YaHooka Forums - View Single Post - How or has Herb enabled your spiritually?

The Rev · 03-21-2009, 10:27 AM

When I smoke, two things happen that enhance my spirituality:

1) I become honest with myself in a really profound way. (caveat: you have to listen to your thoughts critically, because that "honesty" can also come out as heavy self-criticism. You have to keep in mind that self is an abstraction and the experience of now is all that is real.) Things that I have difficulty admitting to myself become "Well, yeah! Duh." This can be profoundly centering, and helps to wipe away the confusion of the preceding day.

2) My ability to just "shut up and look" is enhanced, and I can be in the moment so intensely that it sometimes gets frightening. I'm very "here" looking hard at "now". It's uncanny. I can get into states like that in meditation, too, but it's usually only on a good day and not nearly as consistent as when smoking.

BTW, Sage, thanks for the posts about Buddhism and the 8-fold path. I, too, was captivated by the simplicity of this practice, and it has contributed enormously to my own spiritual path. In fact, if I had to pick one established "religion" my path is closest to, it would be Buddhism (or, perhaps, Jainism).

The Rev

03-21-2009, 10:27 AM	#7 (permalink)
The Rev Clear Light Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: In my head, somewhere. Posts: 17,668 Thanks: 4,714 Thanked 5,054 Times in 2,706 Posts	When I smoke, two things happen that enhance my spirituality: 1) I become honest with myself in a really profound way. (caveat: you have to listen to your thoughts critically, because that "honesty" can also come out as heavy self-criticism. You have to keep in mind that self is an abstraction and the experience of now is all that is real.) Things that I have difficulty admitting to myself become "Well, yeah! Duh." This can be profoundly centering, and helps to wipe away the confusion of the preceding day. 2) My ability to just "shut up and look" is enhanced, and I can be in the moment so intensely that it sometimes gets frightening. I'm very "here" looking hard at "now". It's uncanny. I can get into states like that in meditation, too, but it's usually only on a good day and not nearly as consistent as when smoking. BTW, Sage, thanks for the posts about Buddhism and the 8-fold path. I, too, was captivated by the simplicity of this practice, and it has contributed enormously to my own spiritual path. In fact, if I had to pick one established "religion" my path is closest to, it would be Buddhism (or, perhaps, Jainism). The Rev __________________ "You're seriously flying close to the fag-sun, icarus." -Flamingnun