Samsara Junkies: Working with Addiction and Developing Tolerance

Our whole world and everything in it can be viewed, simply, as an addiction. We were born as a sentient being, addicted to this samsaric world and to its wide range of colorful emotions, dazzling scenery, and tumultuous experiences. As one of my students so aptly put it: “We are all samsara junkies.“

So how do you overcome an addictive condition? By cultivating two things: sherab (discrimating wisdom), & tsondru (effort). Tsondru comes from focused, consistent discipline; sherab develops through meditation, mindfulness, and, ultimately, awareness.

Many people think that making a change comes from an emotional state of mind, but it has to do with how we really process our experience, which has nothing to do with being emotional.

Let’s look at guilt for an example. Because guilt is such a strong emotion, it cannot help you change; when you are stuck in an addiction, feeling “guilty” about the addiction just makes matters worse. Instead of fostering emotions on top of the addiction, the trick is to simply become aware of what is transpiring in the process of the addiction.

Some measure of regret might be necessary, but only enough to encourage the effort and wisdom that leads to seeing your addiction clearly.

The point is to shine a light on your emotions–to see how you have been caught up in your emotions–rather than to get even more emotional about the particular addiction.

Addiction to alcohol or drugs is never a conceptual experience; it is physical & emotional, stemming from lust or desire. For instance, an alcoholic does not intellectually speculate: “It would be nice to have a drink right now. A drink will lead me to a different state of mind.”

An alcoholic is drawn to liquor by dense, foggy, claustrophobic emotional symptoms–intense cravings & tension built up over time. Maybe the addictive symptoms manifest as dreadful thoughts, painful headaches, chest tightening, or powerful surges of disturbing emotion.

Next, things happen very fast, (you “act out” almost before you can think): you want to have a drink, and, before you know it, you are well into your second or third measure.

There is very little awareness of the process driving the addiction because it all happens so quickly; you are not able tolerate the painful emotions that arise and accompany the addiction, so it spirals out-of-control and repeats itself, over and over again.

What can you do?

• First, learn to recognize how your addiction manifests in particular physical, emotional, or mental symptoms.
   
• Next, practice being very spacious: Breath out; let the tension melt into space, and let the space become the tension. Let your thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations melt into that space.
   
• Third, over time, develop a tolerance for the restless, uncomfortable, dagger-like feelings compelling your addiction by releasing these feelings into the space.
   
•  Fourth, as your tolerance grows, let the process generating the addiction stop spiraling so quickly from desire into negative action; instead, allow the process occur in a slower motion.

Now, use these tools to your advantage. Don’t “do” anything–don’t suppress, don’t indulge. Just let things happen as if you were just sitting there, watching a slow-motion movie.

Finally, don’t participate in this movie; don’t get caught up in the action or try to “fix” the plotline. Develop a detachment to the movie–remember: it is only happening in your mind!

If you follow these simple steps, you will become more observant, less reactive, more spacious, more aware, and more tolerant. Tolerance is the key–the more tolerant you become, the better chance you have to recover from your particular addiction.

When you are trying to overcome an addiction, your insecurities can intensify: you might question your self-worth, your discipline, “who you are,” your hopes, your fears.

These rising insecurities can make it very difficult to deal with the issue at hand. So try not to be so reactive, retrace the steps outlined above. Very slowly, over time, your effort & discriminating wisdom will soften the addiction and free you from its unyielding grasp.

Compiled from Like a Diamond: Transformation in the Three Yanas, (pages 207-209)