Stand Up for Cannabis – Stand Up for Freedom!

Stand Up for Cannabis – Stand Up for Freedom!


April 20, 2018 Openhearted Rebel

By Wes Annac, Wake Up World
Reposted.


Marijuana legalization is long overdue.
It’s time to stop prosecuting innocent people for the possession of a plant that was clearly put here to help us; it’s basically the same as prosecuting someone for possessing tomatoes. Full of medicinal benefits and spiritual potential, cannabis is a crop that’s meant to be utilized and shared, and we have to stand up for it – and our freedom – if we want the law to change.
Legalization and decriminalization are happening at a decent pace, but we can’t wait around for the government to do it when they’re finally ready, or to do it on their corporate-serving terms. Until politicians know they can profit from it without exposing their hypocrisy in keeping it illegal, they’ll stall its legalization and tell us it’s because of their religious beliefs, the funding of terrorist organizations, or our children’s safety — all while imprisoning the innocent and making loads of money for the private prison industry.
For this and plenty of other reasons, the cannabis enthusiasts of the world need to rise. They shouldn’t be embarrassed or ashamed, and instead, they should break through society’s propaganda with facts, logic and common sense.
They should remind people that cannabis only became illegal in the U.S. because of racist and wildly erroneous propaganda, and they should encourage people to look at the plant from a new perspective.
It’s not the devil it’s made out to be. It’s a highly medicinal plant that can help society in countless ways, and it’s here to be used and defended if necessary.

We Can No Longer Stay Silent About Something That Matters So Much

We can no longer sit idly as propagandists influence public opinion on a plant that could save humanity, and we can no longer put up with ignorant laws that make criminals out of normal citizens and heroes out of the politicians and police who lock them away.
We can’t let Big Brother stop us from utilizing this gift from the earth, and we can’t tolerate the denial of our freedom to experiment with our consciousness without alcohol or other dangerous legal drugs.
It isn’t easy to take a stand for something controversial even if you believe in it with all of your heart and soul, but it needs to be done. We can’t be passive while people suffer and die over a plant that should be legal, and the countless lives lost in the drug war make it clear that we need to do something.
The cannabis community, and subsequently the world, needs a revolution of knowledge. If we can make it happen, we can replace propaganda and close-mindedness with honesty and openness to anything that can potentially help our species prosper.

The First Step is To Stand Up For What We Know Is Right

It’s easy to hide in the shadows, but that’s not what we’re here to do. We’re here to shake up the system and make something new that reflects the values we’ve come to cherish, two of which are freedom and prosperity for everyone, and we can only do it if we have the courage to say something now.
We’re here to take risks and change the world, and however rough it is in the beginning, we’ll know we did something meaningful when we look back on it. We’ll have made something happen, even if it seems insignificant, and it’ll be worth the struggle.
The point is that we have to try, and to remain complacent is to enable the chaos caused by the drug war.
There are rich, powerful people who get richer from the chaos, which is why we probably won’t see national or global legalization any time soon. We can’t rely on those responsible for the ridiculous drug laws to make a change that reflects the people’s needs, because they profit at the expense of the public.
Despite what they want us to think, they don’t care about us. They care about themselves and the money they make from our ignorance. We have to make this change together, and we can do it if we collectively commit to the cause.

To Stand Up For Cannabis Is to Stand Up For Freedom

Let’s stand up for the freedom to use it as medicine; to use it to expand consciousness and explore the spiritual side of life; to use it to make a sunny day or a beautiful piece of music even better; to grow it organically and share it instead of letting cartels or corporations control it.
Our freedom to use this plant is being denied to us by governments that serve their corporate masters. To rely on them for a fair change in the law that doesn’t give big alcohol and big tobacco free reign to make the plant less healthy and more physically addicting is misguided at best.
We have to take responsibility for changing something we know isn’t right, and in this case, the responsibility is shared by everyone who sees through the lies and knows that the cannabis plant is here to help mankind.
Depending on how hard we work now, future generations will freely grow a ‘new’ and invaluable crop that’s been around since ancient times but its uses only recently rediscovered.
Our dedicated activism will allow us to create the kind of world we know is possible, but only if we work hard and take risks for the common good.

