Shiva and Cannabis or Marijuana

Himalayan Cannabis

 

“Compassionate people are geniuses in the art of living, more necessary to the dignity, security and joy of living than discoverers of knowledge” Albert Einstein

“Those who seek joy and dignity through an attainment of wealth devoid of goodness and compassion lose both and drive themselves to the top of a mountain of misery and the edge of an abyss” Ashok M.

https://www.whaxy.com/news/himalaya-marijuana

 Cannabis is presently an illegal substance in India. It was not so in the past and there is much history and mythology associated with substance. names of God in Himalayan and sub – Himalayan regions is Shiv or Shiva. Many Himalayan sages have meditated on the Infinite Lord known as Shiva. Shiva because of His infinity can have no form, but devotees have personified him in numerous and varied forms the most famous being  the dancing Shiva or Shiva Natraja, as the creator of life, the Shiv Linga and as a meditating sage and male partner of the Mother Goddess, as Shiv Shankar.

The most famous of Shiva worshiping sages in ancient times was Shankar. He became so united with the spirit of the Lord that he became known as Shiv Shankar. Many regard him as a reincarnation of Lord Shiva on Earth in human form. The favorite haunts of Shiv Shankar were Mount Kailash in Tibet and in winters, according to some, lower down in what is known as Chota (small) Kailash of Himalayas and Nainital district where cannabis of excellent quality grows as a wild herb.

Amongst the many powers of Shiv- Shankar were the ability to command and order ghosts and spirits much in the same way as Jesus of Nazareth and he is therefore also known by some as Bhuth Nath – Lord of the Ghosts. He was marked by utmost simplicity and others know him as Bhole Nath- Lord of Simplicity. Many Himalayan sages have deep knowledge of herbal medicine and the Lord of them all was Shiv Shankar. Of all medicinal plants that grew in the Himalayas, Shiv Shankar is associated most with cannabis and it is believed that he consumed this frequently as an extract in milk or simply through its smoke. Due to his loving spirit, Shiv Shankar was a friend of all animals. None harmed him and even dangerous snakes of the forest often came to play around his body.

There is mythology that when the earth had been greened by all manners of plants and humans had begun to walk upon the earth, Lord Shiva at the insistence of his female half the goddess Parvati whose spirit runs through earth as Mother Earth or Gaia, created the cannabis plant by adding some genes found in human mothers used in producing milk for babies to the wild hemp plant so as to produce this new herb, so that adults too may seek the protection and solace a mother offers to her baby through her milk for protection of mankind from possible ravages of life and living

It seems the original weed was the Himalayan Cannabis Sativa but as it migrated to less hospitable climates the plant adapted by changing to Cannabis Indica to reduce moisture requirements. The difference in chemical compounds that ensued causes different effects but the original is the healthier of the two.

Defilement of cannabis in modern age because of evil greed

The modern age has seen unprecedented scientific and industrial progress. However this progress has enabled some to exploit it for accumulation of wealth leading to a tremendous rise of greed and greed driven practices. Just like the other evil human emotion, lust (devoid of love), greed too is fueled rather than quenched with exposure and attainment but while lust comes to an end intermittently rather quickly, at a certain peak value, automatically in the same way as the valve of a pressure cooker goes off,  in most cases greed dies only with the death of a human enslaved by it. Greed unchecked has potential to grow to huge and destructive proportions. The world does not contain enough wealth to satisfy the greed of the greedy and they would not be satisfied even after pulling out the last morsel of food from every hungry human mouth on Earth, even those of their own children in the worst cases. This is not imagination because Kings and rulers driven by greed of their kingdoms have been known in past to kill their own children or parents in some cases through human history.

At the present time less than hundred humans have managed to grab a wealth equal to that of half the humans on the planet according to data released by Oxfam International and some of the sources of this wealth is the illegal drug traders and also the obscenely profitable legal drug industry, one feeding on the lives of innocents killed in drug wars, the other on the suffering of the sick and ailing. Many moral principles and goodness have been sacrificed at the altar of greed driven evil  It is natural then that this divine herb available for free as a weed growing in the wild as a gift from mother Earth but standing in the way of profits for the legal and illegal industry should be branded as illegal and harmful just as every other good thing that stands in the way of accumulation of wealth including taking care of the poor and the needy.

