Benefits of Quitting Weed for Spirituality/Peace of Mind

Discussion in 'Religion, Beliefs and Spirituality' started by LittleJacob, Feb 4, 2011.

  1. LOL

    I always love reading peoples responses that simply REFUSE to believe that anyone felt better because they stopped smoking weed for a while...

    That's just as closed minded as the marjuana propoganda.

    Sure smoking is better for your health than just about any other drug habit, but that doesn't mean its completely benign.

    Open your minds up to more than just what you want to hear.
     

  2. LOL

    The fuck does that even mean? Smoking weed doesn't help you get 'enlightened' in any sense of the word. Delusional, wishful thinking.

    I mean, c'mon man.
     
  3. [quote name='"Runningw235"']

    LOL

    The fuck does that even mean? Smoking weed doesn't help you get 'enlightened' in any sense of the word. Delusional, wishful thinking.

    I mean, c'mon man.[/quote]

    Actually I feel I've become a much more humble enlightened person since starting weed
     
  4. #44 esseff, Jun 5, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 5, 2012
    Perhaps not for you, but using this sacred herb as it's meant to be used, entheogenically, is EXACTLY what it's helping you to do. There is an argument that no one needs to become enlightened because we are already everything we can possibly be, and only need to realise it. Cannabis is sometimes called a helper plant. What is it helping? To realise yourself as you are, to know the truth of who you are, to come into the presence of what many call God. Not everyone is ready or able to use it this way (although just by taking it means you are on some level).
     
  5. #45 iMaven, Jun 5, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 5, 2012

    Dude i've been depressed years before weed. now i'm not depressed like at all. even my "bipolar disorder" went away.

    and I went to take a break and all the positive vibes I had lessened (i miss you mary!!), even when focusing on being compassionate.. Weed made that 10x more potent.


    I've never had problems sleeping.
    and i move through bricks...
    so.....
    maybe you just masturbate and drain your life energy that way, lol.
    I don't believe over use of marijuana is virtually harmless, though, e.g. less REM sleep due in part to more melatonin being released when you smoke.

    I could very well agree that meditative recharging is required and that you can't just stay super stoned all the time and reach your fullest potential. this is why I don't wake n bake everyday or always get super high before I fall asleep.


    *gets back to reading the rest of your post, interested*
    (maybe i'm in denial, though..
    I don't feel what you're feeling.
    I think you're confusing your actual personality's pitfalls with negatives of weed use..when all over use of weed would do is make you more susceptible to imbalance IMO . esp with the average diet, masturbation, and negative influences in your life (animate or otherwise. meaning your past shame and stuff hanging over you.. it affects confidence, too).
    I've been smoking for over a year straight, easy. not more than a 24 hour break.
    Smoking good quality herb. I won't even smoke blunts 90% of the time.
    So i'm in pretty good condition, I'd say.
    I only experience insecurity in flashes whenever I'm with my Ex or when I am coming off a mushy trip.
    In fact, i experience Emotional and Ego hell while on a trip the other day. (I didn't have a "bad trip" though, per se. it's only bad if you don't learn anything beneficial :p )
    It was fine until the trip began to taper off.
    My buddy came over and we lit up some herb and boy i felt a 1000 times better. Kinda glad I waited to get high on this mushy trip.
    I learned a few things from that experience.
    I'm very confident. i keep things tidy and clean.. I practice skills that I innately desire.. people skills, general knowledge, etc..
    and taken advantage of? please.. I'm at my healthiest in that respect...if anything I feel a malfunctioning chakra more often than blocked.
    but hardly ever now. i feel 10x better than I have my entire life these past couple months. Haven't had one bad week for as long as I can remember.. That's new for me.

