Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

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bcol01
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Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by bcol01 »

I'd love your takes on this.
In his writing, Hokkemongu (Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra), The Great Master Nichiren said, “If the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra wholeheartedly devote their life to the Lotus Sutra and practice according to its golden words, it is certainly needless to say that not only in the next life, but also in this lifetime they will overcome severe difficulty, prolong their life, receive the great, good fortune of unsurpassed enlightenment, and accomplish the great vow of the widespread, propagation of True Buddhism.”
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by narhwal90 »

Nichiren explicitly cautioned Shijo Kingo on use of alcohol, it seems reasonable that one could view marijuana similarly, as an intoxicant. What do you think?
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by bcol01 »

I wonder what caution there could be other than maybe not finding balance in things we enjoy such as marijuana, and alcohol? What do you think?
In his writing, Hokkemongu (Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra), The Great Master Nichiren said, “If the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra wholeheartedly devote their life to the Lotus Sutra and practice according to its golden words, it is certainly needless to say that not only in the next life, but also in this lifetime they will overcome severe difficulty, prolong their life, receive the great, good fortune of unsurpassed enlightenment, and accomplish the great vow of the widespread, propagation of True Buddhism.”
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by narhwal90 »

Intoxicants can be of general concern, as per the Precepts. Legality aside, habit-forming substances can be an impediment over the long term, not to mention the effects of weed on the lungs. Which is not to say people should not or must not, but that there will always be tradeoffs, and aside from the transient chemical stimulation there is the question of what is the upside.
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Queequeg
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by Queequeg »

Showing profound compassion for those unable to comprehend the gem of the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the Buddha wrapped it within the five characters [of Myoho-renge-kyo], with which he then adorned the necks of the ignorant people of the latter age.
-Kanjinnohonzonsho

The people who appear in the age of Mappo (Degenerate Age) are of meager merit. We missed the Buddha's appearance by over 2,000 years. What we hear are just the faint echos of his Lion's Roar. What we do hear, for the most part, we do not have the capacity to benefit from. We might hear the same words as Shariputra, but because we are spiritually unsophisticated, we do not understand.

That's why, as Nichiren describes in this passage at the end of Kanjinohonzonsho, the Daimoku is like an amulet tied around our neck, the way we put a tag around the necks of our pets.

In the Lotus, the Buddha explains that even the assembly led by great bodhisattvas like Maitreya and Manjusri, cannot fathom even the smallest part of the Buddha's wisdom. If they can't understand the Buddha's wisdom then we worldlings of the Degenerate Age have no chance. Maitreya sits in Tushita Heaven, biding the time until the conditions arise for his appearance as the next Buddha of this world some 10,000 years from now. Manjusri has been a great bodhisattva longer than Maitreya can even remember. As people, we kind of have a notion of what it means to send a human into space to walk on the moon. What part of that can an ant understand? The difference between us and Manjusri is even greater than that.

Here is what you need to understand - the Daimoku is a tether that keeps one connected to the Buddhadharma through the maelstrom of samsara. Like the children in the burning house, most of us don't perceive the danger of the conflagration around us, and even those who do, we only sense the danger like a faint dread.

As the Buddha said:
Bhikkhus, all is burning. And what is the all that is burning?

The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with eye-contact for its indispensable condition, that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion. I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrows, with lamentations, with pains, with griefs, with despairs.

The ear is burning, sounds are burning...

The nose is burning, odors are burning...

The tongue is burning, flavors are burning...

The body is burning, tangibles are burning...

The mind is burning, ideas are burning, mind-consciousness is burning, mind-contact is burning, also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with mind-contact for its indispensable condition, that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion. I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrows, with lamentations, with pains, with griefs, with despairs.
-Adittapariyaya Sutta

The Daimoku is a life line that so long as we hold fast to it, will deliver us out of the fire.

