[cyberhippie]

Ïndia has always generated instant Gurus through smoking dope with Sadhus, to locking oneself up for three days in a Ashram..............instant enlightenment.
There is certainly more traditional etiquettte surrounding the smoking of charras than in the west but I'm bound to say I find a lot of it a bit false especially from tourists.
From an Indian point of view, their religious philosphy has many connections to the partaking of charras/bhang, during some festivals it's actively encouraged I think as some kind of cleansing of the spirit through contemplation, however as often as not it just entails getting off your face for the day!!

[noflylist]

I would disagree slightly with CyberHippie, in West India certainly I have never seen a Sadhus (atleast organised religion ones in Ashrams) do dope, and it certainly is not encouraged or tolerated in my experience. May be we are talking about travelling Sadhus and I doubt if doping sadhus are really spiritual!

[cyberhippie]

Hi noflylist I'll pass this on to you as secondhand info, since I was only loosely aware of the reasoning behind shivaite Sadhus reasoning for smoking herb...................

Jai Shambu! - Supreme Shiva!

Wandering ascetics, known as sadhus, have forsaken the life of a householder for one of spiritual progress, and may heed the call while still young, or wait until business and family duties have been fulfilled. Shaivite sadhus are instantly recognisable - carrying Shiva's trident, bodies smeared with ash and daubed with religious insignia, plus vast coils of matted hair. Piling their locks on top of the mystical 'Aperture of Brahma' - the soft spot where skull plates meet at the crown of one's head - serves as a 'receiver and amplifier' of spiritual grace. Many of these esoteric practitioners smoke marijuana/hashish for re-unification with the divine - who provided this 'sacrament' in the first place. Shaivites claim that from his Himalayan home on Mount Kailash, Lord Shiva removed any latent negativity from the herb and thus transmuted it into a source of spiritual yoga.

Many other sects also smoke freely as part of their day to day life

In places like Pushkar, Chitrakoot, Rishikesh and Ohmkareshwar the partaking of bhang and smoking grass is practised by large parts of the male society and is in no way frowned upon, it's just part of day to day life as it is in many northern Indian towns. Bhang is sold all over India in pre packaged golis. During Shivatri many temples will offer bhang for the festivities ( the guys with all manner of things stuck in their skin usually attain this state with chanting meditiating and copious amounts of bhang.
Part and parcel of life in some temples is the daily making making of bhang, which is often destributed free to the faithfull. In Varanasi and Puri the government have set up outlets for this and the bhang is sold in sweets and lassi or as raw grass!
Even the industrial town of Indore makes Bhang Samosas for some of the festivals

I was sitting in a lassi shop in Ohmkarshwar a couple of years ago and I was amazed at the amount of people of all sexes and ages who dropped by for a Bhang Goli washed down with a glass of water. It was as natural for them as drinking chai.
All this is fairly up front but I guess if you werem't tuned into it as I am it could easily passed unnoticed.

[noflylist]

cyberhippie, on Jul 9 2007, 03:26 PM, said:

All this is fairly up front but I guess if you werem't tuned into it as I am it could easily passed unnoticed.

I guess you are right, my only *spiritual* experience comes fro Sadhus in Gujarat and that too from one particular organisation!

[Dave Rabbitt]

Merchant I think your trying to "instill fear" into tourists who've never been to Goa, Cyberhippie is just trying to point out to people how it actually is, which I think has been a great help.

I'm from Britain and all I've been exposed to all my life is the liberalism of Europe i.e Britain if I get caught with some personal less than 28 grams I get a fine or a warning no big deal, in Holland I can carry 7 grams of hash or grass about with me no problem it's not illegal.

But I never knew India was actually lived in the draconian dark ages by sending people to prison for 10 years for soft drug possession wow, that's scary...

But now Cyberhipppie has been good enough to explain the facts I for one will be taking a massive body swerve in smoking pot over Christmas & New Year and cutting my holiday short in Goa and when my flight goes through Holland I'll stay there for a couple of days and suck the ambiance of a progressive western system and smoke as much pot as I want without fear of having my life destroyed...

Merchant, on May 14 2006, 04:20 PM, said:

The consulate site simply quotes Indian law.  It's not editorializing or offering trumped up warnings.  It's not a travel advisory.

Smoke all the dope you want.  Just don't think you can wink your way of a bust if it comes to that.

[jyotirmoy]

Wish you all the best.

[Somerset]

Dave Rabbitt, on Dec 11 2007, 02:00 PM, said:

I for one will be taking a massive body swerve in smoking pot over Christmas & New Year and cutting my holiday short in Goa and when my flight goes through Holland I'll stay there for a couple of days and suck the ambiance of a progressive western system and smoke as much pot as I want ...

A man's got to set priorities.

[Dave Rabbitt]

A tad harsh but I'll still be in Goa for Christmas & New Year and I have to fly through Holland to get home..

But my main point is Cyberhippie is informing the uninformed by his post but Merchant is instilling the fear that Cyberhippie is trying to inform us newbies about..

I and others are only exposed to a tolerant society when it comes to soft drugs but when I'm in Goa I will respect their laws as outlined very helplfully by Cyberhippie and just drink,mmmmm oh well at least it's cheap .....

Somerset, on Dec 11 2007, 06:01 PM, said:

A man's got to set priorities.

[Hyderabadi]

Quote

Cyberhippie is informing the uninformed by his post but Merchant is instilling the fear that Cyberhippie is trying to inform us newbies about..

So you are getting a balanced view. No?

Do have fun and enjoy yourself in India, while staying out of trouble.

[Dave Rabbitt]

I certainly will and believe that Cyberhippie's post was a very informative and balanced post whilst Merchant was the using the scare tactics which I personally think doesn't help..

Everything in the world is legal, but some things are more legal than others & if you know the consequences you have nobody to blame but yourself.......

Hyderabadi, on Dec 12 2007, 01:08 AM, said:

So you are getting a balanced view. No?

Do have fun and enjoy yourself in India, while staying out of trouble.

Edited by Dave Rabbitt, 13 December 2007 - 08:38 PM.