(5 minutes)
Meditation does have a part to play in healing addiction, but not as you’d expect.
So let’s take a walk… this is going to be a little more involved than a simple “E-Z Bake” answer. But because it’s on people’s minds, and you deserve a thoughtful answer, it’s worth the trip.
There’s three dimensions to it…
The Nuts ‘n Bolts Side
First, the addiction is not some random occurrence that hit you from outer space.
No, the addiction is there for a reason—it gives you something. What it originally gave you may have long been forgotten so all that is left is “that damned habit”… but it does give you something.
So to attempt to stop something that has a purpose, however veiled, without touching the underlying cause is going to feel depressingly futile.
Without going into a long “how-to”, if the addiction is present because of an emotional trauma, like a shock into a young mind at a defenseless age, then there are more directed, sure-fire ways than meditation to free the underlying emotional trauma—the root of the addiction.
Someone who understands the mind-body connection intimately and has a seasoned facility with the mechanics of healing will give fast results. Which is what you want, right?
In the past, those were our shamans. Nowadays, we have unconventional hypnotherapists, as one example. Just by someone talking to you, in an artful, skilled way, you’d be surprised at how well a lasting shift can take place. (Actually, this happens more than you’re aware of.)
As with any form of healing, the temptation is to exit before the cycle is finished, and oftentimes there’s non-trivial, overlapping issues that aren’t clear at the outset. There is also a tendency to underestimate what’s involved, in the same way you’d underestimate the number of junk files clogging your computer. Yet how can you know until you get in there?
The Magic Side
On the complete and opposite end of the spectrum, when consistently touching the Infinite using your meditation technique, a different cause/effect mechanism is invoked. The vast intelligence that is part-and-parcel of the Infinite may create on-the-spot healing where everything around the addiction is reversed, in an eye-blink.
This is what everyone wants. This is what everyone expects as part of the mystique of meditation.
Though how it happens… and when it happens… is a mystery. But it does happen. It’s called Grace. And it’s like a gift: very much welcome, yet very much unanticipated. Also hard to plan for.
For example, a lady who once learned to meditate no longer had the desire to smoke, completely forgetting about her cigarettes in the process. However, I also knew many monks who enjoyed smoking, so it’s not a reliable thing to say, “meditation will cure you of smoking;” that just ain’t its purpose.
The Consciousness Side
And yes, before you ask, there are exotic states of consciousness where every aspect of reality is experienced as a mere thought, and is as easy to wave away as it is to glance up. But what do you do when you pop out of such a state of consciousness? And are back in daily life? That can be… a letdown.
Such was my secret agenda as a monk: escape all my problems by going into exotic states. The thing is that those states are not permanent and so are impractical to recommend. (Sorry!)
The Good News
… is that you don’t have to do any of this healing alone. You can say, “Okay, I need help,” and expect that help—and relief—will come. You deserve it no less than anyone else!
The Meditation Side
Where meditation helps in no uncertain terms is the courage part.
By meditating, you will become more and more courageous to face what exists, and have less and less fear to look away. Because isn’t what stops us… is fear… and doubt… and unworthiness?
The boldness that naturally emerges when the mind becomes clear due to regular meditation inevitably casts away false mental constructs, like doubt and hopelessness. It’s the same as turning on a light. The shadows just disappear. Where do they go? Who cares? It’s light now! The answers are there in the light.
Okay, Okay—Here’s the E-Z Bake Answer
Because that was a lot to take in.
Meditate for: courage and clarity.
Ask help for: healing and happiness.