The people who appeared at the time the Buddha appeared were spiritually well developed and wise compared to us, and were like a well trained horse who enters the stable at the sight of the whip. All they needed was the slightest prompt and they were able to attain highly advanced insights. The magnitude of their spiritual development is unfathomable by most people today. Most people today are like cows who don't even know what direction they're facing.

All this is to say, stoned or sober, the difference in wisdom between people who appear in the Degenerate Age, between a person in a persistent vegetative state and a chess grand master is comparatively negligible. In the scheme of things, being stoned all the time will not direct one to a substantially different place than a person who devotes all their life to honing the mind. Old age will come. Sickness will come. Death will come. All, sooner than later.

All that said, to quote Animal House,

"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son."
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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Könchok Thrinley
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by Könchok Thrinley »

:good: Wow, great post Q!
“Observing samaya involves to remain inseparable from the union of wisdom and compassion at all times, to sustain mindfulness, and to put into practice the guru’s instructions”. Garchen Rinpoche

For those who do virtuous actions,
goodness is what comes to pass.
For those who do non-virtuous actions,
that becomes suffering indeed.

- Arya Sanghata Sutra
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tkp67
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by tkp67 »

I was hoping Q would share in depth how daimoku is THE precept which opens us to all precepts although my ability to articulate such is poor in comparison to Q's

As far as marijuana is concerned I have a very lengthy testimony for which I can gladly share. I have rich medical documentation regarding my
mental illness, diagnosis and institutionalization. I suffered such abuse, trauma and mental illness (bpd, bp, ptsd) that I was given a diagnosis of permanent institutionalization or suicide at the age of 16. After a year of inpatient I spent the next ten years in therapy, living holistically and virtuously. Suicidal idealization was so dominant I could no longer maintain a quality of life. Trauma was never abated and my life condition only worsened. I do not doubt my diagnosis would qualify me as eligible for euthanasia in Switzerland. For edification my father and two first cousins committed suicide. My mother had made

a serious attempt when I was a child (for which I was a witness). I could write for days cataloging the depth of my abuse, hopefully it isn't necessary to really illustrate the karmic impediments I suffered. Long story shortened I no longer had the will to live but I felt as if the life I was planning to give up was not replaceable and that if I could find anything to alleviate my pain I might find life worth suffering. I then found marijuana (as well as other substances).

Marijuana did for my mind what no other substance or practice could and shortly thereafter I embraced it and after many years was drawn into the American counter culture which was where I was introduced to Nichiren Buddhism. It must state that my mind was such that it was IMPOSSIBLE to quiet my mind unless I was comatose (no amount of marijuana made me comatose). For reference it replaced a suite of several psych medications including zyprexa, depakote, lithium and xanax which I was on concurrently to manage symptoms. These medicines are far more toxic and really muted all facets of my being. It led me to have a deep relationship with the plant itself as I decided to grow my own "medicine" as a means to engage sanctimony and treat it as a sacrament. My relationship with the plant also opened the door to psychedelics which where also pivotal but outside the context of this conversation.

It prepared my mind for chanting, it allowed me to detach from intense PTSD, BP/BPD activity in my mind the symptoms for which manifested in audible and emotional hallucinations. It also opened my mind's eye to observe the workings of my own mind when I was able to detach from those reactions.

I chanted with very deep and profound faith and consistency. Many concepts had formed in my mind during this time much as if they where being recalled from a dream. These concepts where the elemental teachings of the LS. My mind was such that reading the writings and the sutra itself took many years to actually sit and digest it and as I did it was as if the teachings had been unfolding in my own mind. It led to me going back to therapy with a Buddhist practitioner who taught me silent meditation. The years of chanting had a profound effect on my physiology in that I was able to quiet my mind in a way I had never ever experienced before.

Since then I have done some research and further study (my mind was rapidly becoming more sound) and found that meditation thickens the frontal cortex and that according to Nichiren chanting IS meditation. I do not doubt for a moment the validity of his words.