While some of the lies surrounding cannabis are a result of ignorance, much of it stems from greed and the lobbies that profit from these lies. Its defilement seems to have begun in 1930s from the desire of a businessman for profits from the newly invented nylon fiber for which hemp fiber was a competition. Others have jumped in with glee for the profits from its illegal status. These include the legal and illegal drug industries and the alcohol industry for all of which freely available cannabis was stiff competition. However lies have a temporary life and modern research has produced many studies showing the huge and varied benefits of cannabis (marijuana) for various human ailments of mind and body. Just to cite one reference:
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/its-official-marijuana-is-medicine/Content?oid=4381482

While modern medicine has produced some good medicines for many ailments of the body it has few for ailments and disorders of the mind. The ones that are around produce in the main symptomatic relief rather than cure and combine it with dependence and severe side affects. Nevertheless, it produces huge profits for the drug industry and perhaps they would stoop to any level to keep it that way while doing everything to prevent research and use of cannabis through their political lackeys.

Needless to say this has resulted in much suffering for humans, even the death of many through crime, road deaths and suicides caused by lack of cannabis and alternative use of alcohol or even more dangerous substances such as opium derivatives or narcotic chemicals in its place.

Three uses of Cannabis/Marijuana

1. The first and primary use of Marijuana is medicinal for a variety of conditions not covered in this brief note
2. As a stress reliever and in that sense also a happiness producing or recreational use. It may be noted that alcohol and opium derivatives are used for the same purpose. Alcohol can kill with an overdose and is addictive with frequent consumption. Opium and its more dangerous derivatives are far more readily addictive and kill much faster on excess dose. It seems that death from Marijuana overdose is difficult as also its addiction. Therefore it the safest of stress and a pain reliever and through that it has prevented many suicides in past when consumed for stress relief and trauma. A further harm of alcohol and opium derivatives is that they promote crime while cannabis promotes peace.
3. The third use of cannabis is by sages for meditation and spiritual purpose. By calming agitations of the mind it makes it easier for practicing sages to achieve meditative state.

It is because of these wonders that cannabis has been associated with the foremost divine sage on earth Shiv Shankar and it is because of this that those who live by the foul produce of lies, evil and greed have branded it as harmful and fight its legalization in the modern evil age where greed or mammon rules.

And the Suffering

The poorest of villagers in India, often under debt, suffer a severe trauma when a crop fails due to bad weather and at times commit suicide. There have been many such in India in recent years. There was a time when the wife or mother of a farmer would run to the village elder or village grocery shop, procure a little dried cannabis and grind it into a drink for the distressed farmer to bide the severest moments of trauma for a new tomorrow. Now this is no longer widely available ever since cannabis was made illegal in India in 1985 clubbing it with dangerous narcotics under US pressure. Alcohol is available but it is not socially acceptable as cannabis is, especially because traditionally it is only hard drinks that have been brewed in South Asia rather than light beer or wine. Through its long history in South Asia, alcohol has been looked down upon as harmful and addictive but not cannabis, which in fact is the correct position even from modern science. No village woman in India would like to see her husband and home saved from the trauma of a failed crop only to be destroyed later by an addiction to alcohol.  Further, good alcohol is also not affordable by the poor.. There is illicit stuff available and if resorted to causes its own deaths at unfailing regularity.

Cannabis was also in common use during festival celebrations but now the youth take alcohol instead and some from among them resort to crime, often rape, prompted by the fearlessness, energy bursts and lack of inhibition alcohol produces or crash in a road accident instead from time to time. In Punjab province of India youth take very dangerous and addicting chemical substances where earlier it was cannabis. This is leading to a destruction of an entire previously prosperous province while illegal drug dealers laugh all the way to the bank including politicians and administrators in their pay.

In Mexico thousands have died similarly in unnecessary drug wars where instead peace and love would have prevailed if cannabis was widely and freely available. But it seems the lure of greed prevents policy makers from legalizing it despite the fact that thousands have died in drug wars, such is the power of evil. In Central America, ten of thousands of minors have run away from their homes driven out by the violence of drug wars and some have made it across countries as unaccompanied minor refugees to the US. That is a tragic story, one of the worst suffered by large numbers of children in modern times aside from middle eastern regions like Gaza, Syria and Iraq. However a few rare countries ruled by leaders free of greed such as Portugal, Uruguay under Jose Mujica and the most progressive parts of Europe have legalized cannabis and no child has suffered in these countries because of drug related crimes.

