| Once we observe our inner senses, and attain | | | | stop thinking about it. |
| this perspective, we see the world and | | | | |
| ourselves very differently. Addictions to | | | | I invite you to try this experiment yourself. |
| substances, relationships, or thought | | | | The next time your consciousness is arrested |
| patterns vanish, as we reidentify ourselves | | | | by a strong desire, particularly one you're |
| correctly, not as our mind, with all its | | | | unlikely to fulfill, take a moment to turn |
| erratic and inconsistent thoughts, but as our | | | | your attention inward. Notice the exact |
| essence, our self, our soul, our pure | | | | nature of the feeling. Notice how your |
| consciousness. | | | | thought process wants to draw you back into |
| | | | the same set of questions and judgments it |
| There's a fairly recent story from my life | | | | has always repeated every time you've been in |
| that I've come to call the "Angela's butt | | | | the same situation. Notice, as you try to |
| story." It's a controversial tale, and its | | | | quiet your mind, how strongly it's pulled |
| main character still doesn't understand the | | | | back to the object of your desire and to |
| remarkable significance of the experience as | | | | thoughts like "Why can't I have that? What's |
| it applies to my life and attitudes. | | | | wrong with me? It's not fair. Boy, I really |
| | | | want that ..." |
| As a typically shallow person of my gender, I | | | | |
| happened to take notice of a certain physical | | | | Keep your attention upon the inner |
| attribute of this female friend. It started | | | | sensations. Forget, as best you can, the |
| innocently and unintentionally as I glimpsed | | | | trigger, the object of your desire and |
| her bending over my colleague's desk while | | | | obsession, and become aware of what's going |
| they spoke. At the time, she was wearing a | | | | on inside of you. Here is what you'll notice. |
| pair of burgundy velvet pants that fit like a | | | | |
| glove. Inadvertently, I found myself | | | | As you quiet your mind and study your |
| obsessing about her anatomical perfection in | | | | sensations, you'll feel pain. Somewhere |
| that particular region. From there my mind | | | | within you will be an ache, a sharpness, |
| began to wander into areas better left | | | | something. As you continue to allow your |
| unexplored, and this friend became an object | | | | attention to focus on the sensation, it will |
| of my lustful fantasies. | | | | begin to change. It will shift, perhaps, to |
| | | | another part of your body. Or it will spread |
| As a student of consciousness, it's my | | | | out. Or maybe it will start to throb or |
| commitment to witness all thoughts and | | | | tingle. Your mind will likely perceive this |
| feelings that command my attention and to | | | | as a sign of danger and will try to draw you |
| become aware when my mind is trapped by a | | | | out of your body and back into the inquiry. |
| particular thought loop. This obsession with | | | | But fight that urge. Stay with the feelings. |
| Angela's derrière required some | | | | They won't harm you, and, if you wait long |
| exploration on my part. | | | | enough, they will disappear. |
| | | | |
| I decided to dedicate the better half of a | | | | This process of studying our sensation is how |
| road trip alone not to replaying the desired | | | | we overcome addictions. We weather the storm, |
| imagery but to noticing the thoughts and | | | | but it's not just that. We also bring |
| feelings of lust the imagery had evoked. | | | | awareness and equanimity to the process. That |
| | | | feeling which used to own us and direct our |
| As I sat quietly, calming my mind and | | | | thoughts is now just a harmless, passing set |
| directing my attention inward, I found that | | | | of sensations. We experience freedom from our |
| my body hurt. There was tightness in my | | | | addictions, and we find that feeling of |
| chest, heaviness in my throat, and an ache in | | | | freedom is far superior to any imagined |
| my belly. My thoughts revolved around the | | | | happiness that we might experience as a |
| degree to which I wanted something I couldn't | | | | result of getting the object of our desire. |
| have. Then my thoughts spun off, reminding me | | | | |
| of all my feelings of inadequacy as result of | | | | My sense of incompleteness, and the square |
| "not getting the girl." | | | | yard of flesh that caused it were part of a |
| | | | complex program, a belief structure, which I |
| Further reflection brought to light the | | | | unwittingly imbibed as a child or adolescent, |
| recognition that this was the set of thoughts | | | | kept in place by my subservience to my own |
| and feelings that I'd experienced all my life | | | | feelings. In essence, it was hypnotized into |
| from focusing on the physical desirability of | | | | me, either by others or by myself. As long as |
| women. Yet, I continued to seek out this | | | | I allowed the script to keep playing, I would |
| experience. Why? | | | | remain forever hypnotized. Every time I would |
| | | | feel the feelings, I'd think the thoughts |
| Could it be that I was suffering under the | | | | which would perpetuate the feelings which |
| effect of an addiction? Could it be that part | | | | would enhance the thoughts, etcetera, |
| of the quality of addiction is its power to | | | | etcetera ... By choosing observation of my |
| create a sense of incompleteness, and then | | | | inner senses and allowing any waves to pass |
| propose a solution, the completion of which | | | | without reaction, I unhypnotized myself, and |
| might make us feel satisfied? | | | | I gained a measure of freedom. |
| | | | |
| I've shared this realization with many | | | | Once we've begun to use these tools, and to |
| people, and I've invited them to notice what | | | | attain this perspective, we see the world and |
| their longings really feel like. Inevitably, | | | | ourselves very differently. Addictions to |
| everyone tells me that they discover the same | | | | substances, relationships, or thought |
| thing. Whether they're longing for love, sex, | | | | patterns vanish, as we reidentify ourselves |
| a relationship, or a new pair of Banana | | | | correctly, not as our mind, with all its |
| Republic jeans, they all find that the focus | | | | erratic and inconsistent thoughts, but as our |
| on that thing has an addictive, obsessive, | | | | essence, our self, our soul, our pure |
| painful quality ... yet they can't seem to | | | | consciousness. |