“We all place ourselves in danger, to one degree or another, when we stand up. But we place our children and grandchildren in even greater danger when we don’t.”

Related reading:

• Over 100 Scientific Studies Agree: Cannabis Annihilates Cancer
  
• Can Cannabis Enhance Our Spirituality?
  
• Cannabis Legalization: The Time Has Come for Evidence-Based Cannabis Policy
  
• Cannabis as Medicine: How CBD (Cannabidiol) Benefits the Brain and Nervous System
  
• Hemp Can Free Us From Oil, Prevent Deforestation and Cure Cancer – So Why Is It Illegal?
  
• Cannabis: The Most Important Vegetable on the Planet
  
• Move Over Cotton, Say Hello to Hemp – The ‘Forbidden’ Crop That’s Taking the World by Storm
  

About the author:

Wes Annac: I’m a twenty-something writer & blogger with an interest in spirituality, revolution, music and the transformative creative force known as love. I run Openhearted Rebel, a daily news blog dedicated to igniting a revolution of love by raising social and spiritual awareness.
I also have a personal blog, Wes Annac’s Personal Blog, in which I share writings related to spiritual philosophy, creativity, heart consciousness and revolution (among other topics).
I write from the heart and try to share informative and enlightening reading material with the rest of the conscious community. When I’m not writing or exploring nature, I’m usually making music.
You can follow Wes Annac at:

• Blog: OpenheartedRebel.com
  
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Wes.Annac and Facebook.com/OpenheartedRebel
  
• Twitter: Twitter.com/love_rebellion
  
  

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

Cannabis: Religious Reverence Throughout History

April 20, 2018 Openhearted Rebel 

By Wes Annac, Culture of Awareness
Reposted.
If you still think cannabis is a dangerous drug with no medicinal or spiritual benefits, read ahead and try to keep an open mind toward a misunderstood plant that’s been revered throughout history and was only outlawed in the past century.
Millions of people who’ve been healed by the cannabis plant are taking a stand for it, igniting a revolution more powerful than its suppressors can handle.
We know it can heal the mind, body and spirit if used with proper intention, and we’re willing to defend it against those who know little about it beyond what the government and biased media outlets tell them.

A Spiritual Crisis

The world is in the midst of a spiritual crisis, and cannabis could very well be the answer.
It doesn’t work for everyone and some might actually feel worse or less spiritually ‘conscious’ if they use it, but in my opinion, the world would improve significantly if everyone were open to it.
More important than the effect it has on society is the effect it has on the individual. You may have heard or read reports of what it’s like – joyful, euphoric, etc. – but the focused spiritual cannabis user would describe it as essential to their meditation.
Credit: myheadisweak.tumblr.com
You may disagree if you think sobriety is the best or only way to approach enlightenment, but different methods work for different people. As long as you find what you seek, the methods that get you there can be judged by you alone.
Most people are unaware cannabis can help them because of their preconceived ideas of a drug they think makes you lazy, leads to something harder or holds you back in some other way.
They have no idea it can help the mind and body (not to mention the soul), and if we can change the way people perceive it, we could very well solve our spiritual crisis by sharing the truth about it with a society that’ll finally be open to what we have to say.

