Addiction And Spirituality - The Way Home

There is a time and place in which the soul beginstakes place through the ability of addiction to
to seek a path of return to its lost home, and,grant a temporary feeling of satisfaction, then the
finding the way blocked or invisible, yearns onceoriginal impetus to find a spiritual solution to a
again for the sense of peace and love that itbasically spiritual dilemma is lessened. In such
remembers as having been part of its deepestinstances the soul must often wander far down
longing. In that moment of time, when the soulthe pathways of illusion before it discovers that
turns toward the sun of its longing seekingthe promise of peace and of satisfaction that an
remembrance and reunion, seeking the sense ofaddictive substance or process seems to give is
peace and completion that it believes is possible, aan illusion. It discovers that there is often more
significant step toward the light of Spirit is takenpain involved than satisfaction, and that the
and the soul will never be the same again.emptiness, in any case, never really goes away.
At the same time, if the yearning for home is notSome who choose this alternate route for easing
realized by fulfillment, if the spiritual longing finds,a hunger of the soul continue a very long time in
instead, an emptiness of heart and a lack ofa state of illusion, until broken, desperate, and
response to its prayer for reunion, it can becomedespairing, they return with empty hands and an
disconsolate and greatly sorrowful, so much soempty heart to face the source of the problem.
that it gives up that which it has set its heartOthers, who see more clearly or who are able to
upon, and instead turns to other means by whichbear pain with greater courage, find that the path
to fulfill its desire for peace and for the essenceof addiction is a path of illusion and seek a change
of tranquility which can only be produced by theof direction and movement shortly after having
light.embarked upon it.
These are the conditions under which addictiveThe problem for many who embark on this road
processes take place within the human psyche.out of spiritual longing and out of a nameless pain
They emerge from the condition of perceivedthat seems impossible to ease by any other
separation from one's point of origin and spiritualroute, is that there is no easing of the underlying
home, and arise when the deeper longing of thecause of the pain except by continuing to
soul still struggling to emerge within the humanincorporate more and more of the addictive
self, seeks its way back to the point of itssubstance, relationship, or process. This is true not
Source and origin.only because the physiology of addiction prompts
They do not arise before this, because beforethis kind of accelerated usage in order to maintain
this the embodied soul is fully engaged with life onthe same effect upon consciousness, but also
the material plane. It is engaged both from thebecause underneath it all, the awareness of one's
standpoint of seeking mastery and a sense ofown emptiness still and always remains. Addiction
physical comfort and fulfillment, and in the senserepresents the desperation of the hopeless and
of fascination with the many arenas of earthlythe yearning who, with a sense of desiring to
learning and pleasure that are both sensory andsave themselves, seek a way out of their
spiritual - though the latter quality may bedilemma by turning to a source which seems to
unknown to the self that pursues them. When theoffer a possible way.
soul begins to find these pleasures and thisIn the end, all addictive process whose origin is
mastery no longer sufficient to quiet the yearningthe state of separation that the embodied self
that grows within the heart and the deeper levelsexperiences from God and from its true self,
of being, then the soul begins to lose hope thatmust be healed by finding its way back to the
the life of the physical plane will be able to grantcenter of this dilemma - to the source of its own
the satisfaction that it longs for. Instead, it maypain. When this can occur in a more authentic
seek a substitute gratification that it hopes willway, that is, when it is recognized that it is
steadfastly and surely be able to grant the kindspiritual hunger that is fueling the craving for a
of peace and soul-fulfillment that is desired.substitute and illusory peace rather than a real
Fundamentally, turning toward addiction is apeace, then, and only then, can the spiritual
spiritual act. However much it may be fueled byenlightenment of the embodied self begin in an
conditions of poverty, need, emotional instability,authentic way.
immaturity, or any other psychological variable,Today, the problem of addiction and its spiritual
the replacement of the soul's yearning forunderpinnings can be viewed in a new light.
completion and peace with a substitute is an actBecause it is the time now of increased spiritual
of spiritual seeking that has taken a turn awaylight upon the earth, the underlying truth of
from its true destination toward an alternativeaddictive process can more easily come to the
destination. This is an act that is both an effort toembodied soul, bringing with it greater clarity
resolve a spiritual dilemma, as well as an effort toconcerning inner motivations, longings, and
grant immediate release from the pain of havingformerly unconscious states. As a result, it is now
to wait for a more authentic source of realization.more possible for the healing of addiction to rise
The difficulty in waiting for what one longs for butbeyond the level of psychological and physical
cannot yet have, and the emptiness that occursforms of treatment that have proven effective in
in the presence of the heart's longing that neitherrecent decades, but only to a certain degree, to a
mind nor senses can satisfy - these are thenew and higher level of healing.
dilemmas of the embodied self that seeks reliefNow, it becomes possible for all addiction to be
from longing and a way of resolving the problemsrevealed in its true essence as a spiritual action
of time and of waiting. If the process of choicedesigned to answer a need that it was believed
were engaged in more consciously, with greatercould not be answered in any other way. With
awareness of what truly was being sought, it isthis longing exposed to the light of awakened
likely that many more who turn to addictiveconsciousness, there is hope, today, that what
substitutes could find within themselves thehas been a widespread and pervasive problem in
courage to wait through a period of pain and ofboth advanced and underdeveloped nations will
emptiness. But the choice before the embodiedhave the chance of being healed in an equally
self is rarely that conscious. And although awidespread way at a core level. This new
spiritual longing exists at its foundation, this longingpossibility comes out of the increased capacity of
is often not even dimly recognized by thethe human body and psyche to touch its own
conscious, experiencing self which only seeks anspiritual depths in ways that were not possible
end to its pain - the pain of emptiness and thebefore. With this contact, the phenomenon of
pain of loss.addiction can, in time, disappear as a solution to
When it is discovered through use of addictivethe problem of the soul's longing, and a new step
substances, relationships, or habits of any kindcan be taken toward the soul's true destination -
that a kind of numbing of pain and of distressthe path of return toward its spiritual home.