Is Cannabis Holy Weed or Poison Ivy?

It’s high time we took a fresh look at cannabis law reform. Last month in Michigan the first ID cards were sent to those approved to use cannabis for medical reasons. Now it looks like Ohio is catching the ‘yellow fever’ and following suit. The evidence seems to suggest that controlled use of cannabis minimizes the symptoms and pain of Alzheimer’s, Lung, Breast and Brain cancer, and HIV/Aids. It may not be a silver bullet, but it seems to help.

So how do we balance marijuana's effectiveness with any potential moral issues? Leaving aside the issue of whether individuals have a right to buy/ sell and use ‘wacky terbacky’, the central question is whether regulated doses of ‘giggle weed’ can put a little giggle back into the lives of suffering people.

This is a spiritual issue as it gets to the heart of what is essential; being right or treating people right. It is usually debated as a matter of right and wrong as prescribed in the Bible. Yet the Bible says nothing clear about the use of ‘hippie lettuce’.

Presumably hemp was among the ‘useful herbs’ created on the third day and deemed good, but you would have to be stoned to use Genesis 1 as evidence for or against cannabis use. Presumably when Isaiah saw the Lord ‘high and lifted up’, he wasn’t referring to God in a purple haze. Its possible that Ezekiel was referring to cannabis as his ‘special plant’, “I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land.” But whether the Israelites got the munchies or not doesn’t seem particularly relevant to today’s conversation about cannabis reform.

Broadening out the discussion across many traditions, it seems that cannabis has a long and divine history. Indra’s favorite drink was made from hemp. Shiva commanded that the word “bhangi” must be chanted repeatedly during sowing, weeding and harvesting of the holy plant. Some suggest that the early Christians used hemp oil for medicinal, baptismal and ritual purposes. Mystics of many stripes have used cannabis to deepen their spiritual consciousness.

Cannabis may have some spiritual benefit in terms of heightened experience of the mysteries of life. Personally, I have no health reason to use cannabis, and I prefer inner forms of spiritual awareness to drug induced mysticism. But this is also beyond the discussion about medicinal marijuana.

The spiritual issue is one of principle rather than precedent. It’s less relevant whether religious people have used cannabis in the past, and more relevant to respond with compassion in the present context.

Where does compassion reside in the balance between prohibition and regulation? Where is the compassionate balance between zero tolerance and harm minimization? The spiritual journey asks you to consider if you expect the world to be perfect, and how flexible you are in the face of imperfection. The Christian story of God becoming flesh and blood is a powerful affirmation of the fallible human journey. The story of Jesus is full of instances where he opted for harm minimization over zero tolerance.
For instance, think of the woman caught in adultery and Jesus turning the tables on her judges who wanted her stoned.

There is something more important than being right, and that is treating people right. There is a standard more satisfying than perfection, and that is loving what is unfolding. There is something more liberating than adhering to impossible standards of perfection and harsh judgment, and that is forgiveness. There is something more compassionate and realistic in the case of medical marijuana than zero tolerance and that is harm minimization.

What do you think? Should you be able to smoke a joint to ease the pain in your joints without ending up in the joint? Should you be able to ‘puff the magic dragon’ to quench the inner dragons without ending up in a land called “now you’re not free”?

Who's At The Table?

The Dalai Lama once said, "Religion is like going out to dinner with friends. Everyone may order something different, but you can still sit at the same table." If only people of different religions could sit peacefully at the same table. More often than not, inter religious relationships are like a cafeteria food fight; walking on eggshells and ending in custard.

Jesus used an open table as a way to shatter the boundaries that divide people. All people were welcome at the table; no hierarchy, no judgment, no hard and fast etiquette. In fact, at Jesus’ table the least prominent guests sat at the head of the table. It is tragic that in so much religion, the table (communion table) has become the focus of exclusion.

It used to be a major achievement for Baptists and Anglicans to sit at the same table. Eventually, we got used to that. Then the challenge was to have Protestants and Catholics at the same table. We grew to accept that. Then the challenge was to have Christians and Muslims at the same table. We’re still working on that one. So much more is possible.

