Can Level Of Consciousness Decrease?

[Afonso]

I'm having difficulty articulating the question, but the issue is this:

If I've been meditating and doing a lot of consciousness work, can I lose the "gains"? In other words, can I go to a state of consciousness that I was 8 months ago if meditation is stopped?

Also, does smoking weed/hash once a while lower my consciousness in any definitive way?

 

[ajasatya]

8 minutes ago, Afonso said:

If I've been meditating and doing a lot of consciousness work, can I lose the "gains"? In other words, can I go to a state of consciousness that I was 8 months ago if meditation is stopped?

yes. it is possible to fall back to old destructive patterns, so don't be lazy. the practice should be endless.

8 minutes ago, Afonso said:

does smoking weed/hash once a while lower my consciousness in any definitive way?

for me it did/does. but it's your job to investigate it by your own direct experience.

[Paintballer]

Weed is a drug that feeds the ego imo. Alcohol, cigarettes and most stimulants do as well.

Psychedelics are anti ego.

Do not be counter productive.

[SOUL]

Well, consciousness is a broadly applied term that has multiple elements to it and the part of consciousness that people generally are referring to when they speak of awakening is the element of it called awareness. Awareness itself doesn't increase or decrease levels in being awareness just as water doesn't increase or decrease in it's level of being water, they are inherently what they are.

The "level" you speak of is in us being conscious of our own awareness which can wax or wane depending in how we direct our attention, which is the mind's manifestation of awareness, and on what we use our attention. If we direct our attention onto our awareness it has a profoundly different effect in our mind than if we direct our attention to other elements of consciousness such as the self or ego.

Cannabis has beneficial influences on my consciousness but everyone has their own circumstances so your experience may vary.