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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Addiction as a Spiritual Illness

FROM OUR BLOG ARCHIVES


This is the first of an ongoing blog exploring the origins and nature of addictions.
From the time we are very young, we are taught social and cultural standards of behavior and acceptability. We begin to look outside of ourselves for approval, seeking the smiles and coos of our parents, looking for the mirror that tells us that we are "ok". We fear their absence as well as their negativity knowing that our very survival depended on their care. We looked for the eyes of our mothers, fathers, and other "nurturers" who would hopefully give us unconditional love and acceptance, making our world safe and stable and without which we would experience abandonment and death. This was our fear.

The pure and unconditional love which we sought from our parents is the same love which is the Highest Truth of the Universe and even with their most sincere efforts with love and care for us, they could never achieve the perfection of Universal Love which is enduring and unwavering, without conditions and expectations. Our parents are humans just as we are humans.

When, in those wondrous moments, we did know love and all the positive feelings that came with it, we began to experience need as we looked to the Other, something outside of ourselves which would fill us with such sweetness. We began to the lose conscious memory of our innate connection to the Divine, to God, to Universal Love, as we continued to seek the external remedy for our separateness. We began to feel a sense of emptiness without the external to fill us.

Years pass. The child becomes the youth who becomes the adult. The adult who still seeks to be filled with Universal Love and Acceptance. The adult who has forgotten how to find his or her connection to God which exists in every moment without any effort at all...And often times, these feelings of deep separation are painful ones, and pain that must be soothed if only for a moment. The external search, the Grasping, becomes paramount in life and finds The Perfect Thing, just The Perfect Thing, that if only for a moment makes the pain go away.

The deep desire for the sweetness of Love becomes an addiction. This Longing is a Spiritual Illness.
Food
Drugs
Alcohol
Sex

Rage and Anger
Work

Depression
Relationships
Intensity
Attention

Acceptance

Drama

Lying

Stealing

Information

Body Image

Music
Worry
Shopping

Success

Achievement

Crime

Smoking

Television

The Internet
Gambling
Compulsive Activity
Exercise
and
People or Codependency

Anything at all which takes us away from our natural connection to the Divine.

Anything that becomes destructive and Soul Stealing.

Anything that is out of balance and becomes more important than living the unfettered life.

Anything at all.

Think about it.

Question: How can I connect to the Universal Source of Love today?

Upcoming topics include Healing Addictions, the Role of Emotions, and Compassion.

Artwork Kuan Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Love, Compassion and Mercy.