I am just coming to terms with that after 25 years of working with the plant as a medicine that I had employed a shamanic methodology to prepare myself to embrace Buddhism

This is a very condensed and simplified testimony to how this dynamic worked in my life I can say I am not longer reliant on substance to have enjoy a quiet mind, embrace compassion for others and practice buddhism in a way that it seems to have permeated my life and not only transformed my life but the lives of my wife and children who have transformed in a like manner by proxy.

If a dissertation could be written based on anecdotal experience I feel I have enough depth in this regard to write one so if there is any detail that anyone feels is lacking I would be glad to share it and while I share this as a personal testimony I am not suggesting people embrace marijuana as a facet of Buddhist practice. I just want to share that this Buddhism is that potent that marijuana in and of itself in my situation was not an impediment , in fact it might be considered by some as part of the cause.

Either way I feel eternally grateful to have experienced this and to be free of the pain my mind once caused me.

It may or may not be noteworthy that while It may be improper practice I started by chanting with my plants.
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by Queequeg »

Wow, tkp. Thanks for sharing that.

Some minor comments.

The categories we use to talk about Buddhist practice in English are often not up to the task. Meditation, for instance, is a very limited word, I find. Meditation suggests some kind of careful thinking. It might roughly coincide with Vipasyana/kanjin (as in Kanjinnohonzonsho). But this does not encompass the broad scope of the kinds of practices Buddhists employ to cultivate wisdom, such as chanting, circumambulating, prostrating, reciting sutras, etc. etc. etc.

In Makashikan, Zhiyi refers to the six syllable dharani of Avalokitesvara that can be useful for someone suffering from Klesa (pretty much all of us - the difference being those who realize it and those who don't)

The reason chanting is recommended in the Degenerate Age is because its easy and has the effect of calming and concentrating the mind for anyone, no matter their capacity. This has been well known for centuries. This is why even advanced practitioners chant liturgies, dharani, mantra.

I've seen people in the Nichiren tradition try to speculate about how or why chanting is a "legitimate" practice in the face of people who look down on it as somehow inferior to "meditation" or some other practice people elevate in their minds. I struggled with that, too.

Ignore the critics. They don't know what they are talking about. If they did, they would never even think of suggesting anything like that.

Don't let anyone tell you that chanting is some inferior medicine. It is a medicine commensurate with the afflictions it treats, and the scope of afflictions it treats are wide. A lot of people who are attached to what they consider high teachings would probably do well to think of themselves a little more humbly and consider practices they think are below them. They might find that those "low" practices are actually what they really need.

Aspirin is not an inferior medicine because it doesn't treat eczema. If someone is treated by concentrating the mind on a single point, then that is wonderful for them, and we should rejoice. That same medicine may be impossible, or ineffectual or even harmful for another person.

If someone needs medication to attain the level of peace and contentment, then that is how it is. Abusing medications is a different animal. Getting stoned to have a good time, which I will not say I am above, is really just a distraction. One has to ask themselves, is this helpful or just a waste of precious time?

tkp, I think you approached marijuana in a very different way than how it is contemplated in the present climate with all the "recreational" emphasis.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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tkp67
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by tkp67 »

Thank you for the kind words and support Q, your articulation of Nichiren's teachings very useful for me.

This journey has taught me the importance of intent of desires and manifestations of those desires which if I recall correctly is part of Nichiren's teachings that earthly desires are enlightenment and all phenomenon are teachers.

Please feel free to correct my paraphrasing I do not want to misrepresent the teachings and thank you again for taking the time to hear my words and sharing your insight.

NMRK
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Queequeg
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by Queequeg »

I feel like the Wizard of Oz.

