We all have them, addictions of one kind or another seep into the way we live our lives, stifling the inner sense of the precious present moment. We may not call them addictions or think of them in that light and yet these habits, what ever they may be, have a hold upon us. Addictions imply that we are not free, that we are not unfettered. Whether we are addicted to TV, to being in love, to running in the park, to smoking, to our mobile phones, to music, to anything whatsoever. Yes, we can even be addicted to meditation.
All addictions, whatever they may be, point to one thing; We are bound by them. We have taken refuge in the the false sense of security that they provide. They keep us from perceiving what is nearest of all. By binding ourselves to our habits we prevent ourselves from living in the dynamic uncertainty of the present moment.
Issues are like tissues. You pull one out and another appears!
Gary Goldstein
So it is with our habits and addictions. We may think we have relinquished one but often we have merely replaced it for another. Like rabbits our habits breed incessantly, born from our mis-perception. So how do we pull ourselves out of this conundrum. The answer is simplicity itself. By acknowledging our existence as awareness and then holding firmly to our recognition of it we begin to break the shackles of our bondage.
By living in a state of utmost simplicity which implies complete acceptance of what is we discover how to ride the waves of uncertainty and impermanence, holding only to this simple moment which is right here and now. Our addictions imprison us only because we continue to doggedly to cling to the greatest addiction of all; our unquestioning trust and belief in a separate, individual self.
Undeceive yourself and be free. You are not a person.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Those words point us squarely towards to an incredible mystery which surrounds each and everyone of us and yet amazingly, we somehow fail even to notice it. When we believe in ourselves as individual identities we cover over what is always present and shining. Most of the time we are so distracted by the ‘noise’ within our mind that we cannot perceive the thundering silence in which we live, move and have our being.
The only true and lasting way to give up addictions forever, is to stop identifying with ourselves as the doer. To recognise, once and for all, our true nature, which is utterly beyond doer-ship, is the ultimate panacea. And just what is that true nature? Our true nature, is the inexhaustible presence out of which all existence, in whatever form it may take, arises. The first step in freeing ourselves is to become aware of our awareness. So take those addictions; whatever they may be, and offer them unconditionally, to the vast and absolute expanse because we were born to soar high and unfettered. We are so much more than we can even imagine.
Photo by Thomas Breher, Germany.