    Also, I've never been able to be limber or stretch or anything.
    i've just had power and that's about it.
    Well, i'm more limber than ever.
    Considering the pinched nerves I have and back/leg problems from cop encounters and being in car wrecks, I'm pretty fuckin confident herb isn't hampering my progress.
    I wake up and don't smoke for 5 hours and I feel just fine.
    I'm not a jerk.
    I'm hardly moody even when I don't do sleep.
    Plus I got shitfaced for a week straight just to see if I could handle it. finally threw up on the 6th day.

    i mean shit.
    i don't even get sad after taking rolls.
    i don't feel unconfident.
    if anything, I just get bummed things don't go how my feelings would wnat them to go.
    THen i get over it because my feelings aren't who I am. and you choose to be happy. so just cuz this girl i fucked doesn't wanna be with me doesn't mean nething to me rlly.
    lol.


    Mary Jane makes my pain all the more bearable.. she makes me a lot more intuitive with yoga stretches, too.. so maybe I'm just not getting these negatives like you.

    i had to sleep on a floor for 4 months straight, too. so my body was being fucked everynight and i'm still limber. people who can't stretch can't get their energy flowing as good..i think my energy is good really... as long as I don't smoke constantly all night/morning and lead a healthy lifestyle more than just physically.


    why insult mary? support your local florist.
     
  6. [quote name='"iMaven"']

    Dude i've been depressed years before weed. now i'm not depressed like at all. even my "bipolar disorder" went away.

    and I went to take a break and all the positive vibes I had lessened (i miss you mary!!), even when focusing on being compassionate.. Weed made that 10x more potent.

    I've never had problems sleeping.
    and i move through bricks...
    so.....
    maybe you just masturbate and drain your life energy that way, lol.
    I don't believe over use of marijuana is virtually harmless, though, e.g. less REM sleep due in part to more melatonin being released when you smoke.

    I could very well agree that meditative recharging is required and that you can't just stay super stoned all the time and reach your fullest potential. this is why I don't wake n bake everyday or always get super high before I fall asleep.

    *gets back to reading the rest of your post, interested*
    (maybe i'm in denial, though..

    I don't feel what you're feeling.
    I think you're confusing your actual personality's pitfalls with negatives of weed use..when all over use of weed would do is make you more susceptible to imbalance IMO . esp with the average diet, masturbation, and negative influences in your life (animate or otherwise. meaning your past shame and stuff hanging over you.. it affects confidence, too).
    I've been smoking for over a year straight, easy. not more than a 24 hour break.
    Smoking good quality herb. I won't even smoke blunts 90% of the time.
    So i'm in pretty good condition, I'd say.
    I only experience insecurity in flashes whenever I'm with my Ex or when I am coming off a mushy trip.
    In fact, i experience Emotional and Ego hell while on a trip the other day. (I didn't have a "bad trip" though, per se. it's only bad if you don't learn anything beneficial :p )
    It was fine until the trip began to taper off.
    My buddy came over and we lit up some herb and boy i felt a 1000 times better. Kinda glad I waited to get high on this mushy trip.
    I learned a few things from that experience.
    I'm very confident. i keep things tidy and clean.. I practice skills that I innately desire.. people skills, general knowledge, etc..
    and taken advantage of? please.. I'm at my healthiest in that respect...if anything I feel a malfunctioning chakra more often than blocked.
    but hardly ever now. i feel 10x better than I have my entire life these past couple months. Haven't had one bad week for as long as I can remember.. That's new for me.

    Also, I've never been able to be limber or stretch or anything.
    i've just had power and that's about it.
    Well, i'm more limber than ever.
    Considering the pinched nerves I have and back/leg problems from cop encounters and being in car wrecks, I'm pretty fuckin confident herb isn't hampering my progress.
    I wake up and don't smoke for 5 hours and I feel just fine.
    I'm not a jerk.
    I'm hardly moody even when I don't do sleep.
    Plus I got shitfaced for a week straight just to see if I could handle it. finally threw up on the 6th day.

    i mean shit.
    i don't even get sad after taking rolls.
    i don't feel unconfident.
    if anything, I just get bummed things don't go how my feelings would wnat them to go.
    THen i get over it because my feelings aren't who I am. and you choose to be happy. so just cuz this girl i fucked doesn't wanna be with me doesn't mean nething to me rlly.
    lol.

