Smoking

[林愛偉]

The problem is that it's extraordinarily rare that people smoke just one or two cigarettes every now and then. You smoke a cigarette and think, ahh, not a big deal, I can take it or leave it. Soon you are smoking one or two per week. Then you start having a pack around the house and without realizing it you are smoking one every few days. Then something stressful in your life occurs and you smoke a few in one day. The next day you are craving them and you think, ahh, just until I get through this stressful situation.

 

Comparing smoking cigarettes to Native American peace pipe ceremony is false. This was a spiritual ceremony and the smoke was not inhaled. They puffed and blew the smoke in a ritualistic way. It was a ritual with significance. The "average Joe Indian" did not expect to be able to walk into the 7-11 and pick up a pack of smokes. The Native Americans did not have our lifestyles with easy access to rolled up tobacco and social examples of frequent daily smoking. They did not sit around smoking their pipes all day long.

 

You are seriously playing with fire. Nicotine is more addictive than heroin.

 

Sean

 

Hey!! I wrote the same thing with the ritualistic use of the smoke.. haha

While I was writing you were too...so funny.

 

Peace and Blessings,

Lin

[宁]

That's interesting: I suppose spirits follow cultivators around and try to make us fail because a cultivator has more energy, he is just a juicy bite. Addiction is something interesting too... seems if you are addicted, and die, you will hunt people around as a ghost, and push them into the same addiction. And then feed on their satisfaction. I think smoking was a spirit practice too. And maybe other addictions. They offered the spirits the object of their addiction, and asked for... God knows what, something a ghost could give you. Thrills ???

[rain]

thats funny

it's nice when you see things from different directions

 

i like the hanged man card in tarot

-and the tower..

 

by the way

i didnt quit smoking because it is a bad thing to do

i quit because i had had enough literally

and was sick of it.

[Yoda]

A few months ago, I had the strong urge to smoke which lasted over a week, so I smoked some NAS red pack... maybe 4 cigarettes total and I was fine. Didn't touch them since. Maybe I needed to clear some lung dampness or something.

 

I prefer using NAS red pack tobacco in a pipe... it's better to do w/o the paper, imo.

 

Used daily, I find that it displaces my desire for juicing and exercise, so I'd definitely avoid it as a regular thing.

 

Cam, I'll bring some clays out (hopefully they'll make it past security) to see if they can do the same thing as tobacco in a more balanced way.

 

Whatever Big Max says would be definitive as you are following his process.

[steve]

 

 

Comparing smoking cigarettes to Native American peace pipe ceremony is false. This was a spiritual ceremony and the smoke was not inhaled. They puffed and blew the smoke in a ritualistic way. It was a ritual with significance. The "average Joe Indian" did not expect to be able to walk into the 7-11 and pick up a pack of smokes. The Native Americans did not have our lifestyles with easy access to rolled up tobacco and social examples of frequent daily smoking. They did not sit around smoking their pipes all day long.

Quite true. The way we smoke tobacco in modern society is exploiting and denigrating to the spirit of the plant. We grow thousands of acres of the stuff, harvest it impersonally and profit from the addiction associated with it - regardless of the presence or absence of additives. Natural tobacco is like natural opium, it's still toxic and addictive. The natives treated it with respect and communed with the soul of the plant like shamans do with all the natural resources they use. They used it sparingly and for religious or healing purposes, not to feed a craving. In addition, it appears that there were some extremely potent strains of tobacco that were injested (possibly through the nose - not by smoking) that led to hallucinogenic experiences similar to ayahuasca, peyote, sage... The garbage that is grown commercially is probably very different. There's interesting info on this in Supernatural: Meeting with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind by Graham Hancock.

Don't get me wrong - it's your choice whether to smoke or not, I don't mean to tell you what you should do, but don't compare what we do in modern society with what native shamans do and did - the intent and consequences are completely antithetical.

