The root of all addiction is the thinking mind'. Giving our awareness and attention to mental concepts aka thinking.
It is through the process of Self-Realization that all addictions are cuff off by the root. You need not be drug or alcohol free or free of any other type of addiction to begin the process of true self-discovery - of Self Realization that sees us liberated from the egoic mind and all its desires.
Incessant thinking is not natural, even if you think biasedly, it is. It puts the brain under a lot of unnecessary stress, using energy it shouldn't be using, wearing it down & opening it up to all manner of disease through being ill at ease. Through stress and anxiety, the body ages unnecessarily. Moreover, it is often through stress and anxiety that we look for something outside ourselves to relieve these states of mind.
Emotion is the body's response to thought. Therefore, we look for things outside of ourselves that give rise to pleasant emotions, such as drugs, alcohol, runners high, over working, gambling, sex, food, relationships, etc. Whatever works. We all have our drug of choice. We all look for something in the world to make us feel better about the current reality our thoughts/feelings impose on us.
Know that all addictions and addictive behaviour you are presently experiencing is a workout or prelim for when the real battle begins, for one's real addiction is thinking. In this lifetime or another you will face this. That battle metaphorically speaking is between your true Self and your ego for a place upon the throne of your Life as the conscious mind. Though, to excuse the pun, the battle is all in your head, for it is no battle for your true Self in and of Spirit.
Understand that all addictions & addictive behaviour lead back to and stem from taking thought from the mental realm as opposed to the Spiritual Realm. The mental realm brings forth lower emotions that breed insatiability, while the Spiritual realm brings forth the higher emotions that are fulfilling in and of themselves. Meaning we do not have to seek something outside of ourselves to 'feel' good.
Living life egoically (Cut off from our Source) is hard. Seriously hard. One is basically navigating life blind, with no inner light to act as a guide. Consequently, we crash - a lot. And it hurts. It hurts like a bitch. We all experience PTSD, in almost everything, by degree for one reason or another. Therefore, we often look for comfort in drugs, alcohol, food gambling etc or we lose ourselves in sex or someone else, or perhaps work and making a lot of money. It doesn't matter what it is, it's all for the same reason: we can't stand being in our head. We can't stand being a victim of the memories and feelings these thoughts conjure up. We can't cope with the reality of our thoughts and feelings nor their manifestations. Certain thoughts plague us, all of us, for one reason or another & these said thoughts impact our life drastically. They produce chemicals in our body that we either want to run from or too. In turn these thoughts and feelings manifest in our physical lives all manner of chaos.
Quite often, though not always, emotions we have suppressed have formed unhealthy emotional habits that developed before the age of five or six. Meaning we have core beliefs that do not serve us or humanity for that matter. A lot of psychologists will tell you that core beliefs cannot be fixed, rather they must be worked around. That is not true. These core beliefs were formed by thought and emotions and when thought and emotions are no longer there to plague us, neither are the beliefs ideals and habits they form.
In fact, by going back to the root of ourselves subconsciously, our emotional body is the first thing we bring attention to and heal. When we begin meditation and mindfulness, it is necessary to keep our conscious mind fixed in the awareness of the subconscious which is where our pain body lies - our emotional centre. Before we can be Self-Realized it is imperative the conscious and subconscious minds are working together harmoniously and are at peace. The mind aka Temple must be purified. It is important that our thoughts and feelings are on the same page and working together as one. This is why I say to people it is vitally important we consider our subconscious mind and emotional centre when meditating; to focus on being emotionally at peace as well as single-minded in thought. Meditation is another word for being and being can only be felt, with thought but not as thought.
Therefore, if you want to stop all addictive behaviour, go directly to the root of your problems & stop your addiction to egoic thoughts and feelings, as that is what it is. An addiction. Every thought brings with it an emotion that either makes you feel good or bad. For the mind to work in this manner is unnatural. It just feels natural because you have been doing it this way all your life. It's sort of like posture and breathing. Very few do them correctly, with many people ending up with chronic illnesses due to bad posture or poor breathing. However, our posture and breathing feel right don't they, even when they are wrong! Because we have been walking and breathing that way all our life. Just like we have been thinking all our lives. Stop looking for your happiness in thought/feeling projections. When thought ceases, you will become conscious of your true Consciousness that is bliss itself. Once you do, every moment is a moment of bliss and peace even when the world presents you with chaos.
