#9 - [Solo] - Higher ground: reclaiming the sacred roots of cannabis

Cannabis gets shoved into a box: harmless fun, dangerous drug, miracle medicine, spiritual shortcut. I’m not buying the box. Instead, I’m taking a more honest path, exploring how cannabis can function as an “amplifier” of consciousness and why intention matters more than inherited opinions, media narratives, or moral panic.

We walk through the spiritual history of cannabis, from ancient references like the Atharva Veda to Shaivite traditions and the modern sacramental use found in Rastafarian reasoning circles. The thread running through these cultures is respect: consciousness is mysterious, and anything that shifts it deserves discernment. That same discernment helps separate unconscious intoxication from conscious expansion, where the goal is not escape but deeper contact with reality.

Then we get practical and embodied. I share how mindful cannabis use can reconnect us to the body through yoga, breathwork, meditation, movement, music, and journaling, and why the endocannabinoid system offers a useful scientific frame for sensation, mood, and nervous system balance. We also talk about cannabis and fasting, cannabis and sexuality, and cannabis and creativity, including the risks: anxiety, dependency, avoidance, and using the plant as a substitute for emotional work.

I close with clear principles for responsible use: set and setting, dosage, pairing cannabis with practices, taking breaks, and listening to your body. If you value nuanced conversations about spirituality, embodiment, and conscious cannabis use, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review.

Transcript

A New Lens On Cannabis

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone, welcome back to My Best Life. I'm Peter, and today we're stepping into territory that may challenge some of your assumptions, unsettle some old conditioning, and perhaps even open a new doorway in your understanding of spirituality, healing, embodiment, and consciousness. Today's episode is about the spiritual use of cannabis. Before you decide what this episode is, before the mind rushes in with inherited opinions, cultural programming, media narratives, religious conditioning or personal experiences, I want to invite you into a different posture. Just listen. Listen openly and with curiosity. And perhaps most importantly, listen without immediately categorizing cannabis as either good or bad. Because one of the great limitations of modern society is that we often reduce complex things into simplistic moral binaries. We ask, is this substance evil? Is it healthy? Is it dangerous? Is it spiritual? Is it medicine? Is it escapism? But reality is almost never that simple. Fire can warm a home or burn it down. Water can nourish life or destroy a village. Technology can connect humanity or isolate us. Sexuality can heal or harm. Religion can liberate or imprison. The same is true of cannabis. For some people, cannabis becomes a crutch. For others, it becomes medicine. For others still, it becomes a sacrament, a tool for introspection, prayer, embodiment, creativity, emotional release, and communion with life itself. This episode is not an argument that everyone should use cannabis. It is not a denial of the fact that cannabis can be abused, and it is certainly not an attempt to romanticize intoxication. Instead, this is an exploration of a question that humanity has wrestled with for thousands of years. Can a plant alter consciousness in a way that brings us closer to ourselves, closer to nature, and even closer to God? Throughout this episode I'll draw not only from historical sources and spiritual traditions, but also from my own lived experience exploring consciousness, embodiment, fasting, creativity, healing, sexuality, movement, and the deeper dimensions of cannabis use. What I've discovered over the years is that cannabis is not merely a recreational substance. At its best, it can function like a mirror. It amplifies and reveals. It slows down the constant machinery of the mind and reconnects us to sensation, emotion, breath, music, movement, and presence. And perhaps that's why so many cultures throughout history treated this plant not as contraband, but as sacred.