[Cameron]

A few months ago, I had the strong urge to smoke which lasted over a week, so I smoked some NAS red pack... maybe 4 cigarettes total and I was fine. Didn't touch them since. Maybe I needed to clear some lung dampness or something.

 

I prefer using NAS red pack tobacco in a pipe... it's better to do w/o the paper, imo.

 

Used daily, I find that it displaces my desire for juicing and exercise, so I'd definitely avoid it as a regular thing.

 

Cam, I'll bring some clays out (hopefully they'll make it past security) to see if they can do the same thing as tobacco in a more balanced way.

 

Whatever Big Max says would be definitive as you are following his process.

 

 

I did the same thing..4 smokes total..except I got the blue pack

 

I appreciate all of your excellent feedback on this. I can't say for sure at this point if I will or won't smoke..maybe will come back to this thread in a month or 2.

[Shen Ming-Kuan]

I havent smoked in like 5 years but just having the strongest desire to smoke.

 

I don't want to just go buy a pack of Camel's or whatever.

 

Can someone please give some feedback what are the healthiest..least damaging ways to do tobacco. Any over the counter brands ok..or not so bad.

 

Just dying to smoke right now...

When you snatch away the hungry man's "food," you free him from hunger forever. When you drive away the plowman's oxen, you make his crops abundant.

 

Simply sit with the craving, bring breath to mind, and understand that none of it -- whether craving, non-craving, breath, or mind -- can be said to be real.

[mYTHmAKER]

Huh?

 

I guess numerous Native American Shamans..not to speak of numerous Japanese Zen Masters are low level then, huh?

I feel the need to smoke for now but will ask Sifu Max about it when I see him next month.

 

That's all.

 

 

Yeah your going to ask sifu max who eats junk food about smoking LOL

Before you met max you would have asked another member of your revolving top five list.

We all know what is right for us if we go within. Be your own master, teacher, sifu.

You will get different answers depending on who you ask.

So many of us subconsciously or maybe consciously ask those who will supply us with the answer we want.

If we don't get the answer we desire we can always ask someone else.

Mental masterbation.

Edited October 28, 2007 by mYTHmAKER

[karen]

Take potentized ("homeopathic") tobacco, to help ease cravings for tobacco. The urge to smoke is an attraction, not a true resonance - no body really wants to ingest smoke. But it does have a palliative effect, which allows people to avoid dealing with the discomforts that are there - best to experience whatever is there that you're trying to palliate.

 

-Karen

[sean]

That's interesting: I suppose spirits follow cultivators around and try to make us fail because a cultivator has more energy, he is just a juicy bite. Addiction is something interesting too... seems if you are addicted, and die, you will hunt people around as a ghost, and push them into the same addiction. And then feed on their satisfaction. I think smoking was a spirit practice too. And maybe other addictions. They offered the spirits the object of their addiction, and asked for... God knows what, something a ghost could give you. Thrills ???

Yes, and more close to home there is our own ancestral qi. Ancestral qi can be thought of as the last 150 years or so of your ancestor's spirits hanging out with you, pulling in you in various directions in certain instances, trying to guide your destiny based on their own unresolved desires -- good, bad and everything in between, whispering in your ear, sometimes sitting in your own body, stirring your emotions, frequently influencing food preferences, cravings, etc.

 

My Taoist teacher Liu Ming told me that cultivation will bring our unresolved ancestral qi to the surface, often just as we are about to become free of it's influence. Suddenly we are in the energetic presence of a powerful great grandfather who was a heavy chain smoker and feel a strong urge to smoke.

 

When ancestral qi resolves, our experience can just as quickly change. Instantly in meditation there is a shift, we shiver, and strangely we no longer have any taste for cheeseburgers, that was just our father's qi craving, not our own.

 

Essentially we are being influenced, sometimes subtly, sometimes not subtly at all, by the last few generations of our family ghosts. Interestingly, Ming taught me that human beings can not even consciously kill themselves. Suicide is always a case of unresolved ancestral qi. An enraged demonic ancestor killing you with your own hands.

