Cannabis: An Outlawed Sacrament – 3 Parts

Cannabis: An Outlawed Sacrament – Part 1/3

By Wes Annac, Culture of Awareness
If you think the idea of cannabis as a sacrament that’s used to become one with God is silly, consider that this is exactly what it’s been used for throughout history.
It was a huge part of religious ceremonies for various ancient cultures that were aware of the power of this and other ‘teacher plants’ to induce spiritual awakening, and if we could shift the way we see this plant, we’d see why they held it in such high regard.
These days, it’s written off as a drug that makes you lazy and unmotivated to contribute to society. In reality, it doesn’t take most cannabis users long to become motivated to address our problems when they realize how broken the world in which they live really is.

Spiritual Cannabis Use

Credit: imagekind.com
Not every cannabis user is religious or spiritual, but you’d be surprised to find how many use it for a specifically spiritual purpose. For many, cannabis is an intrinsic part of their spirituality; they may feel that meditation or other practices are incomplete without it.
Depending upon the specifics of their spirituality, they may also learn to spend time away from the plant so they can clear their head and reduce their chance of relying on it.
It’s just as possible to become psychologically hooked on cannabis as it is fast food, gambling or anything else that makes you feel good.
However, for the religious or spiritual cannabis user, it’s not about feeling good but exploring new territory and bringing back something of substance for the rest of humanity.
They’re not catching a buzz or escaping reality; they’re transcending the limited aspects of this reality and stepping into a new state of consciousness free of the distortions and distractions that cloud our awareness.
The plant gives them the freedom to explore this vibrant, refined state, and many find it necessary to rebel against a world that pushes them to conform. This is different from ceasing to contribute to society out of laziness or a lack of motivation. This is driven, determined rebellion, and their motivation is a higher vibration and a new world.

Intention, Intention, Intention

According to Emily Syane at Smoking With Style, many spiritual cannabis users are aware that what you get from the herb depends upon what you intend to get. She advises being clear on your intention when using it, whether you use it to eat, get to sleep, treat pain, meditate, or for any other purpose.
What you think it’ll do for you is exactly what it’ll do.
Credit: wakingtimes.com
Various factors are involved with cannabis use (potency, the sensitivity and mindset of each user, etc.), and among the most important is what you intend to experience. If you’re aware of this, you can use the plant to help you with virtually any area of life; especially meditation and creativity.
Emily writes that cannabis can not only assist meditation, but aid energy body and the expansion of consciousness.
It’s been known as the ‘sacred herb’ for eons because of its association with religious transformation, and most people who experiment with it spiritually can confirm that it awakens something that was previously inaccessible.

Cannabis and the Chakras

Vedic literature explains the concept of the seven chakras (or energy centers) in the physical and spiritual body.
They run from the base of the body to above the top of the head, and some believe cannabis opens them and creates a flow of energy from a higher consciousness to be used for meditation, creativity and any other worthy pursuit.
Credit:spiritvoyage.com
It’s as if the plant grants short-term enlightenment (though the cannabis high probably doesn’t hold a candle to actual enlightenment), and it can have long term positive effects for those who want to know themselves and share their self-knowledge with the world.
As a result of the opening of the chakras, the spiritual cannabis user is often able to connect with others more openly and authentically. Their connection with God and nature is also enhanced.
These positive personal changes require conscious intention like every other aspect of the plant’s use, and Emily recommends being centered in the heart during a cannabis experience to get the most out of the connection you’ll feel with every living thing.
(Continued in part 2 tomorrow. Sources embedded in article.)
Featured image credit: thespiritscience.net




Thanks to Wes at: https://openheartedrebel.com

A New Paradigm, Awareness, Cannabis/Hemp Awareness

Cannabis: An Outlawed Sacrament – Part 2/3

June 11, 2016 Culture of Awareness 2 Comments

By Wes Annac, Culture of Awareness
(Continued from part 1)

Opening the Chakras: A Visualization Exercise

Emily also recommends a visualization to boost your power and connect with people on a personal level.
During a meditation session, imagine your chakras opening and expanding. Bring to your memory your previous interactions with loved ones (or anyone else) as you imagine each chakra expanding so widely that it reaches out to the chakras of others.
Intend to feel connected with all of creation, and focus on your own consciousness while connecting with others and exploring your visualized yet very real oneness. I’d also recommend sending positive energy to those whose chakras you visualize, because it’ll help them and you to develop these energy centers.
Emily warns against using cannabis for spiritual purposes if you have to pass a drug test. Fortunately, higher consciousness can be accessed with or without it. Some might not find meditation as valuable without it, but a good, deep meditation can be achieved either way.

Sacramental Use

Rich Michaels from The Massachussets Cannabis Reform Coalition likens the religious use of cannabis to the religious use of wine, writing that both are considered a sacrament.

