Getting "High"

One thing I wish I knew when I was in college is that putting toxic substances into your body is only one way to get high and, by far, the most painful.

Being "spiritual" sounds pretty dull to most people. In most religious traditions, it involved going off to live in a nunnery or maybe be a celibate priest. One was supposed to renounce earthly pleasures.

Modern spirituality has a different approach, however, and does not require anyone to ignore the fact that part of our existence is physical (the other part being energetic). In fact, I would say success is measured, in this system, by how much fun you are having.

I realize how completely hilarious this sounds, but experiencing regular meditation and spiritual growth is as close to living on the edge as you can get. Ha! There, I said it.

Think of a time when your mind was totally blown open. Maybe you read a book that blew the lid off your previously-held beliefs. Or you watched an incredible documentary. Or you traveled to another country and saw a completely different way to live. These examples are pale comparisons to what it is like to experience the metaphysical-and magical-reality we all live in. Meditating can be like learning half a book of new and incredible information without having to read, and a book that might never have been written, at that. For the rest of the day, things come into your mind from nowhere, making you laugh out loud or stop dead in your tracks.

Drugs and alcohol are toys compared to what every human has the capacity to experience. I have, more than once, gotten to work, having meditated right before I left (I work at a restaurant) and found it difficult to get oriented to even do my job.

Spiritual people love getting high! We've just noticed that messing up your body and going through the side effects of hangovers, comedowns, depression, exhaustion, sleep interruptions, bad dreams, regrets, and bar tabs is a terribly ineffective way to do so.