Cannabis In Ancient Spiritual History

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Let's begin by exploring cannabis in ancient times. Modern society often speaks about cannabis as though it suddenly appeared in the twentieth century, a social problem invented by counterculture movements. But cannabis has accompanied humanity for millennia. Archaeological evidence suggests cannabis has been used for at least several thousand years across Central Asia, India, China, the Middle East, and Africa. Ancient people used it medicinally, ritually, agriculturally, and spiritually. One of the most fascinating references appears in the Atharva Veda, one of the sacred texts of ancient India composed over three thousand years ago. In this text, cannabis is referred to as one of the five sacred plants and is associated with happiness, liberation, and relief from anxiety. Think about that for a moment. Thousands of years ago, long before modern pharmaceutical companies, before propaganda campaigns, before political moral panics, ancient spiritual cultures already recognized that certain plants could affect consciousness in profound ways. In India, cannabis became associated with Shiva, the great ascetic yogi, the destroyer of illusion, the lord of meditation and transcendence. According to some legends, Shiva discovered cannabis after wandering exhausted through the wilderness. Resting beneath the leaves of the plant, he consumed it and felt restored, peaceful, and awakened. From then on, cannabis became linked with contemplation, renunciation, and mystical awareness. Whether or not the legend is historically factual is almost beside the point. Myths reveal psychological truths. They tell us what a culture intuits about existence. And what ancient India intuited was this. Cannabis could quiet the noise of ordinary consciousness. It could loosen the grip of ego, and help a person step outside the rigid structures of habitual thinking. This understanding wasn't unique to India. Ancient Scythian tribes reportedly used cannabis in ceremonial steam baths. Some historians believe cannabis smoke played a role in ritual purification ceremonies across parts of Central Asia and the Middle East. Even in ancient China, cannabis appeared in medical texts associated with balancing energy and relieving suffering. Across civilizations, one pattern emerges repeatedly. Cannabis was often treated with reverence, not casual reverence, but sacred reverence, because ancient people understood something modern culture often forgets. Consciousness itself is mysterious, and anything capable of altering consciousness deserves respect.

Shiva Legends And Sacred Reverence

SPEAKER_00 7:11

Perhaps nowhere is the spiritual relationship with cannabis more visible than among the Sadus of India. If you've ever seen photographs of ash covered holy men sitting beside Himalayan temples or meditating along the Ganges River, you've likely seen Sadus. These are renunciates, seekers who have stepped away from conventional worldly life in pursuit of spiritual realization. And many of them use cannabis as part of their practice. To Western observers this can seem contradictory. We tend to associate spirituality with purity, discipline, abstinence, and sobriety, but the sadus operate from a different framework. For many Shaivite ascetics, cannabis is not a party drug, it is prasad, an offering, a sacrament connected to Shiva. Traditionally consumed as charas, ganja, or bang, cannabis is often integrated into meditation, chanting, austerity practices, and spiritual contemplation. Now it's important not to romanticize this. Not every sadhu is enlightened. Not every spiritual use of cannabis is wise. Human beings remain human beings. But what's interesting is the underlying philosophy. The purpose is not escape from reality, the purpose is deeper penetration into reality. And this distinction matters enormously. There is a difference between unconscious intoxication and conscious expansion. One seeks numbness, the other seeks awareness. In my own experience, cannabis has never been spiritually useful when used compulsively or unconsciously. But when approached intentionally, with stillness, presence, breath, solitude, music, prayer, movement, journaling, or meditation, it can create extraordinary clarity. It can soften psychological armor and expose emotional truths. It can reconnect a person to awe. I've experienced moments under cannabis where the ordinary suddenly becomes luminous, the sound of rain, the rhythm of breathing, the feeling of bare feet on the floor, the movement of energy through the body during yoga, the emotional power of music, or the beauty of silence. And perhaps this is why the sadus continue these traditions, not because cannabis magically grants enlightenment, but because it can interrupt the hypnotic trance of ordinary consciousness long enough for a person to glimpse something deeper.

