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Jeremy Raven wrote:
Surely things like it slows reaction time, makes you drowsy, encourages weight gain, causes shortness of breath, can be responsible for mental health problems or unsociable behavior are not things as role models we want to promote to our children.
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I don't think you're exactly correct here, but I agree those are not traits I want to promote in my child. Based on my tenure in this subject matter (i.e."10-year"), those are not any more true of marijuana than the more popular drug, alcohol (minus the shortness of breath which occurs from smoking anything). If my son is of proper age/maturity and chooses to drink in moderation, I will not be very concerned. The same would be true for pretty much anything else I can think of. Smoking anything would cause me concern because it's unhealthy for the lungs. Charred materials with oily resins are not good to breathe.
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So what is it that you get out of using pot?
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Well in my case, mostly a few thousand pages of poetry and prose along with some other works; not particularly well organized...and,
actually, a surprising number of fun memories. It wasn't the pot that made it fun, to be clear, but it was there as part of the overall effect. What do you suppose Noah "got" from drinking wine?
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Are you trying to expand your mind or become enlightened in some way? Did all the great spiritual leaders use or promote pot? Bob Marley may have but he was not a spiritual leader although his songs did promote unity and love which can only be a good thing.
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Well, to begin with, I think
many folks would disagree about "Bob" not being a spiritual leader. Rastafarianism is not a joke to a devout rastafarian and Bob had a lot to say about his view of the world....the point of which being that for some, it seems to be a perfectly valid form of spirituality.
To answer your question, for me, expanding the mind was the earliest purpose. Simply put: to experience it. I was very devoutly against recreational drugs because I was a child in Regan's 80's (I just said "NO"), but I eventually came to see a disconnect between the message and the reality about marijuana. I investigated. I believe sober meditation to be a more profound activity, though.
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My answer is that if you want to expand your mind and become closer to God, then you should read the bible (or any other religion that promotes god and love) and live it, then your mind will expand  then again why not just study the true meaning of Ai-Ki-Do  |
Sure, why not? I don't see reading the Bible as being any more naturally spiritual of an experience than almost anything else I can think of though. In my opinion there's more to simply performing some given act in order for it to be spiritual; which means, at the least, almost any act can be part of a spiritual experience, in my view...And which is why this remains an open question to me: it is not for me to determine whether or not pot would be appropriate for someone else.
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Pot apparently makes you "feel" good but do you actually DO any "good" to anyone else because of it?
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"Because" of it? No, of course not. But there were certainly times when it relaxed me and put me in a better mood which made for a more positive experience hanging out with me. Obviously it's not good if one
needs to imbibe to attain that state, but where it's more coincidental I don't see a problem. This all said, I've been bored with pot for a while now. I don't smoke it presently because I'm 32, my lungs feel it like never before, and I'm playing soccer so it's an obvious detriment to my ability to run my best.
So, in your opinion, how does this all tie into Aikido? Or, more to the point, into some hypothetical study of Aikido? I don't see how it would necessarily be a terrible thing for some person, but I also don't think it would be ideal and I believe deep and sincere training (the kind that most readily applies to spirituality) should always be heading in the direction of what is ideal. That's my opinion...
... based on something of a longitudinal study I began in high school and ended in my late 20's.
Be good to yourself folks!
Ogenkide!
Matt