While it may be fashionable around here to condemn all drug use as
wrong, there is an extensive history of sacramental use of marijuana
among yogis in India.
The famous Hindu bhakta saint Paramahamsa Ramakrishna was a user
of marijuana, which he referred to as "siddhi." This is common
knowledge amongst the swamis of the Ramakrishna Order, although
you'd probably have a real hard time getting one of them to
admit it.
In "Ramakrishna: The Great Master" there is a passage in which
Ramakrishna requests that the son-in-law of the owner of the
Dakshineswar Temple, Mathur Babu, keep a store of marijuana
free and available to all sadhus who request it.
The "Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" has three references to marijuana.
The first is one page 431 and is as follows:
MASTER: "One should keep pictures of holy men in one's room.
That constantly quickens divine ideas."
BANNERJI: "I have you picture in my room; also the picture of
a sadhu living in the mountains, blowing on a piece of lighted
charcoal in a bowl of hemp."
The footnote reads: "Many wandering monks smoke Indian hemp."
The next passage is on page 617:
The Master entered the room accompanied by M. He was
humming a song. The forceful words of renunciation that he
had just spoken to Ishan found expression through its words.
He sang the lines:
Mother, take everything else away from me,
But leave me my necklace of bones and my pot of hemp!
The footnote reads: "Siddhi, or hemp, and the necklace of bones are
associated with Shiva, the model of renunciation."
Finally on page 938 M describes a dream he had to Ramakrishna:
M: Yesterday they went to Dakshineswar to meditate. I had a
dream."
MASTER: "What did you dream?"
M: I dreamt that Narendra and some others had become
sannyasis. They were sitting around a lighted fire. I too was
there. The were smoking tobacco and blowing out puffs of
smoke. I told them that I could smell hemp."
Once a swami of the Ramakrishna Order told me that on the occasion
of Shiva-ratri some of the monks will drink bhang, which is a kind
of marijuana drink available in India.
Another set of references to marijuana use among yogis can be found
in the book "Sadhus: India's Mystic Holy Men" by psychologist Dolf
Hartsuiker. Starting on page 97 one finds this passage:
A common ritual, preferably taking place around the dhuni, is
the smoking of a mixture of tobacco and charas (hashish) in a
chilam (pipe). Although this undoubtedly serves the more earthly
purpose of of socializing with sadhu-brothers and devotees,
the smoking of charas is none the less regarded as a sacred
act. Intoxication as a 'respected'—amongst Babas anyway—method
for self-realiztion is related to the drinking of soma, the
nectar of the gods, which is recommended in the Vedas as a sure
means of attaining divine wisdom.
Mythologically charas is intimately connected with Shiva: he
smokes it, he is perpetually intoxicated by it, he is the Lord
of the Charas. . .Charas may be used by Shaivas and Vaishnavas. . .
Shiva is the patron-deity of charas, so it is no coincidence
that almost all dhuni-walas are smokers.
Smoking is part of the darshan of (this) holy man, and sharing
in the high can be an intense religious experience. . .It is
often done before or during the performance of austerities;
and in fact, smoking is considered an austerity in itself,
demonstrating non-attachment to the body.
Finally one can find a reference to marijuana in "The Tantric Way"
by Ajit Mookerjee and Madhu Khanna on page 30:
During the performance of special rituals tantric aspirants
sometimes resort to the use of drugs, drinks, and chemicals:
drinking bhang, a drink made of hemp leaves; or smoking ganga,
an intoxicant. . .
Those who teach yoga in the West are constrained by the prevailing
cultural attitudes toward drugs and subsequently advise against their
use. This flys in the face of history and the original cultural context
from which yoga arose. Shiva is the father of yoga. Shiva is the
Lord of the Charas. Enough said.
Jai Ma! --jodyr.
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