From a site visitor: You’ve been talking about mistaking one thing for another. What about thinking that the things humans use to TRY to escape really end up trapping us? I used booze and drugs for years to try to escape the misery of myslef and my marriage and my job, but in the end, the booze and drugs became a bigger trap than what I was trying to escape from. I think Advaita Vedanta might finally be the answer for me. Eddie
F.: Hello, Eddie. Thx for your e-mail. First, if saying you “used for years” implies that you are no longer using, so it is; however, if you are still using, then know that the Advaita philosophy is not intended to be the first step in the treatment of the Addictive Personality Disorder. Typically, treatment requires a holistic approach, and there is no one place or one person or one group that has a monopoly on treating the complex disorder.
Next, there is some truth to your point that the driving force behind addictive behavior can involve a desire to escape, but the root of addictive behavior is as much about a desire to be fully engaged. That is, the goal is as much about being driven to “capture” the NOW and to stay in the NOW as it is to escape the illusions that are "the not NOW." In that regard, substance abuse might provide a temporary relief, but Realization guarantees it for the remainder of the manifestation.
Ultimately, all misery is rooted in either a fear or a desire, and all fears and desires are rooted in the illusory “past” or the illusory “future.” What does it look like as one attempts to escape the fears of the past or the desires of the future? Here’s one example: suppose a person had an argument with the boss on a Friday, a conflict that could cause the termination of employment (and the supposed end of “The Employee”)? Suppose the employee was told to be in the boss’s office again on Monday morning to finalize the conflict. Here’s the way in which substance abuse might allow a temporary sense of escape from the fear of unemployment and the desire to continue employment, but more significantly, how it can fix one in the NOW.
F.: Hello, Eddie. Thx for your e-mail. First, if saying you “used for years” implies that you are no longer using, so it is; however, if you are still using, then know that the Advaita philosophy is not intended to be the first step in the treatment of the Addictive Personality Disorder. Typically, treatment requires a holistic approach, and there is no one place or one person or one group that has a monopoly on treating the complex disorder.
Next, there is some truth to your point that the driving force behind addictive behavior can involve a desire to escape, but the root of addictive behavior is as much about a desire to be fully engaged. That is, the goal is as much about being driven to “capture” the NOW and to stay in the NOW as it is to escape the illusions that are "the not NOW." In that regard, substance abuse might provide a temporary relief, but Realization guarantees it for the remainder of the manifestation.
Ultimately, all misery is rooted in either a fear or a desire, and all fears and desires are rooted in the illusory “past” or the illusory “future.” What does it look like as one attempts to escape the fears of the past or the desires of the future? Here’s one example: suppose a person had an argument with the boss on a Friday, a conflict that could cause the termination of employment (and the supposed end of “The Employee”)? Suppose the employee was told to be in the boss’s office again on Monday morning to finalize the conflict. Here’s the way in which substance abuse might allow a temporary sense of escape from the fear of unemployment and the desire to continue employment, but more significantly, how it can fix one in the NOW.
(By the way: "power" is an ego-based concept. When Realization truly happens, all talk about "gaining power" or about "the power of now" ends. There is no "one" to gain or lose anything, including "power," which is just another thing the ego either desires or is in fear of not having.)
To continue with "The Employee," suppose that on the Saturday night after the argument, that employee goes to a party and begins to drink. Early on, he might discuss the fight and his fears and desires around his employment. After a few drinks, he might begin to relax and to engage in conversation about other topics. After a few more drinks, he might begin dancing and, for a while, completely forget the fight. Soon, as a result of being totally under the influence of the alcohol, “The Employee” is not thinking about the fight on Friday nor the meeting on Monday that might end with his being fired.
At that instant, the effect of the booze has allowed the person to forget the ego-state of “The Employee” and to become fixed in the present moment…fixed in the Amness alone. He feels free and happy for “the time being,” namely, the “time” being...NOW. Free of the fearful memory of the illusory “time” called “the past” and the potentially-threatening fight that occurred then, he feels free…period. Freed of thoughts about the desires for the illusory “time” called “the future” (specifically, the desire to remain employed) he feels free…period.
What he is experiencing is the only instant in which one can be free of desires and fears and feel free, namely, NOW. Yet on the Sunday morning after the party, the effects of the fears and desires return as the person is again conscious of “The Employee” that feels threatened; hence, the earlier pointer that substance abuse only provides a temporary escape (or a temporary “capturing” of the NOW). As long as ego-states are taken to be actual identities, then fears and desires will arise, they will generate discomfort or restlessness or misery, and they will trap persons in the illusions of "past" and "future."
Consider another example to understand “the capturing” of the Now as well “the escape” aspect that you mentioned. Suppose a food addict is in a busy restaurant with friends on a Saturday night. The longer the waiter takes, the more the food addict’s desires will be experienced and will cause discomfort and irritablity and misery. The longer the addict’s unmet desires linger, the more misery will begin to manifest.
Anger can soon follow. Even after the orders have been placed, tension can mount as the preparation and serving of the food is delayed due to the volume of orders. Talking can continue, but from the frustrated addict, mostly complaining is heard as the addict’s misery is expressed. The tension can increase until that moment when the food arrives, but what a shift for the food addict happens at that moment.
