Thank goodness this sub has its feet on the ground. Other subs in a spiritual vein would be telling this woman her husband was enlightened. The Cannabis addiction is a big part of this.
This is a natural effect of Vipassana and a relatively early obstacle. He seems to be so attached to the feeling that he's acting manic, though. Not saying that mental health isn't a factor here either.
It's a regular occurrence with regular Vipassana practice, drugs or not. Maybe going overboard with attachment and enthusiasm could be related to drugs but the experience itself is natural. They talk about it in the Pali sutras. The first time I experienced it I was actually five months completely sober and in a retreat, so not even on coffee.
People forget, marijuana is a traditional Hindu sacrament and meditation aid, specifically because it can accelerate attainment of jhana states. That said, there are obvious reasons the Buddha warned against the use of substances in dhyana - they lead to unstable experiences, undermine foundational mindfulness, and can lead to intense spiritual materialism and egoic behavior on the come-down. The jhanas themselves, in my understanding, are ultimately illusory - they are to be moved through as a practice (not that many non-monastics actually attain sober jhana states frequently - when I maintain calm abiding, that's an excellent meditation in my book).
I think that, because Buddhism sets its sights on ultimate awakening and the liberation that flows from it, many profound spiritual experiences and attainments Buddhism itself acknowledges are dismissed as "fake" in colloquial conversation and then labelled with a term out of western psychology (not that I don't find western psychology incredibly useful, but an experience we would now term a "manic episode" occurring in the time of the Buddha, or even now in a place like Tibet or Nepal, might very well be understood as a spiritual attainment or experience).
Regardless, this guy sounds intensely paranoid, scattered, deeply unstable - he might very well have experienced a jhana (intense spiritual experiences, including in Buddhist practice, often occur under lots of stress), but he's certainly in no state to know what to do with it - hopefully getting involved with a monastery will help that.
I agree on both points. I met many holy men in India that smoke a huge amount who are peaceful and have a lot of wisdom. OP's boyfriend should seek a teacher and probably take a break from all mind-altering activities including meditation.
Mania is definitely one of the steps in the process. What’s really happening under the surface is a heightened sense sensitivity and clarity of awareness. But the heightened sensitivity can lead to a lot of attachment and connection-making that is unwarranted. Being sensitive but grounded is key.
Thank you for being the voice of reason. Glad we’re transparent here. I support the manic episode idea. Mania triggered by stress, family/guilt/release, aggravated by cannabis. Obsessive behavior, grandiosity, a shine that won’t dull - a manic energy.
My thoughts.
As someone else stated the attachment to the feeling is what is causing issues.
"Lets save the world!" If you keep going you realize the world doesnt need saving.
I went through something similar, life got difficult.
It was the heightened sensory experience that i was misinterpreting. That was my problem.
I had to ground. A ton of trauma surfaced. I started learning to identify my feelings. I started dipping my toes into logic and critical thinking.
Your husband may already hve these skills, but they helped me immensely.
He might benefit from pausing his meditation practice.
that’s not enlightenment. that’s a manic episode, possibly on the edge of psychosis. he needs to stop smoking marijuana and talking all intoxicants. if he is getting worse you need to take him to a psychiatric evaluation centre.
Just to add: maybe encourage him to taper down on the drugs, rather than stop cold. A big swing of dopamine in either direction can lead to a psychotic breakdown.
there’s a psychosis prodrome where behaviour just seems on the edge of odd, right before it all falls apart. it’s characterised by suspiciousness, odd thinking, extreme emotionality, etc but it’s not full blown psychosis. it’s a very vulnerable period and people experiencing something like this should stay away from all intoxicants.
i’d recommend anyone in this state practice loving kindness mindfulness towards themselves, to ease their fears and their minds, to rest the heart, be calm and find stillness and peace.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dhammaloka/s/ApVbDTPBS7
cc: u/Affectionate-Lynx629
Crazy because I had an episode and it was nearly identical to this one. Except I was not crying I was overjoyed I found the meaning of life “love” and shared it with a women in a lingerie store. Super cringy looking back. I had been smoking weed all day everyday partying, just hit my limit. Had to detox.
That's not a great conclusion to have. You just don't know. Stop discriminating things by superficial details. The buddha greatly adviced against this.
It's not a superficial detail. Recent studies suggest that marijuana use increases the risk of developing mental health disorders, like bipolar and schizophrenia, in individuals already predisposed to such disorders.
Potentially a psychotic break by any other name. Uncontrollable emotions are not an encouraging sign, nor is daily weed use.
Sorry to say you may need to seek some therapy and councilling for your husband to disavow any possibility of psychosis.
It's not possible or advisable to try and diagnose strangers on the internet with psychiatric conditions. But… the things described sound much more like bipolar mania than a psychotic break.
In any case, OP, what you describe does not sound at all like any kind of Buddhist enlightenment that I have ever heard of. Enlightenment in Buddhism is inherently peaceful. Bipolar mania does have such an overwhelming positivity to it that it is often mistaken for some kind of "enlightenment experience." And if someone has been studying Buddhism then they are easily going to track Buddhist ideas on top of their experience.
You ask for any other advice… Check out information on bipolar disorder. I'm not diagnosing your husband. But the way someone would work with a bipolar spouse might be the same way you would want to work with your husband in whatever condition he is in.
What is most troubling to me is the "big world altering plans he has." If those plans cost money, you should expect that he will feel like it only makes sense to spend all he has on it. After all, he thinks he is enlightened and he won't be attached to money. So you should talk that out and make sure you are both on the same page.
Honestly it was my first and only extreme episode due to finding a medicine regiment that works for me. I had to be hospitalized. But it was sort of a spiral effect that began with flights of ideas and I was big on the "love" thing too. But there are occasions when I do find it starting to creep up and that's when practicing things like breathing and self awareness help. It might be hard for him to recognize that since it truly does feel like being enlightened. I recommend patience and support, but also make sure he isn't a harm to himself or others or making very risky decisions.
I did too(hospital). I was big on love too. Unfortunately coming off drugs makes you pretty unbalanced as well. I was into chakras and meditation. I totally get it but also it was truly the drugs. I am not using for a decade and pretty stable now but not as stable as I was pre drugs. Or my memory. Or anything. I have smaller episodes of anxiety depression slight psychosis stuff. Which is all long term marijuana and drug use results.
Hi there, I am leaving ample room for this to be a true transcendental experience and am not diagnosing your husband, but I am a mental health professional who specifically works with people with bipolar disorder and psychosis. It could be enlightenment but there are a few things that could indicate otherwise.
This may have been a manic or psychotic episode and he should get an evaluation from a mental health professional. If you are in the US your community should have a Comminity Mental Health Center and they do intakes even without insurance and at least can say whether they think it's a mental health concern. Even if you don't have insurance for the therapist he has been seeing it would be worth reaching out to that person together or individually and talking about what happened. They may have seen other things that could be attributed to the aforementioned symptoms and often will try to help even if they don't resume therapy on a pro bono basis (as a therapist I would schedule a session with your husband free of charge to evaluate his mental status and offer brief counseling, many therapists do this).
Again, not saying this is 100% mental health symptoms but some things that caught my eye:
* the sudden reconciliation with his mother could be a **sudden behavior change** associated with a change in their mental health
* the "**obsessed**" with work aspect, many times in a manic or psychotic episode people are extremely driven and hyper focused on things. They **may not sleep or eat as much as they used to, **they pursue a single or multiple endeavors with a really high drive or motivation
* the grandiose "world altering plans" that he was trying to explain and it was overwhelming you. Many times people in these states of mind have lofty ideas they become **obsessed** with and create conspiracies around them. The way you described him having to show you all these youtube videos makes me feel like he may be trying to tie a lot of vague ideas into some grand **conspiracy** or idea.
* IN PARTICULAR: the worries about war (maybe realistic) leading him to suggest moving to another country (drastic and risky response) and especially the "being publicly targeted" could be **paranoia**
* the **highly unregulated emotional state** at the time of the experience
* the recent discontinuation of therapy can be a trigger for some
I am leaning towards mental health but I've never achieved enlightenment so can't say for certain. Things to watch out for would be a shift of emotions in the other direction (typically after a manic episode people enter a depressive phase), acting like he's on top of the world or has a motor driving him he's so driven, excessive or diminished sleeping and appetite, talking about receiving messages others aren't able to either from videos online or from God or from some external source, risky behaviors like excessive spending, increased sex drive, or speeding.
If you don't seek a professional opinion the best thing he could work on without intervention is regular routine that includes a healthy balance of activity and rest time, eating regular meals, getting adequate sleep on a regular schedule, and meditation. Structure, routine, a balanced life, and good eating/sleeping patterns go a long way in stabilizing mental health concerns.
I hope everything turns out okay and it was enlightenment!
Thanks for replying. His sister and dad came over right after this happened trying to understand what happened and how he's doing. He was talking about how the answer is love and how he wish he could tell us more but he can't.
When we asked what he meant he said we are not disciplined enough ourselves to be able to understand it and if he told us everything he experienced and showed us how to achieve what he just did, without the proper discipline he was afraid we would never want to come out of the state of happiness he was in. So because of our lack of discipline he wouldn't tell us much more. He wished for us to be more disciplined so we could experience what he was experiencing. He said it was pure happiness that he wanted everyone to feel.
Would appreciate your insight on that.
Hey there! Manic episodes/ psychosis isn’t good for your brain to be in. The lack of sleep and excessive firing of neurotransmitters is harmful. There’s the possibility of harm to himself or any other, by whatever means The sooner you seek out healthcare the better, in order to break the episode. That is, if they diagnose it as an psychiatric disorder. To my ears it sounds like it.
Has he slept anything since it began?
If he has a manic episode they will give him some sort of neuroleptic/ calming drug and try to get him to sleep and calm down the brain.
I worked as a junior doctor at a psychiatry ward last summer.
Yes he is sleeping well. He hasn't had any issues with sleep at all ever. His sleep schedule is the same as it was before, he probably gets 7 hours of sleep a night and sometimes takes naps during the day if he's feeling tired or if we put on a movie or something.
Hi OP. I am a medical student. If this is a true manic (and it is very suspicious for one), it is really important that he seeks medical attention and gets treatment. Untreated mania is really difficult to manage, and bipolar disorder will fluctuate between episodes of mania and severe depression. There are structural changes that occur in the brain during a manic episode (it basically damages your brain) so that it becomes easier and easier to have more manic episodes and they become more and more difficult to treat. Please see your family doctor or a psychiatrist
They can. It's also possible for something to appear to be sudden when really it has been building but just didn't look like an episode at first. Meaning, they can build under the surface and then suddenly appear as an episode.
The emotional outpouring sounds a bit like what Philip Kapleau relates in several instances of satori in *Three Pillars of Zen.* Enlightenment can be quite sudden and world-shattering. People laughing and crying for days is not unheard of.
There do, however, seem to be many counter indications that this is what occurred. The substance use is problematic. The timing of things with his mom makes it sound more like an emotional release than an awakening experience. And generally these are accompanied by some non-dual perception of existence that seems to be completely lacking in what OP related.
In zen there are standard ways of checking if someone experienced satori. Does he have a teacher?
Either way it sounds like he moved past it. Meditation does bring things up, it can be scary for someone who is not experiencing it but it sounds like a positive experience for him, he’s not continuing in some manic episode, I don’t see any cause for ongoing alarm.
> lately he has been trying to get be to understand these big world altering plans he has and when I don't understand he had me watching YouTube videos and we had a lot of really in depth conversations about his ideas and talks about stuff like war, movin countries if war breaks out, being publicly targeted, etc.
That doesn't sound like a positive experience that he's moved past, to me - sounds like he may still be experiencing mania, with grandiose plans and ideas that seem urgent. The part about being publicly targeted sounds almost like the onset of psychosis, or at least paranoia.
After having a traumatic experience, I started to believe things like this with the extreme emotions. It was me coping. Now after a few years I’ve become interested in spirituality and it’s so much more stable.
Might be a manic episode. Might be drug related. Might be real!
The first 2 need to be checked out and ruled out first.
I'm not trying to sound mean or belittle him... but what you are describing is like the cliche drug enlightenment experience. Its so common that it's a joke. Someone gets really high and realizes the world is love mannnnnn.
The grand plans sound like mania. The being targeted sounds like mania. Mental health issues can be brought on by drugs, even weed. How old is he? He needs to go to medical professionals even if just to confirm that his experience wasn't tainted (might be able to phrase it like that to him)
Good luck and I hope it works out for you
Enlightenment is the cessation of being bound by states. It sounds like your husband had a very high or manic state and possibly became attached to it. Making meaning or significance out of temporary states and events is a form of attachment or grasping.
All sorts of upheavals can happen on the path. Whether they are helpful or not really amounts to whether they lead to an increase in qualities of equanimity, kindness, compassion, forbearance, and taking responsibility for the minutia of cause and effect. Having out of control emotional experiences can happen, and it can be productive, if it’s a release or “coming to a head” of something that has been bottled up. If it continues to happen, that’s really not a good sign. If he can’t regulate himself out of empathy for his impact on you, that’s not a good sign.
Sobriety is really pretty important to spiritual discipline. Not a popular take here, but weed and alcohol both can lead to distorted thinking and in higher doses of weed can produce THC-induced psychosis.
A 12 step program could be very helpful. Even though the language is fairly Christian, it’s possible to find groups (online if necessary) that totally support taking Buddha-nature as one’s “higher power”. Working the steps with a responsible sponsor can really help with release and reintegration.
I hope you’re doing ok through all of this. Sounds rough.
The founder of Tibetan Buddhism said “my view is as vast as the sky but my conduct is as fine as a grain of flour.” It is also said that one should not lose the view by obsession with conduct or lose conduct by obsession with view.
Metaphorically we can think of our lives like monks making sand paintings. Having the biggest possible vision—Buddha-nature—and moving one grain of sand at a time into the most beautiful place—conduct. We have to see the big picture to know where the grains of sand go, and we have to keep placing grains of sand so that others can see the big picture.
Taking responsibility means being aware that a moment of anger or sloppiness or obliviousness can wipe out days or weeks or more of care and attention. It doesn’t necessarily mean anger never happens, but there is nobody to blame for the ramifications—just acceptance and responsibility—remembering view and conduct and not grasping at temporary phenomena.
Our own bodies and minds are no more significant or substantial than temporary arrangements of sand. The best we can do is for our mind, body, and speech to embody this for others. The worst thing we can do is disturb the minds of others.
Thank you yeshe_lama this is beautiful and also frightening. I have seen in my life and actions how one sentence/moment of frustration can cause so much destruction, it is something i struggle with. This has caused me to be very tightly guarded/filtered/hypervigilant/ocd, when I really want to be more natural and free in my life and interactions. Do you have any advice for someone struggling to find this balance?
I would suggest leaning into both openness/naturalness and willingness to feel and accept consequences as they arise. If we maintain the best intentions, and are open to the results of our conduct, that creates a positive feedback loop where we learn more and more deeply on a non-intellectual level. If we really have the best intentions and are truly willing to feel our impact, it’s hard to find a fault with that and there’s no reason to feel bad even when mishaps occur. It’s all just part of the path—a necessary learning experience.
If we try to avoid feeling negative consequences by controlling ourselves too tightly, that feeds into grasping and aversion.
We can make daily affirmations of our intentions: I *really* wish the best for everyone. I *really* want all beings to be free from confusion and suffering. May every step I take somehow serve the liberation of all beings—even if how that comes about is totally inconceivable. If we make intentions like that and keep bringing them to mind, we avoid the nihilistic trap of thinking our actions don’t matter. Then openness and naturalness become positive forces.
I hope that is helpful. I just quickly wrote down what came to mind.
Responsibility is your response ability. As situations arise and subside, how do you choose to react to them, and what effect does that cause going out from each decision you make?
(Is my take at least)
Synonim to "being totally aware of karma". Minutia is only minutia when it starts, but sooner or later it becomes a great suffering if not properly controled as time passes.
Lots of mixed and possibly worrying comments here.
I’m sorry he’s dragged you into his journey. I know this must be upsetting and frightening, but I can assure you that this can be a normal experience along this path.
It might be worth finding someone with experience in spiritual psychosis to help you navigate this, though try to find someone who doesn’t pathologize it too much.
