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This post is a specialization of Does lord Shiva smoke Chillum?

  • Does most of the sadhus smoke Chillum or just a few of them?
  • Does the proportion of consumers increases (among the sadhus)?
  • Is "too much smoking Chillum" (as some sadhus seem do) not good spiritually?

Some sadhus do not look like very high level spiritual men, but just junkies. In my opinion, such an increase is not at all good for the Hindu spirituality. It looks like (in some sense) the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest‌​, it's a disaster !!!

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Sebastien Palcoux
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  • In Does lord Shiva smoke Chillum?, some claim that Shiva himself smokes Chillum. It's written in which scriptures?
    Does Shiva also advice some men (as sadhus) to do the same? How often?     – Sebastien Palcoux Aug 25 '14 at 12:31
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    Different people require different diagnoses. One person has a headache, the doctor prescribes aspirin. But to the other person, the doctor prescribes better sleep. Similarly depending on the individual, his/her spiritual journey takes them to varying paths. There is no ONE CORRECT path, nor is there ONE MEDICINE for all ailments. One sadhu may smoke chillum, for that is his prescibed path, another sadhu may not, for that is his path. They all try to follw inner guidance. – Sai Aug 26 '14 at 18:52
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    @Sai: I'm agree with you. The chillum (with a strictly controlled consumption) should be the path of a little proportion of sadhus, unfortunately this proportion seems alarmingly increasing, so that I ask myself if most of these smoking sadhus are authentic spiritual men or just "drug addict tramps". – Sebastien Palcoux Aug 26 '14 at 19:31
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    you may be right in some sense, but it must be clarified that one cannot gauge the spirituality of a sadhu by whether or not they smokes chillum or by any other external behavior. – Sai Aug 26 '14 at 19:59
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    @Sai: Yes of course! Note that I recognize Nisargadatta Maharaj as a Great Master, whereas he smoked (not chillum but) beedies a lot (he also sold them). – Sebastien Palcoux Aug 27 '14 at 16:35

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To answer it I will take care of root words used in your question, CHILLUM, BAD HABIT, SADHU.

Chillum : Chillum is actually a pipe, it is not what you inhale, the content you inhaling matters, if you are taking higher concentration of nicotine in your chillum it will effect your mental health.You can understand through this. The content used in chillum is not high nicotine, and a chillum has 'Safi', which is water containing cloth, and removes any kind of containment from the air drawn from it, making it least harmful in health cases.

Sadhu : Someone who does not belong to the word, or according to him, the world does not belongs to him. He considers world a 'MAYA', a conclave of mass, between him and god. He doesn't acquire a family, relatives even no colleagues. He is friendly to natures every being, even to the stone.

Bad Habit : This needs more description to understand. Two questions, Is pissing in bathroom a bad habit? Is pissing on neighbors door a bad habit?, you are right second one is. But if I ask, Is Pissing a bad habit? No of course not, until and unless you are doing it at a wrong place.

But these questions doesn't clarify anything. A doing is a bad habit, if it confirms a loss, or ill treatment, or anything bad to other. Here 'Other' needs to be understood, the other make the thing good or bad. Mostly parents would not like there child to have nicotine, why? he will not be able to study nor be able to do work.

So if Sadhu is having a chillum, is he doing any harm to anyone, no, he doesn't have a family, colleagues to shout for him, neither the chillum harms the environment in any way.

In short NO, chillum is not considered as a bad habit for Sadhus.

Furthermore : .The sadhus are not attached to the world so the worldly thing like chillum does not affect their chitta in the way it does to a man who is a chain smoker,that's why if they do it in nishkam(detached) way to relax their mind that's why it is not bad habit. If even a sadhu does the same by involving into or is affected by not getting it by a specific time period, then that is sakama(totally involved) way and it is a bad habit, or we can say sin which creates bad samskars on chitta.

Mr. K
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  • @KCloud: about "some sadhus do not look high level spiritual men but just junkies", I'm not satisfied by the answers given on this point, in the link about Shiva. Nowadays some sadhus look homeless junkies, it's not at all good for Hinduism, isn't it? – Sebastien Palcoux Aug 26 '14 at 13:15
  • @SébastienPalcoux, I don't think they are homeless, they follow 'VASUDAIVA KUTAMBAKAM', and for them world is family. Secondly, its a perception of how someone receives things, a negative person will never go with you whatever point you put on it. And I can't understand how's its bad for Hinduism, actually bad for Hinduism is we have started fighting nature, whereas Hinduism teaches to walk parallel to nature. We are the one who have lost the actual perception of Hinduism, and if we start understanding, I'm sure whoever things them junkies will start respecting them again. – Mr. K Aug 26 '14 at 13:39
  • @KCloud: I don't think that the sadhus are drug addict tramps, but some of them look like that, it's not the same thing, do you understand? It's bad for Hinduism because they don't look like what they are. In addition, if the proportion of smoking sadhus increase, then there will have more and more real drug addict tramps among the sadhus, and it's not a good evolution, unfortunately... – Sebastien Palcoux Aug 26 '14 at 13:57
  • @Mr.K: Someone becoming a sadhu, this does not mean that he has realized the state of complete detachment (Vairāgya), he just aspires to this state and becoming a sadhu is the beginning of the path, so he does not yet realized it, and so he can be affected (by chillum or anything else) as everyone. – Sebastien Palcoux Aug 28 '14 at 20:52
  • @SébastienPalcoux, firstly you cannot become a Sadhu, unless and untill, you have abandoned this world mentally. I haven't written complete detachment, I have written in the way of detachment. Yes chillum can effect negatively, but the use of ingredients are so low in nicotine, that they do not alter the stable mind. – Mr. K Aug 29 '14 at 07:37
  • @Mr.K: the problem with the cannabis is not the nicotine but the psychological dependence to the psychotropic effect. In addition there is an alteration of the vigilance and some works shows that, in excess, it damages the brain. – Sebastien Palcoux Aug 29 '14 at 17:55
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    @SébastienPalcoux, you talked about bad habit, not bad health, remember, this body is just 'Mitti', limited, sadhu's don't care of the body, they know they are soul, and the body is their cloth, do you ever take tension when your cloth get torn while you doing your job. I also wrote what is bad habit, its not diluting their nature, neither creating problems for others. – Mr. K Aug 29 '14 at 19:46
  • @Mr.K: your last comment is relevant for the brain aspect, but not for the psychological dependence. A Sadhu beginner is not completely detached, so yes of course the chillum affects his 'chitta', it develops 'rāga' for the psychotropic effect of the cannabis. – Sebastien Palcoux Aug 29 '14 at 20:45