I am going to make a powerful statement now – one that, in your present state, you might have a hard time believing.
Any addiction can be overcome. Easily. Immediately.
I am not just talking about the more common addictions such as alcohol, drugs and tobacco. I am including in this statement ALL addictions, which would include addictions to overeating – sex – gambling – any so-called ‘vice’.
It does not matter what the object. What I am about to show you will overcome an addiction to porn as easily as an addiction to popcorn.
I am also including here addictive relationships. Addiction to depression.
Addiction to low self-esteem. Addictions to hatred, judgment, fear and self-loathing. For the purposes of this discussion we shall define addiction as ‘any recurring, unwanted thought or desire’.
Any thought or idea that causes you pain or grief in any form is a candidate for removal using this extremely simple theory that has been around for many centuries, being used across countless cultural boundaries.
You may have a hard time believing that ending addiction not just any addiction but ALL addiction- is possible. It is .
As I mentioned in a previous article, I have taken a great deal of grief over this simple declaration, true as it may be.
No one wants to believe this. In the modern Western culture, the idea seems foreign. It appears to some to be lunacy. The idea is often rejected out of hand. This happens for a simple reason, but one that is particularly likely to be overlooked:
Those who are addicted to ANYTHING are addicted in the first place because deep down inside their minds they LOVE the object of their addiction. This goes without saying. Perhaps they love it for itself. Perhaps they desire it for what it brings with it. Perhaps they feel they need it for what it represents. This why does not matter at all.
If you can see clearly for a moment you will realize that the idea I am about to give you, the idea that ends all of this addiction insanity, is quite easy to understand and quite easy to use.
Why This Simple Idea Is Rejected
Addictions counselors and therapists are loathe to accept this idea I am about to give you, for it threatens them to their very core. To accept the idea that addiction is EASILY overcome does not sit well with most of them.
For if an addicted person were to accept this idea and use it, the counselor or therapist would frankly no longer have a function at all. This IS threatening and so the idea will most certainly be rejected out of self interest.
All kinds of ideas will be presented as to why it simply will not, cannot work. They will call it too easy. They will see it as too simple. Nonetheless, it always works.
Similarly, in many cases, the addicted person, (be it heroin or hamburgers), will also reject this idea. This is because the addict has built an entire life, an entire mode of existence, around the object of addiction. Taking away the object of the addiction takes away a huge piece of the addict’s very self-image. Giving up the addiction sometimes leaves a gigantic hole that cannot be filled, save with another addiction, be it a 12- pack or a 12-step program. Nonetheless, it works every time.
This idea does work perfectly; it is completely true. It never fails.
We shall start by discussing briefly the study of hedonics.
Hedonics
The subconscious mind (below the level of awareness) has sometimes been called the reptilian mind. This part of mind is concerned with but a few things:
Survival
Creating Pleasure
Avoiding Pain
This base part of mind loves pleasurable feelings. Seldom does one pick up a drink, a drug, a donut or a horse-racing form without the full expectation of gaining pleasure from the act! Think about it.
Would you swallow that vile tasting, throat-burning concoction in the shot glass lest it bring you some form of pleasure? Would you choke on the smoke of a marijuana joint if you gained nothing from it save a smoky, smelly burning sensation? Would you eat a dozen donuts if they each tasted like sand?
No indeed. Your base mind, the subconscious, expects PLEASURE from these things. Now, CONSCIOUSLY, you may know these things will bring you great harm.
You may even decide not to participate in these activities anymore. But the SUBCONSCIOUS overrides YOUR common sense, in the interest of the pleasure these things will surely bring. It then presents you with the dreaded craving.
Now you are smack in the middle of a terrible war; a war with your own mind. You know you shouldn’t. But you want to. But you know you shouldn’t. But you want to.Shouldn’t. Want to. You know you shouldn’t want to. On and on it goes.
Back and forth, back and forth you waver. Fighting but yourself. It is akin to having a foreign will inside of you; something seemingly uncontrollable! The sad part? Your subconscious will often win. And you will lose.
This is because the subconscious is relentless. It will not give it up. It simply MUST have the object of the craving. And, in many cases, the base mind, the ego, is quite simply stronger than the part of you that knows better.
This is elementary. Psychology 101. Nothing new here.
As regards substance addiction, anyone can be detoxed from any drug and most certainly MUST be if addicted to a substance. Never try to quit cold turkey and always, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, seek the advice of a medical professional. Trying to withdraw from a substance can be, and certainly is life threatening if attempted without medical supervision.
Detoxification is a medical process whereby the offending drug is removed from the body of the addicted person. It is a long and often risky MEDICAL procedure that, once accomplished, should be the final step. But for most, it is but the first step. For now, as mentioned above, the fight within the mind begins.
The subconscious mind begins to scream its displeasure. Its favorite toy has been taken away! And so, it literally goes berserk. Like a child denied, it goes on the attack. This is unsettling for some, and truly agonizing for others.
You don’t want the offending substance or object anymore. The subconscious DOES want the substance or the object.