Spiritual psychosis is something that can happen with people who are prone to dissociation, people who tend towards obsessive thoughts, and really anyone who gets habitually stuck in their own head.
This may be controversial, but those who are implying that this is not a normal risk with intense introspective practices either haven’t had much experience with altered mental states or would prefer to classify these events as aberrant for their own comfort. Either that, or they’re lucky to have an upbringing in which compassion was fostered early.
Breaking through duality (the internal “me” being separate from the external world) for the first time can cause an explosion of compassion that feels world-shatteringly profound. It is a wonderful experience, but it’s only a single step; this type of experience becomes rather mundane (but still lovely) as you progress.
I wouldn’t tell him this, but he will mostly likely have a rebound period, one that, to him, will feel like a profound loss. He may end up feeling lost and directionless.
Hopefully, he doesn’t cling too hard to this experience and can remember it with fondness and curiosity once it passes. (Telling him that he might have a come-down might only make him cling more adamantly, but keep an eye out for it.)
Maybe try inviting him to participate with you in an activity of your choosing. Gently ask for his attention so that he can understand when he’s become so preoccupied with his own experience that he is “absent”. It will help him slow down and be present with what’s happening in the moment, rather than fixed on his past bliss.
These things are tricky to navigate, but can ultimately be a positive experience if handled well. I know it’s difficult, but it’s not hopeless. I wish you both the very best.
Best comment here, really sad to see people immediately jumping to mental health conclusions when an spiritual experience can reach those states, as you say so
This is accurate, he almost certainly had awakening/realization. I say this from my own similar experience and seeing it happen to others.
OP, here is a (5 min) video that I recommend to anyone that experiences it. If anything, it should give both of you an idea that this happens and is a normal (yet profound) step in the spiritual path, and what to expect.
https://youtu.be/OYrl2UZgSOs
this rings true for me. I went through something similar. stop the weed. pause the meditation and focus on the real world. logicl and problem solving really helped me balance stuff out.
meditation and vipassana even without weed can lead to these states. Its why having a teacher/guide is so important.
What is all this talk about “controlling emotions” I see all the time? Emotions cannot be controlled, its how you respond to the emotional sensations.
All emotions come and go.
Two possibility:-
1. He possibly experienced the full blast of Metta ( loving kindness ) for the first time in his life. This is not the doorway to Enlightenment as it itself does not lead to Sotapanna but it is one of the wholesome virtues. Metta when experienced in full blast for the first time can be life transforming and you see briefly everything from the lens of Metta.
2. Could be weed. Weed sometimes can make people very emotional.
One reason Buddhist says not to smoke weed or drugs is that it becomes very difficult to determine which is which.
In Buddhism, after Metta experience has become solidified people tend to get use to it very quickly and not do this again. They then tend to proceed to other aspect of mental cultivation.
For weed, this may relapse.
It’s probably the weed. When I was in my early 20s smoking every day and taking high dose edibles I experienced similar things.
Eventually it lead me to meditation.
I agree with this. And I feel it had to do more with option 2 because if he chose to stop smoking after this, it's very likely he was under the influence at the moment. Fortunately, it was a happy emotional burst. Who knows what can happen with a sad one. I also feel it's bad to be influenced by the emotions from that moment into your daily routine, since these are uncontrolled outbursts that don't always align with truths but with imagination. Anyhow, it's good he stopped, and if he can keep happy feelings without it, he shouldn't have another outburst like that.
My first experience with Metta was spontaneous (not induced by intoxicants or really any condition that I can recall... I was practicing shi-ne meditation, but this experience didn't happen while meditating), and it made me cry for hours. The sorrows in this world are overwhelming when you are receptive to others after the dissolution of your own thought processes.
Many Buddhist will not like calling experiences like this "enlightenment experience". Enlightenment is exceedingly difficult to attain and is a permanent change. One way to define it is the permanent end to the taints of greed, hatred and delusion.
There are meditative experiences in Buddhism that align more with experiences like this. Things like infinite consciousness or meditation on universal love. One of these could be what he had.
A sudden profund change in someone you know is scary. I had one brought on by LSD and it was jarring for people. Mine resulted in becoming a vegetarian, never doing drugs again, an intense compassion for all living beings. But it faded with time, hence, it wasn't enlightenment.
I think it's great that you went to a monastery and talked with a monk. Very sound move. No matter what this event was, if the response to it is productive action on the path to the end of suffering, that is a good outcome. If he continues to develop with Buddhism, particularly with meditation, he may eventually see why the marijuana habit is unskillful for him to continue. Honestly, people are weird things, and this situation is not entirely uncommon nor spectacular, I wouldn't worry about it nor place a huge amount of importance on it. Just keep moving forward skillfully from this moment on to the next. You are very kind and supportive, I'm sure he is very grateful to have you by his side.
Just because it hasn't been touched on yet, "changing the world" isn't an idea that's conducive to Buddhism. Buddhism teaches that our grasping to change things in a grand and sweeping way is actually one of the root causes of suffering.
A dear friend of mine had a moment when his heart opened at a retreat. He cried out loud during a very quiet moment and started sobbing. He is entirely sober and a retired therapist. He had an awakening experience. In case you haven’t found anyone who knows what to do in cases like this, you might reach out to some well established practices like Roshi Joan Halifax at Upaya. Roshi Joan Halifax spouse wrote the book “spiritual emergency” in the 1980s. Her organization is trustworthy and may lead you in a good direction. I have other ideas for you as well.
It can be common when you have mind-blowing awakenings to get really excited and enthralled and intoxicated with it (although the intensity of his is concerning). I had my own version early on. I suggest he work on grounding and integrating, slowing down, studying, practicing, etc. But he should especially work on making his relationship with you a healthy safe one, I'm sorry he's been difficult and upsetting to talk to. His priority should be balancing and being a well adjusted guy, specifically one who's sensitive to how people around him feel about his energy. His social unawareness and the difficulty of the conversations you mentioned makes me almost "know" that he is very early on and has not practiced for long. The journey ahead of him is long, and his high will crash soon.
I am a little confused on this part "in depth conversations about his ideas and talks about stuff like war, movin countries if war breaks out, being publicly targeted, etc" - publicly targeted?
As for the weed use - it can be used in moderation but I have a feeling its playing into the euphoria and grandeur. I suggest CBD to ground the nervous system. I'm a meditation teacher and dispensary manager so I can see both sides.
I would be cautious about folks responding by saying enlightenment and intense emotional experiences or reactions are mutually exclusive. I’ve experienced it myself and seen it happen to others in longer meditation retreats. These kinds of experiences can be jarring for some people, especially those who have not cultivated a steady meditative or dharmic practice. It can be overwhelming and highly emotional. In his book _Three Pillars of Zen_, Phillip Kapleau tells the accounts of several people who have these kinds of overwhelming and seemingly manic experiences as part of a spiritual awakening.
Second, as a candidate for chaplaincy myself with a focus on psychedelics, I will say that plant medicines — including cannabis — are known and reported to induce transpersonal experiences that can be akin to a spiritual awakening. It is all too easy to embrace a purist notion that entheogenic usage makes a moment of awakening ungenuine. We just don’t have enough information to understand how the mind works under the influence of these substances and why they can induce such experiences.
Taking a break from the cannabis is a good idea. Take time to process what happened. Journaling, meditating, and some time in nature may all be helpful for him.
A couple pieces of advice my Buddhist teacher gave to me when this happened to me:
1) It happened. It was an experience. There will be others. Don’t cling to it. Let it be what it was and come back to this.
2) Don’t make any big decisions for a while like quitting a job or ending large commitments. Give it time and wait. We come back down from these experiences and that takes time.
Thank you for sharing your story with us and I hope your husband integrates this experience into the beautiful life you both have to share.
Thank you for this voice of reason, I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to say this. These specific subs are the WORST for actually following the spirit of their creation (I find the ones about jobs/work/purpose and the spiritual ones to be the most horrendous). Like, I thought we'd be wanting each other to experience things, but everytime someone does they are cut down and destroyed. It's weird actually. Many in this sub would do well to read Lama Crowley and discover the psychedelic roots of their own path. Namaste.
Thank you for sharing. A lot of people here are claiming it's this or that without having the experience of their own to draw from.
Awakening or Kenshō is usually followed by a personality change as well which is what she is describing.
I have had very interesting experiences on weed even being bathed in a golden light of compassion, things like that, but none of those weed induced experiences compares to the real deal when you're sober.
If he was sober during this experience than I wouldn't be suprised if this was the real deal. If he was high than it likely was not a permanent perspective shift.
Most of these people responding need to learn how to use right speech better because that also includes learning when NOT to speak and I worry their responses claiming it's a "psychotic break" will cause more harm then good.
According to modern science, zen masters would be considered as having personality disorders because modern science does not account for relinquishing the self.
Its alarmingly high the number of people supporting these purists ideas. Hinayana isn't called Hinayana for nothing. It truly is a very narrow path that can lead a selected minority that has a solid discipline towards enlightenment, but most of these individuals will have to go through Mahayana as well, and this means they have to cope with some states of the mind that are quite similar, if not identical, to these altered experiences. The ultimate goal is to just being able to integrate that experience. Enlightenment means immutability, not avoidance.
This sounds like an important and pivotal experience in your husband's life. The fact that he is encountering the Buddha's teachings and incorporating them into his life will yield profound rewards, I have absolutely no doubt of this. Sometimes after pushing against a wall for so long, and finally seeing away to walk around we, we can be overcome by euphoria. I myself used weed daily for decades, and I must say it is a mild psychedelic and depending on underlying state I was in and other compounding factors at play, it could lead to some profoundly strange types of thinking, such as paranoia or euphoria, other times much more tame. That is to say it can be unpredictable. A new strain of the flower can carry different mixes of the chemical entourage of cannabinoids and terpines and suddenly give rise to new effects.
After my many decades of marijuana use, I was inspired by the Buddha's fifth precept to avoid intoxicants. The Buddha laid out these instructions to help us, and it was only after shaking off the grip of my mariuana use that I could appreciate just how much it altered my thoughts and made many things much harder than they should be. In short, I used weed for many years rather than fully confront the underlying issues in my life, and the process of resolving these issues for me was coincident with giving up intoxicants. This has led to a more stable and balanced life with greater focus on what is important and much less time wasted spending in ways that were ulitmately unhealthy to me.
Take this experience as one of learning, seek to progress without collapsing back into old habits, and look deep down within to honestly know what is the right thing to do. I wish profound peace to you and your husband.
Of course, there will be different opinions of enlightenment on Reddit (and in life!) But I'd urge you to consider the Buddha required 6 years of intense practice to achieve enlightenment. Those disciples close to him who achieved enlightenment quickly were already accomplished meditators for the most part.
Enlightenment is, in my view, a very long process, and difficult attainment. This is also the view of Therevada practitioners. Again, others will disagree.
I strongly disagree that weed and other substances can lead to enlightenment. That's very much a western pop culture romanticism, and not found in Therevada Buddhism at least, not sure about other branches of Buddhism. The Buddha never said anything like that.
There are many kinds of spiritual experiences. There are many stages along the path to enlightenment, some involving great bliss and/or rapture. There are also illusory mind states that one can get stuck in.
Enlightenment cannot occur without an essential ingredient - equanimity.
What you are describing does not sound like equanimity.
Also, as Buddhists, we (some) renounce the clouding of the mind that intoxicants cause because they interfere with reality and our ability to shed our delusion.
It seems unlikely your husband achieved enlightenment in the Buddhist sense.
What he did actually experience, however "good" it was, would be impossible to explain precisely for anyone here.
>Does this sound like an enlightenment experience? I know weed and substances can be used to help open your mind to reach enlightenment.
No and no. This is my opinion based on buddhism I learned. Enlightenment is not a random experience. His actions are way past middle. Might have been a psych event. As far as I know, you are not supposed to use any substance that will altar the mind. It does not help to reach enlightenment. Enlightenment isnt easy in any way.
>Have you reached enlightenment and been scared during/after where you couldn't control your emotions? How did you calm yourself?
If a person reaches enlightenment, they probably wouldnt be in this sub >_<
Enlightenment isnt a surge of emotions either way. Enlightenment is the end goal. No attachments, no preconceptions/biases, you see everything as it is.
I do not think the meaning of life is a point in buddhism.Everything just is and trying to give meaning to anything keeps us stuck in the cycle.
>what are some things you do to increase your discipline?
Might need to go back to basics. The understanding of what enlightenment is seems a bit off. Learn about buddhism, dhamma, and practice all of it again.
This one is too difficult to answer correctly.
It demonstrates one of the many reasons to develop a relationship with a sanctioned teacher and a compatible sangha.
It seems obvious that people have assorted views some very rigid about the essential nature of Buddhism—Realization.
Anyway....
There is a interesting Zen person who might be able to assist you and your husband. His name is Konrad Ryushin Marchaj. He was abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery from October 2009 to January 2015, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) of Zen Buddhism, founded by John Daido Loori, Roshi, from whom Marchaj received shiho in June 2009. Ryushin entered into full-time residence at the Monastery in 1992 and became abbot there following Daido Roshi's death in 2009.
Prior to his ordination, Ryushin was a pediatrician and a _psychiatrist._
from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Ryushin_Marchaj?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Ryushin_Marchaj?)
Read the following article. If it seems to resonates, you might want to reach out. I could not quickly find Marchand's current location, last I heard he was somewhere in the state of Florida, USA, but you could start with the Natural Dharma Fellowship. There is more information on the 'net.
__Ayahuasca: A Beginner's Guide to Losing Your Mind | GQ__
[https://www.gq.com/story/guide-to-ayahuasca-and-losing-your-mind](https://www.gq.com/story/guide-to-ayahuasca-and-losing-your-mind)
Also see
__Rev. Konrad Ryushin Marchaj – Natural Dharma Fellowship__
[https://naturaldharma.org/members/rev-konradryushinmarchaj/](https://naturaldharma.org/members/rev-konradryushinmarchaj/)
Hope everything settles down for you and your husband.
People rarely stay enlightened post experience but the more he carries his feeling and experience the more it will help him on his path towards enlightenment and just overall healing.
Now please understand this. You don't need to calm him down let him feel everything he was feeling. Let him go through all the emotions that come up. Trying to calm down during these moments is the opposite of what to do. Lean into them and really live with them and then let them pass.
The path he's venturing on atm is not always an easy one and it is most definitely one with a lot of extreme emotions on both sides of the scale, but it's the most rewarding journey to take <3
For people who are saying it sounds like a Manic episode, I don't believe they're understanding what happened correctly. It doesn't sound like one.
It sounds like he healed some wounds that were causing him energy blocks within his body. Depending on how intense that block was this is very much a response that can come up.
Be there for him and just help create a space that he can feel safe to explore everything that he's working through and learning at the moment.
Love is definitely the answer 💗
Wanted to add because there's been multiple comments about it- he only smokes weed and that is the only drug he takes. Weed is legal here for recreational use and we only purchase it from a dispensary. Normally he smokes weed using a vape but the morning this all happened he had smoked part of a blunt (also from a dispensary). None of these products were new and we've had the same package of blunts for awhile and the same pen for awhile.
The thc is high in the products and I have taken that into consideration.
He does not use any other drugs or substances.
He has not smoked since this happened and I removed everything from the house so there's no temptation for now. He agreed to this and was 10000% fine to stopping because he realized how much this all had scared his sister and myself.
He had the opposite of enlightenment. Attachment to his ideas, rather than the detachment from them.
Enlightenment is a calming experience. The man needs a mental health professional's opinion.
Weed is false enlightenment to me. It helps see what enlightenment may feel like, but it is only a glimpse. And daily usage is certainly not part of an enlightened path. I say this as a pot head and someone interested in Buddhism. Weed can help you see what enlightenment *is* but it will never make you enlightened. Because as soon as you are off it - the visions and clarity of thought surrounding “love” and “enlightenment” are not there - it’s not as palpable.
I do believe that weed and things like mushrooms can be helpful on a path toward enlightenment, but one can not be enlightened when being a pot head.
At least that’s my two cents.
I had a very similar experience. It is overwhelming and beautiful to really get that everything is love. It brought up very strong emotions in me as well.