You have likely seen this same scenario play out: the food is placed before the addict, and the addict suddenly becomes very quiet. Peace manifests, at least temporarily. The head of the addict is bowed worshipfully over the plate as the food is transferred quickly into the mouth. The guttural sounds that accompany the consumption are not unlike those that might occur during a sexual encounter as the addict is brought to the moment and delights in the taste of food.
The anger that was being experienced in the past is gone; that desire for food to be served in the near future has passed, once the meal arrives. The addict is brought “to the moment” and is fully present while absorbed in the task of eating. All is right with the world, so it seems. Yet again, the silence is temporary and the release is temporary for those who “eat for comfort.”
As a third example, consider the sex act that was just referenced above. All sorts of problems and miseries might have been faced throughout a day, but that night, at that moment when the act of sex culminates in a phyiscal crescendo, what is anyone thinking about? Nothing. What thoughts about things past are occurring? None. What concerns about the future exists? None. Why? Because at that instant, there are no thoughts, no identity, no troubling fears, and no unmet desires. There is only The Void of being fully present to the moment.
At that instant, the one experiencing that crescendo is fully—though only temporarily—in the moment. The person at that moment is conscious of zero concepts, zero ideas, zero thoughts, and zero beliefs. There is only the beingness, the Amness. There is nothing to discuss or ponder or debate or consider. The silence might follow. Perfect peace and contentment can happen as all identities are "lost" while in that state of Is-ness only. Perfect non-attachment to anything dealing with the relative existence might manifest. But again, that is temporary.
The fact is that, what one is seeking through abuse of substances or though the practicing of any other addictions (including to sex, to shopping, to power, to nicotine, to religion, to money, to work, to applause, to food, to spiritual disciplines, to control, to hearing oneself speak or sing, to alcohol, to fame, to memberships, to cocaine, to being seen by crowds, to love, ad infinitum), is that which only Realization can provide consistently. As shown, the abuse can bring one to the moment temporarily, but only Realization can allow one to fixate there in Full Awareness and perfect freedom and peace.
Note exactly what is most appealing in each of those three examples when full presence to the moment happens: there is an absence of fears, desires, ideas, concepts, persona-consciousness, worry, and concerns. There is a lack of consciousness of all of those things that personas are typically conscious of. The perfect peace of that moment when the “addictive high” reaches its peak is even beyond consciousness—as is the perfect peace of abidance as the Absolute. Too, during that full presence in the moment, there is that bliss that comes with the Void—with the Nothingness—as the peace of zero concepts, zero ideas, zero thoughts, and zero beliefs happens.
There is the bliss of non-attachment and the experience of being “at-one.” The difference in the “addictive high” and True Realization is that the former is temporary and unstable but that which happens post-Realization is permanently fixed. (Some have written to this site claiming that it was during a drug-induced addictive high that they Realized. That is self-deception, the ego once again engaged in making false claims, as it always does. Realization follows the repurification of the consciousness and does not manifest during any state of corrupted consciousness.)
The pointer is that, via Realization, the temporary, short-term “fix” of trying to recapture an addictive high again and again can be replaced with the permanent “fix” of abiding as The Absolute in the present moment—in the NOW—and not being diverted from it by fears and desires that are rooted in “the past” or “the future.” While not the first step in treating the Addictive Personality Disorder, Full Realization may be the last.
Then, post-Realization, the remainder of the manifestation can happen in an AS IF fashion of living rather than being trapped within a “seeking mode” such as when persons seek escape or seek to capture a feeling or seek an addictive high or seek relief or seek to be fully present to the moment. Realized, abidance just happens, and it happens without any attachment to fears, to desires, or to illusions about “the past” or “the future.” Please enter the silence of contemplation.
THE FEATURED ITEM FOR THIS WEEK’S SALE IS THE MEDITATION SET: Daily Meditation Guides, Volumes One and Two (15% off the price of the set through June 24th.)
Click THE MEDITATION SET
WORKING ON BEING FREE OF RELIGIOUS PROGRAMMING AND DOGMA?Click SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY
To continue with "The Employee," suppose that on the Saturday night after the argument, that employee goes to a party and begins to drink. Early on, he might discuss the fight and his fears and desires around his employment. After a few drinks, he might begin to relax and to engage in conversation about other topics. After a few more drinks, he might begin dancing and, for a while, completely forget the fight. Soon, as a result of being totally under the influence of the alcohol, “The Employee” is not thinking about the fight on Friday nor the meeting on Monday that might end with his being fired.
At that instant, the effect of the booze has allowed the person to forget the ego-state of “The Employee” and to become fixed in the present moment…fixed in the Amness alone. He feels free and happy for “the time being,” namely, the “time” being...NOW. Free of the fearful memory of the illusory “time” called “the past” and the potentially-threatening fight that occurred then, he feels free…period. Freed of thoughts about the desires for the illusory “time” called “the future” (specifically, the desire to remain employed) he feels free…period.