I sat at a table last weekend that had an open spirit. It was a panel for a local interfaith celebration. I was pleased to sit alongside open minded Christian, Muslim and Bahai representatives. I was thrilled to be joined at the table also by a Native American and a Shaman. This was a table laid with love, set with spirit, as Jesus and all the great sages would want it.

This is the sort of table I want to eat at. I haven’t generally attended local clergy prayer meetings because the menu is too limited, and the invitation list is too restrictive. I want to mix with people who share universal values, a common spirit, no matter what the religious background. This includes humanists, free thinkers, evolutionists, yoginis, parents, scientists, ordinary people on a common human journey.

I want those whose thoughts and spirits are evolving independent of religion to be prominent at the table. I want census forms and questionnaires to include boxes for those who are spiritual but not religious. I want to tell someone I’ve just met that I am spiritual but not religious, and see them smile knowingly. Is society ready to recognize the legitimacy of non religious voices?

In England, the Office of National Statistic didn’t know what to do with the nearly 400,000 people who claimed Jediism on their census in 2001. Therefore they were recorded as “atheist”. To a Jedi (yes, a la Star Wars), the Force is not God in the religious sense of a supernatural being, but a spiritual presence or power. The Force is within everyone. The Jedi code is a combination of martial arts principles of balance and timing, and Joseph Campbell’s notions of myth and guidance. Jediism is not my preferred meal choice, but I want to be at the table with Jediis and take in the aroma of their wisdom.

The time has come to legitimize spiritual but not religious beliefs and values. The shining examples of this emerging movement are leading the way with their philanthropy and decency. There is nothing to fear. For those who continue to find sustenance and motivation from within religion, churches will continue to provide that opportunity and census forms will continue to collect their statistics.

For those of us who don’t find sustenance and motivation from within religion, its time to stand up and be counted, in both meanings of the phrase. The God of your understanding is visible in your life and this integrity connects you with millions of others around the world. Your beliefs and values are valid, and you are far from alone.

May the Force be with you, a Force so inspiring and intimate that it fills your life with meaning and direction. May the Force be with you, a Force so authentic and compassionate that your life is a beacon of hope for the world. You are part of something greater than yourself. This Greater Force, by whatever name, is an irresistible force for love and kindness in the world.

Let me offer Master Jedi, Luke Skywalker, the last words-

"Right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark most of the time, they are illusions that prevent us from perceiving the greater reality. The Jedi have learned to distance themselves from these illusions, to seek the truth beneath the words."

Can you be Good without God?

Let’s say that an unnamed Miss California contestant suffers a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. While on the operating table, she has a near death experience. Seeing God, she asks,
'Is my time up?'

God says, 'No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days to live.'

Upon recovery, the woman decides to stay in the hospital and celebrate her survival. She has a face-lift, lip enhancement, boob job, lipo-suction, and tummy tuck.

After her last operation, she is released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she is hit and killed by a car.

Arriving in front of God, she demands, 'I thought you said I had another 40 years? Why didn't you pull me out of the path of the car?'

God replies,

'I’m sorry, but I didn't even recognize you!'

In this new era of spiritual freedom, people in and out of church are doing free form surgery on their beliefs. You might call them faith lifts. When I was in Melbourne last year, a church displayed a sign out front that said, “The Ten Commandments- One of the Most Negative Documents Ever Written.”

This raises some questions about what happens to morality, if it’s not anchored in specific, unchanging religious commandments. Are people doing their own morality enhancements?

The classic question asked is, “Can you be good without God?” It’s a meaningless question because there are as many definitions of good and God as there are people. Maybe a more fruitful question is, “Is God recognizable in your life and actions?”

Maybe that would avoid a lot of the religious rivalry that takes place over whose God is more powerful. More importantly, it might offer a motivation for morality that is intrinsic and impassioned. A person’s morality would not be measured by her interpretation of ancient revelations of God, such as whether God ordained marriage to be exclusively between a man and a woman. Rather, a person’s morality would be measured by the quality of his life and character.