Cannabis = Temporary Higher Consciousness

The cannabis plant has so much to offer mankind that it’d take several books to accurately describe. In this article, we’ll look at its role in the evolution of the soul.
The idea that cannabis can open the door to higher consciousness and oneness with God is nothing new.
Many religions past and present view it as sacred, and it’s often paired with prayer, meditation and other practices intended to invoke the presence of God (or depending on the religion, various gods).
If used together with meditation, it’s believed to act as a channel to God by inducing a temporary higher consciousness.
Cannabis and meditation. Credit: pinterest.com
In his book Cannabis and Spirituality, Stephen Gray writes that in the spiritual sense, cannabis can be a tricky subject ⁽¹⁾.
Working with the plant properly to induce higher consciousness often involves a learning curve, and various factors influence the outcome of the high ⁽¹⁾.
Some of these factors include dosage; your attitude toward the plant; how frequently you use it; the strain; your mind/body state; the setting; and your ability to calm the overactive mind, among others ⁽¹⁾.
The herb is at its most powerful when used with intention and focus, and it probably won’t do much for you in the spiritual sense if used aimlessly ⁽¹⁾. With no knowledge or focus on a higher consciousness, you’d never be guided to something you didn’t seek.
When used with proper intention, it can illuminate the illusions we carry, invite us to open the heart to a higher consciousness and enable mindful, meditative awareness, which gradually becomes our natural state of being ⁽¹⁾.

Religious Use

According to Sparkcsf.org, cannabis has been used by some of the most advanced cultures throughout history as medicine and a spiritual aid ⁽²⁾. The religious sects that have used it through the centuries include Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism and Sufism ⁽²⁾.
The plant has been (and still is) particularly popular in India. For ‘at least three thousand years’ it has been used in Ayurvedic and Indian medicine to treat various health conditions including nausea and wasting syndromes ⁽²⁾.
It has also been prescribed for general health and longevity ⁽²⁾.
Today, bodybuilders in India use the herb as part of a ‘training regimen’ to build strength, promote digestion and gain muscle mass ⁽²⁾.
Religious cannabis use is prominent in South Asia: Buddhists, Shaivites, Naths and ‘Goddess Worshippers’ use it with meditation ⁽²⁾ and it’s used to halt the mind and induce a state of profound meditative stillness known as Samadhi ⁽²⁾.
Today its religious use is prominent among Tantrics in Nepal, India, Tibet and Sikkim ⁽²⁾.
According to the Mayahana tradition of Buddhism, the Buddha once subsisted for six years only on hemp seeds ⁽²⁾.
Hemp and cannabis come from the same plant; a plant which is good for society in more ways than one. Ancient and modern day societies around the world clearly were (and are) aware of this.

An Important Meditative Aid

Many spiritual texts, including the Buddhist Tara Tantra, list cannabis as an important meditative aid ⁽²⁾.
In Himalayan and Northern Indian Tantric Buddhism, it plays a ‘significant’ role facilitating deep meditation and heightened awareness ⁽²⁾.
Stephen Gray writes that entheogens can ‘dramatically potentiate’ the manifestation of intention in ceremonial environments ⁽¹⁾. Cannabis is included in this, provided it’s used mindfully ⁽¹⁾.
When you can maintain a degree of non-thought (an important concept in nearly every spiritual tradition) during use, cannabis can help soften the armor of the constructed self and free the heart to be open to compassion ⁽¹⁾.
The effect is even more powerful when intention is fueled by love ⁽¹⁾.
The effect is even more powerful when intention is fueled by love. Credit: medicationdaily.com

Physical and Spiritual Healing

Cannabis helps the soul and the body ⁽¹⁾.
Physical and spiritual healing are one and the same, and the spirit heals when the body’s relaxed and in good condition ⁽¹⁾.
Emotional and spiritual wellbeing increase, and as you become aware of this synchronization of mind, body and spirit, you experience what’s commonly known as spiritual awakening ⁽¹⁾.

Long-Term Awareness

According to Stephen, the most significant benefit of cannabis is not what happens during its use, but the long-term awareness it illuminates and the ease with which you can integrate this awareness into your life ⁽¹⁾.

You’ll find one day that you can induce this meditative state on your own.