Again, the reason why the mind became addicted in the first place is not important in this discussion. What is important is to understand how devious and overwhelmingly obsessive the base mind can be in regards to getting what IT wants, not what YOU necessarily want.
Minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day it reminds us. It whispers to us. It is unceasing in its attempts to ensnare us. It is relentless in its pursuit of the desired object. And WE must now pay the price.
Keep an open mind now, if only for a moment.
What if we could simply shut off the voice of the base mind? Turn it off like we turn off our televisions or computers. Do away with this monster once and for all? What might happen then?
Quite frankly, the mental tug of war, the incessant struggle would be gone. We would be at peace and would simply be in a recovered state. All of it behind us. No war. No resistance. No fight.
Assuming that one had been medically or otherwise detoxed, and also assuming one truly desired to be free of addiction, without the voice of the baser part of mind, we would, after detoxification, be completely cured, would we not? So why are we not?
The animal mind.
Think hard on this and be completely honest. If the offending substance has been removed from the body, the physical need for the object eliminated, what is it that causes a person to relapse back into addiction?
The gremlin inside. The monkey-mind. The mind with a mind of its own.
The Simple Idea That Ends ALL Addictions
My! This must be the most powerful idea in the world, huh? Something completely new, a cutting edge psychological breakthrough, right? Something earth-shattering in its import. The end of all addiction once and for all? Something no one has thought of before? Something mind boggling?
No. This idea is eons old. It is found in Christianity and in Buddhism. It is found in Hinduism and in every other anity and ism that exists. The idea is found in psychology, various forms of psychiatry and in every system ever invented by man for the purpose of gaining enlightenment.
Indeed it is at the core of these systems. It has been right under our noses all along. This idea has been taught by every master and every great teacher who ever lived. And it is simplicity itself.
In Learn To Live a Life Without Problems I wrote 260 pages to explain this idea, so I shall not be able to recreate it here. For that reason I will stick with how this idea relates to addiction only.
But for now simply be aware that this idea, used correctly, will also create a state of mind in which you will experience absolute peace, total joy and never-ending, abiding love.
This singular idea will instantly cure every conceivable addiction, regardless of form or perceived manifestation. As a society we spend millions upon millions every year on the war against all types of addictions. All of this is unnecessary. All we really need is one simple idea.
Are you ready for the idea?
Take a deep breath.
Hold on, now.
Here it is . . .
Ready?
Ok . . .
YOU are NOT your mind.
That is all.
You believe that you ARE your mind. You are not.
You believe that your mind IS you. It is not.
You believe you must DO what your mind commands, because you believe it IS you.
It is NOT you.
That is all.
This mind that you believe is ‘you’ is really the mind of the body the body/mind. It is the reptilian mind. It is the animal mind. Lets restate this just a bit:
1. You are not your body/mind your body/mind is not you.
2. Your body/mind DOES have a mind of its own.
3. Your body/mind wants to be in charge of you.
Your body/mind has this power only because you allow it. You gave it this power. You CAN take it away.
Allow me to rephrase once again in a different way:
1 You are not your body/mind – If you for a second realized what you REALLY are, you would realize just how beautiful you are. You are beloved. You are more precious than you could ever imagine. You are dear to that which is your source.
For you are all that was created in the beginning. Only you. You are all that exists in reality. Just you. When you get beyond your body/mind at last, even if only for a split second, you will see this clearly. Until then, your body/mind, that monkey, will not allow you to accept this.
2 You are not your body/mind. You must understand that the ‘mind that has a mind of it’s own’, this reptilian mind, will never stop giving you thoughts of self-destruction and self-loathing, (if I may call them that), for its very existence depends on these thoughts.
The body/mind is the baser part of your real mind. It is gross. It is animalistic. It loves pleasurable sensations.
It loves alcohol and drugs and tobacco. It loves food, sex and gambling. It loves to fight and to judge and condemn. It loves sadness and sickness and depression and hatred. But it is not you. It wants you to believe you ARE it, but you are not.
We do not know or understand WHY this part of our mind functions in such a way. It is simply there, and it does function in this way.
Eckhart Tolle sums it up best I think when he says that the mind, (the body/mind) has literally taken ‘us’ over. We believe we are slaves to it. What should be the slave has now become the master. We do not use our minds.
Our minds use us.
3 Your body/mind wants to be in charge – In your natural, created state, the mind is just a tool, a tool to be used and then put away. But we have made a mistake. We believe that the body/mind has power over US; we have truly become its slave.
We believe this because we don’t seem to be able to control our own thoughts, our own beliefs, nor our own feelings. Unwanted thoughts just seem to occur to us feelings appear out of nowhere! And we don’t know why, or from whence they come.
To make this even more simple, think of it in this way: An extremely large percentage of your thoughts do NOT come from you. You receive them from the body/mind, which is trying to gain the upper hand over ‘you’. As long as you believe these thoughts come from YOU, you will give them power.
These thoughts have no power. They do not matter. These thoughts are not yours they are the base, reptilian, animalistic thoughts of the body/mind; the unwanted beast within.
