Cannabis And Meditation

[Rocky]

I rarely use cannabis i only smoke once every few months and im quite new to meditation as well, but through watching various videos on meditation the goal seems to be quite similar, to be aware without focusing on thoughts and etc  (whilst meditating not the potential rewards from meditation), but through smoking cannabis I found that some of the effects are comparable to that of meditation (being aware but letting go of thoughts and removal of external stimulation), as i found it made me not focus on external stimulus or thoughts and just become caught up in this awareness (although only when in a positive mood to begin with).

I'm wondering if the plant has any uses when it comes to meditation, or is it dangerous to make the comparison between some of the effects of cannabis and meditation?

Im not a frequent user and don't intend to be, i am just curious in finding out what the actualized community makes of the comparison and whether or not it could be used to further aid our self-actualization progress if used in the correct manner.  =)

[Elton]

@Rocky  when i would smoke weed and meditate i would notice my head spinning and i would not be able to meditate i would feel very very uneasy more of something pushing my head not spinning exactly.

[Nic]

Although the experience of no thought could be compared, it is not the same thing to achieve to quiet the mind on your own and to use any kind of substance for it. One is a vegetative state, the other one is a mindful state.

The regular and too much consumption of cannabis will not make it easy for anybody to be aware of his thoughts and can increase mental noise and the lack of awareness in general...

The occasional use of cannabis can increase your creativity if you are in an artistic branch, but so can meditation. Too much cannabis can make you loose the will to be creative in the first place.

This plant should never be smoked as it looses 90% + of it's beneficial medicinal properties through combustion and never be mixed it with tobacco. In my view, cannabis is a medicine, not a recreational drug. Vaping or drinking it in a tea, with a some fat of any kind, if you need the high, it is the best and healthiest solution.

If you look for other of its health properties, cannabis doesn't have the same medicinal properties when cold or cooked, so juicing or eating it raw with the leaves and everything will give you tremendous medicinal benefits without getting high. You need to heat up the plant at about 80Celsius (176 Fahrenheit) for the THC to have a psychotropic effect as THC looses one of its carbons atoms when it reaches that temperature. Beware, even though raw cannabis doesn't give a high effect, it actually depends what you are mixing it with... citrus fruit juice for exemple can cook fish too... so you might get high on raw cannabis too.

Cannabis lost its soul the day human beings doings thought to be a good idea to mix plants to have the strongest THC content that they can spray with tons of chemicals on and is now also available completely genetically modified by Monsanto & Co without you to know anything about it.

Business is business!

Edited April 24, 2016 by Nic

[key]

Be aware of your mind & body before you smoke, when you smoke and the changes that occur, if you find you can still keep your awareness high like I've been able to achieve then it can be highly benificial in meditation, it solely depends on the individual and their mental capacity with how it effects them.

Most will say using external substances will never get you 'true' insights or 'pure' and all that crap but honestly this world & all our phenomena is just that, things, experiences, thoughts, emotions, senses so people who say you'll never get any Truth out of cannabis are honestly just anal in their own negative subjective or objective experiences & not brutally open minded like we all should be. 

Cannabis literally shifts your consciousness for you, follow the stream with your awareness which is always Pure, always True & the insights you can gain could be potentially groundbreaking, there are many traps you can fall into with this but if you're serious about self actualisation you should be able to see the bigger picture & sort out your mental jargon. 

I would still be rooted deeply in my egoic state if not for this one drug, I used heavily for 2 years from the ages 16-18 and it matured me and gave me wisdom beyond my own mind possibly could have, now I use once a month and apply the 'knowledge' I've obtained while meditating & achieve insights every time.

But this is just one experience out of many, good luck on your own journey!