:rolling:

Someday I'll come out from behind the curtain, the avatar and my handle. It won't be so impressive.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by shaunc »

tkp67 wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2019 5:23 pm I was hoping Q would share in depth how daimoku is THE precept which opens us to all precepts although my ability to articulate such is poor in comparison to Q's

As far as marijuana is concerned I have a very lengthy testimony for which I can gladly share. I have rich medical documentation regarding my
mental illness, diagnosis and institutionalization. I suffered such abuse, trauma and mental illness (bpd, bp, ptsd) that I was given a diagnosis of permanent institutionalization or suicide at the age of 16. After a year of inpatient I spent the next ten years in therapy, living holistically and virtuously. Suicidal idealization was so dominant I could no longer maintain a quality of life. Trauma was never abated and my life condition only worsened. I do not doubt my diagnosis would qualify me as eligible for euthanasia in Switzerland. For edification my father and two first cousins committed suicide. My mother had made

a serious attempt when I was a child (for which I was a witness). I could write for days cataloging the depth of my abuse, hopefully it isn't necessary to really illustrate the karmic impediments I suffered. Long story shortened I no longer had the will to live but I felt as if the life I was planning to give up was not replaceable and that if I could find anything to alleviate my pain I might find life worth suffering. I then found marijuana (as well as other substances).

Marijuana did for my mind what no other substance or practice could and shortly thereafter I embraced it and after many years was drawn into the American counter culture which was where I was introduced to Nichiren Buddhism. It must state that my mind was such that it was IMPOSSIBLE to quiet my mind unless I was comatose (no amount of marijuana made me comatose). For reference it replaced a suite of several psych medications including zyprexa, depakote, lithium and xanax which I was on concurrently to manage symptoms. These medicines are far more toxic and really muted all facets of my being. It led me to have a deep relationship with the plant itself as I decided to grow my own "medicine" as a means to engage sanctimony and treat it as a sacrament. My relationship with the plant also opened the door to psychedelics which where also pivotal but outside the context of this conversation.

It prepared my mind for chanting, it allowed me to detach from intense PTSD, BP/BPD activity in my mind the symptoms for which manifested in audible and emotional hallucinations. It also opened my mind's eye to observe the workings of my own mind when I was able to detach from those reactions.

I chanted with very deep and profound faith and consistency. Many concepts had formed in my mind during this time much as if they where being recalled from a dream. These concepts where the elemental teachings of the LS. My mind was such that reading the writings and the sutra itself took many years to actually sit and digest it and as I did it was as if the teachings had been unfolding in my own mind. It led to me going back to therapy with a Buddhist practitioner who taught me silent meditation. The years of chanting had a profound effect on my physiology in that I was able to quiet my mind in a way I had never ever experienced before.

Since then I have done some research and further study (my mind was rapidly becoming more sound) and found that meditation thickens the frontal cortex and that according to Nichiren chanting IS meditation. I do not doubt for a moment the validity of his words.

I am just coming to terms with that after 25 years of working with the plant as a medicine that I had employed a shamanic methodology to prepare myself to embrace Buddhism

This is a very condensed and simplified testimony to how this dynamic worked in my life I can say I am not longer reliant on substance to have enjoy a quiet mind, embrace compassion for others and practice buddhism in a way that it seems to have permeated my life and not only transformed my life but the lives of my wife and children who have transformed in a like manner by proxy.

If a dissertation could be written based on anecdotal experience I feel I have enough depth in this regard to write one so if there is any detail that anyone feels is lacking I would be glad to share it and while I share this as a personal testimony I am not suggesting people embrace marijuana as a facet of Buddhist practice. I just want to share that this Buddhism is that potent that marijuana in and of itself in my situation was not an impediment , in fact it might be considered by some as part of the cause.

Either way I feel eternally grateful to have experienced this and to be free of the pain my mind once caused me.

It may or may not be noteworthy that while It may be improper practice I started by chanting with my plants.
A great post. Thanks for sharing so honestly with all of us.
Good luck and best wishes.
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tkp67
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by tkp67 »

Thank you very much for the kinds words and I really appreciate the support in light of my impediments and the imperfect behaviors that challenge(d) me.

A shamanistic relationship with this plant made this part of the writings apparent to the mind and seems to speak to why cannabis, counter culture and Buddhist seem intertwined.

My relationship with this plant and the capacity for it to sooth my traumatized mind helped me understand this in a very deep, potent and meaningful way. It helped me visualize karma.

