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This is particularly relevant to the higher schools of meditation, Mahamudra and Dzogchen (my own tradition), which employ a completely different approach to that of the lower Vipassana/Shamatha traditions. I'm happy to explain further about this aspect in other posts, but for now just bear in mind that the Western idea of meditation being all about morality, or sitting in concentrative states and trying to 'transcend' this reality and reach some kind of spiritual plane is far from being the full picture. Ultimately, meditation isn't about going anywhere, but understanding what and where you are right now, here in this moment.

Why cannabis and meditation?

Why do some cannabis users seem to get shifts in awareness, or find themselves growing more 'spiritually-minded' as time goes by? And how can a drug that seems to induce soporific states have any place in meditation? Doesn't Buddhism in particular warn against the use of any intoxicant as being detrimental to meditation?

Well, actually what the Buddha warned against was the use of intoxicants that may result in you losing proper awareness of reality, 'mindfulness'. But, using cannabis, depending on type, dosage and personal circumstances at the time of ingestion, doesn't always result in us becoming vegged-out and half-asleep. On the contrary, the states it can bring on are sometimes anything but vegged out, and it can actually create a far more balanced and lucid state of mind than just about any other recreational drug.

The ability of cannabis to get you to this state is one of the main reasons why it's of so much use when combined with both traditional focussing ('shamatha') meditation styles and the higher schools. One of the aims of all traditional meditation schools is to get you to a point where you can turn on, or remain permanently in, a state where you feel happy, totally relaxed and very mindful (aware) of the here and now. If we have a drug that allows us, with practise, to access this frame of mind, then it can reduce the time that you would normally spend on reaching this point, allowing you to go a little deeper more quickly and easily than you might without it. Being at the just right level of high can provide a good basis for us to meditate effectively within.

The reason that these simple basics - happiness, relaxation and mindfulness - are so important is because a relaxed and happy mind is clearer and more able to sense the subtle changes in awareness that can lead to powerful meditation experiences. If the basics are in place as you meditate then you're far more likely to get a proper glimpse of enlightenment as you do so.


Reality

At one end of the spectrum there are traditional meditation methods that most of you will be familiar with, and there's no doubt that cannabis can help substantially with them. But at the highest levels of practise, meditation is far less about reaching specific states of mind, and much more about understanding the true nature of reality in an ultimate sense. Understanding reality correctly is the most powerful trigger for experiences of enlightenment that there are, and Zen in particular is is full of stories where this knowledge has triggered realisation, or 'Kensho', in its practitioners. Basic Buddhist Mahayana for example would say that using its methods (morality and instructions from the Sutras, words of the Buddha) it will take many lifetimes to reach enlightenment, whereas it's quite feasible in the higher traditions to reach enlightenment in just one lifetime using correct understanding of reality. This understanding can be so powerful that it can trigger instant realisation in those who may never have meditated a day in their lives before.

For it to really work at its best however, again we need to be in pretty much the same state that a good high can bring on. This means that when we're high we can inadvertantly be very receptive to correct knowledge, and can have spontaneous blisses, or experience altered states, just by thinking about reality in the right way. People who are high do commonly ponder the nature of reality and other deep questions, and on occassion will find themselves accessing a 'something' that they may not fully grasp, only knowing that they've somehow stumbled across a sense of a greater reality and their place within it. This sense of other can tickle away at the edges of consciousness in some, every time they're high, and it may need just a little study to turn these feelings into deep glimpses of realisation, 'Kensho'.

What is this 'right way' of thinking about reality? For most people within Eastern meditation traditions it means, as a beginning, understanding that reality isn't truly how it appears to our senses, that it's 'Sunyata', meaning that the whole of reality is a co-dependent unity that we can't truly say either exists nor does not exist. There are a number of articles describing different aspects of Sunyata ('emptiness') that will help you get a grasp of its full meaning, and a quick Google will reveal tens of key texts relevant to most traditions on the internet describing it. Regardless of whether you're actually interested in following these traditions or not, once you've begun to grasp Sunyata, the power of understanding - and experiences - will grow quickly within you.

Yes, cannabis can be misused, and it can over-shadow some types of meditation - but on the whole, when used properly, it can be an excellent aid to the Path as a whole.