This is true for all drugs and substances abuse situations. It holds true for all overindulgence of any kind. This holds true for any negative mental state you experience.
It is true in regards to any thought that causes you to underachieve, or to fall short of any desired goal. This single thought holds true regardless of the form of any problem you perceive you might have.
If you feel as though you would like to reject this idea now, understand that the thought of rejecting this idea IS being created BY the body/mind.
The body/mind does not want you to hear this idea, because this idea is its total undoing. If you believe the truth and finally see that the body/mind is not ‘you’, you will never believe in the body/mind again. Nor will you listen to it again.
So how does this relate to the absolute end of all addictions?
You want to be free of alcohol, drugs, whatever. Your body/mind does not.
You want to be free of sickness. Your body/mind does not.
You want to be free of depression, hatred, sadness; your body/mind does not.
You often WANT to do one thing, but end up DOING another. This is the body/mind in action.
You feel flashes of hatred, disgust, disillusionment, depression, anxiety and attack; this is the body/mind, not you.
You believed yourself to be guilty because you believed you were responsible for these thoughts. You were not. You are completely guiltless.
Again if you perhaps do not believe this simple idea could be true; this is your body/mind trying to convince you that this cannot work, out of self-preservation.
If you will, for but a moment, step completely away from the body/mind, you will see that all of this is true.
In short, YOU can eliminate all negative states easily, including any addiction, simply by rejecting the thoughts of the body/mind.
Why The Addict Suffers Addiction
Every single human alive today has a body/mind. Every single human is presented with unwanted, gross, animalistic, reptilian thoughts. But not every single human LISTENS to this mind.
The addict, (regardless of the object of choice) DOES listen. And then obeys.
Why? Unknown.
Can this be reversed? Yes.
Some listen when the body/mind brings up the subject of food – but not liquor.
Some listen when the body/mind brings up sex, but not depression.
Some listen when the body/mind brings up depression, but not laziness.
Some listen when the body/mind brings up murder, but not macaroons. I could go on and on. You get the idea.
The body/mind IS going to bring up these thoughts, rest assured in that.
Each of us chooses our own addictions. There is no right or wrong object of addiction, although some are more socially acceptable than others. You will certainly go to jail for murder, but most likely not for eating too many macaroons. For some, though, the perceived punishment and resultant cost is just as severe. You CHOOSE your addictions by CHOOSING TO LISTEN TO THE BODY/MIND.
That is all.
You can be free of ANY addiction by CHOOSING NOT TO LISTEN.
That is all.
You CAN choose not to listen by realizing you are NOT THIS MIND.
That is final.
Now we come to the real answer.
Just Say No
Easier said than done, isn’t it? Many scoffed at Nancy Reagan when she came up with this. This IS overly simplistic, and will work. But it will not work very well. There is a larger, more important reason why addiction therapies simply do not work as they should.
In ‘Learn To Live A Life Without Problems’ I presented 10 tools that will show one how to overcome any unwanted thought pattern. But, more important than these extremely powerful tools is the law underlying them. I call this law the ‘First Law Of Mind’:
YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR MIND BY CHANGING YOUR BEHAVIOR
BUT
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR BY CHANGING YOUR MIND
Most addictive therapies take the ‘Just Say No’ approach. The theory is that you can stop smoking by stopping the behavior of smoking. This is not so. You cannot stop the addiction to drinking by simply not drinking. Why is this? It is, again, the body/mind.
You can stop putting cigarettes in your mouth – Your body/mind will still want them.
You can stop putting alcohol in your mouth – Your body/mind will still want it.
You can stop putting cheesecake in your mouth – Your body/mind will still want it.
You can stop looking at pornography – Your body/mind will still want to look.
You can stop putting others down all the time – Your body/mind will still want to engage in this.
The addiction does not matter. What DOES matter is that your physical actions will NOT change your MIND. But changing your mind WILL change your physical actions quite easily, WITHOUT strain and WITHOUT struggle.
The three key logical concepts you need to understand which will reveal the secret to overcoming any addiction or undesirable mind-state are as follows:
– If you are experiencing an addiction or undesirable state, this means that you are doing something you do NOT wish to do against your will. This is literally impossible unless you believe there is another will present that can control you. This other will is the mind with a mind of its own.
– You have believed you cannot control this will that you must do what it asks. In an attempt to justify this, you have externalized this, blaming your parents, society, your spouse, those you love, those you hate, perhaps even the devil. This is not the case. The will is inside you. You did not ask for it. But it IS there.
– You believe you cannot control the wants and desires of this will. This is correct. But you can CHOOSE NOT TO LISTEN.
This choice, the choice NOT to listen, has been available to you all along. But, while you believed your body/mind to BE you, you believed you HAD no other choice. If you can see the body/mind for what it is, you CAN choose to ignore it.
You see, the bottom line is this: Your body/mind is addicted. You are not.
The Heaven On Earth Self-Actualization System presents 10 Power Tools that, used properly, will put the body/mind out of business forever. This is all you need learn to overcome any and all addictions permanently.