This is not to promote it as a vehicle the only vehicle is NMRK but to comment that what this plant brought to me in dead form was such release from delusion it allowed me to breath long enough to chant and change. This makes ND's words so much powerful when they are realized as reality after a long application of faith.

The Oral Tradition regarding the Enlightenment of Plants

Background
QUESTION: Does the enlightenment of plants pertain to sentient beings or to insentient beings?

Answer: The enlightenment of plants pertains to insentient beings.

Question: Are both sentient and insentient beings assured of attaining enlightenment in the Lotus Sutra?

Answer: That is correct.

Question: What proof of this can be cited?

Answer: The proof is in the words Myoho-renge-kyo. The word myōhō represents the attainment of enlightenment by sentient beings; the word renge represents the attainment of enlightenment by insentient beings. Sentient beings attain enlightenment in life, insentient beings attain enlightenment in death. The attainment of enlightenment in life and death refers to the attainment of enlightenment by sentient and insentient beings. Hence, when we living beings die, wooden tōba memorial tablets1 are set up, and eye-opening ceremonies are conducted to consecrate them. This is an example of attainment of enlightenment in death, or the enlightenment of plants.

Volume one of Great Concentration and Insight states, “There is not one color or one fragrance that is not the Middle Way.” Miao-lo comments on this by saying, “Thus people are willing to admit that color and fragrance both represent the Middle Way. But if you tell them that insentient beings possess the Buddha nature, this perplexes their ears and alarms their minds.”2

Regarding the term “one color,” which of the five colors does this refer to? The commentary states that all five colors, blue, yellow, red, white, and black, are referred to in the term “one color.” The word “one” refers to the essential nature of phenomena. This is how Miao-lo in his commentary interprets the statement that colors and fragrances represent the Middle Way, and thus the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai is saying that there are none of these that are not the Middle Way.

The word “one” in the statement regarding “one color” or “one fragrance” is not to be taken as “one” in contrast to “two” or “three.” Rather it is saying that “one” refers to the Middle Way, or the essential nature of phenomena. In effect, [there is not one color or one fragrance] that does not contain the Ten Worlds, the three thousand realms, life and its environment, and so forth. These colors and fragrances constitute the enlightenment of plants, that is, the enlightenment of renge, or the lotus. The term “color and fragrance” and the term renge differ in wording, but both refer to the enlightenment of plants.

p.430The oral tradition says that the Buddha can become grass and trees. This means that the Shakyamuni Buddha of the “Life Span” chapter can manifest himself in grass and trees.3 The Lotus Sutra speaks of “the Thus Come One’s secret and his transcendental powers.”4 There is nothing in the entire realm of phenomena that is not the manifestation of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni.

The principle of the dormant Buddha nature to be manifested by ordinary people represents death; it represents myōhō, or the wonderful Law. The actual fact of the Buddha manifesting his original state represents life; it represents renge, or the lotus. The principle of the dormant Buddha nature, representing death, presides over sentient beings. The actual fact of the Buddha manifesting his original state, representing life, presides over insentient beings. What we living beings rely on, are dependent upon, are the insentient beings of renge. The words and sounds uttered by us living beings, which pertain to life, are manifestations of myōhō as it is embodied in sentient beings.

Our bodies are endowed with both sentient and insentient elements. Our nails and hair are insentient—when we cut them, we feel no pain. The other elements, however, are sentient—cutting them inflicts pain and distress. Thus a single body is endowed with both sentient and insentient elements.

Both these sentient and insentient elements are endowed with the ten factors of life and the two principles of cause and effect. Thus these sentient and insentient elements make up the three realms of existence: the realm of living beings, the realm of the five components, and the realm of the environment.

The doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life I have revealed in all its purity in the great mandala. It is a doctrine that the scholars of the present age, lacking comprehension in such matters, cannot fathom even in their dreams. T’ien-t’ai, Miao-lo, and Dengyō pondered it in their minds but did not spread it abroad. They said only that there is not one color or one fragrance that is not the Middle Way, but that such words perplex the ear and alarm the mind. Instead of Myoho-renge, they called it the concentration and insight of perfect and immediate enlightenment.

