Addiction part 1

 All those who spend their time working with people problems sooner or later recognize that the whole human problem of misery is the problem of addiction.

Everyone is, of course aware of addiction in cases of drug addiction, alcohol addiction, nicotine addiction. As serious as these addictions are, they are merely the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Most addictions aren’t recognized by the person addicted, their friends nor family, nor society as a whole, nor by the people-serving professions. 

First let there be consideration of what addiction is, how it may be recognized. Addiction is when something is craved and a justification is found to justify the craving. The person will go to great lengths to gratify it, and it must be repeated constantly. The person so addicted never seems to recognize that they are addicted; it’s just something that’s enjoyed, just human nature, etc., etc.

Addiction can be recognized by the objective observer by simply seeing that there is a constant pattern to the person’s activity. It can be easily be seen that the person is continually using the gratification for their addiction with all their reserves, their health, their health, their peace of mind, and in the end with their life. 

Now for some addictions not usually recognized as addictions but which fit all their criteria of addiction. Please note that all of these have the same signs of addiction as do alcohol and drugs.

ATTENTION 

Just look about to see how many spend all their resources, their energy, their time, then neglect their family, their business and their health in their attempt to gratify the addiction to attention.

PLAYING BIG SHOT

Same as above.

BEING A VICTIM 

Just look; no matter what’s going on the person proves self to be a victim, repeating life situations wherein they are beaten, abused, mistreated, frustrated. When one has certain emotions, corresponding hormones are produced in the body, and one becomes addicted to the presence of the hormones—plainly addicted.

COMPLAINING 

Same as above.The person finds all kinds of things to complain about while saying”I’m not complaining, BUT….”

FAULT FINDING 

Same as being a victim.

EATING DISORDERS 

Same as attention. Addiction to dieting, fasting, eating. (I’m a victim of food”)

SELF CONDEMNATION 

A variation of the Attention and Victim syndromes.

INFERIORITY FEELING 

Same as self condemnation; a variation of the justification.

DISCRIMINATION SYNDROME 

A common variation of the Victim addiction. “I’m discriminated against because of sex, race, religion, occupation,”etc. etc.

DISTRACTION 

Must have constant distraction, noise, music, sex as entertainment, taste for some substance. The start of most chemical addiction. 

WORK

Attention, Victim, and complaining. “It all depends on me.”

EXERCISE 

Combination of getting attention and addiction to the presence chemical changes in the body produced by intense activity.

BEING SICK

Combination of Attention and Victim.

This could go on with enough material for a textbook but this enough for the present.

Now what can be done about it?

Before the person addicted can do anything about the misery producing situation, there must be recognition that one is addicted. This is the first step. Without the recognition, nothing can be done. Once it is recognized by the person addicted, real work can be done very quickly. But without that recognition, nothing can be done. X

Addiction part two

 To understand addiction it necessary to have a working knowledge of adaptation in the human. If, for instance, one takes into the body a noxious substance on a continuing basis, the first attempt of the living organism is to eliminate the substance by vomiting, extra excretion, rapid oxidation. However, if the substance is taken repeatedly, the living organism adapts by creating an antidote, not only when the substance is taken in, but when the substance is expected. 

Now the need for the substance is required by the body to restore balance to the antidote. This produces the craving and the compulsion to the substance. This is addiction.

The same process works for internal secretions, hormones produced in the body in response to emotional states, resulting in constant repetition of the behavior patterns regardless of circumstances. There are far more persons addicted to internal secretions than there are persons addicted to substances from outside the body. 

All addictions lowers the well-being of the person and the natural ability to enjoy just living. As stated before, the recognition that one is addicted is the start toward freedom. No doubt it is easier to to be aware of addiction to substances from outside than it is to recognize that one is addicted to internally produced hormones, such as those produced when one is angry or worried, or anxious, or complaining, or disgusted, or finding fault, etc. etc.

One can remember that the human was never designed to live in a state of distress, but rather to be in a state of joy and thanksgiving for being alive and have the inborn ability to adapt to changing conditions, and to have a flood of energy to fight or run when in a dangerous situation.

However, conditioning has resulted in many of us seeing almost all situations as dangerous and the ability to to imagine things has given the conditioned person many situations that only exist in thought, to be in an emergency-feeling state. Further it seems a to be that they are entitled to have all wants gratified at once, or else feel that they are being mistreated and denied their natural right of being totally non disturbed; this leads to all kinds of addictions. X

From notes

 The world is populated by infants in grown bodies with technical educations.

UNANSWERABLE QUESTIONS:

How do I know that what I do is the RIGHT thing?

Did I do the right thing? 

Am I doing the right thing?

Will I do the right thing?

Before you can be in charge of anything, you must be free TO—-

If I am trying to be free from something, I am trying to alter my nature. I am free to have any experience which is presented to me to have. If I try to be free FROM anything I am trying to alter myself. If I want to know freedom, I must be free to…

IF I AM FREE TO BE CONDITIONED, THEN I AM NO LONGER CONDITIONED.

Start with freedom and you will end with freedom. “I am free to choose what is to my advantage at the moment”. I am perfectly free to have conflict. I am free to NOT WANT at the same time that I WANT.

From Notes

Four words which relate to love

Pia mother to son, sister-brother, etc.

