The Dual-Edged Sword of Cannabis Use

Cannabis is becoming more and more normal to talk about and use these days.  It's legalization is a hot topic on TV and potheads nationwide are becoming more and more vocal on the widely published benefits of its use.

Since this kind of talk is so prevalent I won't go into it here, but rather, will be relating a few subjective aspects of cannabis use I noticed from when I was an all day everyday user.

Cannabis use makes even the most mundane tasks enjoyable, or atleast, bearable.  Pulling weeds, taking out the trash, doing dishes, working at a call-center, etc...all become more enjoyable after a few puffs of the pot.  It seems to help one notice the "fun" or interesting aspects of any activity by giving one interesting thoughts that stem from, but, may not be even closely related to the activity.  This non-linear thinking is enjoyable and intellectually stimulating, as many a pothead who had a million dollar idea while doing laundry will tell you.

While it makes these activities more enjoyable through the addition of the [more than usual] non-linear thoughts, this aspect of the high also takes one out of the moment and into the mind.  Which is surely OK to do once in awhile, but, when it occurs constantly, it can cause problems.  The self begins to retreat into an escape within the mind and away from reality, as this happens reality becomes more dreamlike, and a sort of low-level disassociation from life occurs.  One begins chasing thoughts rather than life.  Although some choose to live in this state, once one has left it for a period it is easier to see it as the escape it is.

The other detrimental aspect of constant weed smoking is, that it makes one complacent with where they are in life.  If someone is living at their parent's house or has a dead-end job this feels OK as long as one is high.  Feeling of, "Just go with it." or "Don't make waves." come to mind and one becomes satisfied with what is, rather than striving for something higher.  I and many other potheads believe this is some kind of enlightenment and that being free of the desire to achieve anything makes one "higher" spiritually.  Feelings of disgust at those stuck in "the achievement trip" or "ego trip" may arise and one distances themselves from those who have goals or visions of the future.  Soon one is surrounded by those "holy" folk who live only for the present and have no relations with a future.

What one finds after one chooses to, or is forced to leave the pothead world, is that achievements and goals is what makes life worth living.  One needn't strive after buying sports cars or becoming a CEO[material trips], but, finding what we desire, striving after it, and achieving is one of the most rewarding parts of life.  One can decide to build their body up to a picture of health, create art, travel the world, meet new people...etc.

Although I have met people who cannabis did not slow down from engaging reality or achieving goals, me and most other heavy users I knew had these two problems, stemming from cannabis use, that really slowed their life down.

Cannabis used more sparingly can become an ally but one must watch out for these warning signs of cannabis taking away from the rest of life.

Try to find your sweet spot.

The Final Frontier

During the 1950's and 60's Outer Space was being heralded as the final frontier for man to conquer.

We had emerged out of the trees and onto the grasslands.

We had left the grasslands of Africa for lands unknown.

We had built sea-sailing vessels to cross the great oceans.

And we had mastered aeronautics and created airplanes, blimps, and helicopters.

The next logical step was outside of our planet's atmosphere and into the great black abyss.

Baby steps were made, we landed on the moon and sent out hundreds of probes.

But, unlike all other arenas of human technology, space exploration did not have an explosive acceleration, but rather, withered and came to a virtual halt.  Why was this?

Some say it was lack of competition with the Russians, or, impossibly large budgets.  My bet was that the engineers and scientists along with the upper echelons of American government realized that Space travel had little to offer present day man.  The ships and programs were prohibitively expensive and the programs themselves seemed to produce little of scientific or material value.  A combination of these drawbacks caused man to withdraw his full effort from space.  Technology and resources went towards communications(The Internet, TV, music) and to an ever more powerful military technologies.  Leaving man without an [obvious] frontier.

The hidden frontier is within our own minds.  The same hyperspatial reality that was plumbed by Shamans, medicine men, and mystics throughout history.  It can be accessed with meditation, yoga, breathing, and any number of hallucinogenic substances.  Isn't it strange that the very government that was so for Space Travel is against this other alien frontier?
     In Space Travel they saw possible material gain and strategic military advantages.  The only treasures that one can plunder from the interior of the mind are new ideas or modes of being.  These are of no interest to those who hold our material lives in check.  This is why they have begun an inquisition and repression of the exploration of this new interior frontier.

Good luck psychonauts.

Chasing the Self

Once one finds oneself firmly embedded in the present either through self-work, exercise(body-work), or as a natural state of being, the next spiritual pinnacle to reach becomes the experience of self.  The self is a slippery thing to get ahold of because when one believes they have attained it it slips right through their fingers and they find they are actually more or less than they  previously believed.  This slippery aspect of the self originates from the fact that the self can never be complete in of itself at any one time.  The self we were yesterday is not the same as today and the same is true of even twenty minutes ago.  One continuously creates the self through experience which arises from the ever-changing self interacting with the ever-changing outside world.  This synthesis of variables coalesces into a state of being where one is experiencing every unique moment through a unique self.  This paradox underlies spiritual living and the growth inherent in it.  The self is continuously created through a lifetime, not achieved all at once.

I believe the true-will is the influence our future self (from the end of our life) has upon the present moment.  The self that has already experienced our life paradoxically influences the path our present life goes through.  This "ultimate" self may not just have experienced our current life path, but, all possible life paths we could have chosen based on any conscious decision we made throughout our life.  So this "ultimate" self which influences us through intuition or conscience knows us better than any present self could.

Why change the outside when you can change yourself?

    In today's world of rapidly expanding industrial infrastructure it has become hard to discern what all this progress really accomplishes for humanity as a whole.  People often say technology helps us live easier and more fulfilling lives, but, evidence exists that gives credence to the idea that the technological demiurge actually mitigates our ability to live rewarding lives.  Obesity and technological addiction represent only two of the facets of modernity that seem anything but progressive.  People have given up their inherent rights to enjoy their bodies alongside their minds when they become sedentary obese consumers.  Much of the technology that we believe extends our human capabilities actually makes us into machines where our only self-directed activities have become pushing buttons or other input devices upon the computers we love so deeply.  Along with these negative externalities we place upon ourselves there also exists the obvious stress technology and industry places upon the environment.
    Modern agricultural man has always tried to adapt the environment to his own devices when all other humans have adapted their culture and mind to the environment they found themselves in.  Humans have adapted to different ecosystems and niches across the globe throughout our long history.  Humans live full lives in the Arctic Tundra, the Amazonian Rainforest, and the Arizona desert, among many other places. Why do westerners and their capital system demand that a given area be adapted to suit the needs of their monolithic culture?
   I personally believe that this method of attempting to control the environment will continue to wane in the years to come.  Environmental awareness and global activism represent just two aspects of this rising trend.  Now what will the system of environmental degradation give way to?  A 1960's like return to nature and abandonment of technology? No, I believe that the object of our transformative technology will cease being the outside environment and will begin focusing upon our own physical vessels, our bodies.  Why adapt the outside world to our minds and bodily tastes when we can use man's inherent mental adaptability coupled with our new found technology to transform ourselves so we may fit into any ecological niche, terrestrial or extraterrestrial, that we wish.  Nanotechnology, genetics, computer brains, all these frontier technologies would allow man to adapt his self to any role he saw fit.  As technology advances we may even become so amorphous that we are able to change both our thought patterns and body structures at will.
  An example application of this idea would be to create photosynthetic men that require only sunlight and water rather than solid animal food.  This would quickly solve our population and hunger problem.  Let us hope that man realizes the futility in attempting to control the chaos outside him and begins to turn his need for adaptation inward, upon himself.