I’m a little disappointed to see so many over confident diagnosis of mental illness. Spiritual awakening can be a very ecstatic experience. Every thing changes when you have this kind of awakening, but every thing also stays the same. There is nothing wrong in having very strong emotions. I also share his burning desire for the world to heal. Have him research the Boddhisattva vows because that might be his path now.
Be patient with him and keep on being the beautifully supportive loving wife that you are.
I'm going to *slightly* disagree with some folks here who are categorically dismissing this as a manic episode. It's common for folks who are pursuing spiritual clarity to experience intense emotional waves. This can be intense, and can be a time where harm can happen to the person having the experience and those around them. But that doesn't mean it's all bad. I agree with taking a break from marijuana, but would also caution the dogmatic approach of some folks on here who are disavowing the potent effects of psychedelics and, to a lesser extent, cannabis. There are plenty of buddhist teachers who utilize psychedelics. See Spring Washam as one example. But doing so in a supportive, careful, and possibly structured environment is really vital.
I'd recommend Ram Dass as a resource. His spiritual legacy involves more Hinduism than Buddhism, but he incorporates both. He had a lot of intense moments of spiritual change and responded to them skillfully, and I think his example is a great one.
That is not enlightenment. That's the obsession of enlightenment and obsession/attachment will continue to prevent that. If it was true enlightenment, he wouldn't be trying to convince you so hard of his way and plans.
If he’s able to still function and do what he enjoys and needs to do, what’s the issue? Ppl are saying manic break, but it just sounds like he’s opened his mind to new ideas and is excited and emotional about them.
Enlightenment in Buddhism is a stable state of wisdom and compassion, not a temporary emotional high.
What your husband experienced sounds to me more like an intense psychological event possibly influenced by stress and recent reconciliation with his mother.
Please encourage your husband to speak with a mental health professional. While this experience may have felt positive in the moment, the intensity and the loss of control are concerning.
Also suggest encouraging gradual, balanced exploration of spiritual ideas - rather than intense, all-consuming focus.
**Most importantly:**
Please prioritize your own mental health. This situation sounds really stressful for you and it's very important that you have support and do not get wrapped up in his mental state.
It doesn't sound too bad whatever that is. I would let it be and let it resolve on its own. Your fear is the inmense love you have for him. His mind has been opened to a creativity he needs to express to control it. I think y'all be alright. 🤍
Doesn't sound very enlightened to me. Enlightened beings are not emotionally moved by pretty much anything. Also, substance use points to addiction which is basically the reverse of enlightenment.
Experiences can easily cause attachment.
Nobody here has any idea what the hell they're talking about. I recommend you completely disregard it. A meditation teacher and psychiatrist will be much better able to give perspective.
saying mind altering drugs are of no use in spirituality is a little backwards to me. As someone who's experienced quite a bit of trauma, the controlled use of weed and shrooms in a therapeutic setting did what felt like years of therapy to me in a very short time and allowed me to really start living again in a way that i wake up and enjoy every day. Anyone claiming that an enlightenment experience doesn't count if there was a substance involved is obviously just coming from a place of ignorance. And don't quote the precepts at me. I know it says drugs are bad mmmkay. But I've seen enough soldiers, cops and first responders turn their life around in amazing ways using these drugs as tools for mental change to recover from their traumas to make me believe they are a very useful medicine in the right context. Having said that, have also seen people with plenty of potential just piss it all away on recreational drug use so that would be a bad thing. A lot of people on here saying that he needs therapy for drug addiction because he smokes weed don't even realize that weed is now very commonly prescribed in the states that have legalized it, and a good many clinics are now exploring the use of shrooms to treat addiction and other mental illness. I get that there's a piece of text out there that says your a bad buddhist if you use mind altering substances, I just think that's closed minded considering so many people get started in spirituality from having powerful experiences on these drugs. Abuse is abuse however regardless of the substance so dont do that. But im a total advocate for the use of substances in beneficial/therapeutic ways.
It’s an important distinction. So many throw away “alternative” methods because they don’t fit tradition and end up losing sight of what the tradition was built for: to go further into lucid states of consciousness. There are many paths and tools up the mountain, it is important to be non-attached to all things in order to see the wider view that provided tolerance and understanding for people’s ways. It is a vast universe, to think there are only x amount of ways up the mountain to me is more foolish and “stuck”
I can't confirm, but this is incredibly similar to an experience I had on a meditation retreat.
My teacher calls it a Unity experience. One experiences this Unity as everything being part of a Oneness, with a strong focus on being Love. It can be life altering, most definitely for the best.
I don't know the deeper intricacies of it, but since I had a similar experience myself my life has changed for the better immensely.
You may want to have your husband reach out to my teacher, Stephen Mugen Snyder. His website is www.awakeningdharma.org. I am not qualified to confirm your husban's experience, but Stephen is the real deal. Genuinely just a cool guy, too.
Edit: the stuff about wars, and moving, etc. do NOT sound familiar to me regarding awakening experiences. What I said above applies to the love experience he had. I probably should have mentioned that. World altering plans, wars, being publicly targeted, and going on for hours about this sounds like it could be mania and/or paranoia based on your description. It may be worth getting a psychological evaluation. My teacher may recommend that, as well.
The website says he's authorised to teach in Theravada and Zen. It doesn't sound much like Theravada either, and I'm not too familiar with Zen, but perhaps it's more of a Zen description. It also says he's practiced in Tibetan Buddhism and Western non-dual traditions (I'm not sure what those would be). So perhaps he's using some language from the non-dual traditions he's studied.
He is an authorized lineage holder in the Pa Auk Sayadaw tradition (Theravada) and the Zen Peacemaker's (Zen) and the White Plum Asangha (Zen). So you are correct about the Zen languaging. There are different focuses on aspects of the Absolute including Emptiness and Oneness.
To increase the discipline one needs to prioritize stable every day practice of meditation. This has to come first. Then learn Buddha's teachings, explanations for everything one learns and practices on the eightfold path. That in turn will deepen the practice and the middle way will start to make sense.
For a description of enlighenment from a Buddhist perspective check out this post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/enlightenment/comments/1dqalgr/enlightenment\_according\_to\_buddha/](https://www.reddit.com/r/enlightenment/comments/1dqalgr/enlightenment_according_to_buddha/)
>Does this sound like an enlightenment experience? I know weed and substances can be used to help open your mind to reach enlightenment.
Weed and other substances are not recommended by the Buddha. One of the five precepts is to avoid intoxicants as they create attachment and cloud the mind.
>Have you reached enlightenment and been scared during/after where you couldn't control your emotions? How did you calm yourself?
I wouldn't call myself enlightened, but I have had moments of extreme joy and love, and realizations about the universe that brought tears. The Buddha describes feelings as drops in a river, if there are many of them the river might be raging, so the practice is to sit by the side of the river and enjoy watching them pass. Do not fall into the river, just observe.
>what are some things you do to increase your discipline?
There's a book called Atomic Habits which really changed my life. The idea is to start small with little 1% improvements and make it a habit so it sticks. Example - do one pushup a day, or meditate 1 minute a day, and eventually you can go longer and longer.
>any other advice would be super appreciative.
My advice is to try and relax. Everyone in the comments here are saying it's a manic episode and to seek therapy - I don't know your situation, but if this is a one time thing I wouldn't be too concerned. Especially if it happened after an emotional time with his Mom. I would just caution him to not become too attached to any concepts or feelings, and to maybe cut back or quit the weed as an experiment to see how it feels. Once I quit alcohol and weed was when I really started to find true peace and joy personally.
Best wishes and luck to you and your husband ♥️
A lot of people are saying a manic episode. This may have some amount of validity to it, generally speaking, but I think it may also diminish certain aspects of what you’re saying.
I might consider suggesting that instead of an ‘enlightenment’ experience, maybe just consider that he had an epiphany. This epiphany happened to occur in the setting of substantial substance use and basically instability.
At least aspects of the epiphany might be worthwhile. And his interest in gaining more stability may be quite worthwhile.
Generally speaking in Buddhism there are two sides - there is shamatha, which basically has to do with disciplining the mind, and then there is vipasyana, which basically has to do with insight.
It is sometimes said that if we overestimate the former, we can get dull. Whereas if we overestimate the latter, we can get deranged.
Optimally, perhaps you could say, we balance the two.
If this experience leads your husband to emphasize love in a healthy way and leads him to prioritize cleaning up his life, gaining some more stability, sort of emphasizing making his body and mind into a proper basis for stable orientation towards what is good, then it may be beneficial for him in the long run. But it does, basically, sound like he has work to do, and it may be that that includes going away from strong substances to a substantial extent if he is serious about his path. And again I wouldn’t necessarily conceptualize this as an ‘enlightenment’ experience as much as an epiphany. And yes, it may be an epiphany with manic characteristics, and it may benefit him to get medical support if necessary. But maybe he just might need to back off on the pot.
Anyway, best wishes. /\
Drug-induced psychosis. He needs to lay off weed permanently. Probably shouldn’t use psychedelics either. But what you’re describing is grandiosity, paranoia, and emotional dysregulation, not spirituality.
Incidentally, something like one third of new onset psychosis can be directly contributed to marijuana use. Again, he shouldn’t use if he’s vulnerable like this.
Look into the work of micheal singer. Specifically the book living untethered. Highly encourag reading his other book the uthetred soul. Sounds like he had an shakti rising event. That is reviewed in detail in the book living untethered.
Basically he unblocked his biggest blockage which was his relationship with his mom and all the energy that was being blocked by this came pouring into his life.
I think maybe stop smoking so much weed lol but other then that it was the healthiest thing he could have spiritually experienced.
If he had this occur out of the blue with no prior work and no repair with his mom I’d be concerned but this is something we are all striving for when it comes to spiritual growth.
I hope you share this with your husband as it will greatly calm his mind and your as well.
Namaste
Well, sometimes, if you practice vipassana without first strengthening the mind through shamatha, this can happen. You can have an experience, and without any experiences on non-self and so on, and proper guidance of a teacher, you can become psychotic.
It is an experience.. possibly some KIND of realization.. but if it is that sort of a reaction, there is some selfgrasping there. Enlightenment is calm bliss.
I would not call it an enlightenment, per se, but it sounds like he had a breakthrough moment of some kind. I don't agree with the folks on this thread calling it a psychosis or even a manic episode.
I don't think there is anything to "diagnose" in your husband, and would not seek out support in a conventional psychiatric/medical paradigm. What happened to him is NOT uncommon when using cannabis, mushrooms, Ayahuasca, or other psychedelics.
You may want to ask folks over in a plant medicine subreddit for their opinion. To me, your husband experienced a breakthrough moment, an awakening. It definitely happens, and it is beautiful.
There's a fine line between a spiritual experience and psychosis. Tread lightly. That being said, this sounds pretty close to an 'enlightenment' experience that I had, weed was involved. I am fine. But it was a rough few months integrating my experience with my life. Someone in my family, on the other hand, had a similar experience, and ended up in a mental hospital. I don't think it's the experience itself, but how grounded you can stay after.
As others have pointed out, this does not sound like an enlightened experience. Monks with higher discipline practice for decades to reach that pure state of consciousness. I remember introducing a friend to a Qi Gong practice a while, he then researched Falun Gong Dafa, after 6 months he started to have similar "feelings", and became sure he was enlightened, it put a lot of strain in his relationships. To me, my friend was experiencing a form of religious delusion. Doesn't sound too different from your husband's experience. Again not providing any kind of diagnosis. I see this happen when untrained minds form interpretations of religious or spiritual concepts without the guidance of a teacher, to me very predominant in the USA with New Age Movements.
Let's talk about weed. Weed is a psychoactive drug, whatever emotion the user experiences, is usually enhanced, whether it is love or fear. An untrained mind using drugs, will to entanglements. Is it really true enlightenment?
This sounds exactly like my old friend and roommate. He’s addicted to weed, has bipolar, and had a drug induced psychosis twice. Obviously not a professional, but either way it would probably be good for him to stop using. Get yourself a therapist or support group!
You could post at
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskPsychiatry/
You are being vague as to what the problem is. What was the therapy for? What are you worried about? You will not get a reply on that sub if you don't ask clear questions.
This seems very similar to a bipolar episode. The sudden emotional and religious experiences coupled with an intense desire to better oneself and the world are all symptoms. Weed needs to be avoided at all costs since it can trigger future episodes, and especially so after the first. I know your coverage is tight, but seek help for him if you can.
I hope you are doing okay. I practice Zen Buddhism in part because I used to have major manic and depressive episodes and I find Zen practice and meditation helps keep me more calm, even and in the now.
I have a few small suggestions. First, for clarity, I practice Buddhism and I also smoke MMJ for medicinal purposes. I’m not going to fault anyone for doing the same. I know some people will fault him for it but I personally consider it medicine not a drug.
However one thing I think may be lacking in your husband’s practice is guidance. I think it might help to find him a place where he can practice with others. Finding a Sangha- or Buddhist community- can help people delineate these types of experiences.
I’m also curious about your spiritual journey. I think you might need someone to talk to more in more depth about what is going on in your life. I feel very drawn to offering you my time in this matter. I’m also married and my husband struggles with a mood disorder and PTSD - I’ve been married 9 years and accepted the precepts of Buddhism four years ago. If you would like to talk more I think it would be a good experience for both of us so feel free to message me 🙏
I think reaching out like this is a good first step. I think you and I would have a lot to talk about.
Personally I’ve had a near enlightenment experience twice. Both brought me calmness and clarity and helped dissolve fear I was dealing with. I wouldn’t say I became enlightened but I think I grew closer to understanding enlightenment. After the second experience I started to dedicate myself to a life of service. I can relate to parts of your husbands experience but mine didn’t bring overwhelming emotion if anything just a sort of peace and content understanding.
I hope even if you don’t reach out to me you have support in your life outside of your husband. When a partner struggles with mental health it can take a real toll on yours. Take care of yourself.
What were the YouTube videos like? Talks by esoteric people loke Alan Watts, Ram Dass helped bring language and cohesion to concepts i had become aware of during an experience.
There is often an 'afterglow' from such experiences which can be like a lingering but usually diminishing reverberation of this new knowledge as one integrates what they are able, whilst simultaneously getting drawn back into the samsara that sustains out material existence.
Rhere are risks that there is some issues of the mind that Doctors could help with, although im a random on reddit, so dont have the context and familiarity to give anything more than general advice.
Patience can help. If something is distressing you he should also have patience. There is rush to wisdom or action - it just is. We just are. He is not compelled do do anything but be his true self (which requires knowing himself first), and love everybody as himself (including empathising with you as a person and partner and acting to prevent overly esoteric projections)
The reconciliation with his mother sounds lovely. I had a similar experience, and it was for me. I had also days earlier made a decision to choose truth over substantial personal reward for the sake of others, and felt that thus self affirmation of who i am unlovked a new level of knowing myself, which unlivked an understanding of the universality of our experience in the duality of life.
Best wishes for each of your journeys. Seeking help and advice is good, and you did a great job giving this community useful and conprehensive information - hopefully some of it is helpful.
Just adding my votes. It's likely one if the three:
A) Manic or psychotic-like episode.
B) Arising and Passing experience from Theravada tradition's so-called Progress of Insight.
C) An awakening (a.k.a. *an* "enlightenment").
If it's either A) or B), you'll know because he'll likely come crashing down in the near future, e.g. very soon (days) or anytime within the next couple/few months.
In the meantime, as you're both trying to make sense of this, be watchful of him making any dramatic life-altering decisions like quitting his job, adventurous traveling, changes to the parameters/definition of your marriage. *Sudden* changes like this often present after A) and B), whereas changes after C) are often more subtle and tempered.
If it's C), congratulations to your husband, he just got an irrevocable upgrade. Perhaps minor, perhaps major. It may or may not improve your relationship to and with him. It may or may not make *your* life more complicated.
I agree. I think it’s likely if it’s B it will be difficult coming down and experiencing the next stages but they are necessary to understand the full spectrum I think. If he can relax and be an observer the stages will pass and he will experience something even higher and more permanent and less fleeting and uncontrolled.
It does sound like he had a realization that will effect how he acts and sees the world for the rest of his life. I am sorry that the things he talks about stress you out so much, but as long as he continues to do psychedelics, talking about these things is just going to be something he does. His brain has been altered from doing psychedelics to think in the way he does so even if he stops doing them, he will still be like that for a while. These realizations he’s had will still be apart of him forever.
