Investigating spirituality in Rastafari culture and in use of cannabis

[TheAlchemist]

 

I think some of these Rastas might be truly woke mystics. 
What do you think they mean when they say "I and I" instead of "me", "you", "us" in their speech?
Many of them hold the view that God "the almighty" lives within everyone and everything. There is of course some dogma mixed in, but I still find some of their insights very interesting, and in line with nondual wisdom, just expressed in a unique way. Also, when they are referring to "Babylon" they are basically talking about the social matrix. 

They say Cannabis can be used to unify with the "true reality" of oneness. Perhaps when used with the right intentions, the psychedelic aspects of the weed come out and have given them this wisdom. They talk about how weed should be used for spiritual purposes and is best not used just to get "high". They talk about weed being a tool to merge with the oneness of the creator.

“Weed”, a sacrament used in bringing one’s mind in a state of oneness with the “Creator” and to “Meditate” upon HIM and his holiness and righteousness."
-Biko Lion

 

Personally, I use Cannabis very rarely now, and mostly in edible format. After having used many other psychedelics and when I have focused with a spiritual intent, the weed (sativa type) has given me very psychedelic, even overwhelmingly powerful psilocybin like states. There is a strong increase in consciousness; last time I was merging with my visual field, the boundary between inside and outside was dissolving. Items in my visual field didn't feel "out there", but they felt like they were "right here". It was very very intense.

I'm aware Cannabis has lots of potential to be used as an escape, and with purely hedonistic intentions. But as with the classic psychedelics, that doesn't seem to be the whole story, it seems like there is something more to the substance than meets the eye. When used in spiritual contexts, like the Rastas and Indian Sadhus do, it seems to provide fertile ground for some deep realizations about reality.

Just the little bit of studying I have done on Rastas has given me a totally new kind of respect for Cannabis, and I will be treating it as a "sacrament" just like the other psychedelics from now on. I think it is best to give proper time for integration with it, and to use it only very occasionally with spiritual intent. 

Would be cool to hear about some feelings or insights you have had with weed/cannabis 

Edited November 16, 2021 by TheAlchemist

[BipolarGrowth]

THC is a better psychedelic for me than any others I’ve tried. I’m biased because it works quite differently for me than most people, but I’m sure a good number of people serious about this work will find similar things for themselves if they gave it a shot in this way. I say this because I’ve seen a number of people report the effect I’m talking about, just at a somewhat reduced effectiveness. Once you break a certain barrier, it turns from a counterproductive drug which causes munchies and laziness to huge awakenings which can be experienced much more frequently than using typical psychedelics. Of course, most will need to use higher dose edibles or concentrated THC (dabs) to get the effects I’m referring to, but it’s worth it. It’s much more sustainable and healthier than using other psychedelics being used at the same rate. 
 

Something amazing can happen for your spiritual growth when you can be regularly entering strong spiritual states on a daily basis or almost daily basis. It’s a cumulative growth. Increasing the frequency of being in ultra-high states of consciousness can make your progress curve become like an asymptote pointed straight up rather than like the graph of an S&P 500 stock growing slowly. I don’t know of any safe chemical/psychedelic options to try to achieve this with other than THC. Serotonergic psychedelics simply cannot be used often enough in a sustainable way to reach what I’m talking about. You’ll burn yourself the fuck out. 
 

Regularly using THC for spiritual growth is one of the greatest factors which triggered immense growth for myself in the Theravada Buddhist four path model and stages of insight process which is almost always seen as something accessed through meditative practice (at least to the degree I’ve progressed in it) alone. This progress remains in completely sober states. 
 

This approach probably only works well for maybe 10% of serious seekers, but I share it because it’s truly life changing stuff for those it can work for. Obviously stop trying it if it doesn’t seem like you’re getting similar positive effects or it’s causing overall negative effects on your life. 
 

If you try this, make sure to experiment with high quality delta 8 and delta 10 THC as well as other forms of consuming it (tincture, vaping, smoking regular bud, and so on). Feel free to test any high quality products of other THC types that you find. Delta 8 and delta 10 seem have some very useful characteristics to them above delta 9 THC. Don’t keep yourself locked down on one variant. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by BipolarGrowth

[softlyblossoming]

@BipolarGrowth How long did it take you to break through from the lazy munchies phase to the awakenings phase? Was there anything else that could've contributed to this switch, that I could replicate?

Cheers ??

[BipolarGrowth]

12 minutes ago, softlyblossoming said:

@BipolarGrowth How long did it take you to break through from the lazy munchies phase to the awakenings phase? Was there anything else that could've contributed to this switch, that I could replicate?

Cheers ??

The switch happened maybe 10 years after starting to use cannabis. So I’ve only had 1.5 years at this new effectiveness. High dose trips (be careful anyone reading, of course, follow strong safety protocols) on serotonergic psychedelics would probably be the best thing that would be transferable advice on how to do it for yourself. It seems to be how it occurred for others. Maybe really intense meditation awakenings could also cause the switch to some degree. Realistically, we’re probably talking about having experiences which alter how your brain processes these mind-altering  chemicals to make them more psychoactive. Psychedelics are probably the way this is happening in all the cases I’ve found this happening. 
 

Also, it continues to get more effective. It overcomes the effects of tolerance. Most people who consume THC notice huge drop offs in effectiveness from tolerance. Around the time I start running into tolerance issues, without fail for the past year, I will have a huge trip from a low dose and be upgraded from that point forward. I basically call this the divine chemical upgrade or something like that lol. It’s quite humorous. 
 