What he is experiencing is the only instant in which one can be free of desires and fears and feel free, namely, NOW. Yet on the Sunday morning after the party, the effects of the fears and desires return as the person is again conscious of “The Employee” that feels threatened; hence, the earlier pointer that substance abuse only provides a temporary escape (or a temporary “capturing” of the NOW). As long as ego-states are taken to be actual identities, then fears and desires will arise, they will generate discomfort or restlessness or misery, and they will trap persons in the illusions of "past" and "future."
Consider another example to understand “the capturing” of the Now as well “the escape” aspect that you mentioned. Suppose a food addict is in a busy restaurant with friends on a Saturday night. The longer the waiter takes, the more the food addict’s desires will be experienced and will cause discomfort and irritablity and misery. The longer the addict’s unmet desires linger, the more misery will begin to manifest.
Anger can soon follow. Even after the orders have been placed, tension can mount as the preparation and serving of the food is delayed due to the volume of orders. Talking can continue, but from the frustrated addict, mostly complaining is heard as the addict’s misery is expressed. The tension can increase until that moment when the food arrives, but what a shift for the food addict happens at that moment.
You have likely seen this same scenario play out: the food is placed before the addict, and the addict suddenly becomes very quiet. Peace manifests, at least temporarily. The head of the addict is bowed worshipfully over the plate as the food is transferred quickly into the mouth. The guttural sounds that accompany the consumption are not unlike those that might occur during a sexual encounter as the addict is brought to the moment and delights in the taste of food.
The anger that was being experienced in the past is gone; that desire for food to be served in the near future has passed, once the meal arrives. The addict is brought “to the moment” and is fully present while absorbed in the task of eating. All is right with the world, so it seems. Yet again, the silence is temporary and the release is temporary for those who “eat for comfort.”
As a third example, consider the sex act that was just referenced above. All sorts of problems and miseries might have been faced throughout a day, but that night, at that moment when the act of sex culminates in a phyiscal crescendo, what is anyone thinking about? Nothing. What thoughts about things past are occurring? None. What concerns about the future exists? None. Why? Because at that instant, there are no thoughts, no identity, no troubling fears, and no unmet desires. There is only The Void of being fully present to the moment.
At that instant, the one experiencing that crescendo is fully—though only temporarily—in the moment. The person at that moment is conscious of zero concepts, zero ideas, zero thoughts, and zero beliefs. There is only the beingness, the Amness. There is nothing to discuss or ponder or debate or consider. The silence might follow. Perfect peace and contentment can happen as all identities are "lost" while in that state of Is-ness only. Perfect non-attachment to anything dealing with the relative existence might manifest. But again, that is temporary.
The fact is that, what one is seeking through abuse of substances or though the practicing of any other addictions (including to sex, to shopping, to power, to nicotine, to religion, to money, to work, to applause, to food, to spiritual disciplines, to control, to hearing oneself speak or sing, to alcohol, to fame, to memberships, to cocaine, to being seen by crowds, to love, ad infinitum), is that which only Realization can provide consistently. As shown, the abuse can bring one to the moment temporarily, but only Realization can allow one to fixate there in Full Awareness and perfect freedom and peace.
Note exactly what is most appealing in each of those three examples when full presence to the moment happens: there is an absence of fears, desires, ideas, concepts, persona-consciousness, worry, and concerns. There is a lack of consciousness of all of those things that personas are typically conscious of. The perfect peace of that moment when the “addictive high” reaches its peak is even beyond consciousness—as is the perfect peace of abidance as the Absolute. Too, during that full presence in the moment, there is that bliss that comes with the Void—with the Nothingness—as the peace of zero concepts, zero ideas, zero thoughts, and zero beliefs happens.
There is the bliss of non-attachment and the experience of being “at-one.” The difference in the “addictive high” and True Realization is that the former is temporary and unstable but that which happens post-Realization is permanently fixed. (Some have written to this site claiming that it was during a drug-induced addictive high that they Realized. That is self-deception, the ego once again engaged in making false claims, as it always does. Realization follows the repurification of the consciousness and does not manifest during any state of corrupted consciousness.)
The pointer is that, via Realization, the temporary, short-term “fix” of trying to recapture an addictive high again and again can be replaced with the permanent “fix” of abiding as The Absolute in the present moment—in the NOW—and not being diverted from it by fears and desires that are rooted in “the past” or “the future.” While not the first step in treating the Addictive Personality Disorder, Full Realization may be the last.
Then, post-Realization, the remainder of the manifestation can happen in an AS IF fashion of living rather than being trapped within a “seeking mode” such as when persons seek escape or seek to capture a feeling or seek an addictive high or seek relief or seek to be fully present to the moment. Realized, abidance just happens, and it happens without any attachment to fears, to desires, or to illusions about “the past” or “the future.” Please enter the silence of contemplation.
THE FEATURED ITEM FOR THIS WEEK’S SALE IS THE MEDITATION SET: Daily Meditation Guides, Volumes One and Two (15% off the price of the set through June 24th.)
WORKING ON BEING FREE OF RELIGIOUS PROGRAMMING AND DOGMA?