In the US many veterans traumatized by war suffer liver damage and other complications from an ineffective drug from big pharma for PTSD while many children suffer needlessly from things like epilepsy that cannabis could have dealt with. Fortunately some of the States in US have legalized its use. It is difficult for those who wish to lobby to keep cannabis illegal with so many State Governments. However, the Federal government continues to obstruct trade e,g. it may jail growers or prevent the use of banking channels for the business. See this for example for more on this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/state-marijuana-laws_55c3a74de4b0d9b743db4985?section=india&adsSiteOverride=in

Political parties appear to have divided their kingdoms of wealth and it seems that in the leading economy of the world while many of a conservative party may derive much funds from the other hugely profitable military industry, the arms makers and military contractors as well as the fossil fuel industry, some from  liberal party may be deriving their piece of  cake from the gambling bank industry and big pharma. While one hankers for war the other hankers for TPP in secrecy to help increase patent protection and profits of the already obscenely profitable drug industry while giving every excuse not to legalize cannabis on the back of the suffering of the poor and the ailing, while those in waiting, the heir apparent focuses on big banks. All lead to death of innocents, one through gun crimes and military wars, the other through drug wars and the snuffing out of lives through ineffective and unaffordable medicines, while the banks drive people to homeless streets through deals gone bad. On this bleak scenario independently driven politicians such as Jose Mujica of Uruguay, Bernie sanders and Elizabeth warren of US, and several others from Europe in places like Austria, Sweden and Denmark not mentioned by name here are like a breath of fresh air that help sustain the world.

The Fedral drug administartion, the FDA, continues to lie shamelessly that cannabis has no known medicinal value despite a mountain of scientific evidence to the contrary and historical evidence that has been around for 5000 years. In the meanwhile thousands have ruined their lives compromised by a medicine from the shrink about which this blogger has written in detail in another blog at:
http://someitemshave.blogspot.in/2014/03/the-good-and-bad-of-alcohol-cannabis.html.

For a fascinating collection of images of cannabis in the Himalayas see:
https://www.whaxy.com/news/himalaya-marijuana

NOTE: This blog does not recommend that  any existing law on use of cannabis or its products in any area be broken in any way. It is necessary for every citizen of all countries to comply fully with the law in letter and spirit. However if a law appears to be wrong, as they can be at times because they are man made, then one must campaign in any reasonable way to have it changed. Much such campaigning appears to be required around laws surrounding hemp and cannabis ever since the early part of the last century. The status as prevalent prior to that needs to be restored

Cannabis image developed from image at: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/100000/nahled/cannabis-sativa-leaf.jpg

A popular depiction of Shiv Shankar

(In Roman Hindi followed by meaning in English)

from a wandering Sadhu in the Himalayas, the following song, 

Le ke Lota

Bhang ka Ghota

Sab ke andar

Mast Kalandar

Jai, Bhole Baba

Jai Shiv Shankar

Meaning: 

Take a glass of cannabis extracted in milk and experience bliss. Praise the Lord of Simplicity, praise Shiv-Shankar

PS:  cannabis drink is served openly in many Shiva temples across the Himalayas and other places since ancient times on festivals in the same way as wine is in some Christian Monasteries but in much more  generous quantities. When this author told a priest that it has been made illegal in India too since 1985 to please the US government that was begging for that, he responded rather crudely in colloquial Hindi, an unprintable phrase, laughed and began to sing the song above as he went around serving other devotees;

Le ke Lota -----

A Newspaper report on this: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ghota-distributed-in-Kullu-temples/articleshow/7616506.cms 

PS: The goodess Parvati is regarded by many to reside as the Goddess Nanda Devi along with her sister Sunanda Devi in the Himalayas, some of the highest Himalayan peaks in India. The author of this note was the first to identify Sunanda Devi in modern times named as Nanda Devi East by British explorers earlier. Information on both can be found on Wikipedia. 

PS: For more on health benefit of Marijuana check:
http://www.trueactivist.com/still-believe-nature-got-it-wrong-top-10-health-benefits-of-marijuana/?utm_source=fb

PS: Read this note on how lies around this herb developed in modern era:
http://greenpapers.net/its-cannabis-not-marijuana/#sthash.aQovCk2s.EkSpE9RX.dpbs