Stoned Listening To JA and Finding The Meaning Of Life

[BlackCladLizard]

I wanted to make this topic cause I wanted to know why some of you use drugs for. I myself used it to listen to psych music to see what they were talking about. Evertytime I smoke weed its only listen to music and relax. Sometimes an occasional comedy to laught to. My bro took them too much and went crazy. I always thought that drugs like that were to open your mind and to see a new perseption on life. Just like how the shamans took it to go through the other world or astro plane. Tell me why you guys did it. Please no "just cause i wanted to see what it was like". Also tell me what kinda trip did you guys get.

[gTarFreak]

I think there's a real fine line there. I probably wouldn't appreciate music as much as I do if it weren't for pot, mesc, and acid. However, I found that, in retrospect, the downside of it was that they made intolerable situations in my life tolerable. Instead of changing them I put up with them. It wasn't until an unrelated medical condition forced me into sobriety that I had to face the fact that if certain things in my life didn't change I'd never be happy. It wasn't easy, but I did change them and haven't looked back since. While I still have a few beers now and then (and an occasional dalliance with Capt. Morgan) I haven't touched drugs in over 15 years now and, while I have fond memories of some of the experiences I have to accept the fact that trying to repeat them is incompatable with my current medical situation. They're not worth dying for.

They do open you to new perceptions. The goal of the shamans, however, was not to rely on the drugs for this, but to carry the experiences and perceptions into everyday life and to be able to 'see' them under a normal state of mind.

One side effect of sobriety, I've found, is memory. Some of my friends still get high at concerts. I find that they have to ask me for the details and the setlists afterwards 'cause they can't remember them! They remember having a good time, but they're not sure exactly why.

That's my 2 cents, anyway.

Cheers,
Dave

[Pooneil]

I find that it's a combination of curiosity, recklessness, and boredom that causes me to partake in the drug at hand. I'm young so I guess I have yet to develop hesitation about what I put into my body. I think this might wear off when I'm older, but who knows. I see the experiences I have as a way to go into a different aspect of life that I would never normally touch. I don't like taking processed and unnatural substances though. I generally have pleasant experiences and the few times I didn't weren't really bad at all. In the good situations I find I grow an unusual attachment to whatever is presented before me. Usually this is a picture or music. Sometimes I think I've found the meaning of life for the moment, or that I have a strange inner peace. It's not something I want all the time though, it's more like a party I visit inside myself and eventually I have to leave and go home. But I can always look back at that time and smile at what I thought I saw or heard.

[ceangle13]

Anytime I decided to trip I always viewed the experience as a mental cleansing. I chose my environment, my music, my cigarettes, my company (if any), my lighting, my drink and the time of day. Naturally I am a very introverted person so most often than not I would have a very introverted trip. My mind would think and stare and write and draw all the while to normally listening to the Airplane, The Doors, The Dead, Stevie Ray Vaughn etc. etc. I chose my scenario and never and REALLY have never had a bad trip! I used to trip when I was much younger pretty often (recovery times are quicker), but now that I am much older I don't recover as fast! I really do look forward to having a 3 day weekend available to myself without a holiday being involved so that I can have that "mental cleanse" that I look forward to. Unfortunately that hasn't happened in a couple of years! But I still look forward to the day.....

[nadezalli]

I'm with giTarFreak and Roman, plus I was stupid. Wish I had a nickle ($.05 U.S.) back for every dollar I ever spent on alcohol and other drugs. It was pure escapeism, wasting time that could have been spent building relationships with others.