It’s been consumed in rituals to praise the goddess Shiva, and it’s consumed in an edible form known as bhang during the Holi festival (or the ‘festival of sharing love’).

Christianity, Hinduism and Rastafari are three examples of religions that either do or have at one time considered cannabis sacred, and today, several spiritual movements exist which are centered on its power to awaken the mind and heart.
It was used religiously as early as 1000 BC (some say it was used earlier), and many rituals centered on its use were also centered on celebrating or cultivating oneness with the cultures’ respective deities.
It’s been consumed in rituals to praise the goddess Shiva, and it’s consumed in an edible form known as bhang during the Holi festival (or the ‘festival of sharing love’).
The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report even stated that cannabis is such a big part of religious ceremonies that it seems crucial to the religious experience as a whole. Plenty of western spiritual smokers will tell you the same thing: it’s not required but it is an important and meaningful aspect of their way of life.
Rich compares outlawing cannabis to outlawing the traditional Hindu religion itself.

Cannabis, Christianity and Rastafari

Hinduism is an obvious example of religious cannabis use, but as Rich writes, there are plenty more. The Holy Anointing Oil referenced in Christian and Jewish texts had cannabis as one of its main ingredients, and Jesus was doused with this oil as part of a ritual wherein he received profound visions.
Rastafari, which the Supreme Court recognizes as an established religion, treats cannabis as spiritual liberation in plant form.

“The more people smoke herb, the more Babylon fall.” – Bob Marley

Bob Marley, who spread the Rasta philosophy to the world, once said that the more people consume the herb, the further the oppressive power structures that limit religious freedom fall.

Cantheism: A Religion Built Around Cannabis

Apparently, a new school of cannabis-centered philosophic thought has surfaced that’s known as ‘cantheism’. Rich writes that cantheism isn’t a religion with a specified philosophy like Rastafari, but a spiritual movement for any and all thought related to man’s interaction with the cannabis plant.
The spiritual cannabis user who doesn’t identify with religion could perhaps identify with cantheism. I’ll probably share more on it soon, because it’s a fascinating movement that appears to unite various schools of thought regarding cannabis.
The argument for the morality of the U.S. laws against religious cannabis use is that they prohibit no specific religion from growing or using it. Instead, all religions are prohibited from using a plant that, as Rich reminds us, has been used for thousands of years. Oppression is oppression, whether it’s against some or all.

Plant Frequencies

Teal Swan writes that each plant possesses a unique frequency that, in the case of cannabis, can be imparted onto a spiritual seeker for the purpose of evolution.
For many users, cannabis teaches them to release resistance (i.e. their rigid thoughts, worries and expectations), be open to oneness, surrender to the flow of life, and embrace effortless, blissful states of being.
Everyone reacts to it differently because of the difference in frequency from person to person, and the user’s vibration shifts to match that of the plant.

The binding of vibratory frequencies between the plant and its user was/is referred to as ‘friending’, and when you ‘friend’ the plant, you can pass between different states of consciousness.

You enter a temporary state of being where you coexist with the cannabis consciousness, and it’s in this state that wisdom and intuitive guidance can be imparted along with higher vibrations.
Teal writes that Shamans see cannabis and other teacher plants as guardians or gatekeepers between the earthly and spiritual.
The binding of vibratory frequencies between the plant and its user was/is referred to as ‘friending’, and when you ‘friend’ the plant, you can pass between different states of consciousness.
Neurotransmitters in the brain are inhibited as a ‘cascade of physiological reactions’ occurs, and for a short time the brain no longer functions at normal capacity. This could be why tasks that require critical thinking are sometimes difficult with cannabis, but for many people, it’s a relief from their mind’s constant thoughts and aggravations.
Any spiritual teacher will tell you that the only way to escape pain and misery is to slow down the mind and get into a space where your thoughts no longer dominate your attention. For many, cannabis is the perfect suppressant of erratic thoughts and subsequent expander of consciousness.
(Continued in part 3 tomorrow. Sources embedded in article.)


Thanks to Wes at: https://openheartedrebel.com

A New Paradigm, Cannabis/Hemp Awareness

Cannabis: An Outlawed Sacrament – Part 3/3

June 12, 2016 Culture of Awareness Leave a comment

By Wes Annac, Culture of Awareness

Physical Hologram

Teal writes that the physical world is a hologram created for the purpose of learning and progressing through different stages of awareness, and the brain, a ‘transceiver of information’, is the instrument that holds our perception of this reality in place.
When the brain’s normal functions are inhibited, the hologram held in place by the mind starts to dissolve and other realms beyond the physical are revealed.
The truth of what these realms really are can shine through with no blockages from the mind, and most importantly, they bring this enlightened consciousness back to the physical world.
However, cannabis is not a positive thing for everyone and this goes back to the fact that everyone reacts to it differently.