    Mary Jane makes my pain all the more bearable.. she makes me a lot more intuitive with yoga stretches, too.. so maybe I'm just not getting these negatives like you.

    i had to sleep on a floor for 4 months straight, too. so my body was being fucked everynight and i'm still limber. people who can't stretch can't get their energy flowing as good..i think my energy is good really... as long as I don't smoke constantly all night/morning and lead a healthy lifestyle more than just physically.

    why insult mary? support your local florist.[/quote]

    I agree. Its psychological. You might see this exact post made about alcolhol.

    I made one about video games in the philosophy section.

    Because of your situation your depressed and forced to analyze your life. The weed is an easy culprit to blame.

    That being said there are negative effects if chronic use. Like this Guy said it will effect your sleep. You will get lethargic and sit around a lot if your high a lot.

    Sitting around at home all day is a well known cause of depression. You need activity.
     
  7. #47 LittleJacob, Jun 5, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 5, 2012
    Edit: I'll state all this better later
     
  8. Yea man, I don't disagree with any of that per se. You make some good points. But just keep in mind that not everyone has the same experiences, you know. Differnet people experience things differently, everyone has their own karma, their own set of challenges and obstacles that they deal with. For some people, weed is a challenging fit into that equation, and I have seen people in which it definitely does affect them negatively. But it definitely doesn't do that to everyone, for there are plenty people who use it every day with absolutely no negatives whatsoever, including me now and apparently you too.

    And btw suggesting people take a break from mary j for their own benefit is not insulting Mary J at all lol... it is suggesting wise and responsible use. That's all I was going for here. I even said this might not apply to everybody lol.

    Also, keep in mind that I made this post about a year and a half ago haha, so a LOT has changed with me by then. None of what you said applies to me now anymore lol, I feel like a completley different person. I don't have any of the problems I laid out in the original post. Like I said in the post above, all of my problems I laid out here were basically solved by working out some emotional problems and dedicating myself to getting a lot healthier.

    But I'm glad you're not feeling any negatives, thats definitely a good thing :) I've also been feeling better than I have my entire life recently too. It's great to go from feeling so low to feeling on top of the world. It would be foolish to say that weed was the reason I was low in the first place, and it would be foolish to say that weed was what got me out of that place as well. Now I just see weed as an enhancer. It's all good :cool:
     
  9. Man you dont even know the crazy amount of synchronicity right now.
    I've been going through exactly what you went through/going through.

    I'm glad I don't feel completely alone on this.

    I even told myself earlier, as I was coming down.

    "that's it's. That's the last bowl"

    I bagged up the rest of the weed I have (roughly 2grams) and plan on just giving it to a super dear friend.
    I threw away all my papers and two small pieces.

    I'm just ready to be done with the constant aura over my head of random drug testing.
    Also I am a super spiritual person and I'd say this past month my smoking habit has actually increSed to 3-4 small bowls of decent to high grade weed.
    And I could label what I've been feeling as a slight energy depleting "fog" over me.
    Especially the kidney thing man.

    But I'll stop rambling.
    But it's good to hear this,
    Appreciate the post OP
     
  10. I'm aware this thread is ancient, but I'd really like to chime in. I have experienced an internal struggle with marijuana for the last 4 years; in this sense, its been both a curse and blessing. I've experienced time and time again that when I'm able to utilize marijuana in a controlled, structured way, the negative impacts are negligible (i.e smoking only once a week, or at end of a long day once all work is done). However, too often have I been at a "good place" with my usage and then proceeded to lose control to the point where I was using everyday at least twice. After a few months of this, I get burnt out. I have less energy, less desire to vocalize my opinions, and less motivation to succeed in the gym and with the ladies. As a result, I get mildly depressed and very my moods are completely dependent on if I've smoked or not. I've pinned it down to a self-control issue, I need to improve my discipline; I've talked myself into getting high after deciding to abstain too many times.  
     
