When is a person trully happy?

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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Medicine Man on Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:35 pm

Ever wonder why stoners are generally non violent?

Ever wonder why religions with sex taboos cause so much violence?

BODY PLEASURE AND THE ORIGINS OF VIOLENCE By James W. Prescott

Human violence is fast becoming a global epidemic. All over the world, police face angry mobs, terrorists disrupt the Olympics, hijackers seize airplanes, and bombs wreck buildings. During the past year, wars raged in the Middle East, Cyprus, and Southeast Asia, and guerrilla fighting continued to escalate in Ireland. Meanwhile, crime in the United States grew even faster than inflation. Figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show that serious crimes rose 16 percent in the first six months of 1974—one of the largest crime increases since FBI record-keeping began.

Unless the causes of violence are isolated and treated, we will continue to live in a world of fear and apprehension. Unfortunately, violence is often offered as a solution to violence. Many law enforcement officials advocate 'get tough' policies as the best method to reduce crime. Imprisoning people, our usual way of dealing with crime, will not solve the problem, because the causes of violence lie in our basic values and the way in which we bring up our children and youth. Physical punishment, violent films and TV programs teach our children that physical violence is normal. But these early life experiences are not the only or even the main source of violent behavior. Recent research supports the point of view that the deprivation of physical pleasure is a major ingredient in the expression of physical violence. The common association of sex with violence provides a clue to understanding physical violence in terms of deprivation of physical pleasure.
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby oldbootzz on Thu Dec 24, 2009 6:42 pm

so we should all jack off for world peace !

merry christmas everyone :)
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Green with envy on Thu Dec 24, 2009 6:59 pm

oldbootzz wrote:so we should all jack off for world peace !

merry christmas everyone :)

nah man, that's totally sexist. Jack and Jill off, or do you want the world going to the fem-nazi's? Wait... case in point. I love this study
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Medicine Man on Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:42 pm

The spiritual use of psychoactive drugs
Lecture presented at Transcendance at the Brighton Pavilion Theatre 31st May 1997.

I mentioned at the beginning about religious leaders coming out strongly against drugs. Well, there are some exceptions to the rule, and in Ecstasy and the Dance Culture, I interviewed a rabbi, two Zen monks and a Benedictine who used drugs - ecstasy in fact- for spiritual purposes.

...

The rabbi was more worldly. Almost his first words were that a young person today had a much better chance of a spiritual experience in a nightclub taking drugs than by attending a church or synagogue! He went on to say that the major religions had forgotten their original purpose in seeking spirituality, but he believed that instead spiritual openings were occurring among drug users which would lead people on to richer lives.

...

I want to end by telling you about one of the Zen monks I mentioned earlier.

I invited him to a private party in a big country house where nearly everyone was on E.

He was at first reluctant to go inside, holding fingers in his ears because he couldn't stand the noise. But eventually he got into it and then exclaimed: "They are meditating! These people have stopped their internal dialogue and yet are fully aware in the present. That's what we teach in walking meditation, yet these people are doing it without realising!"

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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Ogiesdraad on Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:25 pm

Medicine Man wrote: I interviewed a rabbi, two Zen monks and a Benedictine who used drugs - ecstasy in fact- for spiritual purposes.


Thats so cool :rasta:
Growing up in a strict afrikaner NG kerk juppie famly that where against drugs made me think and believe that drugs where bad aswell most things that enduse plesure.
But as I started to become a thinking teenager I questioned the princepals of my upbrining and found that drugs arnt that bad and could be yoused for a spiritual purpose.

Even my parents warmed up to the idea and EVEN SMOKED A BLUNT WITH ME!!!
In the end stabilising everybodys peace :meditate:

I am also VERY high so my spelling is dab(lol)...shoot me... :bandit:
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby geep on Tue Dec 29, 2009 8:11 am

This is something I have been asking myself for many years and when i found out what works for me I have been living in accordance with it ever since then and have not looked back since!!!!!!!!!

