Someone recently asked me how I deal with the ruminating mind when meditating with cannabis and I thought for a moment before concluding that although my mind can seem more rebellious when I’m high, I don’t mind it. It hasn’t always been this way. The turbulent nature of my mind was an issue for me before I read Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements and came across the agreement that I use as a compass today: Take nothing personally. This is often advice given about how people relate to us but is incredibly effective when applied to our thoughts.
Although not taking your thoughts personally sounds easy, a few months ago I had first hand experience of how difficult it can be. Almost an hour after eating an edible that was a much higher dose than I was told I spent the majority of the evening fighting with my thoughts while in my cabin, alone, in the middle of a ranch 20 minutes from the main road. Cannabis made a house of curved mirrors out of my thoughts. Each thought was distorted, amplified, bounced around, and my newly heightened sense of awareness made each reflection seem real. Dealing with a ruminating mind influenced by cannabis is learning to look back at your reflection without taking what you see as fact.