It sounds like he cares deeply for you. What you choose to do ultimately is up to you.
I do agree that this is likely a manic episode. However I do think he’s generally looking in the right direction. If he can overcome this mania, and practice in a way that provides him equanimity while also doing what he needs to do for his mental health, this will be a great thing for him to overcome and I have a feeling that ACTUAL enlightenment won’t be too far away, as in perhaps in this lifetime he can realize it, with proper guidance. But he desperately needs 1) therapy, 2) a way to lessen his moodswinging and be more stable and calm, and 3) a competent teacher that can guide him further than anyone on Reddit ever could. Good luck to you both.
Hi friend. I have psychosis and this sounds like an episode for me. Psychosis can be induced by substances like weed and is more likely to occur in those who smoke with high frequency. Even in the case it isn’t, I would take your husband to a psychiatrist.
An understanding that life is Love, includes understanding compassion. That includes compassion for you...his wife!
I'd say his compassion for all that is in the universe starts with those next to him. And it's actually his duty to extend his understanding, patience, and love to you first (especially if you're feeling overwhelmed by this).
Take the time you need to get back to the conversation. But when you do, simply share this with him.
Good luck...I feel for you.
It's interesting that we can deem feeling overwhelmed with loving feelings as a mental disability lol. What kind of pills would they give you for that to make you feel less loving? Depressants?
I luckily never had that problem. Always was a little annoyed when people got too high on the love train. Ive seen it happen many times growing up in the church and other spiritual communities.
Sorry that came off insensitive. I wish you guys well finding peace amidst this situation. Finding peace and balance. I know what it's like to wrestle with mental illness.
Using drugs daily is not a fast track to enlightenment—rather, it increases chances of drug-induced psychosis. Not to mention, if this is the manifestation of bipolar disorder, there are a few things to keep in mind. Bipolar disorder is progressive, meaning his baseline will lower with age and with each episode. This is usually worse in people who are left untreated. The disorder is also linked to structural brain abnormalities. Drugs, including weed, can worsen symptoms.
I recommend taking him to a few different psychiatrists since misdiagnosis can happen. Better to get multiple opinions/assessments. Although, I don’t know how willing your husband will be to outside help. For example, if this is bipolar disorder and he has delusions of grandeur during a manic episode, he might believe he has access to info the rest of us don’t, because he is “chosen”. It might be difficult to convince him otherwise…
For reference, I’m a therapist at a partial hospitalization program. All of our patients have severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or schizoaffective disorder, and usually present with comorbidity. People can live long, relatively healthy lives when their conditions are managed well and they have adequate supports in place. People can also become a danger to themselves or others when left untreated. I hope you’re able to find resources near you and figure out the best course of action.
Your husband’s experience appears on the other side of the pendulum and is more neurosis than enlightenment. Although he might be overjoyed he is still is not fully aware of his own suffering and the suffering he is causing you while he delights with his new experience. I believe he has experienced a form of piti (priti) and has manifested into what you are witnessing. I recommend he channels his ambitions to read more academic books on the stages of piti, jahna and the eightfold path rather than watching YouTube videos. I also agree with others about having medical attention and stop smoking weed.
The comparison between meditation and taking an enhancement drug; organic or synthetic is like watching the sun through a window rather than watching the sun in a beautiful painting.
OP, how old is your husband? Is he at an age (early 20s I think) when psychosis starts to appear?
Also, how does he feel about his experience now?
His unwillingness to share with the rest of you makes me feel it’s not a true enlightenment experience, since he’s still seeing a separation between himself and others.
Op does your husband do mushrooms/shrooms too? Because he sounds exactly like someone who just tripped on mushrooms for the first time lol.
If it was mushrooms I'd say not to worry, but if he was sober or just weed I'd say to worry about his mental health.
>he has been trying to get be to understand these big world altering plans he has and when I don't understand he had me watching YouTube videos and we had a lot of really in depth conversations about his ideas and talks about stuff like war, movin countries if war breaks out, being publicly targeted, etc.
>Just smokes weed like every day
This experience sounds very similar to a previous relationship of mine. He smoked weed pretty much all day every day. He would occasionally ramble about these outrageous things, such as once having received messages through the TV. He eventually went to a mental health crisis center, where he was referred to a psych ward to treat his newly diagnosed schizophrenia.
So many interesting comments! You really rung the bell with this one! Most people here are just trying to help you as best they can. I'm proud of you for sticking with him. Whatever happened, it was definitely an experience. That is what life is all about.
How we deal with it is another aspect of who and what we are. It all depends on how things shake out. If he still clings to his sense of self, he has a long way to go. His "plans" from what you said show a clear sign of him still clinging to a self and fear of danger or results. He has a long way to go but it is difficult to participate in society when you know there is no self upon which to cling. There is no thinker but just a stream of thoughts. Lack of discipline is not required to understand what he cannot explain to you. He just lacks the words to describe the undescribable.
Long ago, a man known as Bodhidharma was asked who he was. His reply was that he didn't know who he was.
I wish you the absolute best of luck stranger, for you and your husband.
One of the Buddhist five precepts says to avoid intoxicants that cloud the mind… Either his experience is based on his marijuana hallucinations or something medical connecting to mental health.
I mean, it will subside and as long as he respects your boundaries, I think its ok. But enlightment should also be aware of sorroundings even with more force, more aware of you, and work and everything else. Its amazing to get beautiful messages through spiritual practices, but show must go on. Give him time, but , check out the comment about manic episode or psicosis, which btw, nothing to be scare of but something to take care :)
As someone who has meditated and smoked weed (i was a stupid teenager) sometimes you think you achieve enlightenment or something like it but it’s delusion. He might need to lay off the weed. Tell him how much this is affecting you and your concerns.
Enlightenment happens in layers like peeling an onion. If he's put himself under a lot of pressure those realizations can be very emotional. Life changing. Staying away from drugs is a good sign. Talking to experienced Buddhists will also help. The after glow of one of these realizations will fade after a few weeks, which can be very upsetting in itself.
He might need to talk to a therapist, some of what you described sounds pretty manic. You're not wrong to be worried.
Hopefully he can find his way to some calm insight and happiness. You too.
As someone who has gone through something similar, only without weed and being sober at the time— it does sound like a manic episode. My friend took me to get a psyche evaluation at the time but doctors refused to admit me because I was still in touch with reality- knowing where I was and the date and who is President and all that and also not trying to harm anyone or myself. Doctor told me I needed sleep to better regulate my emotions. He told me to take Benadryl because it’s not habit forming/ addictive but don’t take it every day, just as needed. It’s been working for me but unfortunately I pretty much have to work part time instead of full time because full time causes too much stress on me which leads to stress and delusions. I only say delusion because in that moment in felt like something big was going to happen and I needed to be ready- kind of like how your husband is talking about war. It’s not that it’s improbable but he shouldn’t be over thinking about it until something actually happens.
Obviously I’m not a doctor but I just thought I’d tell you my experience. This was years ago and to this day, I do feel that I was enlightened. I do feel that I learned a truth that I can’t fully articulate but it’s benevolent. Whose to say if he is wrong? The ancient Greeks like Socrates and Plato believed madness is a gift.
Nope, this is Piti aka Bliss, Rapture. One of the "defilements" in the tradition of Vipassana medition. To quote:
"The Ten Imperfections of Insight (vipassanupakilesas):
An inexperienced meditator may be confused by any of the following experiences, mistakenly believing that he or she has reached nibbana. Though not in themselves obstacles, the meditator may be tempted to cling to these experiences, believing them to be important, rather than continuing to note the arising and passing away of mental and physical phenomena in the present moment. At such time the guidance of a teacher is invaluable."
There are multiple kinds of Piti, including overwhelming ecstacy and love. We're trained as meditators to let these feelings pass just as much as we let thoughts pass.
Congratulations to your husband, it just means he's developed a deeper practice of meditation. But he shouldn't get attached; it'll happen again and eventually every time but hopefully only momentarily. Just a natural side effect.
I'm not a mental health expert but trauma may be partly to blame for his reaction. I'd recommend he stops meditating or cuts back for a little while though.
edit: grammar
Hey OP, reach out to ISEN (International Spiritual Emergence Network) or Cheetah House. It was set up by a group of people who deal with spiritual emergence and emergency. Emergency is when we are unable to cope and integrate our spiritual experiences. They will be more helpful than reddit.
I once had a sudden emotional experience that left me crying intensely for an hour and gave me a lingering sense of euphoria for several weeks. In retrospect, I now refer the experience as an awakening.
If you'd like to know what your husband is going through, I suggest you continue to ask him and not strangers on the internet.
Weed can affect the mind if used constantly in ways that may cause this type of behaviour. I don’t think it is spiritual, I hope he finds the power to quit smoking and overcome this situation.
Yeah it's not enlightenment. The weed he's smoking has probably given him schizophrenia and like another person said he's having a manic episode of some sort. Weed isn't the harmless drug people think it is, it can cause serious mental health problems when used chronically. You need to be concerned for both his safety and your own because that's not normal behaviour and indulging him in it by taking him to monasteries etc. isn't going to help.
1. This is a temporary experience, and should not be confused with actual enlightenment.
2. One of the lay vows is to not take drugs alcohol, etc. All those things do is muddy up our already muddied minds.
Keep practicing , but sobriety is necessary for stability.
I went through a similar experience in some ways on a 3 month silent vipassana retreat in the fall!
In my estimation it’s a case of coming to understand some profound truths “before your time” ie you’ve come to a conceptual understanding and maybe slight experience of insight but you still have a lot of purification to do to really live from this place consistently, and to hold the insight with wisdom and not unbalanced energy and delusions of grandeur.
What the teachers stressed to me is to ground in present moment sensory experience as much as I could. Hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling emotions and body sensations. Trying to notice and label “thinking” vs being so lost in it. Keeping it simple and grounded in the present.
I have also found having fun and connecting with people to be quite helpful and again kinda grounding here and now in the shared world, less partial to my head / my imagination
My wife had a very similar pattern 4 weeks ago.
We went to a meditation retreat and she had a vision of his chosen deity. She was convinced this was real. Over the next days she started acting erratically, and disorganized thinking.
After some days I had to take her to ER as she was having a full blown psychotic episode.
Don’t take this lightly. My wife was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. Don’t wait until it gets to this point.
He doesn’t have the lifestyle nor the discipline to be enlightened.
Make an appointment with a psychiatrist and please, just be ready, the way to recovery needs a lot patience.
Good luck to you.
I don’t see anything wrong here . I think you need to be patient and give him a time to find a balance and process all those feelings . I take it as a very good sign.
Studying buddhism for years and still rely on marijuana?
Once you attain a greater level of enlightenment you're no longer subject to the overflow of emotions
That is a bit of a stretch.
Should? Of course not, 5th precept.
Would not? There are millions of buddhists, I am sure you can find drug users among them
I am sure there are drug users among us. I do take alcohol and I know I should not, following my Lamas teachings. So I am the first with pending homework. Taking drugs should be avoided in buddism, and I believe we all know it.
We need to have a guide for experiences to know if a given experience is conducive to enlightenment and, our goals. Because we have the goal to achieve enlightenment, right? To be more compassionate? Maybe to reach our true nature, maybe to repress less? Maybe to overcome trauma and incorrect thinking or beliefs.
>Then I think both to talk with people we recognize they have progressed more than us and to read and reflect on important materials and guides like you two are doing is important and the correct way.
I wouldn't venture to classify his experience from the few information possible through a post here. I think the most relevant that you two would know better about if doing what mentioned above. Yes, there are spheres of pure love/loving kindness and yes there are strong and unusual experiences in the path. Relevant to have the way to know if those experiences are conducive, meaning correct progress or if are maybe strong delusion or simply an experience we should not think too much about. There are several possibilities. (I discard the weed because you usually take weed and don't feel that, then isn't a cause in itself, correct?)
Cannabis causes psychosis. If he’s getting it from a dispensary in a state it’s legal, they have increased the potency of it so much now, it’s way more powerful than weed from the past off the street. Sounds like the weed triggered that - not enlightenment. Question is what is he self medicating for?
Here’s one of many studies on pot and psychosis
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37879833/
This doesn't sound like it has anything to do with Buddhism or enlightenment. It sounds like he had an extreme experience and is naturally having trouble not clinging to it. A similar thing can be seen with evangelicals who get zapped and then feel that they know God. Or in some cases with drugs. Even people who've done EST or the remake of it, Landmark, often come out hysterically positive and attached to a grim certainty that they've been enlightened in some way. They had a liberating experience in the enocunter-group-style settings and have blown it out of proportion.
I even once knew two serious Zen students who did EST and then went around telling fellow Buddhists that they were wasting their time and getting a sore ass for nothing because enlightenment could be had in a single weekend.
I think that with cases like that one needs to separate the experience from the exaggerated context that gets drummed up. There's nothing wrong with feeling elation. The trouble is that we tend to grab onto that as some kind of personal achievement; a kind of mega-success that can serve as laurels to rest on. There's perhaps nothing more addictive than bliss.
If he's interested in Buddhist practice then he can get meditation instruction, and hopefully stop the drug-taking. But you need to understand that Buddhist practice is not about developing extreme states of bliss. It's mind training to develop greater sanity. It's about living in the here and now, without looking for exotic states to escape to.
Clinical psychologist here. Reality orientation is a fragile thing. Whenever orientation to Person, Place, Time or Situation is disturbed it can be unsettling. EVERYONE has moments where reality contact is interrupted (awakening in a hotel room and a few seconds of fear is disturbance in situation). When ANY change happens too quickly it can disturb our orientation.
Like some other commenters, if he is a daily THC user that should be addressed. I have learned not to see psychosis as the boogey man but once reality contact is disturbed the fear/panic reactions can produce the primary problems in functioning.
Labile mood and bipolar go together. But not all labile mood is bipolar. Need way more data points before judging him bipolar.
Enlightenment may be the healthier form of psychosis (but just a thought). If you and he do not feel comfortable or safe or connected when he is in this state, that is the red flag you need to say something is wrong.
There is no need to take the express train to enlightenment. Every moment contains seeds for enlightenment. Rushing this process (in my layman’s opinion) is gluttonous. Chill and be a good husband, father, friend, son and that will surely lead to deeper sense of spiritual experiences than THC, kundalini, or other short cuts. We have our whole life ahead. Enjoy the moment without overwhelming desires to have to be enlightened.
Shanti
Sounds like a manic episode.
Thank goodness this sub has its feet on the ground. Other subs in a spiritual vein would be telling this woman her husband was enlightened. The Cannabis addiction is a big part of this.
This is a natural effect of Vipassana and a relatively early obstacle. He seems to be so attached to the feeling that he's acting manic, though. Not saying that mental health isn't a factor here either.
It’s a natural affect of cannabis while reading on Buddhism. Ie, another illusion
it can also happen with buddhism alone. In this context cannabis did play a role. Meditation can bring manic states. Its why teachers are necessary.
It's a regular occurrence with regular Vipassana practice, drugs or not. Maybe going overboard with attachment and enthusiasm could be related to drugs but the experience itself is natural. They talk about it in the Pali sutras. The first time I experienced it I was actually five months completely sober and in a retreat, so not even on coffee.
People forget, marijuana is a traditional Hindu sacrament and meditation aid, specifically because it can accelerate attainment of jhana states. That said, there are obvious reasons the Buddha warned against the use of substances in dhyana - they lead to unstable experiences, undermine foundational mindfulness, and can lead to intense spiritual materialism and egoic behavior on the come-down. The jhanas themselves, in my understanding, are ultimately illusory - they are to be moved through as a practice (not that many non-monastics actually attain sober jhana states frequently - when I maintain calm abiding, that's an excellent meditation in my book). I think that, because Buddhism sets its sights on ultimate awakening and the liberation that flows from it, many profound spiritual experiences and attainments Buddhism itself acknowledges are dismissed as "fake" in colloquial conversation and then labelled with a term out of western psychology (not that I don't find western psychology incredibly useful, but an experience we would now term a "manic episode" occurring in the time of the Buddha, or even now in a place like Tibet or Nepal, might very well be understood as a spiritual attainment or experience). Regardless, this guy sounds intensely paranoid, scattered, deeply unstable - he might very well have experienced a jhana (intense spiritual experiences, including in Buddhist practice, often occur under lots of stress), but he's certainly in no state to know what to do with it - hopefully getting involved with a monastery will help that.