Eros sexual attraction (taste)

Philo (approval) based on time and place

Agape “I see that whatever you are doing that at the moment you are doing it you feel that it is right, proper, or justifiable”

Agape never just happens. You must learn about it. Agape perfects any of the other three. 

A good question to ask yourself in any given situation is this:

“IS IT WORTH IT”

Blame is a misconception. No one—not even you—is to blame.

What is “ideal”? Is what one IS that is real, or the ideal of what one should be? Does this illusion, the ideal of the self become a mold into which we try to force ourselves? 

Does trying to do something that cannot be done result in the feeling of frustration? What is wrong? What is wrong with being yourself without the many desires from old suggestions and decisions from the past with which you are identified? Is there another person in all the world exactly like you? Do you need to be another person, real or imaginary, in order to be happy? Or do you merely need to see that you are what you are without any need to be someone else? ……then there is no struggle, is there? IF THERE IS NO STRUGGLE, THEN THERE CAN BE NO FRUSTRATION.

Is not all frustration from failing or expecting to fail in the STRUGGLE TO BECOME?  Can you understand the trick we play on ourselves? If you do, you are free of frustration—-are you not? You are free to be ACTUAL, REAL AND SPONTANEOUS…THE CREATIVE YOU: SOMETHING THE WORLD NEEDS VERY MUCH.

WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW THAT YOU ARE NOT STRUGGLING TOWARD A GOAL? WHO KNOWS? LETS WAIT AND FIND OUT. IT MAY BE INTERESTING!!!!

THERE IS ECSTASY AND GLORY IN BEING. “BECOMING” IS FALLING FROM BEING.

From Letters from Rhondell

 Not I’s

Most calls from the past several days have been about “Not I” talk, that internal talking that goes on all the time. We tell people who call that all “Not I’s are liars. However, most not i’s are very cunning and seem to manage to convince the subject that the subject is having intuitive knowledge.

Intuitive knowledge is about the nature of mankind, life, relationships of the body, awareness and X (Spirit).

Not I’s tell the subject that so and so is going to happen in the future; that a certain person is planning to do something to the subject’s disliking or disadvantage. Not I’s claim to be knowers of the future and thoughts of other persons. In other words they claim to be fortune tellers.

If one allows self to be influenced by Not I’s, one’s inner feeling is in serious turmoil.However, it is fairly SIMPLE if not EASY, to send Not I’s packing. 

One starts by seeing that Not I’s are concerned with being totally non disturbed and non challenged. Then they suggest the justification of complaining, sticking up for rights, feeling put upon by others, quoting authorities to prove self and others wrong, demanding, self-improving, and blaming.

To send all Not I’s on their way from you, start by looking for challenges. Here are some examples:

I want the challenge of being the one to set a pleasant mood wherever I am. 

I want the challenge to make some contribution in every contact I have. 

I want the challenge of experiencing some discomfort in order to build my tolerance and endurance.

I’m thankful I have the challenge of determining my own inner state. 

The practice of looking for and welcoming challenge proves to be a situation that the Not I’s do not have the capability to exploit.

We said the method was simple, we did not say it was easy—but that is a challenge also! So…!

Bits and pieces from school work

 Some people are called successful by the fact of what they have learned to know, some by the fact of what they can do, and some few by what they are.

Freedom and responsibility: the two sides of the same idea that results in a driving force and inner peace at the same time.

The greatest treasure a person can find is wisdom and understanding. Don’t look for wisdom and understanding under a rock or at the bottom of the sea. Look to see what really motivates yourself and others.

Only the power of inner strength allows a person to be gentle. X

Happiness

 Did you ever stop to checkup on what you have made your happiness depend on? Most everyone plays the game of hide and seek with self over happiness. “I want to be happy and enjoy life” is a very common statement heard over and over. It is fairly easy to see that most persons want to be happy. One could say that most everyone is seeking happiness. Here comes the hiding part of the game. This is done by agreeing that one will not find what one is seeking so earnestly until certain conditions just happen. For instance,  a person says “I’ll be happy when I have ten million dollars.” That person has agreed with self not to be happy until that person has ten million dollars, which just happens to fall into his possession.a rather unlikely situation, don’t you think? Of course he or she could win a few times at the lottery, still very unlikely. 

Maybe another has agreed not to be happy until a companion just happens along. Not just a companion but one that fits a lot of conditions. The human mind has lots of cunning ways to hide letting happiness just be. Just in the last week many have come by, such as: as soon as my child, now 30 years old, behaves as I want him to, as soon as I get out of here, as soon as I feel good, as soon as I quit my job, whenever taxes don’t take so much of my money, when I loose 40 pounds, when my husband quits smoking, when the children grow up, and so on.

Everyone wants happiness, but hides such a state from self by agreeing not to be happy. Suppose as a little experiment, one agrees with self to just experience freely whatever is in my way this week, and cancels, makes void, all agreements one has made  NOT to be happy. You will be very surprised at the state you find yourself in. First all conflict, struggle, and resistance comes to an end. This results in peace of mind. Also some of the situations that occur will be very interesting. Peace of mind, fused with vital interest, is what folks have called happiness. 

When one stops hiding happiness from self, one can’t prevent at least stumbling into it. 

One is not putting oneself in danger by being free to experience whatever arises in one’s way. You are going to experience it anyway. One is just no longer agreeing to be miserable over it. X