By becoming familiar with the state of wellbeing induced by cannabis, you can train yourself to recognize and attune to it long after your meditation has ended ⁽¹⁾.
You’ll find one day that you can induce this meditative state on your own. This is what we’re ultimately meant to gain from the herb (and the spiritual path in general): the freedom of enlightenment induced by willpower alone.
The key to experiencing the long-term benefits of cannabis, besides opening the heart, is to dissolve the busy mind ⁽¹⁾.
This is an ongoing process that takes time whether or not you use cannabis, and Stephen writes that the herb can ‘do its work effectively’ when the ego-driven ‘me’ is out of the way ⁽¹⁾.

Cannabis in the Indian Creation Myth

Sparcsf.org tells us that cannabis is mentioned in the Indian myth of creation ⁽²⁾. It’s named as one of the five nectars of the gods and designated a reliever of suffering ⁽²⁾.
According to the original myth, the gods churned the ‘Ocean of Milk’ in search of the elixir of eternal life known as Amrita; cannabis was one of the nectars that resulted ⁽²⁾.
In the Vedas, the herb is referred to as a ‘source of happiness’ ⁽²⁾.

Bhang: The Cannabis-Based Drink Offered to Shiva

As I’ve shared before, it has even been made into a drink in India which is consumed by locals and believed to be the ‘favorite’ drink of Indra, king of Indian gods ⁽²⁾.
The drink, known as bhang, is offered to images and statues of Shiva throughout India, most notably during the Festival of Shivratri ⁽²⁾.
Bhang. Credit: myheartbeets.com
Cannabis use is closely associated with worship of Shiva, one of three principle deities in India ⁽²⁾. Due to its spiritual properties, it’s considered Shiva’s ‘favorite herb’ ⁽²⁾.
Shaivite Yogis, ascetics and Shiva Worshippers commonly consume it as an aid to their sadhana (spiritual practice) ⁽²⁾ and Sadhus smoke it out of a clay chillum ⁽²⁾.

The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission’s Conclusion

Cannabis is so popular in India that the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission concluded the following in a government study of the plant’s use in the country:

“…It is inevitable that temperaments would be found to whom the quickening spirit of bhang is the spirit of freedom and knowledge. In the ecstasy of bhang the spark of the Eternal in man turns into the light the murkiness of matter.
“…Bhang is the Joy-giver, the Sky-filler, the Heavenly-Guide, the Poor Man’s Heaven, the Soother of Grief…No god or man is as good as the religious drinker of bhang…The supporting power of bhang has brought many a Hindu family safe through the miseries of famine.
“To forbid or even seriously restrict the use of so gracious an herb as the hemp would cause widespread suffering and annoyance and to large bands of worshipped ascetics, deep-seated anger.
“It would rob the people of a solace on discomfort, of a cure in sickness, of a guardian whose gracious protection saves them from the attacks of evil influences…” ⁽²⁾

As evidenced here, cannabis is a valuable plant in India for mostly religious reasons.
In future reports we’ll examine its use in other cultures, because there’s plenty of information available on its religious use and you’d be surprised to see how widespread such use is.

Introspection, Healing and Bliss

The truth is slowly emerging regarding this plant and what it can do for society.

Being open to cannabis may not the sole solution to the world’s problems, but using it meditatively could provide solutions to problems we face on the individual level by opening us up to a world of introspection, healing and bliss.
Credit: babylongfighting.blogspot.com
The truth is slowly emerging regarding this plant and what it can do for society.
Since it’s finally being accepted as a normal aspect of life rather than a taboo we should avoid, it’s only a matter of time before the floodgates burst and we’re inundated with information regarding its revolutionary uses and benefits.
When that time comes, spiritual seekers and cannabis enthusiasts around the world will share with everyone what we’ve known all along: this plant was put here to help us.
Sources:
(1) Excerpt, Stephen Gray, Cannabis and Spirituality. Inner Traditions, n.d. – http://www.innertraditions.com/cannabis-and-spirituality.html
(2) “Spiritual Use of Cannabis”, Sparcsf.org, n.d. – http://www.sparcsf.org/learning-center/spiritual-use-cannabis

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