    I'd also like to make it clear to the people that immediately denounce others for wanting to quit that everyone is different; we all have different psychological characteristics and thus there can never be a black and white answer to any question marijuana related. Like an earlier poster said, too much of anything is a bad thing. I know how great it is to be high, but my overuse has caused me so much mental anguish and guilt that its time for a change. I've come to this decision so many times before, each failure teaches you something. Hopefully this is the beginning of a happier relationship between myself and my weed :) 
     
  11. Christ i read all that and still didn't learn if you reached enlightenment yet. You can feel "better" all you want but all of it dulls in comparison to returning to the source, actually feeling the vibrations and emptiness.I was stoned when i became enlightened BTW. Although I will admit getting high does not work at all once you live in true being, literally I felt nothing
     
  12. #52 LittleJacob, Dec 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 21, 2013
    So well said man. :) That is exactly where I am with my relationship with weed right now. I discipline myself into saying clean for a week or two, and I feel great and steady and I have more "yang", get up and go energy, and more focus. 
     
    Then, when I'm just feeling awesome, I have a little session. And it goes great, I feel awesome, it's inspiration, all is good. Then I take that experience and vape again the next day... maybe twice, if it's a weekend. Then I'll vape again on Monday... and maybe Wednesday, then Thursday. Then before I know it I have lost what I had gained by being "clean" and sober from the weed for the previous two weeks.
     
    I don't believe weed has any "negative" effects per se... just effects.... it all depends upon the context. If I need to be a really left-brain, focused, high-speed work environment (which I do, now that I just got a second job), the daily smoking definitely slows me down and leaves me a little less sharp than when I'm sober.
     
    However... if I don't have many responsibilities going on, it's a chill time in my life where I have the freedom to just relax, think introspectively, and do whatever I want with the day... I'll vape up a few times every day and it won't really have an adverse effect on anything... my experience of life is just slower, more vivid and different than life sober. Not better or worse, just different. So it's all about context, to me. 
     
    But right now I'm back at that place where... I just got a second job, now is the perfect time for me to work my ass off, save as much $$ as I can in the near term and then make some real positive moves for my future... becoming educated in being a yoga therapist, moving into a house in a new and better part of town with a good buddy, put out a music project and a website I have in mind.
     
    There is just a lot of stuff, a lot of YANG activity that I want to be doing at this point in my life, and the relaxing, calming, slowing, stilling, sedating  YIN qualities that cannabis and weed brings is not optimal for me and my situation at this time. So I just need to have the discipline to really stick it out and go without it for a little while so I can do what I need to do as efficiently as I can do it... then resume the herb at a later and better place in my life. It's all about each person finding the right BALANCE for themselves, really.
     
    I don't think I was ever claiming enlightenment in this post my friend haha, just letting people know about the potential benefits of quitting weed for a while. And actually I am well aware that no passing feeling compares to the lasting bliss of what is called "enlightenment", self-realization etc. I don't really see what all that has to do with the subject at hand though haha. I never claim one needs to be high or not high to understand the true nature of Self and reality, I believe that weed in fact CAN be helpful in this. I'm just saying that being high every day, all the time, might not be ideal in all situations in life lol. I was just throwing that out there.
     
  13. Sucks man seems like you were going down that path.Sent from my SPH-D710BST using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  14. #54 LittleJacob, Dec 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 21, 2013
    lol What path are you talking about? The path of enlightenment?
     
  15. Ya. I mean atleast keep it in your aspirations since you seem interested in things around it. Sent from my SPH-D710BST using Grasscity Forum mobile app
     
  16. #56 Thejourney318, Dec 21, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 21, 2013
    I've been having some thoughts where for the first time my entire perception of weed and its effects on me aren't 100% overwhelmingly positive. This has been very confusing for me, as I've always idealized weed, and I still have a hard time accepting anything other than completely positive thoughts on it. However, let me share my experiences that have led me to consider the ideal role of weed in life. Basically, for the longest time it was not at all consistent that I would be able to get weed. This is either because I wouldn't have contact with a reliable connect, or else I just didn't have money. Thus I would go long bouts without smoking at all, and when I did it didn't really stay that consistent over time. Since, I have gotten a job, and have connects. I had to be careful about the buying of weed at first, cuz I was out in my own apartment, with bills and whatnot. Well, basically due to some circumstances that didn't work out, and now I'm back with my parents. This means no real bills for the time being, and lots of free money. So I've been being high most all the time. I don't smoke before I go to work or at work, but when I get home I smoke through the night, and on my days off I smoke much of the day and night. I would say it succeeds in making regular, mundane home life more enjoyable. Food tastes infinitely better, any form of entertainment is increased, etc. This also often leads to me to just eating and watching TV, or some such thing.
     