Thus the enlightenment of plants refers to the attainment of Buddhahood by those that are dead.5 Doctrines of this nature are known to few persons. In the end, if one does not understand the meaning of Myoho-renge, such doctrines may lead one astray.

You must not under any circumstances forget what I have said here.

With my deep respect,

Nichiren


The twentieth day of the second month

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illarraza
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by illarraza »

I have incorporated medical marijuana licensing into my medical practice. As long as one ingests marijuana for a medical or psychiatric condition and not merely to get high, medical marijuana is no different than any traditional Western or Eastern therapy. In my opinion. taking marijuana to get high demonstrates a lack of faith in the Daimoku, Gohonzon, Lotus Sutra and entirety of Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism. Likewise, getting drunk.

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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by Pomona »

I don't know about lack of faith. Who's to say? But for regular marijuana users, I believe the use of marijuana may trigger, feed and sustain attachments formed in the mind. That's how I view it.
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by illarraza »

Pomona wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2019 4:21 am I don't know about lack of faith. Who's to say? But for regular marijuana users, I believe the use of marijuana may trigger, feed and sustain attachments formed in the mind. That's how I view it.
Interesting.

Mark
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Re: Is there anything wrong with smoking marijuana, as a Nichiren Buddhist?

Post by tkp67 »

illarraza wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 4:04 am
Pomona wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2019 4:21 am I don't know about lack of faith. Who's to say? But for regular marijuana users, I believe the use of marijuana may trigger, feed and sustain attachments formed in the mind. That's how I view it.
Interesting.

Mark
There is truth to this and it is one of the dangers of marijuana. A simple example is someone working in the financial sector whose place of work goes against the grain of his own conscious and feels stressed by cognitive dissonance. He smokes, is relieved and he rationalizes conscious as inconvenience based on state of relief. Apply, lather, rinse, wash, repeat. Perpetuation of samsara.

This illustrates human propensity to deny consciousness but does not negate the benefits. It is a very complex topic because the endocannabinoid system itself is complex as well as the emerging field of cannabis pharmacology. The plant produces hundreds of phytochemicals the potential of which is still largely unknown as it simply has not been studied.

Even so if this is how the patient uses marijuana this can be used as a diagnostic. You can use it like the lotus sutra and much in accord to the oral tradition on the enlightenment of plants. It will help you understand the needs of the ill as it can be liked to a mirror of the mind.

From a purely psychological standpoint, What is the attachment and what would serve from sustaining it? What is driving this use. Even if the use is purely psychological (say in the case used above) it does offer anti oxidizing benefits for the brain, it decreases stress among other things. This causation however and the lack of understanding on the patients part is where the skill of the diagnostician is required.

Next determinate is what contributes to the condition. The endocannabinoid system self maintains in healthy subjects through exercise and other lifestyle habits. The pharmacological nature of the substances in the plant itself are benign and many are non psychoactive. Many have wide/targeted neurological/physiological benefits.

In relation to patients with mental illnesses it is effective in hard reduction, letting the mind breath enough so it can function without obfuscating of conscious that makes some traditional pharmacology so limiting. Of equally important relevance are the anti-inflammatory properties. Since mental health and autoimmune disease interact many times there are compound causes in a patient of declining health. This is a route that can reduce both pain, inflammation and neurological symptoms achieving the same results as several medications without compound toxicity.
As someone with autoimmune disease that works in negative synergy with my mental illness you might understand how needing several potent pharmaceuticals could undermine digestive and organ health leading to further collapse of health.

Lastly the exploding trend in CBD rich cannabis as well as CBD/low or no THC offerings out there give practitioners options that no longer have to require intoxicating effects if there is no medical benefit. CBD can negate the cognitive influences in instances where high THC is needed but cognitive effects is not desired.
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