Addiction [uh-dik-shuh n] the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming.
“Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.” ― Carl Gustav Jung
We’re all dealing with addiction in one form or another and how, (or should I say whether) we deal with the addiction may be just as important as the addiction itself. I’ve concluded most of our neurosis and addictions manifest from events that befall us in our youth, from about the age of five through puberty. The formative years, where the deepest and broadest fragment of our personal evolution happens in a fairly short period of time, (think “80/20 rule”). A variety of beliefs are collected, that you carry with you for the rest of your life, unless you decide to fearlessly hunt them down and destroy them. A much better solution than deadening the pain with one form of addiction or another.
The beliefs that you collect are like branches of thought on the trees of your mind. Humans have over 50,000 thoughts per day, many of them tied to their belief system. Imagine each of these beliefs as a tree with dozens of thought branches, and your over-active ego, as a monkey swinging furiously through the forest of your mind from branch to branch, 50,000 times per day. This internal dialogue can become unbearable and in the extreme, it can cause addiction and dependence on substances or actions that throttle back what some refer to as “Monkey Mind.”
“Just as a monkey, swinging through a forest wilderness, grabs a branch. Letting go of it, it grabs another branch. Letting go of that, it grabs another one. Letting go of that, it grabs another one. In the same way, what’s called ‘mind,’ ‘intellect,’or ‘consciousness’ by day and by night arises as one thing and ceases as another.” ~ Buddha
The monkey’s not going to stop or go away, so you need to learn to deal with it. The first step is recognizing there’s a monkey in there but that it’s not you, and you can live with him or her successfully, once you understand their modus-operandi. It’s also nice to have a friend around to chat with on those cold and lonely nights.
Trip to the Zoo
The image that comes to mind when I consider the term “Monkey Mind” is a memory of a trip to the zoo when I was around 11 years old. There was a monkey swinging wildly from limb to limb, ohhhh, ohhh, ahhh. The primal monkey screams echoing unnaturally off the concrete walls. Then the monkey slowed down and gently rocked back and forth, hanging by one arm from a branch. He reached down with his off hand, shit a bunch of little monkey pellets into his hand and flung them at the crowd of families huddled around the monkey pen.
Then to make sure all the goggly-eyed spectators knew exactly how he felt, he let out that primal monkey scream again, smiled with big white monkey teeth, lined with contrasting brown stains from the acid rich diet. Laughing shrilly, he reached down and grabbed his little monkey dick and shook it all the boys and girls, who were holding tightly to their mothers skirts, in fear and disbelief. The crowd’s screams and laughter reverberated off the concrete walls, in the same fashion as the monkey’s primal screams.
The mother’s grabbed up their children, to drag them away from such heinous acts but none of them were able to take their eyes off the spectacle. Tripping over each other as they tried to escape, moving away physically but unable to release their mind from the stimuli. That was 50 years ago but I can still see it all play out in my mind – “Monkey Mind.” You can take the monkey out of the wild but you can’t take the wild out of the monkey.
So that’s what my monkey looks like, a crazed rebel monkey trapped behind bars. What’s yours look like? What thought branch does your monkey always return to; that branch where he slows down just long enough to sling shit? That’s probably the first belief or lie, that you need to hunt down and do battle with. Whatever it is, it needs to be destroyed. If you identify with it too much to want to go to war with it, you can be completely certain that you’ve found the one, and if you don’t destroy it, it will destroy you.
False Beliefs
This belief may be the foundation of who you think you are and its demise could cause some chaos to your psyche, so a warrior must use great cunning. It could take awhile, some guerrilla style attacks on the little lies that make up the bigger belief perhaps. At the same time setting cornerstones for the new, true belief that will replace the old one, the one that doesn’t fit anymore. You need to become a warrior, it will take nothing less to defeat the enemy.
A warrior is patient and focused, keeping the guard up at all times. A warrior studies the belief, to effectively stalk it. A warrior must be able to wield one of his most powerful weapons, “quiet mind.” The best way to keep the monkey quiet is to ally with him; it might be awhile before you can trust him, but he might be helpful in certain situations.
“Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.” ― Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati
Many of the world’s spiritual traditions use meditation and prayer as the vehicle to achieve the peaceful space of “quiet mind.” They are very effective, but for the untrained novice, they are daunting methods that require much persistence and practice to master. The warrior needs to pursue these techniques with patience and determination, to become a master. In the mean time there is a battle going on for your very existence and you need to get control now.
What are You Focused On?