When you are living in the moment, without thought - not only aware but as Awareness, then the past can't bother you. Nor can any anxiety for the future. The past and future aren't real to the moment of Being and Now is the only reality there is. They are mental concepts we call memory and imagination that we allow to fill our mind (And therefore our physical world) rather than the Pure Awareness & Peace that we truly are. Only this moment is real. The one you are living in now. Anything outside of Now is a mental concept and therefore imaginary - not real. Thoughts only become real physically if we give our attention to them.
Let your only concern be for the moment, Bring your attention (conscious mind) to the awareness (subconscious) of Now. Let the harmony of the I (conscious mind) am (subconscious mind) merge with the true I am of Spirit. When the I am of the mind aligns with the I AM of Spirit, it gives us a sense of peace even when it is storming. It is the reality of knowing that no matter what happens in the physical/mental world, it has no more impact on the Truth of our Being any more than a dream would have on our life when you wake up. There is peace in that.
A conscious awareness of your true Self truly is a peace that passes all understanding. I cannot describe it to you but I can tell you it is better than any drug - or any 'thing' ..out there. To know yourself as the creator rather than the created, brings a sense of peace and wellbeing that can never be affected or influenced by this world - by the created world. Can you imagine waking up in a dream aka lucid dreaming? It is kind of like that. The world becomes your oyster.
You don't have to give up anything like drugs or alcohol etc in order to start the process of giving up thought. Just start ten minutes a day to begin with, if that is all you can manage. Being aware of being present in the moment rather than giving your attention away to mental concepts aka thought. You do this all the time anyway. There are times where you are not thinking and just hanging in the moment watching what's going on without any thought about it. Just do that. Just witness everything happening without judging it as either good bad or ugly. This is what will heal you of all your addictions. Keep your mind as one thought which is Awareness, while living in the moment.
This Awareness that is outside of thought, will negate all thought. If your attention is not on thoughts, then thoughts are starved, leading to their death, leaving on the Awareness that you are behind them. The Silence within these ten minutes of your mind being free from being choked to death by thought, allows your true Self in Silence to come forth into your Beingness, helping take you to the next level of being. In other words, the more you stay in the moment outside of the thought, the more your consciousness deepens - and deepens until it merges with your true Consciousness as Spirit. Rather than being IN the moment you become the moment itself. There is no longer any separation.
Once thought ceases rising into a stream of thought, distracting one's conscious mind from the Now, one's sense of existing or being does become like when you are a child. Everything is brighter, clearer - almost magical in its ambiance. There is this willingness to love - an open heartedness that is hard to put into words without somehow diminishing it. There is a sense of freedom that is translated to the physical world and later seen in manifestation as the 'added things'. For if peace (your true Self) is all that is held in mind, then this peace will be manifested within your physical reality.
Always look for the root of every problem. Look for the first principle in everything. Take everything back to its Source. Simplify your life. Get your axe out and pull whatever is troubling you out by its root. I can tell you now, it is the thinking mind. It will always come back to thinking mind - to the misuse of the mind due to misidentifying with the vessel of Spirit rather than Spirit itself.
As I already pointed out, one does not have to give anything up in order to start the process of giving up the egoic mind. One simply starts 10 minutes a day to begin with, if that is all you can manage, being conscious of being aware in the moment rather than giving your presence away to mental concepts aka thought. Of yourself (as an ego) or as 'mind', you can do nothing but be still and intuitively receptive. It is the truth within you that does the work. All you have to do - all you will ever have to do is be mentally still and allow the spirit of truth (True Self) within to move you & it does! Inspiration has that affect. You do not have to think life into being - it is already being without your thinking. Can you not see that?
"Do you not believe that I am (Awareness) in the Father (Consciousness)and the Father is in me (mind)? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works" John 14:10 (Father is another word for true Self).
~ Tracy Pierce
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