Matching the Vibration of Cannabis

Nothing external will be required for bliss in a higher consciousness, but for now, the tools that are at our disposal will help us get to a certain point before they’re no longer necessary.

Teal’s opinion is that what you get out of cannabis is determined by your vibratory rate.
If you operate on a lower vibration than the cannabis you consume, you’re uplifted when your vibration shifts to match that of the plant.
If your vibration is naturally higher, you may feel heavy, anxious or paranoid. There are countless factors involved such as the potency of the cannabis and the mindset of the user, but generally, I wouldn’t take a positive cannabis experience as a sign that you’re on a lower vibration.
Nothing external will be required for bliss in a higher consciousness, but for now, the tools that are at our disposal will help us get to a certain point before they’re no longer necessary.

More on Intention

Teal writes that cannabis is ‘extremely’ responsive to one’s intention. Whatever you intend for it to help you with, it will help you as long as you keep that intention in mind.
Otherwise, it will act according to subconscious desires, often causing frustration when one is confronted with subconscious issues (which they’d rather avoid) that need to surface for the sake of their wellbeing and spiritual growth.
I think cannabis and the subconscious are more interlinked than people think; perhaps the same could be said about all drugs.

No Resistance, No Pain

The best thing about cannabis is that it helps you release resistance. It prohibits the brain from translating negative, resistant or depressing thoughts and by doing so, prevents negative emotional responses and saves tons of stress.

You release resistance when you open the mind, and cannabis can help you let go of the heavy mental weight holding you back from a life of purpose, truth and spiritual growth.

Teal links its effect on resistance to its suppression of pain, writing that pain is caused primarily by resistance and when resistance is released in the manner cannabis helps with, pain is significantly reduced.
The true Self is fully present when we have no resistance, which is why I often write that calming and opening the mind is essential for creativity and meditation.
You release resistance when you open the mind, and cannabis can help you let go of the heavy mental weight holding you back from a life of purpose, truth and spiritual growth.

It’s Complicated…

Teal doesn’t totally support or reject spiritual cannabis use because it’s a complicated issue that varies from person to person.

The biggest mistake people make is relying on it to escape resistance or numb their pain.

She recognizes that these plants are teachers (as is everything else), but she believes reliance on them causes addiction and can ultimately distance you from the Self. It may be best to live in a way where you can put the teacher plants down as easily as you’d pick them up, because reliance on anything will have the opposite effect intended.
Her opinion is that cannabis is indeed addictive, and the biggest mistake people make is relying on it to escape resistance or numb their pain.
She also points out that some spiritual seekers will become more fascinated with the attempted escape from reality than the organic spiritual evolution that brings them to enlightenment, and this is where the potential for addiction is strong.
I disagree because I don’t see cannabis as something used to escape reality, but to create reality while opening the mind to higher states of consciousness. She makes a good point, however, and to rely on anything for the sacred connections found within is to set yourself up for inevitable disappointment.
As I mentioned, cannabis can be psychologically addicting like anything else (but definitely not physically) and it’s important as a spiritual seeker to remember that the teacher plants are a means to an end and not the end itself.
Enlightenment can only be found within, but if you can use the teacher plants without being used by them, they’ll change your life by dissolving the mentally created holograph known as reality and opening you to higher dimensions.

Legalize It

Teal supports legalization, because she believes the best way to make people want to do something is to make it illegal.
You feel a greater sense of freedom when you do something illegal, and she writes that it isn’t the high from the drug we actually seek, but the freedom that comes with a higher consciousness.

It doesn’t matter how you reach enlightenment; what matters is that you get there and enjoy the journey.

We don’t realize we’re seeking a higher consciousness through the freedom to do something the government tells us we can’t, and the freedom we feel from breaking the rules is a tiny preview of the freedom enlightenment brings.
It can be found naturally or through the use of mind-expanding psychedelics, but the most effect way to feel it on a lasting basis is to realize it’s already here and let it flow from within.
It doesn’t matter how you reach enlightenment; what matters is that you get there and enjoy the journey.
If you consider yourself a spiritual cannabis user, be aware of the herb’s power to dissolve your perception of the illusory world and be aware of your potential dependence (or lack thereof) on something intended only to help.
Mindfulness is advised when it comes to anything spiritual, and it’s possible to be mindful while keeping the mind open to the heart and intuition.
You can be open-minded yet mindful of the path you walk, and if you veer from it, you can recognize the culprit and do the inner work necessary for healing. Cannabis can heal you or prevent the healing you need, and it all comes down to your relationship with the plant and with yourself.
(Source embedded in article)


Thanks to Wes at: https://openheartedrebel.com