Cannabis and Spiritual Practice

As legalization spreads across the U.S. and the world, there is much discussion of its use for medicinal and recreational purposes but often forgotten is its use as a guide to spirituality and enlightenment.

Our guest is Reverend Terry Turner, an ordained Minister of Religious Science.  Tracing its use back to 2000 B.C.E. in the ancient Hindu Vedas where cannabis was revered as a sacred plant used for health, pleasure and meditation, Rev. Terry Turner asks the question is it morally acceptable to get high? Rev. Turner challenges our reliance on materialist science and technology for solutions to life’s various challenges and our tendency to consider ancient spirit-based cultures as primitive and superstitious.

The U.S. government enforces this belief by continuing to deny the protection of the 1st amendment which prevents government from “prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” to any group which uses cannabis as a sacrament.

Rev. Turner points out that the cannabis plant, being a mild psychedelic or entheogen, was seen by ancient cultures and remains today as a powerful and sacred tool that deserves to be treated with care and respect. He notes the states of consciousness available through cannabis use can be even deeper than those achieved by seasoned meditators without the years of discipline and training. Used reverentially and with proper intention, it is capable of ushering its initiates into the realm of savikalpa samadhi, the portal of mystical or unitive consciousness.

Rev. Turner will explore the uses of cannabis in the practice of spirituality by exploring the intent of its use, how to create a safe and sacred space for its use, the importance of set and setting, understanding the proper ingestion and dose and concluding with a guided session of meditative techniques which can be practiced for spiritual benefit either with or without cannabis."