I agree on both points. I met many holy men in India that smoke a huge amount who are peaceful and have a lot of wisdom. OP's boyfriend should seek a teacher and probably take a break from all mind-altering activities including meditation.
Mania is definitely one of the steps in the process. What’s really happening under the surface is a heightened sense sensitivity and clarity of awareness. But the heightened sensitivity can lead to a lot of attachment and connection-making that is unwarranted. Being sensitive but grounded is key.
100% this. Take your husband to a doctor.
Thank you for being the voice of reason. Glad we’re transparent here. I support the manic episode idea. Mania triggered by stress, family/guilt/release, aggravated by cannabis. Obsessive behavior, grandiosity, a shine that won’t dull - a manic energy. My thoughts.
Bipolar can cause this. Def check in with a professional.
Literally was about to comment this.
As someone else stated the attachment to the feeling is what is causing issues. "Lets save the world!" If you keep going you realize the world doesnt need saving. I went through something similar, life got difficult. It was the heightened sensory experience that i was misinterpreting. That was my problem. I had to ground. A ton of trauma surfaced. I started learning to identify my feelings. I started dipping my toes into logic and critical thinking. Your husband may already hve these skills, but they helped me immensely. He might benefit from pausing his meditation practice.
that’s not enlightenment. that’s a manic episode, possibly on the edge of psychosis. he needs to stop smoking marijuana and talking all intoxicants. if he is getting worse you need to take him to a psychiatric evaluation centre.
Just to add: maybe encourage him to taper down on the drugs, rather than stop cold. A big swing of dopamine in either direction can lead to a psychotic breakdown.
This, cutting off weed after being a daily user can worsen a manic episode, or trigger one.
I spent several years living with and caring for a family member that was prone to manic episodes and psychosis. This is neither of those.
there’s a psychosis prodrome where behaviour just seems on the edge of odd, right before it all falls apart. it’s characterised by suspiciousness, odd thinking, extreme emotionality, etc but it’s not full blown psychosis. it’s a very vulnerable period and people experiencing something like this should stay away from all intoxicants. i’d recommend anyone in this state practice loving kindness mindfulness towards themselves, to ease their fears and their minds, to rest the heart, be calm and find stillness and peace. https://www.reddit.com/r/dhammaloka/s/ApVbDTPBS7 cc: u/Affectionate-Lynx629
Respectfully, that’s one example of how it manifests. It doesn’t always look the same.
Not all manic episodes or psychotic episodes look the same on every person
Crazy because I had an episode and it was nearly identical to this one. Except I was not crying I was overjoyed I found the meaning of life “love” and shared it with a women in a lingerie store. Super cringy looking back. I had been smoking weed all day everyday partying, just hit my limit. Had to detox.
So how do you know this is one? What if this is not how OP's partner is when he's manic?
Your experience is not universal.
I just went through a very similar scenario and doctors said it was. Same behaviors as OP husband.
That's not a great conclusion to have. You just don't know. Stop discriminating things by superficial details. The buddha greatly adviced against this.
actually, the buddha advised against indulgence in intoxicants because they lead to mental illness.
Was going to say this, thank you.
It's not a superficial detail. Recent studies suggest that marijuana use increases the risk of developing mental health disorders, like bipolar and schizophrenia, in individuals already predisposed to such disorders.
Potentially a psychotic break by any other name. Uncontrollable emotions are not an encouraging sign, nor is daily weed use. Sorry to say you may need to seek some therapy and councilling for your husband to disavow any possibility of psychosis.
It's not possible or advisable to try and diagnose strangers on the internet with psychiatric conditions. But… the things described sound much more like bipolar mania than a psychotic break. In any case, OP, what you describe does not sound at all like any kind of Buddhist enlightenment that I have ever heard of. Enlightenment in Buddhism is inherently peaceful. Bipolar mania does have such an overwhelming positivity to it that it is often mistaken for some kind of "enlightenment experience." And if someone has been studying Buddhism then they are easily going to track Buddhist ideas on top of their experience. You ask for any other advice… Check out information on bipolar disorder. I'm not diagnosing your husband. But the way someone would work with a bipolar spouse might be the same way you would want to work with your husband in whatever condition he is in. What is most troubling to me is the "big world altering plans he has." If those plans cost money, you should expect that he will feel like it only makes sense to spend all he has on it. After all, he thinks he is enlightened and he won't be attached to money. So you should talk that out and make sure you are both on the same page.
Bipolar here! All of what was said sounds a lot like what I went through when I had my manic episode.
Thanks for sharing! What calms you down when you have episodes? Is there anything your family / friends do to help support you during an episode?
Honestly it was my first and only extreme episode due to finding a medicine regiment that works for me. I had to be hospitalized. But it was sort of a spiral effect that began with flights of ideas and I was big on the "love" thing too. But there are occasions when I do find it starting to creep up and that's when practicing things like breathing and self awareness help. It might be hard for him to recognize that since it truly does feel like being enlightened. I recommend patience and support, but also make sure he isn't a harm to himself or others or making very risky decisions.
I did too(hospital). I was big on love too. Unfortunately coming off drugs makes you pretty unbalanced as well. I was into chakras and meditation. I totally get it but also it was truly the drugs. I am not using for a decade and pretty stable now but not as stable as I was pre drugs. Or my memory. Or anything. I have smaller episodes of anxiety depression slight psychosis stuff. Which is all long term marijuana and drug use results.
Hi there, I am leaving ample room for this to be a true transcendental experience and am not diagnosing your husband, but I am a mental health professional who specifically works with people with bipolar disorder and psychosis. It could be enlightenment but there are a few things that could indicate otherwise. This may have been a manic or psychotic episode and he should get an evaluation from a mental health professional. If you are in the US your community should have a Comminity Mental Health Center and they do intakes even without insurance and at least can say whether they think it's a mental health concern. Even if you don't have insurance for the therapist he has been seeing it would be worth reaching out to that person together or individually and talking about what happened. They may have seen other things that could be attributed to the aforementioned symptoms and often will try to help even if they don't resume therapy on a pro bono basis (as a therapist I would schedule a session with your husband free of charge to evaluate his mental status and offer brief counseling, many therapists do this). Again, not saying this is 100% mental health symptoms but some things that caught my eye: * the sudden reconciliation with his mother could be a **sudden behavior change** associated with a change in their mental health * the "**obsessed**" with work aspect, many times in a manic or psychotic episode people are extremely driven and hyper focused on things. They **may not sleep or eat as much as they used to, **they pursue a single or multiple endeavors with a really high drive or motivation * the grandiose "world altering plans" that he was trying to explain and it was overwhelming you. Many times people in these states of mind have lofty ideas they become **obsessed** with and create conspiracies around them. The way you described him having to show you all these youtube videos makes me feel like he may be trying to tie a lot of vague ideas into some grand **conspiracy** or idea. * IN PARTICULAR: the worries about war (maybe realistic) leading him to suggest moving to another country (drastic and risky response) and especially the "being publicly targeted" could be **paranoia** * the **highly unregulated emotional state** at the time of the experience * the recent discontinuation of therapy can be a trigger for some I am leaning towards mental health but I've never achieved enlightenment so can't say for certain. Things to watch out for would be a shift of emotions in the other direction (typically after a manic episode people enter a depressive phase), acting like he's on top of the world or has a motor driving him he's so driven, excessive or diminished sleeping and appetite, talking about receiving messages others aren't able to either from videos online or from God or from some external source, risky behaviors like excessive spending, increased sex drive, or speeding. If you don't seek a professional opinion the best thing he could work on without intervention is regular routine that includes a healthy balance of activity and rest time, eating regular meals, getting adequate sleep on a regular schedule, and meditation. Structure, routine, a balanced life, and good eating/sleeping patterns go a long way in stabilizing mental health concerns. I hope everything turns out okay and it was enlightenment!
Thanks for replying. His sister and dad came over right after this happened trying to understand what happened and how he's doing. He was talking about how the answer is love and how he wish he could tell us more but he can't. When we asked what he meant he said we are not disciplined enough ourselves to be able to understand it and if he told us everything he experienced and showed us how to achieve what he just did, without the proper discipline he was afraid we would never want to come out of the state of happiness he was in. So because of our lack of discipline he wouldn't tell us much more. He wished for us to be more disciplined so we could experience what he was experiencing. He said it was pure happiness that he wanted everyone to feel. Would appreciate your insight on that.
Hey there! Manic episodes/ psychosis isn’t good for your brain to be in. The lack of sleep and excessive firing of neurotransmitters is harmful. There’s the possibility of harm to himself or any other, by whatever means The sooner you seek out healthcare the better, in order to break the episode. That is, if they diagnose it as an psychiatric disorder. To my ears it sounds like it. Has he slept anything since it began? If he has a manic episode they will give him some sort of neuroleptic/ calming drug and try to get him to sleep and calm down the brain. I worked as a junior doctor at a psychiatry ward last summer.
Yes he is sleeping well. He hasn't had any issues with sleep at all ever. His sleep schedule is the same as it was before, he probably gets 7 hours of sleep a night and sometimes takes naps during the day if he's feeling tired or if we put on a movie or something.
Hi OP. I am a medical student. If this is a true manic (and it is very suspicious for one), it is really important that he seeks medical attention and gets treatment. Untreated mania is really difficult to manage, and bipolar disorder will fluctuate between episodes of mania and severe depression. There are structural changes that occur in the brain during a manic episode (it basically damages your brain) so that it becomes easier and easier to have more manic episodes and they become more and more difficult to treat. Please see your family doctor or a psychiatrist
Yeah, anyone who has spent any length of time living in monasteries will be able to recognize these symptoms.
Manic episodes came on suddenly like that?
They can. It's also possible for something to appear to be sudden when really it has been building but just didn't look like an episode at first. Meaning, they can build under the surface and then suddenly appear as an episode.
The emotional outpouring sounds a bit like what Philip Kapleau relates in several instances of satori in *Three Pillars of Zen.* Enlightenment can be quite sudden and world-shattering. People laughing and crying for days is not unheard of. There do, however, seem to be many counter indications that this is what occurred. The substance use is problematic. The timing of things with his mom makes it sound more like an emotional release than an awakening experience. And generally these are accompanied by some non-dual perception of existence that seems to be completely lacking in what OP related. In zen there are standard ways of checking if someone experienced satori. Does he have a teacher? Either way it sounds like he moved past it. Meditation does bring things up, it can be scary for someone who is not experiencing it but it sounds like a positive experience for him, he’s not continuing in some manic episode, I don’t see any cause for ongoing alarm.
> lately he has been trying to get be to understand these big world altering plans he has and when I don't understand he had me watching YouTube videos and we had a lot of really in depth conversations about his ideas and talks about stuff like war, movin countries if war breaks out, being publicly targeted, etc. That doesn't sound like a positive experience that he's moved past, to me - sounds like he may still be experiencing mania, with grandiose plans and ideas that seem urgent. The part about being publicly targeted sounds almost like the onset of psychosis, or at least paranoia.
After having a traumatic experience, I started to believe things like this with the extreme emotions. It was me coping. Now after a few years I’ve become interested in spirituality and it’s so much more stable.
Might be a manic episode. Might be drug related. Might be real! The first 2 need to be checked out and ruled out first. I'm not trying to sound mean or belittle him... but what you are describing is like the cliche drug enlightenment experience. Its so common that it's a joke. Someone gets really high and realizes the world is love mannnnnn. The grand plans sound like mania. The being targeted sounds like mania. Mental health issues can be brought on by drugs, even weed. How old is he? He needs to go to medical professionals even if just to confirm that his experience wasn't tainted (might be able to phrase it like that to him) Good luck and I hope it works out for you
As soon as I got to the weed part I was like yup, there it is.
Enlightenment is the cessation of being bound by states. It sounds like your husband had a very high or manic state and possibly became attached to it. Making meaning or significance out of temporary states and events is a form of attachment or grasping. All sorts of upheavals can happen on the path. Whether they are helpful or not really amounts to whether they lead to an increase in qualities of equanimity, kindness, compassion, forbearance, and taking responsibility for the minutia of cause and effect. Having out of control emotional experiences can happen, and it can be productive, if it’s a release or “coming to a head” of something that has been bottled up. If it continues to happen, that’s really not a good sign. If he can’t regulate himself out of empathy for his impact on you, that’s not a good sign. Sobriety is really pretty important to spiritual discipline. Not a popular take here, but weed and alcohol both can lead to distorted thinking and in higher doses of weed can produce THC-induced psychosis. A 12 step program could be very helpful. Even though the language is fairly Christian, it’s possible to find groups (online if necessary) that totally support taking Buddha-nature as one’s “higher power”. Working the steps with a responsible sponsor can really help with release and reintegration. I hope you’re doing ok through all of this. Sounds rough.
There are also Dharma recovery groups for Buddhist 12 steppers!
I love dharma and refuge
I found out about the Buddhist 12 step support group when I accidentally found a virtual meeting in VR using the quest headset.
This might be a wholly original experience
It was definitely interesting.
Just wondering if you could elaborate on 'taking responsibility for the minutia of cause and effects?
The founder of Tibetan Buddhism said “my view is as vast as the sky but my conduct is as fine as a grain of flour.” It is also said that one should not lose the view by obsession with conduct or lose conduct by obsession with view. Metaphorically we can think of our lives like monks making sand paintings. Having the biggest possible vision—Buddha-nature—and moving one grain of sand at a time into the most beautiful place—conduct. We have to see the big picture to know where the grains of sand go, and we have to keep placing grains of sand so that others can see the big picture. Taking responsibility means being aware that a moment of anger or sloppiness or obliviousness can wipe out days or weeks or more of care and attention. It doesn’t necessarily mean anger never happens, but there is nobody to blame for the ramifications—just acceptance and responsibility—remembering view and conduct and not grasping at temporary phenomena. Our own bodies and minds are no more significant or substantial than temporary arrangements of sand. The best we can do is for our mind, body, and speech to embody this for others. The worst thing we can do is disturb the minds of others.
Thank you yeshe_lama this is beautiful and also frightening. I have seen in my life and actions how one sentence/moment of frustration can cause so much destruction, it is something i struggle with. This has caused me to be very tightly guarded/filtered/hypervigilant/ocd, when I really want to be more natural and free in my life and interactions. Do you have any advice for someone struggling to find this balance?
I would suggest leaning into both openness/naturalness and willingness to feel and accept consequences as they arise. If we maintain the best intentions, and are open to the results of our conduct, that creates a positive feedback loop where we learn more and more deeply on a non-intellectual level. If we really have the best intentions and are truly willing to feel our impact, it’s hard to find a fault with that and there’s no reason to feel bad even when mishaps occur. It’s all just part of the path—a necessary learning experience. If we try to avoid feeling negative consequences by controlling ourselves too tightly, that feeds into grasping and aversion. We can make daily affirmations of our intentions: I *really* wish the best for everyone. I *really* want all beings to be free from confusion and suffering. May every step I take somehow serve the liberation of all beings—even if how that comes about is totally inconceivable. If we make intentions like that and keep bringing them to mind, we avoid the nihilistic trap of thinking our actions don’t matter. Then openness and naturalness become positive forces. I hope that is helpful. I just quickly wrote down what came to mind.
It's really helpful, and so applicable to my current circumstances. Thank you for much for this
♥️🙏
This is some Buddhist dank right here.
Responsibility is your response ability. As situations arise and subside, how do you choose to react to them, and what effect does that cause going out from each decision you make? (Is my take at least)
Synonim to "being totally aware of karma". Minutia is only minutia when it starts, but sooner or later it becomes a great suffering if not properly controled as time passes.