In the shell of a nut for this hippie happiness is FREEDOM - freedom to be happy regardless of financial situation and the approval and through these hardships we learn and are strengthened, so basically i see all suffering as a lesson and embrace it, knowing that it leads to be becoming a more rounded individual and learning in hindsight.

The emotional issues and pain that my loved ones go through is not a reason for me to get upset,I can provide them with love and support, in a detached manner,a lesson which was hard for me to learn.
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Medicine Man on Wed Jan 20, 2010 1:00 pm

A Medication called Damnitall

If I had the information provided in this book 20 years ago there would have been a lot less suffering in my life and in the lives of people around me. I have been reading a lot of profound stuff recently but this has been the most profound. It is the first time someone has explained to me EXACTLY what I have been experiencing in my life. Somehow though I think the pain was necessary and the knowledge comes when it is earned so I will persist. There is no turning back for me any more. I have grown more in the last 2 days than the last 6 months. I know what the point of my life is.

Avoid reading this book unless you are seriously interested in becoming enlightened, that is you are serious about meditation or seeing the world in a whole new way. If you can strongly relate to the quote below because of things that have happened in your life then maybe you should read it anyway. The book comes with plenty of warning labels, heed them or suffer like I did.

As a stoner the information in this book could help you as well because cannabis can place you in a deep meditative state as it promotes theta brainwave production. If you experience weird shit while stoned the info could help understand what is going on. I have a suspicion that the idea that cannabis can cause mental health issues might better be described as side effects of unguided meditation.


Peace and happiness

Note: I am not a Buddhist. I think of myself more as an agnostic/sceptic budding shaman that likes finding out the truth for himself.

http://www.interactivebuddha.com/index.shtml

Commentary from The Arahat, Daniel M. Ingram, MD MSPH

Imagine that there is a meditation medication called Damnitall that is used to treat some form of suffering (perhaps it’s a pain medicine or an anti-depressant). However, in a subset of patients its long-term use is known to cause pronounced of anxiety, paranoia, depression, apathy, micro-psychotic episodes, a pervasive sense of primal frustration, pronounced lack of perspective on relationships, reduced libido, feelings of dissatisfaction with worldly affairs, and exacerbation of personality disorders, all of which can lead to markedly reduced social and occupational function. Imagine that these side effects are known to persist sometimes months and even years after someone stops taking the medication, with occasional flare-ups and relapses, with the only permanently effective treatment being to increase the dose, along with supportive care and counseling, and hope that these side effects pass quickly with little damage.

Now, imagine that you are living in the dark days of paternalistic medicine during which doctors are prescribing this stuff without fully disclosing the potential side effects despite the fact that they are fully aware of them. Imagine that drug companies are not forced to disclose known side effects. Does anything in this scenario make you a bit uncomfortable? I should hope so!

Let’s say for the sake of argument that I am a fanatic who is blowing this thing way out of proportion. Let’s assume that Damnitall only causes these effects in 1 out of every 10,000 patients. Would you have these side effects included on the little piece of paper that comes in the bottle? Lets say it’s 1 in a 100? At what point does it become absurd that those doctors and drug companies are being allowed to get away with this? Unfortunately, I must admit that I do not know the exact odds of these side effects happening to you. I do know firsthand that they happen and that if you cross the A&P Event you are fairly likely to run into at least some of them. These side effects are no fantasy. When they show up they are as real and powerful as if some dangerous drug had seriously skewed your neurochemistry, and I often wonder if that might be something like what happens. Thus, it seems only fair to have the same standards that we apply with such pronounced zeal and fervent litigation to drug companies and doctors also apply to meditation teachers and dharma books. For reasons unknown to me, this book is the first one I know of to spell out all of these things explicitly in language that everyone should be able to understand so that you can go into meditation having been fully informed of the risks and benefits and thus make informed decisions about your own practice. In the spirit of professionalism, I call on others who promote the dharma to adopt a similarly high standard for their own work.
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Medicine Man on Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:18 pm

All I say here is my own understanding and extrapolation. Don't take it for fact, form your own opinion.

