Author Topic: Smoking Tobacco  (Read 12031 times)

rossoneri

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Re: Smoking Tobacco
« Reply #15 on: August 26, 2012, 05:20:29 AM »
Smokers usually picked up this habit due to the influence from friends and it could also from the strategic approached of the tobacco company. During our teenage years with wanted to experience more in life kind of attitude, you generally start smoking in an attempt to change your self-image and appear more attractive, more manly, more feminine, or more intelligent. We were all curious about everything and usually do the opposite which our parents or elders has been telling us not to do. But now, since we are all matured and knew that the habit of smoking can cause us to be sick, why are we still doing it?

Why do you smoke now?
You have been smoking for a while and you have matured. Now you know that smoking has not made you smarter, or cooler, or sexier. Smoking has not helped you to achieve your goals. Your accomplishments have been made in spite of smoking, but you are more aware that your health suffers. You can tell by your burning eyes, your hacking cough, and the phlegm in your throat. So, why do you still smoke? Most people continue smoking out of habit. They light a cigarette without even thinking. But sometimes people smoke under specific situations as a kind of ritual. Associating activities with smoking establishes Pavlovian reflexes. Pavlovian reflexes are named after Dr. Ivan Pavlov who was able to make his dogs salivate in the absence of food by just ringing a bell that had been associated with the dog's feeding time. In the same way, activities that you have associated with smoking, such as drinking coffee, will act as triggers. The mere sight of a cup of coffee will cause you to reach for your cigarettes without any conscious thought. Seeing friends smoking cigarettes, watching movies where the actors smoke, or the smell of cigarette smoke may trigger the psychological desire to smoke. Researchers have found that smokers with a damaged insula, a region of the brain linked to emotion and feelings, quit smoking easily and immediately. The study provides direct evidence that addiction to nicotine in tobacco smoke takes control of some of the neural circuits in the brain.

These are some of the reasons why people smoke:
No particular reason, but the cigarettes are handy
To reduce a feeling of anxiety or nervousness
To calm down when upset or angry
To socialize with other smokers
When feeling restless
As relaxation
To take a break from work
While having coffee or tea
When having a drink with friends
To satisfy an urge to smoke
After a meal
After sex
To pass the time while waiting for someone.
When driving in the car
When feeling depressed
When drinking beer, wine, or liquor
To celebrate something
To think about a difficult problem

dsiluvu

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Re: Smoking Tobacco
« Reply #16 on: August 26, 2012, 02:09:35 PM »
So, is it chocking to see Chogyam Trungpa with a cigarette?
After all, he was and still is highly regarded as a Buddhist Teacher, and a controversial one.
Smoking was one of the controversial aspect of his, but it is the controversial aspects that gave him a platform to reach many people who otherwise would not have gone anywhere close to Dharma.
Is smoking still bad then?

I've heard Lamas saying it is not the smoking is bad or the cigarette is bad... it is the way one behaves or act towards smoking or needing a cigarette that makes one collect negative or positive karma. For example a teenager steals his mother's money to go buy smokes with friends. They cut class to smoke. Or you get angry/frustrated when you don't smoke. I've even heard of people getting calculative with sharing their smokes. All these attitudes is already in you, the activity and act of smoking kinda enhanced it and brought out the ugliness in you. If it was not the cigaret it could be something else. Could even be a cake, that pretty girl, sex, food, material, the need to be right.

Hence someone like Chogyam Trungpa, a Mahasiddha, a Boddhisattva... clearly it does not affect his motivation, behavior... He is clearly in control of that... in fact he has turned many controversial/negative/frowned upon acts (e.g. having sex with his students) in to a spiritual paths for those who has crossed his path...     

Jessie Fong

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Re: Smoking Tobacco
« Reply #17 on: August 26, 2012, 02:22:00 PM »
Smokers are aware of the harmful effects of tobacco, yet they find it difficult to give it up.  Smoking has become a sort of addiction for them, a sort of pick-me-up for all occasions.  Second-hand smokers are also prone to the harmful effects that tobacco smoke has on their bodies.

To say that giving up smoking is not easy is not necessarily the main reason for not giving up.  I think smokers are just looking for a reason to enjoy a few minutes away from whatever is disturbing their mind.

My grandfather used to be a smoker for almost 50 years of his long life when suddenly out of the blue, he just decided to give up and he did it easily - no regrets, no withdrawal symptoms; and his face looked healthier with a rosy glow!

Who says it is difficult to give up?

dsiluvu

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Re: Smoking Tobacco
« Reply #18 on: August 26, 2012, 03:15:18 PM »
A different perspective from someone out these... thought his opinion was a nice perspective. Not taking sides or judging... just sharing.

Just my POV but here goes:
Nothing is meaningful or meaningless from it's own side. From it's own side there is nothing to be found. Whether something is meaningful or not depends on it's function - principally it's effect on the minds of t
hose perceiving (the smoker as well as their observers). Who are we to judge?
Similarly Dorje Shugden will manifest as whatever is beneficial to lead living beings to liberation and enlightenment - be it saint, inanimate object, animal or even insane being - whatever it takes to tear down this veil of illusion that binds us to suffering.