 

Sean

[LDiR]

On a purely physiological note, you can often get rid of the desire for a cigarette by 'shocking the system'. Drink a glass of ice cold water as quickly as you can without inducing a headache, if the urge still exists, repeat. If it's so strong that you cannot get rid of it by shocking the system, I'd recommend meditation with incense. The incense often replicates the feeling of breathing smoke.

 

Once you get past the physical need for an addictive substance the rest is habit, and good habits can replace bad ones. I changed my morning smoke to a morning vitamin-ingesting routine (where I make and eat breakfast then take my vitamins). I changed my car smoking with positive self-affirmations.

 

It also doesn't hurt that the smell of second hand smoke makes me sick to my stomach, makes me not want anything to do with cigarettes anymore.

 

Ultimately it's an individual choice to continue to do something addictive. I got tired of feeling like crap and living my life around when the next cigarette was coming, I felt like a junky.

 

-LDiR

[joeblast]

I used to be addicted to the habit, not really the smoking or nicotine. Very glad I kicked that habit...it was helpful that I got a buddy of mine to quit too. Now we'll smile and then make a face of disgust at the notion. Tried getting my best friend's uncle to quit with us too, but that sucker is still smoking. I had one of his about a month ago when I was drinking and it was aaaabsolutely disgusting. Cold turkey & willpower is all you need.

 

I'm close to getting there with herb...went from a super stoner to....ahh, once a week these days. maybe twice. but its not the same for me anymore...dont enjoy it like I used to...I guess that's what happens when you saturate yourself I will likely quit that too sometime soon...

[sheng zhen]

To understand the damage smoking does is pretty easy. Just notice how your body feels after meditation or qigong. Then smoke a little and notice the difference. It is not so subtle. It is actually pretty obvious. But the more you smoke, the harder it is to notice. Thats the problem.

 

If you are very sensitive, try seeing how smoking affects your aura , chakras or energy channels. It looks like a nightmareish fog clouding this beautiful energy.

 

I used to smoke a lot. I smoked everything that could be smoked. And quit smoking was extremely hard for me. But when I realized how it affects my energy and spirituality I was so ashamed I decided to really go through with it. Its now 6 years ago and Ive never had an urge to do it again.

 

Unless you are at the level Max sais he is and can burn away or transmute every energy into something uplifting, I would not recommend smoking if you are cultivating your energy and spirituality.

 

If you still choose to smoke you will certanly notice the harmful effect it has when you grow old!

[Ian]

My friend (hello Mum!) gave up smoking nearly ten years ago, and it remains the single best thing he's ever done. In meditation he still gets the rancid smell of burnt tobacco coming out of his fingers from time to time.

[Sunya]

Yeah your going to ask sifu max who eats junk food about smoking LOL

Before you met max you would have asked another member of your revolving top five list.

We all know what is right for us if we go within. Be your own master, teacher, sifu.

You will get different answers depending on who you ask.

So many of us subconsciously or maybe consciously ask those who will supply us with the answer we want.

If we don't get the answer we desire we can always ask someone else.

Mental masterbation.

 

 

right on brother!

[Wayfarer64]

I just finished a cigar- my first in a few weeks. I enjoy a good smoke every so often, it is calming but also I find if im walking in the woods it is intrusive on my experience of that kind of calm.

Don Padron makes good inexpensive cigars - American Spirit would be the only cigarette I would smoke now...

[Mal]

I'm close to getting there with herb...went from a super stoner to....ahh, once a week these days. maybe twice. but its not the same for me anymore...dont enjoy it like I used to..

 

Don't do it if it's not fun

 

I found that long term smokers tend to move away from the "couchlock" of the indica's to the more functional "cerebral" high of the sativa's. Unfortunately sativa's are not that popular anymore, a bit "old school" and pretty hard to buy compared to an indica, unless you live somewhere in Amsterdam No doubt because sativa's take longer to grow, yield less, and are not as "strong" as indica's and are therefore not favored by commercial growers.