Anything you do can be done in a ritualistic and/or meditative manner, and smoking is no exception. However if someone is achieving what they think is a higher state of consciousness through smoking tobacco, I'm pretty sure that whatever state of mind they're getting into arises from their expectations and not from the tobacco itself.
Nicotine addicts don't use it to get high. We use it to feel normal. It is possible to get high from tobacco. I find that if I smoke one or two a day I get high from them. However, it's not much of a high. It's kind of a flush and a tingly feeling -- kind of like the high you get from amyl nitrate, only it's not as pronounced and it fades even faster. I don't rule out the possibility that drugs might be useful in meditation, but in my opinion they're more likely to interfere with your practice than to advance it. And even if there are drugs that might be helpful, I can't imagine how tobacco could possibly fall into that category.
Nevertheless, I understand as well as anybody just how nice a good smoke can be, and if you're going to do it, I'm all for doing it as wmjbyatt says:
I smoke as a liminal, ritualistic practice. I step outside for a five-minute smoke, and in that five minutes I relax into eternity. It's essentially a middle-density meditation practice. Pure flow of the moment, acting without desire or will, simple movement.
But there's nothing special about the tobacco itself.
Some Meditators use Marijuana to help them get into a trance state.
I think they're kidding themselves. Having some experience with both, I can't imagine any conceivable way using marijuana could possibly help you get into a trance state. If you smoke enough, you might get so impaired that you can't tell the difference.
Edit: On second thought, I guess if you're just so uptight that you can't relax or calm down, and marijuana helps you calm down, there might be some value in that. Or in talking a valium or something. But you're clouding the mind to illuminate it; it's inefficient at best and more likely to be counter-productive than really helpful.
I have heard that meditators who do this say that a strong mind can remain unaffected and can help. But a weak mind will only get high.
Well, if a weak mind will only get high, it's not helping the weak-minded. And if the strong-minded remain unaffected, it's not helping them either. I'm sorry, but that's just a remarkably silly rationalization. I have nothing against smoking. As far as I'm concerned, any adult who wants to smoke tobacco or marijuana or both should go for it. You can even make it part of your religious practice if you want. But don't kid yourself about what you're doing.