Sadus And Conscious Expansion

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Another spiritual tradition deeply connected to cannabis is Rastafarianism. Emerging in Jamaica in the nineteen thirties, the Rastafari movement blended biblical symbolism, African identity, anti colonial resistance, spiritual liberation, and natural living. Within Rastafari culture, cannabis, often called ganja or the holy herb, became a sacred sacrament used in reasoning sessions, communal meditation, prayer, drumming, and spiritual discussion. Again, the purpose was not mindless intoxication, it was consciousness, presence, connection. Rastafarians often speak of cannabis as a means of opening the mind to truth and unity. During reasoning circles, participants smoke consciously while discussing spirituality, justice, wisdom, oppression, and life. And there's something deeply beautiful about this idea. Cannabis not as escape from community, but as a catalyst for deeper communion. Modern life has become profoundly disembodied and disconnected. We live inside screens, algorithms, deadlines, anxieties, notifications, and endless mental chatter. But in sacred communal spaces, cannabis can sometimes dissolve social masks. People soften, they laugh more freely and become emotionally honest. Music feels alive and conversation becomes vulnerable. Bodies begin moving naturally. And this matters because healing often requires safety and openness. Many people spend their entire lives trapped behind tension and self consciousness. Cannabis, when used wisely, can loosen these rigid psychological defenses. That's why music became so central within Rastafari culture. Through rhythm, drumming, chanting and ganja, people entered altered states of togetherness and transcendence. And perhaps no figure carried this spirit into the world more powerfully than Bob Marley. Marley spoke openly about cannabis not as mere recreation, but as a pathway toward reflection, peace, and spiritual insight. Now again, discernment matters. Cannabis alone does not create wisdom. Plenty of people smoke constantly while remaining unconscious, avoidant, or emotionally immature. The plant is not the enlightenment. The plant is the amplifier. It reveals what is already present.

Rastafari Reasoning And Communion

SPEAKER_00 13:00

One of the most profound aspects of cannabis is its ability to bring awareness back into the body. Most people live almost entirely inside the mind, thinking, analyzing, worrying, planning, ruminating. We become disconnected from direct embodied experience, but cannabis can heighten somatic awareness, the felt sense of being alive inside the body. This is where practices like yoga, stretching, breath work, dance, mobility work, and meditation can become extraordinarily powerful. I've had experiences where cannabis transform yoga from mere exercise into something almost mystical. Suddenly every stretch becomes vivid. Breath slows down. Muscles reveal hidden tension patterns. Emotional residues stored in the body begin surfacing. You realize how much stress you carry unconsciously. The hips open and grief emerges. The chest softens and tears arrive unexpectedly. The breath deepens and anxiety dissolves. Now this doesn't happen automatically. Intention matters enormously. If someone uses cannabis while doom scrolling social media, eating junk food, and distracting themselves endlessly, the experience will likely remain shallow. But paired with conscious practices, cannabis can amplify embodiment dramatically. Breath work becomes deeper. Music becomes immersive. Meditation becomes visceral. Even simple stretching can feel like prayer. And scientifically this makes some sense. Cannabis interacts with the endocannabinoid system, a regulatory network involved in mood, sensation, appetite, pain perception, memory, and nervous system balance. Many users report heightened proprioception, increased awareness of the body in space. This can make movement practices more intuitive and emotionally rich. I've also found cannabis can reveal where the body is armored emotionally. Certain muscles tighten around unresolved fear, shame, sadness, anger, or trauma. When awareness increases, these contractions become visible, and healing begins with awareness.

Embodiment Through Yoga And Breath

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Now this may sound surprising to some listeners because cannabis is stereotypically associated with overeating and the munchies, but my own experience has often been the opposite when cannabis is used consciously. There have been periods in my life where cannabis actually supported fasting. Why? Because conscious cannabis use can heighten awareness not only of hunger, but of compulsive consumption itself. It can make you realize how often eating is emotional rather than physical, how frequently we consume food not from nourishment, but from boredom, anxiety, loneliness, distraction, or habit. During intentional fasting, cannabis sometimes helped me settle into the body rather than panic against emptiness. The absence of food became meditative rather than threatening. Instead of immediately reacting to craving, I could observe it, sit with it, feel it, and understand it. And fasting itself has ancient spiritual roots across nearly every major tradition Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and many indigenous traditions. Fasting strips away distraction and reveals attachment while also sharpening awareness. Combined with meditation, journaling, music, or time spent in nature, cannabis occasionally deepened that introspective state for me. But again, context matters. If cannabis is used unconsciously, it may trigger overeating. That is why intentionality is everything. Cannabis magnifies tendencies. If approached mindlessly, it amplifies compulsion. If approached consciously, it can amplify awareness. That distinction changes everything.

