Last Updated on September 15, 2026 by Matthew Sockolov

Meditating While High: Buddhism and Marijuana

We’ve been asked recently a few questions about meditating while high, the Buddhist stance on marijuana use and medical marijuana, and if smoking weed can be beneficial in our practice. This has been a recurring question we’ve received, and we have answered it on an individual basis. However, with the recent (as of originally posting this) legalization of marijuana in our home state of California and an influx of questions about practicing while high, we thought we’d write a bit about this important topic.

Marijuana and the Precepts

This is perhaps the most important piece when considering the relationship between Buddhism and cannabis and it’s where I want to start. The five precepts are training rules undertaken by Buddhists across the world, and have remained the same for thousands of years. Formed as a set of practices to protect the community and our personal practice, these are an important piece of the path.

The precepts are a foundational Buddhist teaching, and can help our practice greatly. The fifth precept is commonly translated as:

I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to carelessness.

Marijuana pretty clearly falls in this category when used recreationally. It is both intoxicating and can lead to carelessness. This precept serves to help us stay clear-headed, practicing, and not breaking the other four precepts. The five precepts are often referred to as “training rules,” but they may also be understood as practices.

We’ll talk more toward the end about the actual practice piece and investigation. But the point here is that the Buddha was crystal clear about the consumption of intoxicating substances. If you’re looking for the Buddhist answer here, you’ll find it in the precepts.

Can Smoking Weed Help Meditation?

This is one of the most common questions we’re asked in relation to cannabis. Some people seem to find it to help, while some report it dulls the mind. A Reddit post shows quite the split in opinion and experience.

The use of marijuana has been linked to a decrease in grey matter, dificits of dopamine in the brain, and significatly decreases empathy with human emotions. Although cannabis may feel beneficial to one’s practice, the science suggests this may not be the case.

Often, people who meditate while high are practicing other forms of meditation, for which it may be beneficial. In regards to concentration, mindfulness, and cultivating compassion, it is likely not helpful in most cases. There are some who may indeed benefit from the right type of cannabis in the right dose. However, the general benefits of quitting cannabis include better cognitive function, greater memory function, and more motivation.

Why People Think It’s Helpful

There are many aspects of the cannabis high that make people think it is beneficial for their practice. These include:

• Feelings of relaxation
• Less self-consciousness
• Reduced physical tension
• Increased sensory sensitivity
• Increased interest in meditation

Although the relaxation and lack of tension may seem like a useful thing, it’s important to remember that relaxing during meditation isn’t exactly the goal. For what it’s worth, we can cultivate many, if not all, of these qualities in meditation without substances.

How It Can Hinder Meditation

We also have to look at the potential downfalls, in addition to the ones illustrated by long-term research above. Some experiences that may make meditation harder while consuming cannabis are:

• Increased distractibility
• Feelings of drowsiness or dullness
• Distorted perception
• Difficulty sustaining clear attention
• Becoming attached to the altered state

I think one of the more interesting things is the illusion of “success” that cannabis can bring to meditation. We feel more at ease, maybe find some altered state, and think meditation went well. But when we actually investigate, they often are states associated with cannabis use, not samadhi or insight.

I would phrase it like this: feeling relaxed does not equal mindfulness. Feeling absorbed does not necessarily equal concentration. Having interesting thoughts does not equal insight. The biggest downside in my opinion is that cannabis increases delusion. We think we understood something when we didn’t.

Furthermore, there’s the nature of the mind. Many teachers, like Sayadaw U Tejaniya, stres the importance of observing the natural state of the mind. When we smoke or consume marijuana, we are not observing the natural mind; we are observing the high mind.

Dependence & Addiction

I want to cover two separate issues first. The first comes from a decade of teaching experience. I have heard dozens of students say something like “I can only meditate when I’m high,” “Meditation feels better when I’m high,” or “Sober meditation feels boring and not useful.” We can actually become dependent on the cannabis in our practice. I equate this with being dependent on incense, our favorite meditation cushion, or a specific place. When we hold on tightly to certain conditions, we feed attachment and hinder our meditation.

