The hypocrisy of fighting addictions

Or… Why we cannot stop addictions

Whenever I start writing, I feel a real challenge to put every insight and every image that is in my mind on paper. And every time I realize that this is not possible. There are so many perceptions to a specific subject that it is impossible to verbally express them all, especially in a single article. For that reason, this, and all other articles on the blog serve only as triggers to get the surface mind to think differently and help us out of our comfort zones.

Addictions are a huge subject and I can only touch it generally, whereas each person has to do the work for him/herself, on their specific addiction(s). The definition of an addiction, stated plainly, is that action is mechanical, unconscious, not realized. We feel that the repetitive action dominates us and we seem powerless to change it or stop it.

Addictions come in all forms and in all areas of life. The list is endless, although according to society, the most obvious forms of addictions are what we can see and realize on the surface of our being; smoking, alcohol or food consumption, drugs (including prescription pills), nail biting, etc. But there are many others, less recognized and more powerful addictions; clinging on to others, playing the victim, being greedy in our needs, being socially overactive, wanting to save the “less fortunate”, over-spending, being a workaholic, a technology freak, etc.

The tragedy of our conditioning is that we turn against addictions, making them in reality even stronger and even more unconscious than they already are. There is a lot of criticism, a lot of rejection and a lot of “willingness to help”, which by the way derives from the ego’s need to feel important, "good" and "right". The truth is that THIS system of thought thrives on our addictive attitudes and “secretly” supports them. The whole scene is very hypocritical, for someone with Inner Sight… and sad!

The truth is that there is NO WAY that you can stop an addiction. For starters, when the ego mind realizes the threat of “stopping” something, it will use every defense mechanism to strengthen that which you want to stop, for it cannot and will not accept loss in anyway. It cannot exist on emptiness. When you focus on stopping, you are still focusing on that which you are addicted to. Therefore, you unconsciously strengthen it. You have not found anything else, powerful enough, to take its place, therefore your ego will not allow nothingness to exist. It immediately fills the gap with more of that which it knows and is comfortable with.

The other reason that you cannot stop an addiction is because you reject yourself for it. Consciously or unconsciously, you judge yourself with negativity for having the addiction, for not having the Will to stop it, and the circle keeps going round and round. Each self-judgment is the strengthening of your addiction, which you have identified with. The tragedy is that you have not been taught to separate your self from your thoughts, your actions, your ego. Therefore, you are left really helpless, fighting an enemy you know nothing about.

Another issue is that society and our conditioned thinking is focused on the symptoms. We realize that which we see, which is just the tip of the iceberg of a whole universe within us, lying unexplored and unknown! The biggest part of our consciousness lies hidden and feared in our subconscious, while we continue to focus on, and fight with, symptoms. Nothing changes and even if it does, it will only be on a surface level and always short-lived. I have met many people who think that they have mastered their self-Will and have stopped an addiction like smoking or drugs. The reality that they do not want to realize is that they have replaced that initial addiction with another, less obvious, which the linear mind cannot connect to nor can it synthesize the pieces of the puzzle.

Addictions always hide insights and lessons which you cannot realize or make use of, as long as you are practicing the above attitudes towards the addiction and towards yourself. There is a reason for everything, and everything is symbolic in life. Yet symbols are not objective; each person/being has their own code of reference, their own symbolism, which they need to uncover and decode, for themselves. This needs self-work, something (still) few are willing to do. Unless you find out what is behind the addiction, it remains a habit that controls your mind and therefore You!

Many assume that they can “trick their mind” too. But that is under-estimating your mind and yourself immensely. It is another “trick in the book” that the ego has learned to bypass, strengthening its hold on you. No matter how much you tell yourself that you want to quit alcohol because it is ruining your relationships, no matter how much you want to quit smoking because you want to be healthy, none of this will work. No amount of positive thinking or visualization will stop the addiction. Do you see that? Have you discovered that yet? Why? Because you are underestimating your mind, you totally ignore your conditioning, the WAY you think and because you still do not KNOW!

Know what? That which the addiction is trying to tell you about yourself, that which the addiction hides from your consciousness. More importantly, what the positive aspect of your addiction is! Positive aspect? Can there be a positive aspect? Well, it’s simple really…

Anything that has a negative side to it, must have a positive one too. Otherwise, you are stuck in a limiting perception that deprives you of choice. You have NO choice if you are criticizing and if you are afraid of fear. You do not have a choice if your perception is hooked on one polarity of duality.

All this, is not something you can read about. There are no answers out there about your SELF, which anyone can plainly give you. It has to be a personal journey within, to discover all the hidden parts of yourself. It has to be personal work, within your own mind and psyche, to discover the intentions, the needs; everything that you are afraid to see (good AND bad).

First you willingly make the addiction conscious, which has been unconscious behavior up till now. You learn to do that once you learn to observe yourself objectively; something you have not been taught how to do. Then you begin to realize all aspects of YOU, within the conscious choice of continuing whatever it is that you are doing and have previously named an “addiction”. 

That is how you begin to take responsibility for yourself. This in itself is very enlightening and has more to offer you than you can initially imagine. Then, and only then, you begin to have choices, you begin to live in the here and now; totally at peace with yourself, totally aware, synthesized and captain of your own mind: free to make conscious choices.

Addictions are stepping stones. Use them to discover and not reject yourself. It is a journey within… one that you probably would not have decided to make if it weren't for the addiction in the first place.