    However, here are some 'drawbacks' I experience. I do not know how much of this is entirely personal quirks, how much may be somewhat common with weed, or what have you. Anyways, I find weed makes me quite time-conscious in a way, and also conscious of trying to choose the 'right' activity. What I mean by this is, when you smoke weed, there is a limit on the time you will experience its effects. This makes me feel like I don't want to 'waste it.' Thus I feel its important to be doing something that is either particularly enjoyable or beneficial(spiritually/philosophically, basically). I often don't want to try new things, out of fear that I'm not going to particularly enjoy it and then I will have kind of wasted the high. I also find myself shirking some real life 'duties.' This is from the same principle. When I'm high, I don't want people bringing me down and making me think about all these problems etc. So I might not want to talk to people in some circumstances, cuz they'll bring me down and a high is supposed to be without the negativity. Also things that I want to get motivated for, like say physical activity or some such thing. I find I get theoretically motivated, but then I get high and once I get high you can forget about that stuff.
     
    It's actually the same with spiritual practice, in a way. It's like, when I get high, I often feel like I SHOULDN'T meditate, only because I feel like meditation should be a real, regular spiritual practice. If I just get high and meditate, without having been doing it regularly, I just feel like I'm cheating and avoiding real spiritual practice because I'm not grounded with regular daily meditation, and that means sober. And yet I end up being high during a majority of my free time, and so it just ends up without spiritual practice. I have no idea what I 'believe,' or think, and so this also kind of factors in. I've read so much, from so many different points of view, and I honestly don't know what to think. So this leads back to the idea of 'wasting my high.' I feel like if I read up on and/or contemplate some spiritual system, it may just end up being some BS that ends up being meaningless anyways, and that would just be a complete waste.
     
  17. Yea man I hear ya. Well actually, I just don't know where you are getting the idea that I was not involved in or gave up on the spiritual path/"quest" for "enlightenment". In fact, I spent about the past 5 years of my life virutally SOLELY dedicated to it. The inward journey towards ultimate liberation, the ending of ignorance and suffering... discovering the kingdom of heaven within... all of that. In fact, "enlightenment" is the very ground and foundation upon my whole life.
     
    I'm not really sure what gave you the idea that I gave up or wasn't interested in enlightenment? Like I said, I spent about 4-5 years deeply focused on researching and practicing the Internal Search and seeking for truth and enlightenment. The thing is... after many years of dedication to that "attainment" (or really non-attainment)... I have reached a place where I finally feel like I don't need to be "searching" anymore. The enlightenment I was searching for was with me the entire time... I just had to learn how to recognize it and experience it. I have come to a place where I feel I have found a large part of what I was looking for through increasing my spiritual understanding and experience, through meditation and the advanced stages of insight and wisdom teachings such as the higher stages of Tibetan Buddhism. That has given me a certain ground of unshakable peace that I never had before my journey... and even when things go bad or crazy, I can always come back to my knowledge of my true nature, "true being"... and return to my center and my peace again.
     
    I'm at the place in my life now where, after spending the vast majority of my YOUNG adult life so far on this inward journey, I am now at the stage of integrating what I have gained internally with my life in the outside world. Creating the most ideal life I can imagine for myself, and putting forth the effort to make that happen. At this stage in my life, I need to be productive and stop procrastinating on things I've been needing to do, which really all comes down to my own lack of disipline. But I feel like I need to quit weed for a little while as well to help me keep up that focus and inner fire/drive to do what I need to do in order to move forward towards my goals - moving to a better and more enlightened part of the country, putting out focused and cohesive musical projects, creating a website and online community dedicated to self-realization and mind-body practices aimed at helping individuals achieve and actualize their fullest potential. To do all that I need to both be earning more money than I do now and put more energy into my "side projects"/hobbies than I do now. So I want all the "YANG, positive, active" energy and clarity I can get. I'll just do my best to keep my YIN, chillaxing herb usage to the weekends.
     
