Is it ok for Hindu's to smoke Pot

[Wannabe Yogi]

I always thought Bhang (cannabis) was a sacred plant of Shiva's?

I have always thought the same. Cannabis is also used in Ayurveda. I have also read that its one of the five sacred plants of India that is talked about in the Vedas.

I believe the worry is much like the use of tobacco with the native Americans. Tobacco had a ritual use to the native Americans it caused no problems in their society. The modern habitual use of it causes lots of problems.

Bhang (from what I understand I have never made it. ) Takes a long time and lots of mantras to make it in the traditional way.

It is also true that most Hindu are against its use.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Once upon a time smoking pot may have loosened the minds inhibitions. The weed available these days has been engineered/bred to the point where it is so potent that it completely ****s with your head. I doubt modern pot available from your local friendly dealer is really much use in meditation due to it's strength...

My comments on Maya had notheing to do with drug use.

Bhang is prossesed in such a way that it has been and always will be stronger then the western stuff.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

As for the Holy Man mentioned in WannabeYogi's post; I have one more thing to add. I would not venture to comment on any action of a real Avadhoota Sage; however awkward, illogical and possibly un-holy it may sound.

Regards,

I don't know if the man is at the level of an Avadhoot but to me the story seems to boarder on the miraculous. It also came from what I see asa good source.

 

[FlyingTeaPot]

They sell pot in Indian government owned shops. India is one of the few countries where pot is totally legal and is regulated by the government. Just because pot is illegal in your country doesn't make it a harmful or addictive substance. In fact, coffee and tea are more addictive and harmful than pot.

 

[Mr Cheese]

They sell pot in Indian government owned shops. India is one of the few countries where pot is totally legal and is regulated by the government. Just because pot is illegal in your country doesn't make it a harmful or addictive substance. In fact, coffee and tea are more addictive and harmful than pot.

I'm not sure that coffee and tea are more harmful...

smoking anything is goign to be hamrful....

although tea and coffee are probably more addictive, this is true

There are plenty of benefits of tea and coffee, such as anti oxidents

I think a better comparison would be processed sugar and/or alcohol

 

[Mr Cheese]

the main problems of using drugs for reaching differing states are as follows:

• Dependancy. One has to ingest said chemical to achieve certain states. In Western religions we can see this in the figure of Alesteir Crowley who was a herion addict at his death. In having to ingest we can find that we have to repeat this ingestation over and over again in order to reach a certain point. This is against the mystics basic principles arguably, in that "chaninging states" should be effortless or at least not require a veritable battery pack every time you need to turn your bunny on.
• Dirt. Processed drugs are generally dirty. Often this may niot be the case, less likely for modern Alchemical tinctures for example. But for more commonly known drgus dirt isd a real danger. A good example of course is tobacco. Long time sacred plant of native americans. Through over processing we have what is effectively dirty tobacco that is of little use.
• Anscestry argument. Arguably a new ager trying to get in touch with his shaman anscestor roots is goign to have problems. However a medicine man or mystic in the jungles of borneo will have had training and experiences from childhood and from many prior generations, for him them licking a toad will be a lot less problematic. Arguably a modern personage has differing requirements. A person living in California, no matter how hard they may try is not living on the african savannah or the Brazillian Rain forest.
• Arguably you can obtain far more with a clearer body and mind. Spiritual paths, if they are worth their salt, afterall actually change a person's body chemistry... if you are ingesting copious amounts of Elephant tranquilisers, I don't think it is difficult to see that this may be a problem.

There are probably others but these are some good examples of why LSD mystics, especially western ones...are largely just debauched fools.

 

[FlyingTeaPot]

I'm not sure that coffee and tea are more harmful...

smoking anything is goign to be hamrful....

although tea and coffee are probably more addictive, this is true

There are plenty of benefits of tea and coffee, such as anti oxidents

I think a better comparison would be processed sugar and/or alcohol

I meant harmful in the Indian context. They drink bhang made from pot. Of course smoking pot is harmful, but less so than smoking tobacco. There hasn't been a single case of marijuana related death. Ever. Addictive marijuana?

 

[zenzero]

Friend WY,

Bhang (from what I understand I have never made it. ) Takes a long time and lots of mantras to make it in the traditional way.

Bhang is a preparation from the leaves and flowers (buds) of the female cannabis plant.
No mantras required to prepare it. Just the leaves and flowers are ground to a paste and then taken by gulping the required quantity with water or mixed in THANDAI [cold drink with milk and herbs] and taken.
At Varanasi [oldest Indian city]near Godolia chowk there are two shops selling Thandai and bhang paste for those who wishes to and today one of the shops even markets his thandai throughout India.
Love & rgds

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Friend WY,
Bhang is a preparation from the leaves and flowers (buds) of the female cannabis plant.
No mantras required to prepare it. Just the leaves and flowers are ground to a paste and then taken by gulping the required quantity with water or mixed in THANDAI [cold drink with milk and herbs] and taken.
At Varanasi [oldest Indian city]near Godolia chowk there are two shops selling Thandai and bhang paste for those who wishes to and today one of the shops even markets his thandai throughout India.
Love & rgds

I was talking about ritual use in worship the traditional way in Temples in India. It's in the Mahanirvana Tantra. From what I understand just grinding up the leaves is not traditional Bhang that is offered to Shiva or Kali. There is one more step that makes it very strong. I am not talking about the stuff you get in Markets. From what I am told there is a huge difference. There are both rituals in making it and in it's consumption because it is seen as prasad from God.

