Planet Earth – a Place for Addicts
Welcome to the club!

Addiction is a mental and/or physical reliance on a particular thing, substance or activity. All sentient beings are addicted to something. This happened the moment we created a self identity…a “me” as opposed to our true nature of pure awareness which can only ‘be’ and not identified. On a conventional level, we can easily see others addictions, but we may not always want to admit to these in ourselves.

On an absolute level, all sentient creatures are addicted…bound…hooked…fixated…enslaved by a sense of “I”. This applies to minute life forms, animals, humans and any type of alien 🙂

“I am not addicted”!
That very response reveals addiction.
If we were not addicted to “I”,
we would be enlightened.

On a conventional level, seemingly innocent addictions are much more insidious than you might think. We are addicted to sugar, status, news, gaming, gambling, careers, life style, digital things, TV, appearance, pills, drugs, alcohol, health, foods, education, music, entertainments, fantasies, wealth, ideas, internet…etc. There’s an addiction for everyone!

And…there is also an addiction to the responses we wish to receive from others.

Birds of a feather
get round a table
and cluck together!

(Unfortunately there are those who take advantage of our addictions, and here we have to look at justice and injustice: that will be discussed in the following article.)

 We are all the same, when it comes to being…bound…hooked ..fixated…enslaved by our self. All over the world, there are people sitting round tables at this very moment talking about me, what I did, what I have. It’s the same in every village, town or country. We are one great table of addiction to an “I”.

The human realm is described as excessive activity and frustration…that describes addiction perfectly. These addictions leave an imprint in the mind, creating a behavioural pattern which repeats itself. This is karma.

Pure awareness cuts through all addictions.
It naturally heals all actions.
We can enjoy but not hold on.
If we hold on, we merely get indigestion…
and every thing keeps repeating itself…burp…burp…burp!

Addiction in spiritual practice.
Welcome to the club!

When we are talking about addictions, we must include all activities, and this includes spiritual activities…especially spiritual activities! In fact, many methods involve dissolving the practice into emptiness. This is called the completion stage. And, that’s why we are told, “Short moments, many times,” in awareness practice in order to avoid conceptual clinging.

Spiritual teachers, spiritual retreats, rituals, chanting, even meditation can all be addictive. We find we cannot let go, and we become over dependant.

Spirituality is like fire: keep away and we lack the warmth, but go too close and we get burned. We have to deal with fire very carefully: fire can refuel our batteries or it can simply be entertainment…we can find ourselves going to retreats just to soak up the atmosphere.

Becoming addicted to going on spiritual retreat can be like buying a lottery ticket: we have to keep doing it, as this time, it might be our lucky day! We could become hungry ghosts, wanting more and more but not digesting what we have. If this doesn’t upset you, then it’s not hitting the spot, and you have already justified your self! It is that important.

However, retreats are a good addiction in that they are a discipline, a helpful reminder, and a chance to refine our experiences. The healing process starts when you recognise and admit this. We have to wake up to our sentimentality. The whole point is realising our true nature, and then compassion is not sentimental: it is based on unconditional love with no after…burps!