My first post topic: the taboo

Hello everyone, i am merely a guest and a rather new one at that. i have just signed up today actually.

I wouldn't know where to post something like this so i just went for open discussion.
This is my question.

What is the Jedi stance on Intoxicants, stimulants, and holistic.
example Alcohol, Tabaco, and Marijuana.

I am 19 and I've had my experiences with all 3.
alcohol is my least favorite though i do enjoy it casually at times. but i have seen what it does to me and others when you drink to much. you become belligerent, dumb, and aggressive.
Tabaco or Cigarettes i know are bad for your health and its a habit id like to kick. other then the link to cancer i don't see the harm if someone chooses to use it as their outlet for stress.
Marijuana is the one i find the most question with. it is a curious thing and I myself would be considered an average or above average consumer. it relaxes the body and the mind and some even use it as a Meditation aid. For myself it puts helps to ease my mind and puts me in a state where id like to meditate. Yet the health effect have yet to be discovered. there have been no definitive proof that it does or doesn't cause damage to your lungs. some say it causes major psychological changes others say it cures cancer

I ask this because i stumbled upon this website and i find the Teachings and lessons here to be something id like to work on as well as meditation being something id like to experiment with.

I would like to know what the people of this community feel about these things.

With Respect

Oren Heller

Do what you like, harm none on the way.

I don't think there is a "the Jedi stance on" anything, really... There are some things the Temple stands for and you can read up on those on the front page and related pages like the FAQ or the Doctrine, but even on those most members, let alone visiting Jedi or plain visitors often are quite divided.

On a Jedi stance, as long as you're not endangering anyone, the choice is yours.

On a personal note, as long as you don't become dependent or in trouble with these things, I don't see that there's anything wrong. Tobacco and drugs have been used in many religious ceremonies, although I personally don't use them for various reasons

With regard to one's personal habits, I suppose I'm going to go with Proteus on this one. That said...

It would be worth it to discuss addiction. Not with the intention of coming up with a party line or a policy, but I would be interested in perspectives on addiction and this Jedi Path.

I don't imagine too many people here would take exception with the odd beer or glass of wine. Relatively few of us do not drink socially, I suspect. Alcoholism is a different matter. I am only using alcohol as an example. One can be addicted to all manner of things, I understand.

Could one, though, live a Jedi life while an active addict?

Here, the term active addict is distinct from addict in recovery. I realize that something like the Jedi Life has not been described or agreed upon by everyone. I ask you to be flexible on that, as quibbling over it steals focus from the real question. Just speak from your own place, define what you need to, and avoid the endless splitting of hairs.

If yes, why? If no, what are the limits? Could you be a smoker and a Jedi? I imagine all the smokers here would give a resounding "YES!"

I'd be interested in the exploration of this. I'm going to go consider my response. If this needs to be bumped to another thread, that's cool.

As it were, Jedi tend to have all sorts of bad habits ...

... but some really bad habits does not impede one from being a really good Jedi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSwSh0GLr84

I suggest looking at the most recent research and deciding for yourself. I personally don't have a problem using any of those under the right circumstances, but I know myself and don't keep any of them in the house. I don't like the idea of ALWAYS doing any of them, though. I need to perform at my best and these things rarely help me do that in my day to day life.


Defeating my addictions has become a source of great strength, but that simple statement implies I have addictions to defeat. I consider myself a Jedi, so, yes you can be addicted to something and still be a good Jedi.

Assuming one agrees I am a good Jedi.

with all due respect most of the feedback youre getting is incomplete

a jedi is expected to be responsible for themself in an intelligent, informed, and mature way

the feedback youve recieved so far is a result of the communities understanding that at the heart of things, none of us is in a posotion to dictate what anyone else is SUPPOSED to do

but i will tell you that if you have not made the connection between what you DO and what you KNOW then you are still in the proccess of LEARNING to be a Jedi

a Jedi is one who has made the commitent to live that connection

EDIT

i want to add that first and foremost
JEDI is a standard that you apply to yourself

my way of explaining it is to say that being a jedi means applying the standard of excellence to everything that one does

this is a relationship with exists soley within the individual jedi and does not really involve anyone else, although we utize each others experience and perspective so that we may nurture that internal relationship

also i want to say to be wary of anyone who tells you pursue anything less than excellence

or who seems to demand that you agree with their interpretation of what excellence is
beyond the general conditons that it be well INformed and and well PERformed

if you know what you are doing and you do it well then you have achieved the basic standard of excellence

lastly i want to suggest that is ok to not yet be excellent;
there is no shame in aiming for the stars and only reaching the clouds

but it is a shame for a falcon to choose to walk
because it is afraid that it may somehow fall

Cabur Senaar wrote: With regard to one's personal habits, I suppose I'm going to go with Proteus on this one. That said...

It would be worth it to discuss addiction. Not with the intention of coming up with a party line or a policy, but I would be interested in perspectives on addiction and this Jedi Path.

I don't imagine too many people here would take exception with the odd beer or glass of wine. Relatively few of us do not drink socially, I suspect. Alcoholism is a different matter. I am only using alcohol as an example. One can be addicted to all manner of things, I understand.

Could one, though, live a Jedi life while an active addict?

Here, the term active addict is distinct from addict in recovery. I realize that something like the Jedi Life has not been described or agreed upon by everyone. I ask you to be flexible on that, as quibbling over it steals focus from the real question. Just speak from your own place, define what you need to, and avoid the endless splitting of hairs.

If yes, why? If no, what are the limits? Could you be a smoker and a Jedi? I imagine all the smokers here would give a resounding "YES!"

I'd be interested in the exploration of this. I'm going to go consider my response. If this needs to be bumped to another thread, that's cool.

in the recovery world the accepted and taught belife is that an addict is always an addict or that a pickle cant go back to being a cucumber

i used to be a pretty serious alcoholic
it put me behind bars and then on the streets
where i found heroin
what fun that was
eventually i supplanted my heron addiction with methamphetamene

i was homeless for years

what i can tell you is that no matter what anyone else says there is a big difference between having wisdom and being wise

ive always had wisdom
i can find wisdom floating around in th air
i can look up right now and make a wise and insightful lesson based on the first random object that i see

but i am wise only to the extent that my behavior reflects my wisdom

i will say in case youre wondring that i no longer drink (i cant even force myself to drink anymore) or do drugs or smoke cigarettes (i was a pack a day- when i lived on the street i would buy $1.00 rolling papers and take the butts out of ashtrays to roll my own

i could put a filter in it when i rolled it)

but i am not a drug addict any more

i have made the connection between what i know and what i do

--mostly

lets say ive made the genuine commitment to that connection and my life is begining to reflect that commitment