    Also.. sorry if I am overly long winded when I post haha. I am a writer by nature, and writing and expressing myself like this helps me to sort things out for myself as I write... it's kind of clarifyin and therapeutic lol.
     
  18. [quote name="LittleJacob" post="19206674" timestamp="1387670703"]I'm not really sure what gave you the idea that I gave up or wasn't interested in enlightenment? [/quote] probably cuz you didnt really write anything about (I think I read first page and replied rofl)If you have it, good man im happy for you
     
  19. #59 LittleJacob, Dec 22, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 22, 2013
    Oh ok I got you lol. Yea, even if I don't have the "ultimate" enlightenment or realization, I sure do have a lot more peace and center in my life, and that'll work for me for now. :)
     
    Back to the topic: 
    I can relate to that first sentence very well, and I think that is in large part why I made this thread. My initial experiences with cannabis were so overwhelming positive, that once I saw that the herb was nothing like the "drug" the propaganda had made it seem like, I dediced that there are NO downsides to it whatsoever and that it is simply a wonderful wonderful flower Nature put on the planet. I idealized it heavily.
     
    But only after months and months and months of continues use, and at times over-use... especially with bongs, smoking, etc (I mostly only vaporize now... prefer the health benefits)... I came to realize that perhaps herb wasn't as flawless as I had imagined. When used beyond moderation, some drawbacks become apparent. Thankfully, the drawbacks aren't really major, and they go away once you quit for even a short amount of time. Nonetheless, the drawbacks exist just the same. 
     
    I can also understand what you mean about the confusion with weed and meditation. There are 2 schools of though regarding this issue, as I see it. One on hand, many believe and would argue that herb is actually a great enhancer for meditation, when used moderately and wisely... and can actually help one more easily acheive a state of presence and relaxation needed for penetrating into deeper layers of meditation. They argue that it benefits. Rastafarians also believe this... but there are many other non-rasta's that believe this too... a few spiritual traditions think this as well. "Cannabis and Meditation: An Explorer's Guide" written by one of our forum members here (MelT) is actually a very enlightening book on the topic.
     
    On other hand, many believe that it is more beneficial to have your meditation practice grounded in your sober experience. That way, the entire experience you have is unadulterated and 100% "real", in the sense that you are practicing in your body/mind's base, natural, unadulterated state. So you do not have the help of cannabis to help calm you down, bring you into the moment, etc... all of that you must learn to do sober. Because, what would  you do if you are in the world and need to calm down and center yourself in the moment but you don't have your cannabis crutch to help you? You'd be out of luck... whereas if you trained in meditation and insight while sober, you can achieve those skills of relaxation, presence and insight even while sober as well. 
     
    Personally, I would say perhaps experiment with both and just see what works for you. Meditation at any time, whether sober or high, can have tremendous benefits for you, and I know for a fact that it can definitely be easier going into deep meditation when you have a little weed in your system, but it can also be done perfectly sober too. I'd say just play around with it, have just like an explorer's attitude, a "let's just see what happens" kind of attitude. And see where that takes you, and then you can decide what works best for you and what doesn't based on your own experience and experimentation.
     
  20. Bare in mind that whatever you find, or think you find, is only relevant to who you are right now. You can avoid making 'rules' about what you discover if you recognise that whatever experience you have is there to reveal something to you now. The experience, and what you take from it, matters more than how it comes about.
     
    You might feel that cannabis no longer works for you. Perhaps you've had a few negative experiences recently. You can stop using it of course, and perhaps you should for a while, but you can also lower your dose significantly - you'd be surprised how many people use far too much anyway. It's not about getting higher and higher, it's about using the high in a way that works for you.
     
    Regular breaks are a good idea as they allow for assimilation of the ideas experienced in normal consciousness. We need to experience our opposites properly. Spend too much time high and not enough time sober, and you can easily go out of balance. The true seeker/explorer has no problem going somewhere that might be difficult - it's how they deal with what they find there that makes the difference.
     
    We're learning something about who we are when we alter consciousness. We are the Psychonauts.
     

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