Fasting And Watching Compulsion

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Now let's move into a topic that many people experience privately but rarely discuss openly cannabis and sexuality. Used unconsciously, sex can become mechanical, performative, disconnected, addictive, or emotionally empty. But conscious sexuality is something very different. It involves presence, breath, sensitivity, connection and attention. And many people report that cannabis dramatically heightens these dimensions. In my experience, cannabis can slow time psychologically during intimacy. Sensation becomes richer, touch becomes more textured, emotional vulnerability becomes more accessible. But perhaps most importantly, cannabis can reduce the mental noise that interferes with intimacy. Performance anxiety softens. Self consciousness diminishes. People stop thinking so much and start feeling more. This can create profoundly connected experiences between partners. Again, this isn't about chasing intensity for its own sake. It's about presence. Many spiritual traditions throughout history understood sexuality as potentially sacred rather than shameful. Tantra, for example, approached intimacy as a pathway toward transcendence and energetic union. Cannabis, used carefully and respectfully, can sometimes support this state by increasing bodily awareness and emotional openness. But discernment is essential. Conscious sexuality requires communication, trust, maturity, emotional safety, and mutual respect. Cannabis should never be used manipulatively or irresponsibly in intimate settings. And it's also worth acknowledging that cannabis affects people differently. For some it enhances intimacy beautifully. For others it may increase anxiety or emotional distance. Self awareness and honesty matter, and dosage matters enormously. A small amount can deepen presence, while too much can fragment it.

Creativity Dance And The Inner Critic

SPEAKER_00 20:14

Few areas of cannabis culture are more widely recognized than its relationship to creativity. Artists, musicians, writers, poets, filmmakers, comedians and visionaries have all long described cannabis as a catalyst for imagination and flow. Now, cannabis does not magically create talent. A person still needs discipline, craft, and practice. But cannabis can disrupt habitual thinking patterns. It can make the familiar feel unfamiliar again. And creativity often depends precisely on that ability, seeing beyond automatic perception. As a writer, I've experienced moments where cannabis dissolved internal censorship enough for emotional honesty to emerge more freely. Ideas connected unexpectedly, music became emotionally overwhelming, language flowed differently, memories resurfaced vividly, and insights appeared from strange angles. This doesn't mean every cannabis inspired idea is brilliant. Some are terrible, but cannabis can help people access states of openness and experimentation that rigid analytical thinking sometimes suppresses. Musicians often describe hearing layers in music more vividly while using cannabis consciously. Rhythm becomes immersive. Emotional nuances become palpable. And perhaps that's because cannabis can heighten pattern recognition, sensory perception, and emotional sensitivity. It can pull people out of purely linear cognition. And into associative thinking. Many jazz musicians, reggae artists, hip hop producers, painters, filmmakers, and writers have described cannabis as part of their creative process. Again, though, the relationship must remain conscious, because eventually every artist must ask, Am I using the plant as a tool or am I depending on it psychologically? That line matters. The healthiest relationship with cannabis is one rooted in freedom rather than dependency. One of the simplest but most profound things cannabis can do is help people loosen up physically and emotionally. Watch people at a party before alcohol or cannabis enters the picture. Many are stiff, guarded, self monitoring, hyperaware of how they appear. Then watch what happens as inhibition softens. Bodies begin moving, laughter emerges, people become playful again. Now alcohol often achieves this through numbing awareness. Cannabis operates differently. Rather than dulling sensation, it frequently heightens it. Music becomes immersive, rhythm enters the body, movement feels instinctive, and dancing itself is deeply spiritual. Long before modern clubs existed, human beings danced ceremonially around fires in rituals, festivals, celebrations, rites of passage, and communal gatherings. Dance dissolves the illusion of separateness. It reconnects people to embodiment, to rhythm, instinct, and to life force. Cannabis can support this process by weakening the inner critic that constantly monitors and judges. Suddenly, movement stops being performance and it becomes expression instead. And honestly, many adults desperately need this. Modern culture has trained people to become disconnected from spontaneity in play. We become overly cerebral and emotionally restrained. But healing often requires rediscovering aliveness. Music, sweat, movement, breath, laughter, community, ecstasy. Not ecstasy in the pharmaceutical sense, ecstasy in the original sense of the word, stepping outside the rigid confines of ego. Cannabis can sometimes facilitate that opening.