All you ADHD/ADD sufferers might be interested in taking a listen to this podcast. It explains the relationship between a roving mind and dopamine. ADHD sufferers have a genetic bias that reduces the effectiveness of dopamine i.e. the satisfaction attained from doing pleasurable things. Cannabis boosts dopamine levels.

Survival of the fittest only cares about your ability to propagate your genes. It does not care how happy you are. This has resulted in our brains being wired to be 5 times more sensitive to negative inputs (danger, pain, threats) than to positive things (safety, pleasure, food). If you miss a meal it is not going to kill you, but miss seeing the bus when you cross the road and you won't get an opportunity for another meal.

Our brains have been programmed to be restless and forever on the lookout for threats. We find it hard to just chill. We also find it hard to concentrate only on the task at hand because we are constantly on the lookout for threats. This inability to concentrate is even worse in ADHD sufferers until they can get their attention so absorbed in what they are doing they can block out the rest of the world.

Dopamine is a gating pleasure hormone. When dopamine levels are high the brain is able to block distractions from grabbing your attention. Sustained HIGH dopamine levels are needed to block out distractions for any length of time. You can achieve this when you are totally immersed in an experience. You can also achieve it by smoking a joint.

The problem with smoking a joint is it also results in a massive melatonin release. Melatonin is an excellent anti-oxidant that can cross the blood/brain barrier which is why cannabis has neuro-protective properties. The problem with melatonin is it also makes you sleepy. So if you do not immediately engage the brain in single minded attention on the task at hand you will feel safe (threats are blocked out) and sleepy and that blissful nap just becomes too tempting.

A Crash Course in Applied Neurodharma
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Green with envy on Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:41 pm

You need a day job :roll:
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Medicine Man on Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:52 pm

This is my day job....

And my night job.

The only thing I don't like about the job is the pay :roll:

I am on a mission to understand myself and if I can understand others as well it is a bonus. If I can actually help others it is even better. :meditate:

P.S. My ex-wife-to-be does not like my day job, or my night job. I want to be happy, she wants to stay miserable. A divorce made in heaven.

Wait, I'm an agnostic so hold off on the heaven part a bit and pass the joint. :shock: Aaah, that feels more like heaven. bigjoint:

P.P.S. Sorry, I need to let out the pent up frustration sometimes and tonight the forum is the recipient.
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Medicine Man on Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:54 pm

This article is a recommended read for all psychonauts (that includes you GWE).

From:
Awareness & Addiction
A chapter of the forthcoming book, “Awareness and Appearance”

This seems a very hard, cold, cruel world without belonging to a supportive group, a special family, a clan, a pseudo-tribe of like-minded kindred spirits. Anyone who ever tried knows that changing tribes or groups never feels perfectly easy or painless, no matter how badly we want out. Most of us have such powerful, subconscious defensive mechanisms that we never get to see the need for radical change. That makes us feel trapped, stuck, ever more unfree. Inevitably, we want to escape. Yet, usually, we find more powerful ways to distract and deceive ourselves. That sometimes seems to require mind medicines, ancient shamanic entheogens, natural sacraments, intoxicants or anesthetics.

Buddha says that everything we do, no matter how absurd or atrocious, is really because we want to be happy and free. Osho says that nothing is more precious or important than Freedom. Crazy Wisdom master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche said that the only real freedom is mental freedom. The rest is just delusion and/or confusion. Real freedom is complete not partial, actual not delusional.

There is no spiritual liberation beyond or apart from mental freedom. Our mentality is an inseparable aspect of our being, essential, central, basic to what we are. Without mental freedom and clarity, we have no way to discern the reality and value of our experience, of anything, God or whatever.


Read it here.
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby oldbootzz on Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:56 pm

thats awesome. my favorite part "everything we do, no matter how absurd or atrocious, is really because we want to be happy and free"
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby oldbootzz on Tue Mar 23, 2010 5:02 pm

i like it when i know what i want to do, i try and do it, and i manage to get away with it, no matter what anyone else thought of the ideas at the beginning i had the self confidence to believe in myself and carry on. it really gives me that feeling that i remember as a kid when i was being naughty and getting away with stuff. love it hahaha. most things are achievable with 2 ingredients: motivation + time.