It is better for me to post about a legal substance that I know a little about. Once I was at a Ritual in Tantra to drink wine. This was years ago when I was Interested in this stuff.
The ritual to drink the glass of wine took an hour and a half just to get to the wine. Then there was more worship of the mother for 2 more hours. I think it would be safe to say it would be hard to miss use the substance in that time frame. The problem is always the lowering of the standards and it's use for recreation.

 

[Satsangi]

According to my knowledge, bhang and pot and ganja are not legal in India. The thandai does not have the real bhang in it as far as I know. It is another thing that it is used in many parts of India. I have seen even horses in the horse-cart fed some bhang in Rajasthan- many years ago.

Regards,

 

[Mr Cheese]

I meant harmful in the Indian context. They drink bhang made from pot. Of course smoking pot is harmful, but less so than smoking tobacco. There hasn't been a single case of marijuana related death. Ever. Addictive marijuana?

marijuana when smoked is high in tar comtent and can damage the lungs very fast, of course it depends upon exactly what you are smoking and how you are smoking it.

Excessive intake of THC, the active ingrediant in said drug, can also inhibit REM sleep, thus excessive marijuana smoking does lead to mild forms of insanity, which usually manifest into what drug takers perceive as "paranoia"

Coupled with the above, excessive amounts of marijuana smoking can also produce a thin film like substance on the brain.

Despite what regualr marijuana users will tell you, it is not a harmless substance, that being said it wont make you go out and rape people either.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Friend WY,



Bhang is a preparation from the leaves and flowers (buds) of the female cannabis plant.
No mantras required to prepare it. Just the leaves and flowers are ground to a paste and then taken by gulping the required quantity with water or mixed in THANDAI [cold drink with milk and herbs] and taken.
At Varanasi [oldest Indian city]near Godolia chowk there are two shops selling Thandai and bhang paste for those who wishes to and today one of the shops even markets his thandai throughout India.
Love & rgds

given this process..I fail to see how it could ever be stronger than modern hydrponically grown (or similarly exagerrrated growth methods)western marijuana that has seen an increase in overall THC contant in the past few decades. Given also that smoking as opposed to "drinking" actually is a faster method for reaching the blood stream and the brain......

I think i would argue in agreeance with who ever mentioned that modern western marijuana is probably "useless" for traditional "mystical" applications.

 

[zenzero]

Friend Mr. Cheese,

Having no idea about modern western marijuana and its qualities but though have found such drugs useful for meditation which you agree also feel that they are not necessary after one gets a hang of being in the meditative state.

Personal observation and understanding that use of them are also inducing *escapism*.

Love & rgds

 

[SugaCubez352]

*Escapism* is good as we Buddhists, Hindus, and Jains, try to escape Samsara for Moksha and Nibbana

 

[zenzero]

Friend SugaCubex,

"ESCAPISM" is escaping *KARMA* and that is not going to help as 'MOKSHA" is only possible only after one cleans the slate of all his karma balance.

Love & rgds

 

[Mr Cheese]

*Escapism* is good as we Buddhists, Hindus, and Jains, try to escape Samsara for Moksha and Nibbana

drug escapism would be to escape deeper into maya....arguably

 

[dharma_seeker]

WEll, i have seen weed growing wildly in big ground in India.

On Maha Shiva Ratri, it is considered part of the prasad, when made in Bhang form.

 

[rcscwc]

Ok what do you think.

Hinduism has long been associated with pot. Since approximately 1500 BC, in fact, Hindu worshipers have been consuming pot—whether smoking it through a chillum [clay pipe] or drinking bhang, a mixture consisting of the pot mixed with milk, spice, and sugar—in the hope of achieving a higher spiritual level.
India’s Pot-Smoking Hindu Temple Dwellers

Asia has to be weird, what else Yogi?

Never mind that similar intoxicants have known and used by many cultures. Why, our own Lord, 2000 years used to a few glasses of wine, stronger than a beer.

Is pot good for anyone? Then it is good for a Hindu too. Is it injurious to health of anyone, then Hindu's bodies are not specially made.

If you are talking of some sin thing, Hindus do not treat it as that.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Asia has to be weird, what else Yogi?

Never mind that similar intoxicants have known and used by many cultures. Why, our own Lord, 2000 years used to a few glasses of wine, stronger than a beer.

Is pot good for anyone? Then it is good for a Hindu too. Is it injurious to health of anyone, then Hindu's bodies are not specially made.

If you are talking of some sin thing, Hindus do not treat it as that.

The reason I started this thread is pot has a tradition running in the history of Hinduism. Yet many Hindu's have very negative view of it. I thought it would be a lively discussion.

 

[zenzero]

Friend WY,

The reason I started this thread is pot has a tradition running in the history of Hinduism. Yet many Hindu's have very negative view of it. I thought it would be a lively discussion.

Am sure you got your penny's worth!
Yes, find nothing negative as such about it.
Also it is sad that in India where it used to be available through govt licensed shops at least when we were at college BUT nowadays govt. has banned the sale of these drugs though it grows and sell in quantities in many places.

Love & rgds