves all the time in many ways, shapes and forms. It just depends what we do and how far we’re willing to go. I’ve always thought people smoked pot to escape. But in my observation, we escape all the time. We just have different vehicles to do so. I was a real self-loather, and when I let go, started allowing myself to be myself with all my questions and doubts and WTFs about life, including smoking pot, I began to be able to look in the mirror and not wish a plastic surgeon would just give me a re-do. I don’t think pot’s responsible for that, it’s really more of indicator that I’d finally allowed myself to move beyond the bounds of external expectation and approval to something a bit kinder to myself. I’m not expecting myself, or anyone else, to live up to expectations I’ve set for them. Honestly, for me now the questions I ask to figure out whether or not something is the right thing to do or not, “Does this diminish me? Does this hurt or diminish anybody else?” And if the answers are no, I have no problem with it.
Crap. I’m rambling.
(Okay, wow. This really is a place you can talk about anything. And this is great.)
And, well, if you’ve never liked Pink Floyd and want to? It totally changes everything. The Wall? High? Definitely a spiritual experience. And I’m not trying to be flippant.
Interesting guys! 2 of my 3 kids smoke weed. They are continuously trying to get us to smoke up with them. I think one day we will. It’s not legal here in the part of Canada where I live but it will be soon I think. You can be caught with a joint or two, no big deal. You might get a ticket, but that’s it. I’m not opposed to it.
Have any of you guys read Aldous Huxley? He incorporated drugs, psychedelics specifically, into his spirituality. He was inspired by the Peyote Indians’ rituals and found his experiences quite profound.
Anonymousmy experience with “pharmaceuticals” ahem was before I became a believer..mostly the effects were intense cravings for Doritos lol, although it (pot) did help my headaches and I slept like a baby. Haven’t touched anything in years.
I have chronic pain / fibromyalgia. I have thought seriously about medical MJ. I’m not a fan of the delivery system (inhaling) however. IMO MJ within reason is no worse than legit meds i.e. anti-depressants & I don’t think of it as a “gateway” drug either.
I have heard a story about a woman who was diagnosed w/ cancer and was doing pretty poorly maybe b/c of chemo or the cancer, not sure..anyways she was introduced to someone who had the knowledge to craft a distilled liquid form of MJ. Apparently her taking small doses of this helped her w/ cancer, improved her appetite etc.
I have no moral qualms with the use of pot. I think anything that removes your inhibitions will help you access deeper aspects of yourself. The downside that I have noticed is my friends who have regularly used pot tend to lose some of their ability to think clearly and the things they think are really amazing sometimes sound rather obvious to me. I remember sitting with my friend one day while he was high and he thought the sprinkler spraying water was one of the most profound things he had ever seen. Maybe it was, but when I mentioned this later to him, he didn’t know what I was talking about. I have been to enough concerts to know what a pot high is and it is rather pleasant and mellow. And I would say that pot is probably a better alternative than other synthetic substances for helping people through difficult times. I wouldn’t make a generality about this since each person is unique and their needs have complex subtleties that defy codification.
One of the gifts of having to sit through hours and hours of boring church services is that I taught myself how to lucid dream at will. I am able to reproduce many of the same effects as pot through what I later found it is a form of meditation. The difference is I am left with much more clarity than I would with pot.
I use this state of being every day and it is amazing the rich inner life one can have. I think pot may be something that allows people to know these states of being are available. I have noticed that the more I move away from fear based thinking and let my brakes off, the deeper my life experience and the more interesting and insightful my lucid states are.
AnonymousHead to the woods with some o’ dem mushrooms.
Interesting… never tried anything. Like Jo and Gary, I just haven’t gone there. Many people use marijuana for the pain associated with the type of muscular dystrophy that I have and say it works better than meds. I guess I like pain more than the chance of having an encounter with the cops. And so is life.
Interesting stuff. I have come to believe over the last few years that MJ should be legalized at the very least for medicinal purposes. Living in Utah it is doubtful that will happen any time soon. But I am really intrigued by the idea that it “removes your inhibitions will help you access deeper aspects of yourself”. I need this.
The idea of drugs interests me but I would probably never take them myself. I am a musician and I am incredibly passionate about music and I often feel that taking drugs would allow me to gain access to a whole new level of musical ability, but then there are examples of great bands pulling out truly incredibly stuff while completely sober. I’ve heard that drugs like LSD enhances what’s known as the Third Eye, the doorway into the spiritual realm, and people have had some incredibly intense spiritual experiences from them, if you are familiar with the band Tool, they have have experimented a lot with this effect and its intrigued me to no end. I used to be against drugs completely from a moral perspective but I have grown up a lot since then, if a person wants to take them then fair enough! I would only object if they started taking it too much.
What I have found out in my own experience is fear inhibits the ability of the mind to recognize patterns. Most of our intelligence is the recognition of patterns. Inhibitions that prevent us from expressing ourselves reduce the joy of life. In my experience religion shut down a lot of things that were really harmless. Everything from playing cards to what I should or shouldn’t think about was regulated by my former religion. There is a strong tendency to look down on emotions within the culture of some forms of Christianity. I don’t see emotions as harmful. What some people do as a result of their emotions is harmful, but having an emotion is not harmful. It’s a sensation.
I look for ways to experience less fear in my life. I look what inhibits me and what I have become attached to on a regular basis. I want to make sure that I am free of both of those. I have learned to enjoy being authentic and honest with myself. I am also grateful that I don’t have to rely on a chemical substance to find that place of peace.
One of the statements I tell myself everyday is “Richard let go of the outcomes.” I do my best and since I don’t have any real control, it makes sense to not invest any energy into any particular outcome. This leaves me more energy for the moment, which increases the chances of having a good outcome.
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This topic was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by
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