Are Junkies More Closer To Enlightenment

[Jared Gregory]

Hello guys,

so last Monday I was in the pub with a friend and we were just chatting about stuff, and a man from across the bar came and sat with us. He told us that he was a druggy and had been doing mushrooms, weed, speed for 40 years. But then somehow we got on to the topic of spirituality and I was taken back by how much knowledge this druggy knew about zen masters etc... I was not judging him by no means, he also stated that he meditates quite a lot.

So i  was wondering do you think people who are druggies are closer to enlightenment than other's who don't take drugs?

please feel free to share positive comments below  

peace

[Frogfucius]

Not necessarily. It just depends on the person's own unique values. You could have an enlightened person that is completely sober, or one that uses drugs.

[Tron]

What one labels as a druggie is completely subjective. Some people view weed as harmless. I could call someone a druggie because he enjoys a beer every day or so. 

I think you're just labeling people. 

[Dodo]

Ye labelling as druggie is only fine when you label everyone, cause we are all druggies. Everything is drug. Non duality, drugs are love drugs are life :@

[Bob84]

@Jared Gregory No. And if you consider some cases as a dependency for escaping reality then even more no.

[Primeval]

People who take mind altering substances are very aware that perception can shift easily.

[Prabhaker]

12 hours ago, Jared Gregory said:

people who are druggies are closer to enlightenment than other's who don't take drugs?

Drugs are as old as humanity itself, and they certainly fulfill something of immense value. The drugs are capable to give you a hallucinatory experience beyond the mundane world. 

Meditation brings you to the real experience. To meditate is difficult. The drug is cheap. But the attraction for drugs is spiritual. And now we have more advanced drugs, synthetically made, and we are capable to purify them more. We can make drugs which have no bad effects at all. We can make drugs which are not addictive. And we can teach people how to move from drug to meditation.

Just to talk about meditation remains simply verbal. There is no way through the words to give you any experience. But drugs are immensely useful. The words can explain to you what meditation is, the drug can give you an hallucinatory experience of it. And then you can be initiated into a method. And now you will not be moving in darkness. Now you know that something… if an ordinary drug can do so much, then there must be some way to find an authentic transformation, to experience it without any dependence on anything.

Under proper guidance drugs can be of immense help. I am against drugs because if they become addictive then they will be the most destructive for your journey towards the self. 

[Emerald]

12 hours ago, Jared Gregory said:

Hello guys,

so last Monday I was in the pub with a friend and we were just chatting about stuff, and a man from across the bar came and sat with us. He told us that he was a druggy and had been doing mushrooms, weed, speed for 40 years. But then somehow we got on to the topic of spirituality and I was taken back by how much knowledge this druggy knew about zen masters etc... I was not judging him by no means, he also stated that he meditates quite a lot.

So i  was wondering do you think people who are druggies are closer to enlightenment than other's who don't take drugs?

please feel free to share positive comments below  

peace

I would say, in general, 99% of the time, no. I've known many heavy users and they are usually not very conscious people. But I would imagine that someone who has experienced an altered state of consciousness at least once has maybe a slight edge over someone who has only ever been sober. Because the question can arise, 'is my un-sober perception distorting the reality that is there? Or am I seeing a different reality entirely that's just as valid and correct, but unfamiliar making me unskilled at it? Or are both perceptions of reality distorted by my mental state: sober and under the influence?'

[Markus]

Addict or recreational user? Heavy, moderate, or light? Recreationally, there isn't too much wrong with these drugs. Shrooms have legitmate therapeutic and personal growth related uses. Weed is mildly euphoric and relaxing. Speed is an upper, helps with lack of energy due to sleep deprivation. Now yes, being addicted to weed can screw you up mentally and being addicted to speed can screw you up physically on top of that. But the druggie spectrum is wide and multi-dimensional so I don't know what to say.

[Bizarre]

Just because somebody knows information about the spiritual world, does not qualify them for enlightenment, or even close. Enlightenment depends on how much we know about ourselves, there are thousands of people walking about in the world who know who they are who have never gone near the spiritual world.  Those are the people have just been observing life closely and have learned the lessons inherent in life.

For the purposes of your question about the drugs thing, I doubt very seriously that somebody involved with drugs would be even close to having the kind of mind capable of real understanding.  Most drug users are escapists, and a mind clouded by years of drug abuse is incapable of being clear enough to understand who they really are.

[Xpansion]

Drug users/addicts may have some experiences which open the mind to alternative perspectives however the cycle of drug abuse will do nothing but keep you stuck in a miserable state of craving which will most likely take you nowhere but towards your own premature demise. Its very self absorbed childish behaviour.  If you want to grow and evolve in life the first thing you need to do is ditch your addictions.   Until you do that you're going nowhere fast no matter how amazingly enlightened you might feel when you're wasted.

Edited November 8, 2016 by Xpansion

[Live Life Liam]

On 11/1/2016 at 1:30 PM, Jared Gregory said:

Hello guys,

so last Monday I was in the pub with a friend and we were just chatting about stuff, and a man from across the bar came and sat with us. He told us that he was a druggy and had been doing mushrooms, weed, speed for 40 years. But then somehow we got on to the topic of spirituality and I was taken back by how much knowledge this druggy knew about zen masters etc... I was not judging him by no means, he also stated that he meditates quite a lot.

So i  was wondering do you think people who are druggies are closer to enlightenment than other's who don't take drugs?

please feel free to share positive comments below  

peace

Yes I think the rest are pretty spot on. It depends how you define druggie. He could be very aware but of course we put judgements on these people as good or bad.

I think that taking drugs dosent make you closer but it definitely speeds up the process I've noticed this even by just taking cannabis whilst meditating and self inquiry sometimes. I don't do it very often but when I do I feel how well it can work for people on the path as it opens your mind up and insights come way quicker.

I haven't tried other psychedelics due to my age but if cannabis can do that imagine what the others can do like mushrooms or DMT.

You gotta realise though that most people who do drugs have the wrong intention so usually aren't very developed even if they are taking psychedelics. So most of the time no unless they are someone who actually uses them for meditative purposes.

Edited November 8, 2016 by Live Life Liam