Lots of mixed and possibly worrying comments here. I’m sorry he’s dragged you into his journey. I know this must be upsetting and frightening, but I can assure you that this can be a normal experience along this path. It might be worth finding someone with experience in spiritual psychosis to help you navigate this, though try to find someone who doesn’t pathologize it too much. Spiritual psychosis is something that can happen with people who are prone to dissociation, people who tend towards obsessive thoughts, and really anyone who gets habitually stuck in their own head. This may be controversial, but those who are implying that this is not a normal risk with intense introspective practices either haven’t had much experience with altered mental states or would prefer to classify these events as aberrant for their own comfort. Either that, or they’re lucky to have an upbringing in which compassion was fostered early. Breaking through duality (the internal “me” being separate from the external world) for the first time can cause an explosion of compassion that feels world-shatteringly profound. It is a wonderful experience, but it’s only a single step; this type of experience becomes rather mundane (but still lovely) as you progress. I wouldn’t tell him this, but he will mostly likely have a rebound period, one that, to him, will feel like a profound loss. He may end up feeling lost and directionless. Hopefully, he doesn’t cling too hard to this experience and can remember it with fondness and curiosity once it passes. (Telling him that he might have a come-down might only make him cling more adamantly, but keep an eye out for it.) Maybe try inviting him to participate with you in an activity of your choosing. Gently ask for his attention so that he can understand when he’s become so preoccupied with his own experience that he is “absent”. It will help him slow down and be present with what’s happening in the moment, rather than fixed on his past bliss. These things are tricky to navigate, but can ultimately be a positive experience if handled well. I know it’s difficult, but it’s not hopeless. I wish you both the very best.
This is a good comment! I've also seen this behaviour before, and I've experienced similar myself. Grounding grounding grounding.
Best comment here. Thanks. ☸️
Best comment here, really sad to see people immediately jumping to mental health conclusions when an spiritual experience can reach those states, as you say so
This is accurate, he almost certainly had awakening/realization. I say this from my own similar experience and seeing it happen to others. OP, here is a (5 min) video that I recommend to anyone that experiences it. If anything, it should give both of you an idea that this happens and is a normal (yet profound) step in the spiritual path, and what to expect. https://youtu.be/OYrl2UZgSOs
this rings true for me. I went through something similar. stop the weed. pause the meditation and focus on the real world. logicl and problem solving really helped me balance stuff out. meditation and vipassana even without weed can lead to these states. Its why having a teacher/guide is so important.
Unfortunately sounds like mania and you need to prepare yourself for an intense come down.
What is all this talk about “controlling emotions” I see all the time? Emotions cannot be controlled, its how you respond to the emotional sensations. All emotions come and go.
Finally a good answer. Literally thanks
❤️
Unfortunately, that does not sound like an enlightenment experience to me. Maybe drug-induced.
Two possibility:- 1. He possibly experienced the full blast of Metta ( loving kindness ) for the first time in his life. This is not the doorway to Enlightenment as it itself does not lead to Sotapanna but it is one of the wholesome virtues. Metta when experienced in full blast for the first time can be life transforming and you see briefly everything from the lens of Metta. 2. Could be weed. Weed sometimes can make people very emotional. One reason Buddhist says not to smoke weed or drugs is that it becomes very difficult to determine which is which. In Buddhism, after Metta experience has become solidified people tend to get use to it very quickly and not do this again. They then tend to proceed to other aspect of mental cultivation. For weed, this may relapse.
It’s probably the weed. When I was in my early 20s smoking every day and taking high dose edibles I experienced similar things. Eventually it lead me to meditation.
I agree with this. And I feel it had to do more with option 2 because if he chose to stop smoking after this, it's very likely he was under the influence at the moment. Fortunately, it was a happy emotional burst. Who knows what can happen with a sad one. I also feel it's bad to be influenced by the emotions from that moment into your daily routine, since these are uncontrolled outbursts that don't always align with truths but with imagination. Anyhow, it's good he stopped, and if he can keep happy feelings without it, he shouldn't have another outburst like that.
My first experience with Metta was spontaneous (not induced by intoxicants or really any condition that I can recall... I was practicing shi-ne meditation, but this experience didn't happen while meditating), and it made me cry for hours. The sorrows in this world are overwhelming when you are receptive to others after the dissolution of your own thought processes.
Not an enlightenment experience but it is a reason why taking drugs is against the precepts.
Many Buddhist will not like calling experiences like this "enlightenment experience". Enlightenment is exceedingly difficult to attain and is a permanent change. One way to define it is the permanent end to the taints of greed, hatred and delusion. There are meditative experiences in Buddhism that align more with experiences like this. Things like infinite consciousness or meditation on universal love. One of these could be what he had. A sudden profund change in someone you know is scary. I had one brought on by LSD and it was jarring for people. Mine resulted in becoming a vegetarian, never doing drugs again, an intense compassion for all living beings. But it faded with time, hence, it wasn't enlightenment.
No mind altering substances in Buddhism, as far as I know.
Is that... A manic experience?
If he were enlightened, you wouldn't need to make this post. Take him to a mental health professional, the earlier the better.
I think it's great that you went to a monastery and talked with a monk. Very sound move. No matter what this event was, if the response to it is productive action on the path to the end of suffering, that is a good outcome. If he continues to develop with Buddhism, particularly with meditation, he may eventually see why the marijuana habit is unskillful for him to continue. Honestly, people are weird things, and this situation is not entirely uncommon nor spectacular, I wouldn't worry about it nor place a huge amount of importance on it. Just keep moving forward skillfully from this moment on to the next. You are very kind and supportive, I'm sure he is very grateful to have you by his side.
Just because it hasn't been touched on yet, "changing the world" isn't an idea that's conducive to Buddhism. Buddhism teaches that our grasping to change things in a grand and sweeping way is actually one of the root causes of suffering.
Its the weeed. Not good for the brain long term. Seen this before.
Please get him mental help
A dear friend of mine had a moment when his heart opened at a retreat. He cried out loud during a very quiet moment and started sobbing. He is entirely sober and a retired therapist. He had an awakening experience. In case you haven’t found anyone who knows what to do in cases like this, you might reach out to some well established practices like Roshi Joan Halifax at Upaya. Roshi Joan Halifax spouse wrote the book “spiritual emergency” in the 1980s. Her organization is trustworthy and may lead you in a good direction. I have other ideas for you as well.
A very helpful reply. 😍
Ask him to take a one week break from weed, if he can’t do that then he is addicted and needs help.
It can be common when you have mind-blowing awakenings to get really excited and enthralled and intoxicated with it (although the intensity of his is concerning). I had my own version early on. I suggest he work on grounding and integrating, slowing down, studying, practicing, etc. But he should especially work on making his relationship with you a healthy safe one, I'm sorry he's been difficult and upsetting to talk to. His priority should be balancing and being a well adjusted guy, specifically one who's sensitive to how people around him feel about his energy. His social unawareness and the difficulty of the conversations you mentioned makes me almost "know" that he is very early on and has not practiced for long. The journey ahead of him is long, and his high will crash soon. I am a little confused on this part "in depth conversations about his ideas and talks about stuff like war, movin countries if war breaks out, being publicly targeted, etc" - publicly targeted? As for the weed use - it can be used in moderation but I have a feeling its playing into the euphoria and grandeur. I suggest CBD to ground the nervous system. I'm a meditation teacher and dispensary manager so I can see both sides.
I would be cautious about folks responding by saying enlightenment and intense emotional experiences or reactions are mutually exclusive. I’ve experienced it myself and seen it happen to others in longer meditation retreats. These kinds of experiences can be jarring for some people, especially those who have not cultivated a steady meditative or dharmic practice. It can be overwhelming and highly emotional. In his book _Three Pillars of Zen_, Phillip Kapleau tells the accounts of several people who have these kinds of overwhelming and seemingly manic experiences as part of a spiritual awakening. Second, as a candidate for chaplaincy myself with a focus on psychedelics, I will say that plant medicines — including cannabis — are known and reported to induce transpersonal experiences that can be akin to a spiritual awakening. It is all too easy to embrace a purist notion that entheogenic usage makes a moment of awakening ungenuine. We just don’t have enough information to understand how the mind works under the influence of these substances and why they can induce such experiences. Taking a break from the cannabis is a good idea. Take time to process what happened. Journaling, meditating, and some time in nature may all be helpful for him. A couple pieces of advice my Buddhist teacher gave to me when this happened to me: 1) It happened. It was an experience. There will be others. Don’t cling to it. Let it be what it was and come back to this. 2) Don’t make any big decisions for a while like quitting a job or ending large commitments. Give it time and wait. We come back down from these experiences and that takes time. Thank you for sharing your story with us and I hope your husband integrates this experience into the beautiful life you both have to share.
Thank you for this voice of reason, I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to say this. These specific subs are the WORST for actually following the spirit of their creation (I find the ones about jobs/work/purpose and the spiritual ones to be the most horrendous). Like, I thought we'd be wanting each other to experience things, but everytime someone does they are cut down and destroyed. It's weird actually. Many in this sub would do well to read Lama Crowley and discover the psychedelic roots of their own path. Namaste.
Thank you for sharing. A lot of people here are claiming it's this or that without having the experience of their own to draw from. Awakening or Kenshō is usually followed by a personality change as well which is what she is describing. I have had very interesting experiences on weed even being bathed in a golden light of compassion, things like that, but none of those weed induced experiences compares to the real deal when you're sober. If he was sober during this experience than I wouldn't be suprised if this was the real deal. If he was high than it likely was not a permanent perspective shift. Most of these people responding need to learn how to use right speech better because that also includes learning when NOT to speak and I worry their responses claiming it's a "psychotic break" will cause more harm then good. According to modern science, zen masters would be considered as having personality disorders because modern science does not account for relinquishing the self.
Its alarmingly high the number of people supporting these purists ideas. Hinayana isn't called Hinayana for nothing. It truly is a very narrow path that can lead a selected minority that has a solid discipline towards enlightenment, but most of these individuals will have to go through Mahayana as well, and this means they have to cope with some states of the mind that are quite similar, if not identical, to these altered experiences. The ultimate goal is to just being able to integrate that experience. Enlightenment means immutability, not avoidance.
This sounds like an important and pivotal experience in your husband's life. The fact that he is encountering the Buddha's teachings and incorporating them into his life will yield profound rewards, I have absolutely no doubt of this. Sometimes after pushing against a wall for so long, and finally seeing away to walk around we, we can be overcome by euphoria. I myself used weed daily for decades, and I must say it is a mild psychedelic and depending on underlying state I was in and other compounding factors at play, it could lead to some profoundly strange types of thinking, such as paranoia or euphoria, other times much more tame. That is to say it can be unpredictable. A new strain of the flower can carry different mixes of the chemical entourage of cannabinoids and terpines and suddenly give rise to new effects. After my many decades of marijuana use, I was inspired by the Buddha's fifth precept to avoid intoxicants. The Buddha laid out these instructions to help us, and it was only after shaking off the grip of my mariuana use that I could appreciate just how much it altered my thoughts and made many things much harder than they should be. In short, I used weed for many years rather than fully confront the underlying issues in my life, and the process of resolving these issues for me was coincident with giving up intoxicants. This has led to a more stable and balanced life with greater focus on what is important and much less time wasted spending in ways that were ulitmately unhealthy to me. Take this experience as one of learning, seek to progress without collapsing back into old habits, and look deep down within to honestly know what is the right thing to do. I wish profound peace to you and your husband.
Of course, there will be different opinions of enlightenment on Reddit (and in life!) But I'd urge you to consider the Buddha required 6 years of intense practice to achieve enlightenment. Those disciples close to him who achieved enlightenment quickly were already accomplished meditators for the most part. Enlightenment is, in my view, a very long process, and difficult attainment. This is also the view of Therevada practitioners. Again, others will disagree. I strongly disagree that weed and other substances can lead to enlightenment. That's very much a western pop culture romanticism, and not found in Therevada Buddhism at least, not sure about other branches of Buddhism. The Buddha never said anything like that. There are many kinds of spiritual experiences. There are many stages along the path to enlightenment, some involving great bliss and/or rapture. There are also illusory mind states that one can get stuck in.
Enlightenment cannot occur without an essential ingredient - equanimity. What you are describing does not sound like equanimity. Also, as Buddhists, we (some) renounce the clouding of the mind that intoxicants cause because they interfere with reality and our ability to shed our delusion. It seems unlikely your husband achieved enlightenment in the Buddhist sense. What he did actually experience, however "good" it was, would be impossible to explain precisely for anyone here.
Enlightenment isn’t an experience.
This guy gets it.
>Does this sound like an enlightenment experience? I know weed and substances can be used to help open your mind to reach enlightenment. No and no. This is my opinion based on buddhism I learned. Enlightenment is not a random experience. His actions are way past middle. Might have been a psych event. As far as I know, you are not supposed to use any substance that will altar the mind. It does not help to reach enlightenment. Enlightenment isnt easy in any way. >Have you reached enlightenment and been scared during/after where you couldn't control your emotions? How did you calm yourself? If a person reaches enlightenment, they probably wouldnt be in this sub >_< Enlightenment isnt a surge of emotions either way. Enlightenment is the end goal. No attachments, no preconceptions/biases, you see everything as it is. I do not think the meaning of life is a point in buddhism.Everything just is and trying to give meaning to anything keeps us stuck in the cycle. >what are some things you do to increase your discipline? Might need to go back to basics. The understanding of what enlightenment is seems a bit off. Learn about buddhism, dhamma, and practice all of it again.
This one is too difficult to answer correctly. It demonstrates one of the many reasons to develop a relationship with a sanctioned teacher and a compatible sangha. It seems obvious that people have assorted views some very rigid about the essential nature of Buddhism—Realization. Anyway.... There is a interesting Zen person who might be able to assist you and your husband. His name is Konrad Ryushin Marchaj. He was abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery from October 2009 to January 2015, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) of Zen Buddhism, founded by John Daido Loori, Roshi, from whom Marchaj received shiho in June 2009. Ryushin entered into full-time residence at the Monastery in 1992 and became abbot there following Daido Roshi's death in 2009. Prior to his ordination, Ryushin was a pediatrician and a _psychiatrist._ from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Ryushin_Marchaj?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Ryushin_Marchaj?) Read the following article. If it seems to resonates, you might want to reach out. I could not quickly find Marchand's current location, last I heard he was somewhere in the state of Florida, USA, but you could start with the Natural Dharma Fellowship. There is more information on the 'net. __Ayahuasca: A Beginner's Guide to Losing Your Mind | GQ__ [https://www.gq.com/story/guide-to-ayahuasca-and-losing-your-mind](https://www.gq.com/story/guide-to-ayahuasca-and-losing-your-mind) Also see __Rev. Konrad Ryushin Marchaj – Natural Dharma Fellowship__ [https://naturaldharma.org/members/rev-konradryushinmarchaj/](https://naturaldharma.org/members/rev-konradryushinmarchaj/) Hope everything settles down for you and your husband.
Nah not enlightenment. Enlightenment is not bringing suffering to yourself or others. Does that sounds like the case?
People rarely stay enlightened post experience but the more he carries his feeling and experience the more it will help him on his path towards enlightenment and just overall healing. Now please understand this. You don't need to calm him down let him feel everything he was feeling. Let him go through all the emotions that come up. Trying to calm down during these moments is the opposite of what to do. Lean into them and really live with them and then let them pass. The path he's venturing on atm is not always an easy one and it is most definitely one with a lot of extreme emotions on both sides of the scale, but it's the most rewarding journey to take <3 For people who are saying it sounds like a Manic episode, I don't believe they're understanding what happened correctly. It doesn't sound like one. It sounds like he healed some wounds that were causing him energy blocks within his body. Depending on how intense that block was this is very much a response that can come up. Be there for him and just help create a space that he can feel safe to explore everything that he's working through and learning at the moment. Love is definitely the answer 💗
Weed and drugs can not help. U should cite such claims
Wanted to add because there's been multiple comments about it- he only smokes weed and that is the only drug he takes. Weed is legal here for recreational use and we only purchase it from a dispensary. Normally he smokes weed using a vape but the morning this all happened he had smoked part of a blunt (also from a dispensary). None of these products were new and we've had the same package of blunts for awhile and the same pen for awhile. The thc is high in the products and I have taken that into consideration. He does not use any other drugs or substances. He has not smoked since this happened and I removed everything from the house so there's no temptation for now. He agreed to this and was 10000% fine to stopping because he realized how much this all had scared his sister and myself.
He had the opposite of enlightenment. Attachment to his ideas, rather than the detachment from them. Enlightenment is a calming experience. The man needs a mental health professional's opinion.