OB
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Medicine Man on Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:13 pm

Read the whole chapter, you will find it interesting.
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Gruff on Sun Sep 05, 2010 1:43 am

Nice post Jaat and all who've contributed thus far! I'm reading these posts with much interest.

For myself I find happiness a fleeting thing. It's either with me or it's not. More often it's not, but that's life I guess. Yet, If I was happy all the time I don't think I'd be 'complete' in my own understanding or of those around me.
I like what Henry Mellville says on this:
Only by being guilty of Folly does mortal man in many cases arrive at the perception of Sense. A thought which should forever free us from hasty imprecations upon our ever-recurring intervals of Folly; since though Folly be our teacher, Sense is the lesson she teaches; since, if Folly wholly depart from us, Further Sense will be her companion in the flight, and we will be left standing midway in wisdom.
(The Writings of Herman Melville, vol. 7 )

So when I'm happy, I am so fucking happy, that I'm happy. lol. I do get down, like we all do, but I know it will pass when I'm ready to let it go. Let it go. It's taken me yrs to realise the value of 'letting go'. Simple concept but a challenge to practice.

I've been reading the 'holy' Bible again and came accross one of my favourite books by Solomon, the 'Philosopher'. I'll quote some relevent verses if it's not too boring. Oh yes, I realise it is a Sunday morning as I post this, but I have no intentions of preaching...just yet. lol)

Sorrow is better than laughter; it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding Eccl 7:3
Someone who is always thinking about happiness is a fool. A wise person meditates upon death. Eccl 7:4
A man can do no better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. Eccl 2:24
(Ecclesiastes)

for Medicine Man: A man can do no better than to eat, drink, smoke his stuff, and find satisfaction in the work he chooses to do. Eccl 2:24 (my edit)

:rasta: This is happiness!
Last edited by Gruff on Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.

(William Butler Yeats, A Dialogue of Self & Soul 2:68-72)
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Re:

Postby Gruff on Sun Sep 05, 2010 2:03 am

BigBoss wrote:I believe that negative energies are contageous so avoid them at all costs


Green with envy wrote:Feel exactly the same way, I just play it safe and avoid negative people all together :evillaugh:


I feel the same way. If I can counter or neutralise the energy I try that. Of course running away/avoiding it altogether is perhaps the best option; but thats not always possible. lol
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.

(William Butler Yeats, A Dialogue of Self & Soul 2:68-72)
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby maxi on Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:24 am

true happiness is the same as true beautiful...when nothing is needed to be added, taken away or altered could improve it :yingyang:
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Gruff on Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:09 pm

Oh Jesus. Today I wen't agains't my better judgement and caused a huge fiasco. Instead of counteringor running away I flamed the fire. So much for my 'wisdom'. I was a damn fool and now I'm a sorry fool. Happiness is not round here tonight. Just when you think you have a hold on happiness it slips thru your clumsy hands. I feel real bad now and depression is creeping up steadily to its usual place. I know this feeling too well.
Now all I have to do is let it go, but that'll take some time for me to process 1st. This is hard for me to write but I have to work this out.

Spare a thought for the foolish (me), for they have none for themselves.

:sad:
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.

(William Butler Yeats, A Dialogue of Self & Soul 2:68-72)
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby oldbootzz on Mon Sep 06, 2010 7:55 am

all emotional states are temporary, including happiness :)
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Gruff on Mon Sep 06, 2010 9:35 pm

I agree oldbootz.
Happiness is here again...for now that is
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.

(William Butler Yeats, A Dialogue of Self & Soul 2:68-72)
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby OscarMilde on Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:57 pm

Happiness is in the eye of the bong-holder..
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby redvox on Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:19 am

Happiness is in the eye of the bong-holder..

ha ha ha ha.....now that is true happiness.. :respect:
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Re: When is a person trully happy?

Postby Gruff on Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:48 pm

But I always get seem to get smoke in my eyes tho...ff by a tear or two. lol
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.

(William Butler Yeats, A Dialogue of Self & Soul 2:68-72)
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