Over the years I have studied the concept of Zen. The message; complete focus on a task, whether mental or physical lets your mind quiet down and concentrate, no time for monkey chatter. Instead of 50,000 random thoughts per day, ideas replace thoughts, your imagination and creativity shine through, attracting the attention of the monkey.
The monkey enjoys this peaceful part of the forest much more, it’s greener more fruitful. Given the chance to live here the monkey will gladly stay, becoming an ally, helping you sift through thousands of tree branches looking for that one idea that fits perfectly in your life right now in the present moment. The monkey shape shifts into a sleek jaguar, your forest ally. “What are you focused on” the big cat growls.
“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh
When you are completely focused on the present moment giving life the best effort that you possibly can, no space remains for the chattering monkey. I am not pointing to Zen or any religion as the pathway for your practice. All the great spiritual traditions, relay a similar message, like; “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop”. Do something, do it with complete attention and intention and you will find your way back home, mastering the present moment.
Natural Equilibrium
We are energy vessels that must maintain a natural equilibrium. If something is removed, it must be replaced with something equal in weight. Some see obsession and passion just as negatively as they look at addiction, but there’s a simple test. Does the addiction, obsession or passion manifest positive or negative results?
Obsession[uh b-sesh-uh n] the domination of one's thoughts by a persistent idea, image or desire
The weight of most destructive addictions is huge, (perhaps where the term elephant in the room came from). Something that weighs just as much will be required to maintain equilibrium. Nothing less than passion and obsession will do. Find something you are passionate about and obsess over it.
Let’s consider an addiction to alcohol and an obsession with bicycling: on the alcohol side you have hungover, in jail, bruises all over your body with no idea where they came from, your broke and nobody will give you a chance. On the biking side you have a resting pulse rate well below your age, strong thighs, lungs capable of blowing out all the candles on your birthday cake and most important, some self-esteem.
Find something worth obsessing about. Find something that is bigger than your addiction, immerse yourself into it completely, master it. Once you’ve mastered it, find something else to master. Your journey requires you to completely engage.
Inner Child
There is an ally that can be very helpful in discovering your passions. It’s interesting that you drag along all of your old, tired and sad beliefs from the formative years and leave the one entity who can make sense of the whole mess behind. During the formative years you evolve from a self centered child, where the entire world revolves around you, to the astounding awareness that there is something out there bigger than you, much bigger.
A world so big and so filled with potential that your imagination runs wild with all kinds of wonderful ideas and possibilities about how you will explore the vastness and who you will become. Your “Inner Child,” looked into the vastness and picked a path. Chose a practice for their journey into the Great Wide World.
Your “Inner Child” knows your path and your passions, you’re the one who stopped believing. Journey back, re-tap that “Inner Child,” treat it like a treasure hunt, let your “Inner Child” loose, with all those crazy ideas on how and what to explore. Cowboy, Surfer, Poet, Astronaut, Writer, Painter, Master’s Champion, Winner of the Tour de France.
“The child is in me still and sometimes not so still.” ― Fred Rogers
Find something that you really love to do and do it as hard as you can, to the best of your ability. If it keeps bringing you joy and positive energy keep doing it. If it stops, it’s time to move on to the next crazy idea. Obsessions are like attitudes – choose a good one and get on with it, trade it in, when it wears out.
Go Big or Go Home
I often wonder why so many of my writing hero’s and musical legends succumbed to the disease of addiction. Perhaps they identified too completely with a single idea or obsession and when it didn’t fit the present moment, they kept clinging to it, trapping themselves in a false belief. Afraid to let go; they were destroyed by the thing that previously brought them so much joy.
“Be the flame, not the moth.” ― Giacomo Casanova
A warrior must keep a chest of ideas and obsessions. You must be able to effortlessly move from one to the next as the present moment dictates, without being trapped by any of them. The journey is not easy but it is the journey that is most important. There is no reason to ponder the past or to worry the future into being. The warrior always returns to the path.
It is a fairly simple physics problem as well, an equal and opposite force is required to counter an existing force. Addiction is big, it’s going to take something just as big to win the day, it’s like the old surfer saying, “Go Big or Go Home.” A half-hearted, half-assed battle plan, will end in sure defeat. If you want to win against this enemy you will need to step up your game, “Go Big or Go Home.”
Use your imagination and creativity; your allies will be onboard for whatever journey you can dream up. Paint your masterpiece; find what draws you to it and draw it to you. Drape it around your shoulders and dance. Revel in what brings you joy. Become a warrior, a lover, a magician or a King. Endeavor towards greatness. What’s your dream?
“The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun.” ~ Phil Edwards