Also, my huge shifts in baseline consciousness have an effect on the effectiveness too, so this is another thing to consider. It’s a feedback loop. THC raises baseline even when completely sober, higher baseline raises effects of THC. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by BipolarGrowth

[JuliusCaesar]

It seems to be that cannabis only has a psychedelic impact in the edible form. As if when smoking it, the substance goes straight to the brain and the receptors become tolerant to it swiftly(which begins to wear off even just hours after the fact). But when it's consumed like food, it's almost as if the neurons in your intestines(humans have enough neurons in their gut to make a second brain) become affected in combination with the cranial neurons. And so since your two brains are affected, it's vastly more potent than when smoked(smoking it you just get a sub hallucinogenic dose). This is all just me guessing effectively as of course there isn't exactly any scientific studies that investigate this issue.

 

9 hours ago, TheAlchemist said:

After having used many other psychedelics and when I have focused with a spiritual intent, the weed (sativa type) has given me very psychedelic, even overwhelmingly powerful psilocybin like states.

What was the THC content of the edible you consumed?

[BipolarGrowth]

38 minutes ago, JuliusCaesar said:

It seems to be that cannabis only has a psychedelic impact in the edible form. As if when smoking it, the substance goes straight to the brain and the receptors become tolerant to it swiftly(which begins to wear off even just hours after the fact). But when it's consumed like food, it's almost as if the neurons in your intestines(humans have enough neurons in their gut to make a second brain) become affected in combination with the cranial neurons. And so since your two brains are affected, it's vastly more potent than when smoked(smoking it you just get a sub hallucinogenic dose). This is all just me guessing effectively as of course there isn't exactly any scientific studies that investigate this issue.

 

What was the THC content of the edible you consumed?

Edibles are simply the form that most people seem to report a psychedelic effect with. There are a number of people who experience psychedelic effects when smoking, vaping, etc. Smoking concentrated THC is the most psychedelic form for me. $5-$10 of dabs (concentrated THC) was 100x more potent in one instance for me than 6 grams of shrooms or 10 tabs of LSD were (not suggesting anyone use those amounts, just giving my data). I know I’m an odd case though. This was also only on one instance where it was in that 100x more potent category. THC in stronger forms like that is rather unpredictable how powerful it will be for me. Oftentimes smoking concentrated THC is comparable to one of those high dose serotonergic trips or sometimes maybe 5x stronger. This variance of 1x to 5x to 100x is from the same batch. It’s not a question of “was this laced on the stronger experience?” The chemical itself was the exact same. Be careful for when the Divine selects your trip to randomly blast you past all previously experienced possibilities seemingly without rhyme or reason which can be known to you in any reliable way. The great news is, for me at least, dabs or edibles are the safest during trip and off trip compared to those other substances listed above for me personally. 

[TheAlchemist]

1 hour ago, JuliusCaesar said:

What was the THC content of the edible you consumed?

The dosage in the edible was in the 30-40mg range, and I have zero tolerance. But it was maybe a bit too intense, I would take half (max) of that next time. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by TheAlchemist

[Razard86]

On 11/16/2021 at 7:35 AM, TheAlchemist said:

 

I think some of these Rastas might be truly woke mystics. 
What do you think they mean when they say "I and I" instead of "me", "you", "us" in their speech?
Many of them hold the view that God "the almighty" lives within everyone and everything. There is of course some dogma mixed in, but I still find some of their insights very interesting, and in line with nondual wisdom, just expressed in a unique way. Also, when they are referring to "Babylon" they are basically talking about the social matrix. 

They say Cannabis can be used to unify with the "true reality" of oneness. Perhaps when used with the right intentions, the psychedelic aspects of the weed come out and have given them this wisdom. They talk about how weed should be used for spiritual purposes and is best not used just to get "high". They talk about weed being a tool to merge with the oneness of the creator.

“Weed”, a sacrament used in bringing one’s mind in a state of oneness with the “Creator” and to “Meditate” upon HIM and his holiness and righteousness."
-Biko Lion

 

Personally, I use Cannabis very rarely now, and mostly in edible format. After having used many other psychedelics and when I have focused with a spiritual intent, the weed (sativa type) has given me very psychedelic, even overwhelmingly powerful psilocybin like states. There is a strong increase in consciousness; last time I was merging with my visual field, the boundary between inside and outside was dissolving. Items in my visual field didn't feel "out there", but they felt like they were "right here". It was very very intense.

I'm aware Cannabis has lots of potential to be used as an escape, and with purely hedonistic intentions. But as with the classic psychedelics, that doesn't seem to be the whole story, it seems like there is something more to the substance than meets the eye. When used in spiritual contexts, like the Rastas and Indian Sadhus do, it seems to provide fertile ground for some deep realizations about reality.

Just the little bit of studying I have done on Rastas has given me a totally new kind of respect for Cannabis, and I will be treating it as a "sacrament" just like the other psychedelics from now on. I think it is best to give proper time for integration with it, and to use it only very occasionally with spiritual intent. 

Would be cool to hear about some feelings or insights you have had with weed/cannabis 

Last time I touched an edible I took like 3 and got raped. Against my will I got Ego Death and exploded into pieces. Lol I'm good on edibles...yall can take them. I would much rather deal with mushrooms. They are gentle lol.