Cannabis: Religion,Myth and Folklore - I

In India, Cannabis, locally known as bhang and ganja, is associated with worship of the Hindu deva Shiva,  Bhang is offered to Shiva images, especially on MahaShivratri  (night of the Great Shiva) festival.

Wise drinking of bhang, according to religious rites, is believed to cleanse sins, unite one with Shiva and avoid the miseries of hell in the after-life. In contrast, foolish drinking of bhang without rites is considered a sin.

Source:  "Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report - Appendix

The earliest known reports regarding the sacred status of cannabis in India come from the Atharva Veda estimated to have been written sometime around 2000 - 1400 BC

Source:  Courtwright, David (2001). Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World. Harvard Univ. Press. p. 39

The Atharva Veda mentions Cannabis to be one of the five sacred plants and the guardian angel resides in its leaves. In certain Vedic rituals, Cannabis stems were thrown into the ritual fire (yagna) to overcome enemies and evil forces. The Vedas also refer to it as a source of happiness, joy giver and liberator. According to Hindu legend, when and devas and demons churned the oceon, nectar (amrit) as well as poison (vish) emerged. When a drop of the amrit fell on the ground, the Cannabis plant sprouted from it. This plant is believed to bestow supernatural powers to its user.

In Tibet, this plant has been traditionally considered sacred. According to one Mahayana Buddhist tradition, the Buddha, in his last six years of ascetism before enlightenment, subsisted on one Cannabis seed daily.

In Tantric Buddhism this plant is taken to highten awareness during certain rituals.

Source: Touw, Mia. "The religious and medicinal uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet". J Psychoactive Drugs 13 (1). https://www.cnsproductions.com/pdf/Touw.pdf.

Cannabis and Direct Understanding

I was sitting and gazing at a wall poster in my house. It consisted of a house with a front lawn on which some tables and chairs were arranged and there was a patch of vegetation/foliage in the background. Slowly I began to 'see' that the perspective was all wrong. The chairs and tables appeared to have been superimposed on the scene and the vegetation too did not appear to belong to the scene photographed and was apparently pasted on later. I had under 'normal' state looked at this poster a number of times and it appeared to be one whole picture, now I knew that it was a contrived assemblage.

When we pursue a spiritual path, our grey areas begin to segregate into black and white areas - our lower and higher selves begin to gather themselves as if preparing for the final battle - the dharma yudh of the Bhagavad Geeta. That is the reason why our peaks and pits/moral highs and lows become more acute and we often see a backlash of the negative energies/ black areas/lower self within us, this is when the angels within us fall. However with Grace and Will the angels can rise and triumph in the end.

In a trance/high the various attributes of our self/being/personality get separated/isolated into the  hungry self who begins to eat and savor food; the erotic self which can reach a new sexual high; the mental self who can grasp abstract concepts in an instant; the creative self capable of profound imagination; the angelic self who is able to directly apprehend  higher realities etc. The greater the high/deeper the trance the more individualized these selves become and in some cases they assume a form and a personality which some interpret it as 'spirits of the other world'. Are these the spirits with whom the shamans communicate ?

Hurdles in Spiritual Growth

I often used to wonder why in certain families of generally very pleasant and spiritually advanced members, you find a 'dark sheep'. I now know that the reason for this is that sometimes not so advanced souls are born around more advanced souls in order to aid/quicken their spiritual growth. The 'not so advanced' souls in return pose a hurdle/suffering/sacrifice for the advanced souls and teach them a lesson in tolerance, understanding and love.

When dealing with a negative/unpleasant situation/person I should not react or hit back, nor should I withdraw/recoil from such an unpleasant situation. On the contrary I should expand, open out and observe the situation with detachment like an audience watches a drama. When I show the attitude and willingness to deal with any thing and meet it head on, the problem shrinks and ceases to be seen as a problem. The problem/person appears more and more difficult to deal with the more I think/brood over it.

Our everyday/mundane life and the pursuit of worldly pleasures and achievement is like moving across a flat plane. No matter how much you achieve you will always be moving on a  flat plane. Whereas the pursuit of spiritual riches is like lifting yourself in the air or jumping and there is no limit to  how high you can jump, hover or fly. Enlightenment does not involve going somewhere or doing something, it is a state of mind/consciousness that I can reach from wherever I am standing on the flat plane or from whatever life-situation that I find myself 'stuck' in. Good and bad are the X and Y axis on life's graph and spiritual growth involves growing/going into a completely new dimension which lies along the  Z axis.

Tuning into an Inspired State of Mind

Whatever 'enlightenment' that I gain during a high, begins to fade when I come back and begin to go about life in a 'normal' state. In order to keep oneself connected to the memory of those 'revelations',  I have to keeping tuning myself to that 'inspired state of mind'. For this I use different triggers, like music or a momentary contemplation by stilling my mind and aspiring/yearning to be in that 'inspired state of mind'. However I have to be alert/awake/aware all the time that I do not slip back into the mundaneness/pettiness of my 'normal' mind. It is a bit difficult but I think that I will master it with little practice. I say a little prayer everyday before falling asleep and immediately after waking up.

Weed and Guardian Angel

The solution to all the problems in human relationship  is understanding. If we place ourselves in the other person’s shoes without any prejudice and pre-conceived notions, we can truly understand why that person behaves the way he/she behaves with us. True understanding gives rise to compassion and love. When you understand completely, there is nothing to forgive. The people you find most unpleasant and difficult to get along can become your ‘Gurus’ and make you understand the meaning of compassion for fellow humans.

In my last trip I almost felt as if I was ‘possessed’ by something. As if a higher/angelic version had descended in my consciousness. Is this the ‘guardian angel’ that some people talk about? Perhaps in a ‘normal’ state we loose our connection with our higher self or guardian angel. I felt truly blessed, as if a door had been opened to me. I promised myself to pursue the path that was being revealed to me by my higher self (?) with complete faith and sincerity.

Non-linear Consciousness

In our 'normal' state, our thinking/grasping of knowledge/information is linear , however when 'high' the thinking becomes multi-dimensional. Its like grasping/comprehending multiple concepts all at once. Consciousness too has dimensions, in normal state we posses a linear consciousness. This multiples under 'high' state.

Again and again I kept thinking that I would not be able to retain this direct understanding of concepts after I come down to 'normal' level. I did not want the return to the 'normal' state. It was like I was in a sane/Real state, and once the effects of cannabis wore off I will return to the lower insane/unreal state. This made me feel deeply sad.

Energy Leaks Plugged

Henceforth I shall be writing down in points whatever thoughts/concepts that I experienced during my trips and wherever possible try to elaborate or collaborate with what ever I may have read about them.

When one approaches a 'high', it is as if all the leaks through which we fritter away our vital energy and self-awareness (such as lust, indiscriminate desires and negative emotions) start getting plugged as the consciousness begins to gather itself and  fold inwards. I felt that I could use this reservoir of vital energy to channelize it in any directions that I wanted. I could use it to give wings to my imagination, or for sexual pleasure or to contemplate on higher realities of human existence.

 Gradually the entire 'being' rises to a higher level, as if my Being slides outside my physical body, it is connected but not one with it and this is why there is a feeling of 'disconnect' or dispassion. That is why I am able to observe myself from outside of myself, I become my own witness.