From cacti to cannabis...

A Sadhu enjoys smoking his chillum

The drug which is most widely used for religious and spiritual purposes must be cannabis. With its many names ranging from weed, pot, grass, puff, ganja and hash to hashish, herb, skunk, draw and many more! It can be inhaled by smoking, ground down and drank or consumed with food.

One image of cannabis which has gained prominence in recent years is that of the 'charas' or 'ganja' smoking Hindu sadhu (holyman).  In actuality there are many different groups and schools of sadhus and not all of them use cannabis. However most sadhus who do use cannabis are from the Shaivate school of belief which is centred upon the worship of and devotion to the god Shiva. There are many stories linking Lord Shiva to cannabis which it is said he used to induce long trance like states of meditation called ‘samadhi’. There are some people who argue that the ‘soma’ mentioned in the Vedas actually refers to cannabis though this belief isn’t widely promoted by sadhus themselves.

The sadhus who smoke or ingest cannabis are not simply taking the drug to gain a high, the smoking of the chillum pipe or the milky almond drink laced with cannabis that they inhale or consume are a tool for achieving a form of liberation which requires them to take on the very form and habits of the deity they worship which is called ‘saroopya mukti'. This takes drug taking to another level; this takes the consumption of the drug beyond the realms of side effects and takes it onto emulating the qualities of the divine.

Shiva preparing 'Bhang'

Despite being deeply rooted in the history and culture of South Asia the smoking of cannabis has faced challenges in recent years with sadhus in Nepal facing arrest if they were caught selling cannabis (although smoking for religious reasons was not prohibited).

Another culture, another drug, another dimension...