Furthermore, cannabis use can result in cannabis use disorder or addiction. Contrary to common street talk, one can become dependent on cannabis. From a Buddhist perspective, attachment is one of the Three Unwholesome Roots, and the Buddha did say that attachment is the root of all suffering. It’s worth checking our relationship with cannabis to see if there is attachment or dependence

Medical Marijuana

I am not a doctor, so don’t want to comment too much on this issue. But if cannabis consumption supports you with some symptoms of a disease or disorder, I absolutely would not advocate for any shame or beating yourself up. If you do use cannabis medically, you might observe how meditation is different with or without your medication. It’s that simple. Please don’t stop any medication that is supporting you because of something you understand from Buddhism without speaking with a medical professional.

My Personal Experience & Take

I was introduced to meditation when I was in my teenage years, and I was not observing the fifth precept. When I decided myself to come back to meditation practice, it was during my years of heaviest use. The friends I had (who also smoked quite a bit) were into meditation, and it was cool in those circles to meditate.

This experience brought me back to meditation, and eventually helped lead to me stopping all drug use and getting sober. I meditated for a few years, often high, before getting sober and later finding the Refuge Recovery program. I do believe my practice then would have been more fruitful had I been clear-headed, but I also see that it was cannabis use that had brought me to these friends and to practice.

In my personal experience, cannabis was useful in helping bring me to practice. However, I needed to quit in order to continue progressing along the path. This isn’t to say that somebody who smokes marijuana is less progressed along any path; this is just my experience.

We have members of our sangha (online and/or in person) who have used cannabis both recreationally and medicinally, and I welcome them all. Our space is drug and alcohol-free, but it is my personal belief that all are welcome to the dharma regardless of choices they have made. The Buddha himself showed this repeatedly in the suttas, as he did in the famous story of Angulimala.

Although this is a dramatic example, it illustrates the potential for us to awaken. For me, the gradual awakening involved strictly observing the fifth precept. However, I am certainly not perfect with my conduct all the time, and do not think my conduct is “better” than anyone else’s because I don’t use cannabis. I do think this is a choice I have made because it has been beneficial in my life and practice, and I’ve observed the effects from both smoking and not smoking.

Using Cannabis for Deeper Meditative States

One of the experiences I’ve heard shared is that cannabis can lead to deeper meditative states. There’s so much to unpack here. I think it deserves its own section in this post.

First, seeking unusual experiences or bliss can become an obstacle in meditation itself. I talk about this more in our post on signs of deep meditation. I’m not anti-jhana or deep states. But I do think we can very easily become attached to these states and crave them. This often leads to a lack of mindfulness and clear seeing.

The other piece that I want to touch on is the actual quality being cultivated. Is the “deeper meditation” related to samadhi? Or is it more related to the psychedelic aspect of cannabis? Are we cultivating mindfulness, concentration, equanimity, clear comprehension, wise view, etc.? In my experience, being absorbed or experiencing bliss while high is completely outside the scope of jhana, but easily mistaken for it.

Investigating Cannabis Use

If you consume cannabis, I’m not advocating for you to just drop it because the Buddha said this or that. We have to actually consider the teachings for ourselves. You might tune into the experience of craving around cannabis, the experience in the mind and body after consuming, and the effects it has long-term.

In one of our favorite meditation books, A Path with Heart, the author Jack Kornfield says: “Undertake for one week or one month to refrain from all intoxicants and addictive substances (such as wine, liquor, marijuana, cigarettes, and caʃeine). Observe the impulses to use these, and become aware of what is going on in the heart and mind at the time of those impulses.”

I think this is a great place to start. If you are taking this path seriously, you will at very least need to investigate your relationship with substances at some point. I did six months of complete celibacy during one of my trainings. It was quite insightful and interesting. I strongly recommend you try a week or a month without cannabis to see how it goes.

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