The
work is taken from a book called Hemp
Lifeline
to the Future By Chris Conrad, Creative Xpressions publications Los
Angeles,
California.
The reason hemp was made illegal was
in order
to sell oil instead of using the oil from hemp seeds.
No-one has ever found any detrimental
effects
from the herb.
There is a control mechanism in
place, as part
of the veil of illusion which centres around this very point.
Once the veil of illusion is lifted
on this
subject,
the answers and reality are blatantly obvious.
Problems in understanding are usually
caused
by inexperienced users who classify a normal garden herb along with the
manufactured evil drugs, due to a quirk of the law.
In 1894, the British Raj Commission made a study of hemp drugs in Indian belief systems, and reported that.......
"Yogis... take deep draughts of bhang that they may centre their thoughts on the eternal ... By the help of bhang, ascetics pass days without food or drink. The supporting power of bhang has brought many a Hindu family safe through the miseries of famine. To forbid, or even seriously restrict use of so holy and gracious a herb as hemp would cause widespread suffering, deep seated anger and annoyance to the large bands of worshipped ascetics...
Obviously the British Commission were not aware that ascetics do not have deep seated anger, but nevertheless, their observations are reasonably accurate.
The Hindu and the
Holy Herb
One
of the fundamental texts of Hinduism, the Rig Veda, from 1500 BC, says
"Drug plants preceded even the gods by three ages." Cannabis was a gift
from the gods, who spilled a drop of nectar onto the earth. Where it
touched
the ground, the hemp plant sprouted.(2). Hindus believe that Lord Shiva
brought the plant down from the Himalayas for human use and enjoyment.
One day, Shiva went off by himself in the fields. The shade of a tall
cannabis
plant brought him comfort and refuge from the blazing sun. He tasted
its
leaves and felt so refreshed that he adopted it as his favourite food,
hence the title: "Lord of Bhang."(3) Cannabis is also called Indrica,
the
food of the God Indra. The Supreme Lord Krishna at one point in the
Bhagavad-gita,
"I am the Healing Herb."(4)
In late Vedic India, cannabis was
used in fire
ceremonies for good fortune as well as for healing. The fourth book of
the Vedas, the last accepted into the orthodox religion, written around
1400 BC, calls it one of the "five kingdoms of herbs ... which release
anxiety.
(2)Schultes,
Richard & hofmann,
Albert. Over
de Planten der Goden. Spectrum Boek.Utrecht Holland. 1983 p.92
(3)Abel, E. Marihuana: The first
12,000 years.
Plenum Press. NY NY. 1980 p.17
(4)Bhagavad-gita Ch 9:16
