Addiction is a negative feedback loop that arises and experienced in 'thought-desire-object'. Our thoughts cause emotions to rise within us that disturb our peace, therefore we look for that peace in objects outside of us. These objects vary for everyone. Everyone is an addict to one degree or another, whether they are good addictions or bad addictions. Every thought we have has a corresponding emotion that is expressed in our being. If that emotion is not born of or expressed in peace, we try to avoid or repress those emotions as they are uncomfortable and painful, often causing us to act out in ways we remorse over later.
Moreover, we need to ask ourselves why we are looking for peace when peace is our very nature? If you are not experiencing peace as your natural state of being, then it is not a matter of looking outside oneself for it but taking away what we are thinking, doing and being that is inhibiting the expression of our natural state.
You will find if you look very carefully, you will discover that it is the thinking mind that disturbs our peace. The mind when it is resting in a state of being one thought, is naturally at peace. One thought is meditation. One thought is attention held in and as Awareness. The minute a thought arises, that inner stillness is disturbed. No thought brings no desire. It is as simple as that. Our greatest addiction is taking thought. This is the origin of all addictions. It is also the original sin. It is the 'sin' from which all other sins arise. Sin (Khata) means to miss the mark. To lose our focus, our attention. To fail.
Clearly then, in order to lose our dependence on the outside world for our peace and pleasure, we must lose the thinking mind and find our natural state of 'being' again.
It would be fair to say that the world owns us due to having the ability to exploit us in our need to escape pain in the pursuit of a pleasure. How often have we sold our Soul for artificial peace to soothe our troubled minds? We do not have peace in our inner world as we live in the illusion of thinking, rather than the reality of being. Being is always now. You cannot be in the moment while reliving the past or stressing over the future. Both past and future are features of a thinking mind. Not a being one. Instead of living intuitively in the Now, we live in our thoughts and feelings that cover up our true body of Awareness as both an individual and as the collective. Awareness is the essence of meditation and is another word for Soul. Rather than being held and led by the Soul, we are gripped by the universal mind aka the Matrix. The Matrix being a collection of addicted minds living in the illusion of 'thinking'.
Rather than the Soul led by Spirit creating our world physically, it is the thinking mind, the egoic mind that does. This is why we do not live in peace but in chaos. Whatever is held in the mind will eventually be held in the hands as sure as night follows day. Chaos ensures as it is our egoic thoughts that are manifested for that is what we are holding in our minds. Once thinking ceases, being (meditation) is naturally assumed by default as it is our natural state. When the mind is inspired by the Spiritual realm rather than led by the mental realm a whole different reality is lived.
Irrespective of the reason for what you believe to be your lack of peace, addiction needs a thought to carry it and give it life. Every thought you have needs your attention to breathe. Every thought you have is expressed in an emotion. If you think you are lacking, you will most certainly feel that lack. It is our feelings we try to escape or change with the use of drugs, alcohol, sex, over working - it does not matter what we are escaping, the point is we are trying to change our emotional response by painting a smile on the mirror. By using effect to change effect. This is pointless. We must embrace and know ourselves as Cause to change the effect. We must embrace our true being beyond thoughts and feelings if we are ever to know peace.
This is done through the right understanding which slows the mind down. It is done by mindfulness which slows the mind down even more. It is done by meditation for meditation is the essence of the Soul - of awareness. When thought is held still rather than rising into copious thoughts that divide one's Temple, it becomes like awareness. Rather than thinking and tying our consciousness up in that, we remain aware and alert. In this way our consciousness deepens until we become conscious of ourselves beyond thoughts and feelings. We become conscious of ourselves as Soul. Here is our peace that passes all understanding - meaning it goes beyond the mind. Being fixed in this state of mind means every moment, irrespective of whether it is a good or bad moment, is felt as peace. Every moment is a Zen moment.
We are all addicted to something that gives us peace of mind or the courage to live in the false and shared reality of our collective thoughts that are in turn manifested in our shared false reality, both individually and collectively. False thoughts or false images birth false manifestations. Manifestations we must all live in - war, famine, poverty etc. False images are thoughts that are born from the mental realm as opposed to the Spiritual Realm where our true and eternal beingness resides.
When one experientially identifies with Spirit, one does not seek peace as one IS Peace, and they know it. When one's mind is full of peace, one's demonstrations and manifestations are of peace. Moreover, the unnatural attachment we have of all things that are 'effect' loses its grip on us once we know longer depend on the physical world for our meaning of life and existence, for our peace and abundance.
Let your mind rest in the peace and awareness of one's Soul being Spirit. Let yourself be the I (eye) or calm within the storm. Instead of letting your mind rise in thoughts creating illusion, let it rise in the Awareness of your true being behind thought and feeling. This is done with the meditative-being mind. Not the thinking-discerning mind.
Look around you without judging anything. Just look around you and respond with your heart, with emotion rather than thought/judgment. Let yourself be delighted by the smallest things, like dust floating in a sun ray or the sound of a cricket outside. Don't think about anything - just be aware of everything. That is all you have to do. That is meditation. That is being as opposed to thinking. You are being in the moment, rather than thinking in the moment. Remember being is just another word for meditation.
Our lives as we know it today effectively ensure that we never have any time to truly be alone with ourselves, which means we never get to experience our true body of Awareness behind the false images (thoughts) and feelings. Our Consciousness - our I am-ness is either distracted by objects or by the thoughts that create them. We never let our minds rest in peace, as the meditative mind just being in the moment. We never get to know who or what we are behind all the objects (thoughts are also objects). We are all addicts. All of us trying to escape our thoughts and feelings through objects instead of looking within for it - the only place it can be found. Ironically, we spend our lives looking for our truth with the thinking min, which of course leads us further away from it.
You do not have to give up your addictions to find your way home to yourself. You do not have to be your idea of perfect to embody the being mind, that will lead you to the Grace you seek. You can begin being NOW - right NOW in whatever condition you are in. The meditative mind is simply the mind that is fully present in the moment without taking thought for it.
Rather than being led by egoic thought, one lives in alignment with the whole of life as Life. This means one is led by intuition, inspiration, synchronicity, and serendipity. You do not need to manipulate life to have it go your way. All you have to do is surrender your thinking mind and go Life's way. It will lead you to the fulfilment of your prayers by showing to you, you are the prayer.
~ Tracy Pierce