Principles For Responsible Use

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Now after discussing so many positive dimensions of cannabis, it's extremely important to speak honestly about responsibility, because conscious use matters. Set and setting matter, mental health and dosage matter, and cannabis is not appropriate for everyone. Some people have predispositions toward anxiety, paranoia, dissociation or psychosis that cannabis may worsen. Some people become unmotivated or psychologically dependent. Some use cannabis to avoid unresolved emotional pain rather than confront it. And if that's happening, honesty is necessary. The goal is awareness, not ideology. So here are several principles I've found valuable for conscious cannabis use. Number one, use cannabis intentionally. Ask yourself why you're using cannabis. Is it to numb, to escape, to avoid feeling? Or is it to deepen awareness, creativity, connection, movement, prayer, or reflection? Your intention shapes the experience. two, respect dosage. Modern cannabis is extremely potent compared to previous generations. More is not always better. Small amounts often produce the most useful and balanced experiences. three, create the right environment. Your surroundings matter profoundly. Music, lighting, nature, safety, emotional state, and company all influence the experience. Cannabis amplifies environments. four pair cannabis with practices. Pair it with practices such as yoga, meditation, breath work, writing, art, music, walks in nature, stretching, conscious conversation, dance, or prayer. Cannabis becomes more meaningful when integrated consciously. five Take Brexit A healthy relationship with cannabis includes periods of non use. This prevents dependency and restores clarity. Freedom matters. six Don't use cannabis to avoid life. Cannabis should not replace emotional work, responsibility, discipline, relationships or purpose. It should enhance life, not become life. And number seven, listen to your body. Your body tells the truth. If cannabis increases anxiety, lethargy, confusion, or disconnection consistently, pay attention. No substance is universally beneficial. Self awareness is key.

Neither Angel Nor Demon

SPEAKER_00 28:09

As we close today's episode, I want to return to the central idea we began with. Cannabis is neither angel nor demon. It's a plant, and like many powerful things in life, its impact depends greatly on consciousness, context, intention, and relationship. For thousands of years, human beings have explored altered states through ritual, meditation, fasting, chanting, dance, prayer, sexuality, music, breathwork, and sacred plants. Modern culture often fears altered consciousness because it can challenge systems of control, routine, conformity, and unquestioned assumptions. But throughout history many seekers have discovered that certain altered states can reveal profound truths, that the body is sacred, that breath is sacred, that music and intimacy and nature are sacred, that consciousness itself is mysterious beyond comprehension. Cannabis at its best can help people slow down enough to remember this, not by escaping reality, but by becoming intimate with it again, more present and sensitive, more embodied and honest, more awake. And perhaps that's the real spiritual invitation of cannabis, not intoxication, but reconnection, reconnection to the self, reconnection to sensation and creativity, to community, nature and spirit, reconnection to life itself. Thank you for listening to this episode of My Best Life. I'm Peter, and if this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who may benefit from hearing a more nuanced conversation around cannabis and consciousness. And remember, the deepest spiritual journey is not about escaping being human. It's about becoming fully alive. Until next time, thanks for listening.