Is society less moral without religion?
There is no evidence for a loss of morality in an increasingly spiritual but not religious world. On the contrary, there are some extraordinary examples of non religious morality. Who would question the philanthropy of well known agnostics like Bill Gates, George Soros and Warren Buffet? It’s hard to fault the morality of well known non religious leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Bono. The integrity of significant spiritual but not religious teachers such as Marianne Williamson and Deepak Chopra is unquestioned.

When I think of these leaders, I see in them what I aspire to as divine qualities. I recognize God in their service and generosity.

Can You be Good With God?

There are some problems with grounding morality in an ancient, fixed understanding of God.

1. Which God are you talking about?
For example, the God portrayed in the Old Testament seems quite amoral. Richard Dawkins wrote about this God in The God Delusion- “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

2. Morality is rarely black and white.
“God said it. I believe it. That settles it” is a bumper sticker mantra for those who find absolute moral standards in the Bible. If the Bible clashes with your own common sense, you are still required to follow its commandments by faith. The problem is that the Bible has contradictory moral statements. If you have time and interest compare Exodus 3;21-22 where robbery is commanded, and Leviticus 19;13 where robbery is forbidden. There are many such examples; lying, slavery and killing to name a few.

Life isn’t a Garden of Eden, and life’s choices are rarely signposted like the tree of good and evil. The genius of the Bible is not an absolute moral code, but the situational ethic of the Sermon on the Mount, where you are encouraged to act in a way that is most loving in your context.

Belief or Experience?

Recently I spoke to a group of College students about belief in God. The focus of their syllabus had been morality, so that was where the conversation veered. Many in the group felt that belief in God was a necessity for moral grounding. I stated my case that the choice as to whether you believe in God or not may be a philosophical cul-de-sac. The more fruitful conversation might be around experience rather than belief.

Consider the example of a red rose. On one extreme, someone might believe a red rose is literally love. On the other extreme, someone might believe a red rose is not love, and therefore love does not exist! The massive grey zone in between evokes an experience of the red rose as part of the artistry of love. The experience of beauty fills you with wonder, and it draws out of you a powerful urge to share love with others. This is what many people speak of as an experience of God.

Where is Morality Grounded?

The church has often tried to scare the hell out of people. The focus doesn’t have to be fear based. It can be grounded in love and service. Maybe this is why many religious traditions measure morality by how you treat you “neighbor”. The neighbor is intentionally undefined. It is whoever enters your consciousness in a given moment. Images such as neighbor and red rose offer a grounding for morality as they draw your attention away from self and onto a beauty that passes complete rational understanding. You might even say that you recognize what many call God in your neighbor or a red rose.

I heard a story that captures beautifully the notion of grounding morality in a common focus. On a beach in the Galapagos Islands there is a barrel which has been used as a mailbox for over a century, originally by sailors and now by tourists. Many who visit the beach leave an addressed post card or letter in the barrel, and then take mail out of the barrel to send on a gradual journey to its destination.

The mail system has its own unwritten code of decency. There are no rules posted on the barrel, no mail box commandments. There are no punishments for non participation and no material rewards for participation. Most tourists will never return to the mailbox, and no one is checking anyway. The mailbox survives, decade after decade, and almost every visitor leaves a letter and forwards another one. The mailbox succeeds because it appeals to people’s sense of global community. People WANT to participate in the process and feel a part of it. It is the idea of the mailbox which creates the desire for cooperation.

Maybe that’s part of what it means to recognize God; whether in neighbor or mailbox, red rose or philanthropic foundation. You recognize within yourself a desire to be part of something larger than yourself. You recognize in something outside of yourself a wonderful connection.

So as you continue on your own process of cosmetic belief surgery, how will you measure your new look? Is God recognizable in your life and actions? As Mary Oliver said, “You don’t have to be good. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” May you know the incredible joy of loving and serving your neighbor, and may your life be one of the ways that the world becomes a more decent place.

Spring Spirituality

Something spring-like is stirring in the soul of the world. Something too powerful to ignore is awakening within many of us like spring buds. The lingering sun, the shifting shadows, the smell of soil; the emerging spirit within us is stretching and reaching for new adventures.

The calling of my ministry has long been to bring the power of the here and now into the church; to bridge the Sunday/ Monday gap and talk about real life issues in relevant language. Now I find my energies shifting subtly, to direct people to their own spiritual awakening wherever they are in the here and now.

