| Marijuana has been used for religious purposes for | | | | is smoked, often with Tobacco. Charas consists of |
| thousands of years. The Assyrians used marijuana | | | | the resin itself, a brownish mass which is employed |
| as an incense in their temples for example. In India | | | | generally in smoking mixtures.” Those who |
| marijuana was considered to be “a gift of the | | | | grow marijuana in India must chant the word |
| gods” and anyone who accidentally stepped on | | | | “Bhangi” over and over while sowing, |
| the plant “would suffer harm or disaster.” | | | | weeding, and harvesting the plant. |
| Marijuana was used for medicinal uses as well, | | | | The Tibetans considered marijuana sacred. A |
| especially among the Chinese and medieval Europe, | | | | Mahayana Buddhist tradition maintains that during the |
| but in the Himalayas and Tibet it was considered a | | | | six steps of asceticism leading to his enlightenment, |
| sacred plant for religious uses alone. | | | | Buddha lived on one Hemp seed a day. He is often |
| There are many ways the monks of India and Tibet | | | | depicted with "Soma leaves" in his begging bowl and |
| prepare marijuana for use. “Bhang is a mild | | | | the mysterious god-narcotic Soma has occasionally |
| preparation: dried leaves or flowering shoots are | | | | been identified with Hemp. In Tantric Buddhism of the |
| pounded with spices into a paste and consumed as | | | | Himalayas of Tibet, marijuana plays a very significant |
| candy -- known as _maajun_ -- or in tea form. | | | | role in the meditative ritual used to facilitate deep |
| Ganja is made from the resin-rich dried pistillate | | | | meditation and heigten awareness. Both medicinal and |
| flowering tops of cultivated plants which are pressed | | | | recreational secular use of Hemp is likewise so |
| into a compacted mass and kept under pressure for | | | | common now in this region that the plant is taken |
| several days to induce chemical changes; most Ganja | | | | from granted as an everyday necessity. |