BootsnAll Travel Community

Many people think that a little Mary Jane helps them unwind and get where they want to spiritually ( Sadhu's in India for example ). Do you feel that there is any truth in this or is it just that people like a buzz?

What advantages does it offer an experience that could be said to be spiritual and what are some of your spiritual experiences that were enhanced by Mary Jane?

nick

I used to smoke every day in high school oh so many years ago. Then in college I smoked even more. Never once did I get anything close to a "spiritual" experience. It made me stupid. Yes, there are substances that will help "enlighten" the taker, but pot is NOT one of them. That being said, true enlightenment will not come from outside, only from within. You've got to work at it and, most likely, for a very long time. I remember a story by Ram Das about the time he went to India with vials of LSD and all kinds of stuff. He went to see Sri Sri Sri Neem Karoli Baba and the old man asked him for "the medicine". Ram Das gave him enough LSD to drop a large horse and nothing happened. The Venerable Baba just smiled. HE WAS THERE ALREADY! It was like throwing a drop of water in an ocean. No big deal. If you want enlightenment look inside yourself (in my humble opinion).
OM Peace, Peace, Peace

I agree. I'm sorry to say it, but the friends I have who have been taking drugs regularly for years are getting dumber the longer they do it. They aren't interesting to socialize with anymore, they just sit in a room and laugh occasionally. It's depressing, frankly. I miss the way they used to be. One of them, as an experiment, decided to write down everything that came into her head while high, thinking there would be some great truths there. All she found was babbling. It was kind of a wake-up call.

I'm meeting more and more adults who smoked a ton in their teens and twenties, and it really shows. They can't track conversations, they say "wise" things that aren't that wise, they're always distracted, you never feel like they're there, with you, in that moment. I used to think it was totally harmless, and for recreational use I think it is, but the "spiritual" aspect of it is what sucked a lot of my friends into it, and they're just becoming potheads. Their personalities, once original, are deteriorating.

There was a six month period in my early twenties where I smoked a lot. It was fun, but mostly I remember the vast quantities of jelly doughnuts eaten. I got bored after awhile and stopped. It was nothing special.

A couple years ago my husband and I watched a documentary on Timothy Leary. It was the end of his life, and he was talking to this huge crowd of people, young and old, who had come to visit him. I was so excited, I really thought this guy was going to be cool, but he just wasn't. He made no sense, he had trouble stringing thoughts together, a lot of what he started to say would just trail off......into nothing. He was so obviously FRIED. And all these people were just worshipping him, talking about how smart and wise he was. I kept thinking, "aren't you people LISTENING to him? he makes no sense!" As this ex wannabe-hippy, I was really disillusioned. Seeing the documentary really bummed me out. Greg was like, "Well, babe, he took drugs all his life, of course his brain was fried, what did you expect?" and I had to admit that I'd expected the drugs to have made him a cooler, more spiritual person. It really changed my mind about the "spiritual effects" of drugs.

At Burning Man last year I was hoping I would see something different, but I didn't. It was amazingly laid back to be around thousands of happy, drugged people. But I was constantly having the experience of meeting people sober who never remembered meeting me the night or day before when they were high, or what we talked about. It got really irritating after awhile. There was a guy in my camp, a friend, who I'd really wanted to talk to and get closer to; he spent 12 hours of the day smoking and the other twelve walking around in a haze. It was impossible to connect with him. He would literally wander off while people were standing right in front of him speaking. Other people were bugged by it too, and I left feeling farther away from him then ever.

The guys and I live here in probably the Hippy-and-Haze capital of the NOrthwest, good ol Eugene, Oregon... tons of pot and hippies and what-not around. I used to work with a lot of the "hippy crowd", some cool poeple, some not so, but the whole pot thing, honestly, I don't get, have never gotten, and probably never will.

I saw lots of people here and in high school and college who loved getting baked, but it never seemed to do them much good. I tried a couple of times myself, but my body just doesn't like smoke, of any kind, being directly inhaled into it. So I stopped trying; if there is some mystical spirituality behind it, I guess I'll never know, but it seems that most people I've seen who smoke a lot just wind up having trouble speaking in sentences. Not admirable, IMNSHO.

All the same, I look at the occasional joint or what-not the same way I look at alcohol. Having a joint and having a glass of wine? Fairly similar. I'm not saying they're identical in effect, mind you. Getting high at a party? Just a different buzz, for most. But getting baked out of your gourd every day? Smoking equivalent of an alcoholic - just an escape, that becomes consuming.