This will be spiritual community unlike anything the world has seen before; connecting across ideological and geographic boundaries, forming profound partnerships and giving a legitimate voice to the millions of spiritual but not religious folk in the world.

Religion is still important for many, and I affirm religion that fosters healing in the world. That will continue and I’m glad for it. However many people now look outside of religion to have their spirits nurtured.

The message will be the same; one global community coming together around life affirming shared values, using religious language where it helps to affirm the wonder and beauty of human existence.

Many of you have traveled with me for 5 or 6 years now, from one hemisphere to another. We have laughed, cried and wrestled together with issues and possibilities. I am incredibly grateful for you and what you have added to my life with your comments and questions, stories and inspirations. Our online community has grown in number and spirit, as we have engaged the issues of the day. You have affirmed my teaching, encouraged my best, and accepted my unfolding journey.

Now we move into a new phase in our collective evolution. Its newness will bring incredible opportunities for even more authentic expression. Things are about to get very interesting! You will not want to miss a moment of the next season of this spiritual journey.

Will you answer the call to awaken and live with freedom and passion? Spring beckons, the horizon entices. This powerful vision is calling for your best humanity.

Affirmations as Spiritual Practice

The Eighteenth Century Hasidic master, Tzemech Tzedek, was once asked to pray for a seriously ill person. He said to the family, “Tracht gut vet zain gut,” which in Yiddish means “Think good, and it will be good.” What a bold statement! Do you think your thoughts are so powerful that they create your reality?

At the very least, your thoughts shape the way you experience your reality. You carry your thoughts around like a blue-colored lens, wondering why everything looks blue. Everything is not blue. It’s just the only option you’re giving yourself. Once you realize your lens is tainting your experience, you can make a choice. You can take them off, clean them up, put a new lens in, or you can choose to continue seeing only blue.

The human brain is like a set of eye glasses. It sees what it sees, and puts it all through a meaning making grid. It works with your current set of beliefs, your current lens. You often don’t even realize that your glasses are cracked and warped. It’s as if you have been wearing the same pair since early childhood; unquestioned and familiar. You make choices that confirm these beliefs, or else you make meaning of events that make the beliefs seem true to you. For example, so and so ignored me, and that proves that I am unlovable. The incredible irony is that you accept suffering and unhappiness in your life just to confirm that your beliefs are true. You attract the people and circumstances that verify your entrenched beliefs. You become your own self fulfilling prophecy.

The principle of using affirmations is that you can retrain your brain to see experience through the lens of your choice. First, you can notice yourself lapsing into entrenched beliefs. Observe it and realize that these old thoughts aren’t serving you. Then as you find yourself thinking self limiting thoughts, you can choose different thoughts. You can practice filling your mind with positive affirmations, or at least not adding in unnecessary negative thoughts. Then you can enjoy the benefits of these new beliefs. For example, this person ignored me and I don’t know why, so I won’t take it personally. Or, this situation is difficult therefore I am becoming stronger and wiser. So I wont choose to make it mean that life is against me.

Woody Allen once ended a stand up routine by saying, "I wish I could think of a positive thought to leave you with. Will you take two negative thoughts instead?"

What do you do with persistent negative thoughts? Think positive thoughts about them. Love them into submission. Affirmations are not about suppression. You will have negative thoughts. Some of them will be poor visibility from a cracked lens. Some of them will be appropriate and be the exact motivation you need to make a change in your life. Affirm even the negative thoughts, and the difference will become clear. Which thoughts are serving you, and which thoughts are locking you into self destructive patterns?

Affirmations are about deciding which animal you want to feed. Feed the thoughts that serve you. Practice thoughts that help you to see the world with greater love and possibility. Affirmations offer you a way to state reality as if it’s already true and in so doing you reset your brain’s meaning making machine. Set the intention that you are lovable and loved, that your life has purpose and that you are a servant of kindness and so it will be. Affirmations help you to believe in your amazing essence and bring many of your deepest intentions into reality. They bring enormous positive change into your life.