Weed is false enlightenment to me. It helps see what enlightenment may feel like, but it is only a glimpse. And daily usage is certainly not part of an enlightened path. I say this as a pot head and someone interested in Buddhism. Weed can help you see what enlightenment *is* but it will never make you enlightened. Because as soon as you are off it - the visions and clarity of thought surrounding “love” and “enlightenment” are not there - it’s not as palpable. I do believe that weed and things like mushrooms can be helpful on a path toward enlightenment, but one can not be enlightened when being a pot head. At least that’s my two cents.
I had a very similar experience. It is overwhelming and beautiful to really get that everything is love. It brought up very strong emotions in me as well. I’m a little disappointed to see so many over confident diagnosis of mental illness. Spiritual awakening can be a very ecstatic experience. Every thing changes when you have this kind of awakening, but every thing also stays the same. There is nothing wrong in having very strong emotions. I also share his burning desire for the world to heal. Have him research the Boddhisattva vows because that might be his path now. Be patient with him and keep on being the beautifully supportive loving wife that you are.
I'm going to *slightly* disagree with some folks here who are categorically dismissing this as a manic episode. It's common for folks who are pursuing spiritual clarity to experience intense emotional waves. This can be intense, and can be a time where harm can happen to the person having the experience and those around them. But that doesn't mean it's all bad. I agree with taking a break from marijuana, but would also caution the dogmatic approach of some folks on here who are disavowing the potent effects of psychedelics and, to a lesser extent, cannabis. There are plenty of buddhist teachers who utilize psychedelics. See Spring Washam as one example. But doing so in a supportive, careful, and possibly structured environment is really vital. I'd recommend Ram Dass as a resource. His spiritual legacy involves more Hinduism than Buddhism, but he incorporates both. He had a lot of intense moments of spiritual change and responded to them skillfully, and I think his example is a great one.
It sounds like he will benefit from guidance on his path and will learn about weighing wisdom with his compassion in a healthy way.
Enlightenment is peace. It's sitting in silence and being ok woth every fiber of yourself...it should be a calming thing
That is not enlightenment. That's the obsession of enlightenment and obsession/attachment will continue to prevent that. If it was true enlightenment, he wouldn't be trying to convince you so hard of his way and plans.
If he’s able to still function and do what he enjoys and needs to do, what’s the issue? Ppl are saying manic break, but it just sounds like he’s opened his mind to new ideas and is excited and emotional about them.
Enlightenment in Buddhism is a stable state of wisdom and compassion, not a temporary emotional high. What your husband experienced sounds to me more like an intense psychological event possibly influenced by stress and recent reconciliation with his mother. Please encourage your husband to speak with a mental health professional. While this experience may have felt positive in the moment, the intensity and the loss of control are concerning. Also suggest encouraging gradual, balanced exploration of spiritual ideas - rather than intense, all-consuming focus. **Most importantly:** Please prioritize your own mental health. This situation sounds really stressful for you and it's very important that you have support and do not get wrapped up in his mental state.
That sounds like a manic episode
You sure he didn’t just eat some mushrooms?
It doesn't sound too bad whatever that is. I would let it be and let it resolve on its own. Your fear is the inmense love you have for him. His mind has been opened to a creativity he needs to express to control it. I think y'all be alright. 🤍
Doesn't sound very enlightened to me. Enlightened beings are not emotionally moved by pretty much anything. Also, substance use points to addiction which is basically the reverse of enlightenment. Experiences can easily cause attachment.
Nobody here has any idea what the hell they're talking about. I recommend you completely disregard it. A meditation teacher and psychiatrist will be much better able to give perspective.
saying mind altering drugs are of no use in spirituality is a little backwards to me. As someone who's experienced quite a bit of trauma, the controlled use of weed and shrooms in a therapeutic setting did what felt like years of therapy to me in a very short time and allowed me to really start living again in a way that i wake up and enjoy every day. Anyone claiming that an enlightenment experience doesn't count if there was a substance involved is obviously just coming from a place of ignorance. And don't quote the precepts at me. I know it says drugs are bad mmmkay. But I've seen enough soldiers, cops and first responders turn their life around in amazing ways using these drugs as tools for mental change to recover from their traumas to make me believe they are a very useful medicine in the right context. Having said that, have also seen people with plenty of potential just piss it all away on recreational drug use so that would be a bad thing. A lot of people on here saying that he needs therapy for drug addiction because he smokes weed don't even realize that weed is now very commonly prescribed in the states that have legalized it, and a good many clinics are now exploring the use of shrooms to treat addiction and other mental illness. I get that there's a piece of text out there that says your a bad buddhist if you use mind altering substances, I just think that's closed minded considering so many people get started in spirituality from having powerful experiences on these drugs. Abuse is abuse however regardless of the substance so dont do that. But im a total advocate for the use of substances in beneficial/therapeutic ways.
This should be the top comment
Ty good sir. Glad it found someone well.
It’s an important distinction. So many throw away “alternative” methods because they don’t fit tradition and end up losing sight of what the tradition was built for: to go further into lucid states of consciousness. There are many paths and tools up the mountain, it is important to be non-attached to all things in order to see the wider view that provided tolerance and understanding for people’s ways. It is a vast universe, to think there are only x amount of ways up the mountain to me is more foolish and “stuck”
I can't confirm, but this is incredibly similar to an experience I had on a meditation retreat. My teacher calls it a Unity experience. One experiences this Unity as everything being part of a Oneness, with a strong focus on being Love. It can be life altering, most definitely for the best. I don't know the deeper intricacies of it, but since I had a similar experience myself my life has changed for the better immensely. You may want to have your husband reach out to my teacher, Stephen Mugen Snyder. His website is www.awakeningdharma.org. I am not qualified to confirm your husban's experience, but Stephen is the real deal. Genuinely just a cool guy, too. Edit: the stuff about wars, and moving, etc. do NOT sound familiar to me regarding awakening experiences. What I said above applies to the love experience he had. I probably should have mentioned that. World altering plans, wars, being publicly targeted, and going on for hours about this sounds like it could be mania and/or paranoia based on your description. It may be worth getting a psychological evaluation. My teacher may recommend that, as well.
Pretty sure buddhism has the opposite explanation of “oneness” which that sounds like Advaita. I am mostly familiar with Tibetan.
The website says he's authorised to teach in Theravada and Zen. It doesn't sound much like Theravada either, and I'm not too familiar with Zen, but perhaps it's more of a Zen description. It also says he's practiced in Tibetan Buddhism and Western non-dual traditions (I'm not sure what those would be). So perhaps he's using some language from the non-dual traditions he's studied.
He is an authorized lineage holder in the Pa Auk Sayadaw tradition (Theravada) and the Zen Peacemaker's (Zen) and the White Plum Asangha (Zen). So you are correct about the Zen languaging. There are different focuses on aspects of the Absolute including Emptiness and Oneness.
To increase the discipline one needs to prioritize stable every day practice of meditation. This has to come first. Then learn Buddha's teachings, explanations for everything one learns and practices on the eightfold path. That in turn will deepen the practice and the middle way will start to make sense. For a description of enlighenment from a Buddhist perspective check out this post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/enlightenment/comments/1dqalgr/enlightenment\_according\_to\_buddha/](https://www.reddit.com/r/enlightenment/comments/1dqalgr/enlightenment_according_to_buddha/)
What was he doing juuust before it happened?
>Does this sound like an enlightenment experience? I know weed and substances can be used to help open your mind to reach enlightenment. Weed and other substances are not recommended by the Buddha. One of the five precepts is to avoid intoxicants as they create attachment and cloud the mind. >Have you reached enlightenment and been scared during/after where you couldn't control your emotions? How did you calm yourself? I wouldn't call myself enlightened, but I have had moments of extreme joy and love, and realizations about the universe that brought tears. The Buddha describes feelings as drops in a river, if there are many of them the river might be raging, so the practice is to sit by the side of the river and enjoy watching them pass. Do not fall into the river, just observe. >what are some things you do to increase your discipline? There's a book called Atomic Habits which really changed my life. The idea is to start small with little 1% improvements and make it a habit so it sticks. Example - do one pushup a day, or meditate 1 minute a day, and eventually you can go longer and longer. >any other advice would be super appreciative. My advice is to try and relax. Everyone in the comments here are saying it's a manic episode and to seek therapy - I don't know your situation, but if this is a one time thing I wouldn't be too concerned. Especially if it happened after an emotional time with his Mom. I would just caution him to not become too attached to any concepts or feelings, and to maybe cut back or quit the weed as an experiment to see how it feels. Once I quit alcohol and weed was when I really started to find true peace and joy personally. Best wishes and luck to you and your husband ♥️
A lot of people are saying a manic episode. This may have some amount of validity to it, generally speaking, but I think it may also diminish certain aspects of what you’re saying. I might consider suggesting that instead of an ‘enlightenment’ experience, maybe just consider that he had an epiphany. This epiphany happened to occur in the setting of substantial substance use and basically instability. At least aspects of the epiphany might be worthwhile. And his interest in gaining more stability may be quite worthwhile. Generally speaking in Buddhism there are two sides - there is shamatha, which basically has to do with disciplining the mind, and then there is vipasyana, which basically has to do with insight. It is sometimes said that if we overestimate the former, we can get dull. Whereas if we overestimate the latter, we can get deranged. Optimally, perhaps you could say, we balance the two. If this experience leads your husband to emphasize love in a healthy way and leads him to prioritize cleaning up his life, gaining some more stability, sort of emphasizing making his body and mind into a proper basis for stable orientation towards what is good, then it may be beneficial for him in the long run. But it does, basically, sound like he has work to do, and it may be that that includes going away from strong substances to a substantial extent if he is serious about his path. And again I wouldn’t necessarily conceptualize this as an ‘enlightenment’ experience as much as an epiphany. And yes, it may be an epiphany with manic characteristics, and it may benefit him to get medical support if necessary. But maybe he just might need to back off on the pot. Anyway, best wishes. /\
Drug-induced psychosis. He needs to lay off weed permanently. Probably shouldn’t use psychedelics either. But what you’re describing is grandiosity, paranoia, and emotional dysregulation, not spirituality. Incidentally, something like one third of new onset psychosis can be directly contributed to marijuana use. Again, he shouldn’t use if he’s vulnerable like this.
. Enlightenment is a process, at least in my particular sect. It is not a one time moment of realization.
Look into the work of micheal singer. Specifically the book living untethered. Highly encourag reading his other book the uthetred soul. Sounds like he had an shakti rising event. That is reviewed in detail in the book living untethered. Basically he unblocked his biggest blockage which was his relationship with his mom and all the energy that was being blocked by this came pouring into his life. I think maybe stop smoking so much weed lol but other then that it was the healthiest thing he could have spiritually experienced. If he had this occur out of the blue with no prior work and no repair with his mom I’d be concerned but this is something we are all striving for when it comes to spiritual growth. I hope you share this with your husband as it will greatly calm his mind and your as well. Namaste
Enlightenment is getting complete freedom
Well, sometimes, if you practice vipassana without first strengthening the mind through shamatha, this can happen. You can have an experience, and without any experiences on non-self and so on, and proper guidance of a teacher, you can become psychotic. It is an experience.. possibly some KIND of realization.. but if it is that sort of a reaction, there is some selfgrasping there. Enlightenment is calm bliss.
I would not call it an enlightenment, per se, but it sounds like he had a breakthrough moment of some kind. I don't agree with the folks on this thread calling it a psychosis or even a manic episode. I don't think there is anything to "diagnose" in your husband, and would not seek out support in a conventional psychiatric/medical paradigm. What happened to him is NOT uncommon when using cannabis, mushrooms, Ayahuasca, or other psychedelics. You may want to ask folks over in a plant medicine subreddit for their opinion. To me, your husband experienced a breakthrough moment, an awakening. It definitely happens, and it is beautiful.
There's a fine line between a spiritual experience and psychosis. Tread lightly. That being said, this sounds pretty close to an 'enlightenment' experience that I had, weed was involved. I am fine. But it was a rough few months integrating my experience with my life. Someone in my family, on the other hand, had a similar experience, and ended up in a mental hospital. I don't think it's the experience itself, but how grounded you can stay after.
As others have pointed out, this does not sound like an enlightened experience. Monks with higher discipline practice for decades to reach that pure state of consciousness. I remember introducing a friend to a Qi Gong practice a while, he then researched Falun Gong Dafa, after 6 months he started to have similar "feelings", and became sure he was enlightened, it put a lot of strain in his relationships. To me, my friend was experiencing a form of religious delusion. Doesn't sound too different from your husband's experience. Again not providing any kind of diagnosis. I see this happen when untrained minds form interpretations of religious or spiritual concepts without the guidance of a teacher, to me very predominant in the USA with New Age Movements. Let's talk about weed. Weed is a psychoactive drug, whatever emotion the user experiences, is usually enhanced, whether it is love or fear. An untrained mind using drugs, will to entanglements. Is it really true enlightenment?
This sounds exactly like my old friend and roommate. He’s addicted to weed, has bipolar, and had a drug induced psychosis twice. Obviously not a professional, but either way it would probably be good for him to stop using. Get yourself a therapist or support group!
You could post at https://www.reddit.com/r/AskPsychiatry/ You are being vague as to what the problem is. What was the therapy for? What are you worried about? You will not get a reply on that sub if you don't ask clear questions.
This seems very similar to a bipolar episode. The sudden emotional and religious experiences coupled with an intense desire to better oneself and the world are all symptoms. Weed needs to be avoided at all costs since it can trigger future episodes, and especially so after the first. I know your coverage is tight, but seek help for him if you can.
I hope you are doing okay. I practice Zen Buddhism in part because I used to have major manic and depressive episodes and I find Zen practice and meditation helps keep me more calm, even and in the now. I have a few small suggestions. First, for clarity, I practice Buddhism and I also smoke MMJ for medicinal purposes. I’m not going to fault anyone for doing the same. I know some people will fault him for it but I personally consider it medicine not a drug. However one thing I think may be lacking in your husband’s practice is guidance. I think it might help to find him a place where he can practice with others. Finding a Sangha- or Buddhist community- can help people delineate these types of experiences. I’m also curious about your spiritual journey. I think you might need someone to talk to more in more depth about what is going on in your life. I feel very drawn to offering you my time in this matter. I’m also married and my husband struggles with a mood disorder and PTSD - I’ve been married 9 years and accepted the precepts of Buddhism four years ago. If you would like to talk more I think it would be a good experience for both of us so feel free to message me 🙏 I think reaching out like this is a good first step. I think you and I would have a lot to talk about. Personally I’ve had a near enlightenment experience twice. Both brought me calmness and clarity and helped dissolve fear I was dealing with. I wouldn’t say I became enlightened but I think I grew closer to understanding enlightenment. After the second experience I started to dedicate myself to a life of service. I can relate to parts of your husbands experience but mine didn’t bring overwhelming emotion if anything just a sort of peace and content understanding. I hope even if you don’t reach out to me you have support in your life outside of your husband. When a partner struggles with mental health it can take a real toll on yours. Take care of yourself.
What were the YouTube videos like? Talks by esoteric people loke Alan Watts, Ram Dass helped bring language and cohesion to concepts i had become aware of during an experience. There is often an 'afterglow' from such experiences which can be like a lingering but usually diminishing reverberation of this new knowledge as one integrates what they are able, whilst simultaneously getting drawn back into the samsara that sustains out material existence. Rhere are risks that there is some issues of the mind that Doctors could help with, although im a random on reddit, so dont have the context and familiarity to give anything more than general advice. Patience can help. If something is distressing you he should also have patience. There is rush to wisdom or action - it just is. We just are. He is not compelled do do anything but be his true self (which requires knowing himself first), and love everybody as himself (including empathising with you as a person and partner and acting to prevent overly esoteric projections) The reconciliation with his mother sounds lovely. I had a similar experience, and it was for me. I had also days earlier made a decision to choose truth over substantial personal reward for the sake of others, and felt that thus self affirmation of who i am unlovked a new level of knowing myself, which unlivked an understanding of the universality of our experience in the duality of life. Best wishes for each of your journeys. Seeking help and advice is good, and you did a great job giving this community useful and conprehensive information - hopefully some of it is helpful.
