I did something a little different for New Year's Eve in 2017. Instead of partying with friends or sitting quietly at home, I took part in a 6-day silent meditation retreat at Buddhist Insights in Rockaway Beach, NY.
The practice was led by Bhante Suddhaso, a Theravadan monk, and it was incredible.
For 6 days I didn't speak, use my cell phone, or eat more than two meals a day. Instead, I did work practice, meditated for 6 hours a day, and listened to Bhante give lectures on Buddhist sutras.
It was a challenging and awe-inspiring experience. But the biggest challenge I've faced now that I'm home is trying to explain it to others.
Case in point, I was talking with some friends about it the other day, and one of them replied, "You should just smoke weed instead." That really pissed me off.
I don't smoke weed for the same reason that I don't drink alcohol; I see it as a violation of the fifth precept. But not everyone is me, and I'm happy to let others live their lives as they see fit.
The problem comes when we try and equate meditation with getting high. Or worse, suggest that getting high will improve one's Buddhist practice.
It won't. At it's core, meditation is about studying the mind. We sit without moving, observe our minds, and learn to work skillfully with what we find there.
How can we study the mind if we constantly change it with substances?
That being said, I think the best way to explain my perspective would be to relate something that happened on the last night of the retreat.
On New Year's Eve, Bhante told us that we were going to celebrate by doing seated mediation for 3.5 hours straight; no breaks, no walking meditation. He went on to tell us that the first time he sat for 4 hours straight it felt like was being stabbed all over his body.
But somewhere around the two-hour mark he learned to be okay with it. The physical torment didn't change, but his mind did.
When the time came, I made that my motivation as I began my own meditation marathon. During the next 3.5 hours I learned a great deal as I sat, squirmed, and suffered on the cushion.
I learned humility as I struggled to be perfectly still. I learned patience as the session dragged on; seemingly forever. And I learned a host of other things about pain and the nature of suffering.
There's no way I could have learned those lessons by just getting high.
But what if I was high at the same time that I was meditating? Yes, the boredom that came with staring at a wall would've been easier. And the pain in my legs would've been less. But that's not the point. I don't want to be numb to my pain. I want to learn from it. Marijuana won't help me with that.
And so, this plant will never be part of my meditation, or my life for that matter. There are many paths to enlightenment. But mine doesn't involve getting high.
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There’s a lot of frustration outside the Buddhist environment isn’t there ?
ReplyDeleteI don't understand. You say being high interferes with your meditation. What about cold showers? What about loud music? Seems to me that people should not do things that interfere with their meditation. :-)
ReplyDelete4 hours of straight sitting meditation does not seem compassionate to oneself and would seem to create a lot of suffering
ReplyDeleteUsing intoxicants into heedlessness is different than having a glass of wine or hitting a joint, although 'heedlessness' is subjective. I personally prefer to do Zazen without marijuana, but not before my morning coffee. Each practitioner knows in their ❤ whether they are upholding the precepts as they relate to their individual circumstances, and circumstances can always change.
ReplyDeleteI used to equate meditation with intoxication when I was younger. I also took psychedelics my first several times looking for insight rather than just pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI've abstained from drugs and alcohol for 8 years now and I do feel that a mind clouded by substances is problematic in meditation. Diet, rest and ethical conduct also have a major effect on my meditation and the effect meditation has on my mind.
In some ways I can see that the reasons people get intoxicated are the same reasons people meditate: to relieve suffering, sustain happiness, go beyond mundane experience, have a more profound experience of mundane existence...
However meditation has a healing and revealing effect on the mind. Whereas intoxicants in the long run cause damage to the mind and the way we conduct our lives. Of course this article is about pot, which has minimal consequences in contrast to other intoxicants. But many people have a difficult time being okay without that as a crutch. And that amounts to a lack of true freedom. And the degree of alteration to the mind can be as profound as other drugs.
I think it takes a level of openmindedness, maturity, and often a good sensible teaching for people to choose to let go of use. I think that extended periods of sobriety, meditation and reflection will reveal the benefits of continued abstinence as part of the practice.
Sometimes knowing that it is part of the precepts is enough to convince people who want to follow the original traditions of Buddhist life. But often that doesn't cut it.
As a personal recommendation, I would strongly suggest that people really look into the benefits of sobriety and costs of use. In the end one of the major points of Buddhism is to let go of superficial, temporary, and destructive ways of seeking relief from pain and a deep experience of wellbeing.
Don’t Waste Your Lungs On Bad Quality Cannabis!
ReplyDeleteI don't equate getting high with enlightenment either but I have to ask, what are you studying the mind with? The mind studying itself can be a circular maze regardless of the effort you put in. ...marijuana can offer an alternative perspective, it can be a short-cut to certain awareness even, however this doesn't offer a great deal of utility if it cannot be integrated into the non-high state. To be dependent on it therefore is to be dependent on the absence of disruptive vicissitude which kind of defeats the purpose...?
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection. Renunciation is huge support to the practice. I've only taken retreats with Theravadin monastics, so I don't know any other format, but I do know that the Thai forest monks are known for their austerities, or dhutanga practices, which challenge their attachments around food, sleep, shelter and comfort. These kinds of practices are absolutely beneficial if taken on with right view and the intention to purify the mind. A four hour sit sounds challenging but also like a huge gift!
ReplyDeletethank you!!
ReplyDeleteIncreased awareness of the present moment.
ReplyDeleteBy maintaining a state of full awareness and calm in every situation of your life, you will enjoy more and better each moment.
I like this piece. I also cannot use substances and keep the Way. Or even a middle way, I know some use it as medicine. Some see moderation as Practice. I cannot say what others should do with their Precepts. I will just say no shortcuts. Gassho, Jikai
ReplyDeleteYou said someone just suggesting for you to try weed made you "pissed off" right after a Buddhist meditation retreat. Is that really something to feed your anger with? Just something to think about...
ReplyDeleteWhen mind learns to see everything alive and fresh in the moment the same old Zen way without any external prop thats when the heart-mind is liberated from all false projections.
ReplyDelete