Don’t expect your brain to rewire over night, but saying affirmations out loud and several times will make a difference over time. They will come to mind at surprising moments through the day. The more natural the affirmation feels for you, the more aligned you are to the intention.

Comedian Ronnie Shakes once said, “I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought, “What the hell good would that do?”

Affirmations will do you a world of good and it will do the world a world of good. It will be part of cleaning up a life time of dirty glasses and the affirmations will spread like a seed of kindness to heal a hurting world. The world needs love, not more judgment. Begin with yourself.

Kindness is Your Easter Miracle

There are many ways to think about the Easter story. It’s less important whether you interpret the events literally or not and more important how you apply the lessons of Easter to your life.

Here’s one way to think of Easter, one among many no doubt.

The time leading up to Easter is a week of introspection, turning inward and reflecting on what is essential to you. You often do this by looking back at where you have come from, and remembering the threads of Life that lead you to this time. It may be more or less than a week of introspection. For some people, winter is a season of introspection. For some, the four weeks leading up to Easter are weeks of introspection.

Good Friday is a choice, after a time of struggle, to leave behind all that is squashing your spirit; that includes drama chasing, self pity and the false delusion of surface things. While introspection can be painful, the choice to put your self limiting beliefs to death is easy because you realize that they are not serving you or making you happier. In fact, when you roll away the stone, there’s nothing there. In the light of awareness, your old beliefs are seen for what they are; that is, just changing ideas with no substance.

Easter is the dawn of a new day. An enormous weight is lifted and you are ready to start afresh by ruthlessly prioritizing what is essential to you. In the Northern Hemisphere, Easter coincides (roughly) with warmer weather and less layers. This, along with the reappearance of colors and new growth, becomes a beautiful metaphor for the new version of you that is ready to shine and be of service to the world.

Here is an Easter exercise to clarify what is essential to you-

Don’t answer the questions. Just read straight through, and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

The point is, while these things are significant, they haven’t impacted your life in any essential way.

Here's another quiz.

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with

The point here is that the people who make the biggest difference in your life are the ones you connect with personally, often in the most ordinary ways.

The new you, the awakened you, now effortlessly manifests kindness in the world. You make the biggest difference in the lives of others just by being there with and for people. You don’t have to perform miracles or break records. Just be there. You don’t have to rise from the dead. The most important thing you ever do will be to make another person’s life gentler, even in one moment. Your kindness is the greatest Easter miracle.

Rising Above Negativity

There is a Maya Angelou poem called “Still I Rise”. It’s my favorite Easter poem, full of sassy optimism. It rings of a woman who has stared her demons in the face, and said “enough. I choose freedom.” It is dripping with life experience. It’s as if she is saying to her detractors, “I may be disappointing your low expectations, and your self limiting beliefs, but get over it. I’m here and I’m done with fear.”

This poem first struck a chord with me in Easter of 2001. It felt like I had been forced out of my hometown (Sydney) because the church didn’t know what to do with me. It felt like an ending. I was full of bitterness and defeat. Easter 2001 was my first Easter at St Matthew in the City in Auckland. It was the first Easter I stared my own bitterness in the face, like a heavy stone. I made the choice to roll the stone away from my ego’s tomb and create my own future. This was no ending. This was an incredible beginning that eight years later is still beginning. Applying the Easter story as a lesson in personal transformation was the icing on the cake of my own liberation. Still I Rise was my mantra.

Last Sunday, as well as reporting back on my trip to the UK, I began an Easter reflection. I used the image of rising above perceived endings, standing on the mound of your life experiences and using them as a spring board for new possibilities. I have experienced this liberation. You can as well. May you know freedom this Easter; freedom from regret and bitterness. May you rise above endings to gain the vision necessary to greet a new moment. Every perceived letdown is an opportunity in disguise. Every imagined disappointment is a new possibility awaiting your attention. Everything you think you have lost eventually turns up in a different guise. Every ending morphs into a wondrous new beginning.

Make a decision this Easter. Enough with the self inflicted drama and suffering. Enough with trying to live down to other people’s expectations. This Easter, you rise. This Easter, you rise. This Easter, you rise.

Here is the whole Angelou poem for inspiration- even better, watch Maya read it.


Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Maya Angelou