I think that if you're needing a substance to figure yourself out - and needing it always - then you're looking in the wrong place. I agree with the other poster: enlightenment, like happiness, peace, success, you name it, has to come from within.

Though if there is one thing to be said for smoking up, it does give you a damn good reason to scarf down Oreos like mad...

For me this whole thing goes back to the Indian / Chinese ideas about Buddhism, perfect association or disassociation with the World. That is, are you better off dealing with your situation and working with it, or shutting it out.

I must admit, that after a hard day's work I like to down a Sheaf Stout and relax, turn my mind away from all that other stuff. I think my situation will be enhansed and be more enjoyable if I can approach it sober. Its actually not always fun to be buzzed if you are doing a task and some tasks have to be cancelled.

Most people who try to escape totally using alcohol and other drugs don't seem to be the happiest folks.

Everything in moderation.

Nic

I smoke allot, as in just about every day. I love the relaxing qualities, but there is more to it than that.
I love to smoke out doors, by some water, a rooftop, or the park. It lets me quiet some of the hubbub and worries of modern life. When I feel relaxed I am more in touch with my self, my thoughts soar and the creative juices flow. I love smoking. Also, with most people who smoke (more people that you would probally guess)you instantly have somthing in commen. Smoke has been a door opener for some great friendships, or just a commenality between two complety different people. I have had some very spontainous and enlightning conversations with unusual people.

Any thing can be a tool of progress, or a weapon of destruction. It is up to you to utlize it in the most benifical way, or prehaps not use it at all. I smoke to connect, to relax, to enjoy life. No sign of burnt out brain so far, (somke is an HERB) as for T. Leary he got fried on halucinigens and other harmfull man made things, thats not quite the same.

I guess I'm a Mary Jane virgin. I've never smoked anything. The idea of smoking does not appeal to me at all, but the idea of attaining higher consciousness does!

Really stupid question, but is there a way to do this without smoking?

On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I went to a coffee shop and bought some "stuff." A year ago, I bought what was supposed to be herbal ecstasy. Guess what? Not a thing happened. NOTHING. Call me stupid, but I even took the entire bottle (just 4 or 6 capsules; I don't recall), and nothing.

This time I bought something different: Kryptonite. Still.....NOTHING!

I've taken both demerol and morphine intravenously (in a hospital, administered totally legally!), and WHOA. Now THOSE were experiences. This happened 3-4 years ago.

I would love to experience something like that, but unless I get the real stuff, I have a feeling it won't happen.

Any thoughts?

modgirl

modgirl: I firmly believe that any affect you can gain chemically you can also attain from meditation. The problem? It takes time. Years of time and practice to enable certain visions and higher states of conciousness. If you just want to relax then there are simple breathing exercises (the basis for more complex meditations) which can be done at any time and are highly effective.

As far as smoking pot, my dad had this piece of advice for me, "If you're going to do it, only do drugs that are natural, none of that chemical sh-t"

I will admit to having tried magic mushrooms and smoking pot, but they're much more comparable to getting drunk than achieving altered states of being.
I don't smoke at all but I really don't see the harm if it's approached as all things should be; with moderation. Just like a glass of stout after a hard day is relaxing, a small bowl can calm you down and take away some aches and pains.
I'd much rather smoke a bowl than pop 3 extra strenght tylenol like most people do

_____________________
Trust in Allah, but tie your camel.

Yeah, I find a a small bowel movement can really calm you down and take away some aches and pains....oh, I see, you meant <bowl>.

Oh....right......harrumph.

I smoked dope most of my teenge years and twenties and it hasn't had any great effect that I can perceive in slowing down my brain....apart from the voice of Jimmy Carter saying "kill, kill, kill"....but doesn't everyone get that? The only real drawback is all those biscuit crumbs and ash down the cracks in the keyboard. That really stings when you're face down on it for eight hours and then you wake up with qwertyuiop imprinted on your forehead.......... dammit, Jimmy, not while I'm trying to type, ok !!! Jeez. Where was I???

I've taken acid twice - the first time was a wash-out; we should have known it was dubious when the guy whipped out his hole punch and carefully dealt us our stash.

The second time was a nightmare - literally. Panic attack, burning sensations, rapid involuntary movements, loss of speech....but that was probably the test tube stuck in my throat.

The "Just Say NO" campaign puzzled the heck out of me. We sat around in a dimmed-out room playing Genesis records and saying "no" to each other for two hours and then we got bored and went back to the opium.

I have to go now; I'm channeling Al Bundy and I have this sudden desire to go to the can with the sports pages. Peg....Peg???

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, you've been a great audience. I'm here Tuesday through Friday every week :-)

Rai