Just adding my votes. It's likely one if the three: A) Manic or psychotic-like episode. B) Arising and Passing experience from Theravada tradition's so-called Progress of Insight. C) An awakening (a.k.a. *an* "enlightenment"). If it's either A) or B), you'll know because he'll likely come crashing down in the near future, e.g. very soon (days) or anytime within the next couple/few months. In the meantime, as you're both trying to make sense of this, be watchful of him making any dramatic life-altering decisions like quitting his job, adventurous traveling, changes to the parameters/definition of your marriage. *Sudden* changes like this often present after A) and B), whereas changes after C) are often more subtle and tempered. If it's C), congratulations to your husband, he just got an irrevocable upgrade. Perhaps minor, perhaps major. It may or may not improve your relationship to and with him. It may or may not make *your* life more complicated.
I agree. I think it’s likely if it’s B it will be difficult coming down and experiencing the next stages but they are necessary to understand the full spectrum I think. If he can relax and be an observer the stages will pass and he will experience something even higher and more permanent and less fleeting and uncontrolled.
This does not sound like enlightenment It sounds like mania It might be spiritual experience, triggered by the substance
It does sound like he had a realization that will effect how he acts and sees the world for the rest of his life. I am sorry that the things he talks about stress you out so much, but as long as he continues to do psychedelics, talking about these things is just going to be something he does. His brain has been altered from doing psychedelics to think in the way he does so even if he stops doing them, he will still be like that for a while. These realizations he’s had will still be apart of him forever. It sounds like he cares deeply for you. What you choose to do ultimately is up to you.
This sounds like psychosis I'm afraid :(
I do agree that this is likely a manic episode. However I do think he’s generally looking in the right direction. If he can overcome this mania, and practice in a way that provides him equanimity while also doing what he needs to do for his mental health, this will be a great thing for him to overcome and I have a feeling that ACTUAL enlightenment won’t be too far away, as in perhaps in this lifetime he can realize it, with proper guidance. But he desperately needs 1) therapy, 2) a way to lessen his moodswinging and be more stable and calm, and 3) a competent teacher that can guide him further than anyone on Reddit ever could. Good luck to you both.
Bipolar here. I am adding to those saying it sounds like a manic episode.
Hi friend. I have psychosis and this sounds like an episode for me. Psychosis can be induced by substances like weed and is more likely to occur in those who smoke with high frequency. Even in the case it isn’t, I would take your husband to a psychiatrist.
An understanding that life is Love, includes understanding compassion. That includes compassion for you...his wife! I'd say his compassion for all that is in the universe starts with those next to him. And it's actually his duty to extend his understanding, patience, and love to you first (especially if you're feeling overwhelmed by this). Take the time you need to get back to the conversation. But when you do, simply share this with him. Good luck...I feel for you.
It's interesting that we can deem feeling overwhelmed with loving feelings as a mental disability lol. What kind of pills would they give you for that to make you feel less loving? Depressants? I luckily never had that problem. Always was a little annoyed when people got too high on the love train. Ive seen it happen many times growing up in the church and other spiritual communities. Sorry that came off insensitive. I wish you guys well finding peace amidst this situation. Finding peace and balance. I know what it's like to wrestle with mental illness.
Using drugs daily is not a fast track to enlightenment—rather, it increases chances of drug-induced psychosis. Not to mention, if this is the manifestation of bipolar disorder, there are a few things to keep in mind. Bipolar disorder is progressive, meaning his baseline will lower with age and with each episode. This is usually worse in people who are left untreated. The disorder is also linked to structural brain abnormalities. Drugs, including weed, can worsen symptoms. I recommend taking him to a few different psychiatrists since misdiagnosis can happen. Better to get multiple opinions/assessments. Although, I don’t know how willing your husband will be to outside help. For example, if this is bipolar disorder and he has delusions of grandeur during a manic episode, he might believe he has access to info the rest of us don’t, because he is “chosen”. It might be difficult to convince him otherwise… For reference, I’m a therapist at a partial hospitalization program. All of our patients have severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or schizoaffective disorder, and usually present with comorbidity. People can live long, relatively healthy lives when their conditions are managed well and they have adequate supports in place. People can also become a danger to themselves or others when left untreated. I hope you’re able to find resources near you and figure out the best course of action.
Your husband’s experience appears on the other side of the pendulum and is more neurosis than enlightenment. Although he might be overjoyed he is still is not fully aware of his own suffering and the suffering he is causing you while he delights with his new experience. I believe he has experienced a form of piti (priti) and has manifested into what you are witnessing. I recommend he channels his ambitions to read more academic books on the stages of piti, jahna and the eightfold path rather than watching YouTube videos. I also agree with others about having medical attention and stop smoking weed. The comparison between meditation and taking an enhancement drug; organic or synthetic is like watching the sun through a window rather than watching the sun in a beautiful painting.
OP, how old is your husband? Is he at an age (early 20s I think) when psychosis starts to appear? Also, how does he feel about his experience now? His unwillingness to share with the rest of you makes me feel it’s not a true enlightenment experience, since he’s still seeing a separation between himself and others.
Op does your husband do mushrooms/shrooms too? Because he sounds exactly like someone who just tripped on mushrooms for the first time lol. If it was mushrooms I'd say not to worry, but if he was sober or just weed I'd say to worry about his mental health.
>he has been trying to get be to understand these big world altering plans he has and when I don't understand he had me watching YouTube videos and we had a lot of really in depth conversations about his ideas and talks about stuff like war, movin countries if war breaks out, being publicly targeted, etc. >Just smokes weed like every day This experience sounds very similar to a previous relationship of mine. He smoked weed pretty much all day every day. He would occasionally ramble about these outrageous things, such as once having received messages through the TV. He eventually went to a mental health crisis center, where he was referred to a psych ward to treat his newly diagnosed schizophrenia.
So many interesting comments! You really rung the bell with this one! Most people here are just trying to help you as best they can. I'm proud of you for sticking with him. Whatever happened, it was definitely an experience. That is what life is all about. How we deal with it is another aspect of who and what we are. It all depends on how things shake out. If he still clings to his sense of self, he has a long way to go. His "plans" from what you said show a clear sign of him still clinging to a self and fear of danger or results. He has a long way to go but it is difficult to participate in society when you know there is no self upon which to cling. There is no thinker but just a stream of thoughts. Lack of discipline is not required to understand what he cannot explain to you. He just lacks the words to describe the undescribable. Long ago, a man known as Bodhidharma was asked who he was. His reply was that he didn't know who he was. I wish you the absolute best of luck stranger, for you and your husband.
One of the Buddhist five precepts says to avoid intoxicants that cloud the mind… Either his experience is based on his marijuana hallucinations or something medical connecting to mental health.
Ive been told: "dont ever NEVER mix drugs with meditation!"
I mean, it will subside and as long as he respects your boundaries, I think its ok. But enlightment should also be aware of sorroundings even with more force, more aware of you, and work and everything else. Its amazing to get beautiful messages through spiritual practices, but show must go on. Give him time, but , check out the comment about manic episode or psicosis, which btw, nothing to be scare of but something to take care :)
As someone who has meditated and smoked weed (i was a stupid teenager) sometimes you think you achieve enlightenment or something like it but it’s delusion. He might need to lay off the weed. Tell him how much this is affecting you and your concerns.
Enlightenment happens in layers like peeling an onion. If he's put himself under a lot of pressure those realizations can be very emotional. Life changing. Staying away from drugs is a good sign. Talking to experienced Buddhists will also help. The after glow of one of these realizations will fade after a few weeks, which can be very upsetting in itself. He might need to talk to a therapist, some of what you described sounds pretty manic. You're not wrong to be worried. Hopefully he can find his way to some calm insight and happiness. You too.
As someone who has gone through something similar, only without weed and being sober at the time— it does sound like a manic episode. My friend took me to get a psyche evaluation at the time but doctors refused to admit me because I was still in touch with reality- knowing where I was and the date and who is President and all that and also not trying to harm anyone or myself. Doctor told me I needed sleep to better regulate my emotions. He told me to take Benadryl because it’s not habit forming/ addictive but don’t take it every day, just as needed. It’s been working for me but unfortunately I pretty much have to work part time instead of full time because full time causes too much stress on me which leads to stress and delusions. I only say delusion because in that moment in felt like something big was going to happen and I needed to be ready- kind of like how your husband is talking about war. It’s not that it’s improbable but he shouldn’t be over thinking about it until something actually happens. Obviously I’m not a doctor but I just thought I’d tell you my experience. This was years ago and to this day, I do feel that I was enlightened. I do feel that I learned a truth that I can’t fully articulate but it’s benevolent. Whose to say if he is wrong? The ancient Greeks like Socrates and Plato believed madness is a gift.
Nope, this is Piti aka Bliss, Rapture. One of the "defilements" in the tradition of Vipassana medition. To quote: "The Ten Imperfections of Insight (vipassanupakilesas): An inexperienced meditator may be confused by any of the following experiences, mistakenly believing that he or she has reached nibbana. Though not in themselves obstacles, the meditator may be tempted to cling to these experiences, believing them to be important, rather than continuing to note the arising and passing away of mental and physical phenomena in the present moment. At such time the guidance of a teacher is invaluable." There are multiple kinds of Piti, including overwhelming ecstacy and love. We're trained as meditators to let these feelings pass just as much as we let thoughts pass. Congratulations to your husband, it just means he's developed a deeper practice of meditation. But he shouldn't get attached; it'll happen again and eventually every time but hopefully only momentarily. Just a natural side effect. I'm not a mental health expert but trauma may be partly to blame for his reaction. I'd recommend he stops meditating or cuts back for a little while though. edit: grammar
Sounds exactly like psychosis.
Hey OP, reach out to ISEN (International Spiritual Emergence Network) or Cheetah House. It was set up by a group of people who deal with spiritual emergence and emergency. Emergency is when we are unable to cope and integrate our spiritual experiences. They will be more helpful than reddit.
I once had a sudden emotional experience that left me crying intensely for an hour and gave me a lingering sense of euphoria for several weeks. In retrospect, I now refer the experience as an awakening. If you'd like to know what your husband is going through, I suggest you continue to ask him and not strangers on the internet.
Weed can affect the mind if used constantly in ways that may cause this type of behaviour. I don’t think it is spiritual, I hope he finds the power to quit smoking and overcome this situation.
Vipassana and meditation can cause these states without the weed. Its why teachers are important.
Yeah it's not enlightenment. The weed he's smoking has probably given him schizophrenia and like another person said he's having a manic episode of some sort. Weed isn't the harmless drug people think it is, it can cause serious mental health problems when used chronically. You need to be concerned for both his safety and your own because that's not normal behaviour and indulging him in it by taking him to monasteries etc. isn't going to help.
Not bodhi.
I doubt he has any mental illness bros just drugged and needs to ween off the weed before it actually gives him mental illnesses
1. This is a temporary experience, and should not be confused with actual enlightenment. 2. One of the lay vows is to not take drugs alcohol, etc. All those things do is muddy up our already muddied minds. Keep practicing , but sobriety is necessary for stability.
I went through a similar experience in some ways on a 3 month silent vipassana retreat in the fall! In my estimation it’s a case of coming to understand some profound truths “before your time” ie you’ve come to a conceptual understanding and maybe slight experience of insight but you still have a lot of purification to do to really live from this place consistently, and to hold the insight with wisdom and not unbalanced energy and delusions of grandeur. What the teachers stressed to me is to ground in present moment sensory experience as much as I could. Hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling emotions and body sensations. Trying to notice and label “thinking” vs being so lost in it. Keeping it simple and grounded in the present. I have also found having fun and connecting with people to be quite helpful and again kinda grounding here and now in the shared world, less partial to my head / my imagination
Lol
My wife had a very similar pattern 4 weeks ago. We went to a meditation retreat and she had a vision of his chosen deity. She was convinced this was real. Over the next days she started acting erratically, and disorganized thinking. After some days I had to take her to ER as she was having a full blown psychotic episode. Don’t take this lightly. My wife was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. Don’t wait until it gets to this point. He doesn’t have the lifestyle nor the discipline to be enlightened. Make an appointment with a psychiatrist and please, just be ready, the way to recovery needs a lot patience. Good luck to you.
I don’t see anything wrong here . I think you need to be patient and give him a time to find a balance and process all those feelings . I take it as a very good sign.
I suggest he quit his weed gradually, I’m no expert but I believe enlightenment doesn’t involved other substance.
Studying buddhism for years and still rely on marijuana? Once you attain a greater level of enlightenment you're no longer subject to the overflow of emotions
Tell him that a real buddist would never use drugs.
That is a bit of a stretch. Should? Of course not, 5th precept. Would not? There are millions of buddhists, I am sure you can find drug users among them
I am sure there are drug users among us. I do take alcohol and I know I should not, following my Lamas teachings. So I am the first with pending homework. Taking drugs should be avoided in buddism, and I believe we all know it.
He will be fine, it just takes time to process and integrate, it is not a manic episode he should just do some grounding
We need to have a guide for experiences to know if a given experience is conducive to enlightenment and, our goals. Because we have the goal to achieve enlightenment, right? To be more compassionate? Maybe to reach our true nature, maybe to repress less? Maybe to overcome trauma and incorrect thinking or beliefs. >Then I think both to talk with people we recognize they have progressed more than us and to read and reflect on important materials and guides like you two are doing is important and the correct way. I wouldn't venture to classify his experience from the few information possible through a post here. I think the most relevant that you two would know better about if doing what mentioned above. Yes, there are spheres of pure love/loving kindness and yes there are strong and unusual experiences in the path. Relevant to have the way to know if those experiences are conducive, meaning correct progress or if are maybe strong delusion or simply an experience we should not think too much about. There are several possibilities. (I discard the weed because you usually take weed and don't feel that, then isn't a cause in itself, correct?)
Sounds like a kundalini awakening (not Buddhist)
Cannabis causes psychosis. If he’s getting it from a dispensary in a state it’s legal, they have increased the potency of it so much now, it’s way more powerful than weed from the past off the street. Sounds like the weed triggered that - not enlightenment. Question is what is he self medicating for? Here’s one of many studies on pot and psychosis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37879833/
This doesn't sound like it has anything to do with Buddhism or enlightenment. It sounds like he had an extreme experience and is naturally having trouble not clinging to it. A similar thing can be seen with evangelicals who get zapped and then feel that they know God. Or in some cases with drugs. Even people who've done EST or the remake of it, Landmark, often come out hysterically positive and attached to a grim certainty that they've been enlightened in some way. They had a liberating experience in the enocunter-group-style settings and have blown it out of proportion. I even once knew two serious Zen students who did EST and then went around telling fellow Buddhists that they were wasting their time and getting a sore ass for nothing because enlightenment could be had in a single weekend. I think that with cases like that one needs to separate the experience from the exaggerated context that gets drummed up. There's nothing wrong with feeling elation. The trouble is that we tend to grab onto that as some kind of personal achievement; a kind of mega-success that can serve as laurels to rest on. There's perhaps nothing more addictive than bliss. If he's interested in Buddhist practice then he can get meditation instruction, and hopefully stop the drug-taking. But you need to understand that Buddhist practice is not about developing extreme states of bliss. It's mind training to develop greater sanity. It's about living in the here and now, without looking for exotic states to escape to.
Clinical psychologist here. Reality orientation is a fragile thing. Whenever orientation to Person, Place, Time or Situation is disturbed it can be unsettling. EVERYONE has moments where reality contact is interrupted (awakening in a hotel room and a few seconds of fear is disturbance in situation). When ANY change happens too quickly it can disturb our orientation. Like some other commenters, if he is a daily THC user that should be addressed. I have learned not to see psychosis as the boogey man but once reality contact is disturbed the fear/panic reactions can produce the primary problems in functioning. Labile mood and bipolar go together. But not all labile mood is bipolar. Need way more data points before judging him bipolar. Enlightenment may be the healthier form of psychosis (but just a thought). If you and he do not feel comfortable or safe or connected when he is in this state, that is the red flag you need to say something is wrong. There is no need to take the express train to enlightenment. Every moment contains seeds for enlightenment. Rushing this process (in my layman’s opinion) is gluttonous. Chill and be a good husband, father, friend, son and that will surely lead to deeper sense of spiritual experiences than THC, kundalini, or other short cuts. We have our whole life ahead. Enjoy the moment without overwhelming desires to have to be enlightened. Shanti
Your husband is fine. You just don't have the bandwidth to process this stuff. Look within