Religion, God, and Drug Use

I knew there was a thread similar to this one - Here it is. Although this one is more to do with hallucinogens, I think it has bearing on this thread (a bit heavy going though at 19 pages).


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For those who think "hallucinations" are just figments of a person's "imagination," or whatever, here you go, brought via, yours truly

Everyone knows what it's like to experience the hallucinations that accompany certain kinds of drug use (among other mind-altering contexts) -- if not from direct experience, at least from depictions in movies and literature. We've seen the colorful, swirling patterns, or the illusory tunnels stretching before us. It turns out that hallucinations are by no means random; there are certain recurrent patterns reported by people who experience them. These patterns were studied by Heinrich Kluever in the 1920's and 30's, and classified into four different structures: spirals, spokes, honeycombs, and cobwebs. Subsequent work has suggested more complicated hybrid forms, such as that portrayed here, but the basic types seem to be robust.

Here's the good part: the appearance of these particular hallucinations can be explained by physics! I know this because I'm sitting on the thesis committees for two students, Tanya Baker and Michael Buice, working with Jack Cowan of the math department. Cowan is a pioneer in mathematical neurophysics, developing sophisticated physical models of the behavior of neurons in the brain. He is a co-originator of the Wilson-Cowan equations to model neural behavior, and his students and collaborators have been thinking recently about hallucinations and other emergent properties of the brain.

Physicist

I know buddist and other religions use marijuana in there rituals.

I'm not sure why though!

Just like shihulud said, this thread is mostly about hallucinogens, but here is some information about marijuana and religion.

"Marijuana And Religion"


Well, for one, nothing new. Marijuana has been used in religious rituals by many cultures since the beginning of human kind.

Marijuana, has been, and still is, a Holy plant in many cultures on all the continents that it grows on, and it grows in nearly every continent on our beautifull planet, and in nearly every country. Tradition in India maintains that the gods sent man the Hemp plant so that he might attain delight, courage, and have heightened sexual desires. When nectar or Amrita dropped down from heaven, Marijuana sprouted from it. Another story tells how, when the gods, helped by demons, churned the milk ocean to obtain Amrita, one of the resulting nectars was Marijuana. It was consecrated to Shiva and was [the godess] Indra’s favourite drink.
After the churning of the ocean, demons attempted to gain control of Amrita, but the gods were able to prevent this seizure, giving Marijuana the name Vijaya (“victory”) to commemorate their success. Ever since, this plant of the gods has been held in India to bestow supernatural powers on its users.

Marijuana played a major role in every religion in the Old World from the dawn of civilization until the Dark Ages when its sacramental use was prohibited by Emperor Theodosius of the Holy Roman Empire. Today multitudes are rediscovering the spiritual virtues of this most useful of all plants.

Before the Dark Ages people accepted the Marijuana/hemp plant as a special gift from the gods, a sacred medium for communion with the spiritual world. It played a prominent role in the development of the religions and civilizations of Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The insights gained from the Marijuana high by the ancient worshippers were considered to be of divine origin, and the plant itself an “angel” or messenger of the gods.

SHINTOISM (Japan) Marijuana was used for the binding together of married couples, to drive away evil spirits, and was thought to create laughter and happiness in marriage.

HINDUISM (India) The God Shiva is said "to have brought Marijuana from the Himalayas for human enjoyment and enlightenment." The Sardu Priests travel throughout India and the world sharing "chillum" pipes filled with Marijuana, sometimes blended with other substances. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna states, "I am the healing herb" (Ch. 9:16), while the Bhagarat-purana Fifth Canto describes hashish in explicitly sexual terms.

BUDDHISTS (Tibet, India, and China)From the 5th Century B.C.E. on ritually used Marijuana; initiation rites and mystical experiences were (are) common in many Chinese Buddhist Sects. Some Tibetan Buddhists and lamas (priests) consider Marijuana their most holy plant. Many Buddhist traditions, writings, and beliefs indicate that "Siddhartha" (the Buddha) himself, used and ate nothing but hemp and its seeds for six years prior to announcing (discovering) his truths and becoming the Buddha (Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path).

More of the Marijuana Religion Page Here

Originally posted by shihulud
Ever read some of the experiences that '___' users (and others) have had - some of them put religions and religious belief in a new light.
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When the light is turned on...the cockroaches scatter.

I don't mean that in a derogatory fashion, specifically; it is allegory.
What is religion? Superstitious politics. What is belief? Hope/trust/faith.

I wish there were a way to share '___' - I surely have an abundance and would LOVE to share with those who desired to see through the veil.

Because that's when the light comes on and then you KNOW. Whatever there is for you to know...you can know. Ultimate freedom from fear, which is primarily caused by the unknown and obscured.

And there is no substance...just raw energy which is LIFE (singing the body electric). Not with alternating or direct current - more like the lightning Spock and Kirk saw in the Energy Ribbon.

And it something that the establishment can never control - the ultimate path to truth is beyond the scope of man's civil and religious constrictions. THANK GOD. Literally.

Live long and prosper! (nanoo nanoo)