Overcome Addiction Immediately

There is a method that any person can use, in any situation, to overcome any addiction immediately. That is a powerful statement - one that you might have a hard time believing. The very idea seems rather ridiculous, doesn’t it?

I am not just talking about the more common addictions such as alcohol, drugs and tobacco. I am including in this statement all addictions. These would include addictions to overeating - sex -gambling - any so-called 'vice'. It does not matter what the object might be. What I am about to discuss here will overcome an addiction to porn as easily as an addiction to popcorn. I am also including in this addictive relationships. Addiction to depression. Addiction to low self esteem. Addictions to hatred, judgment, fear and self-loathing. For the purpose of this short discussion we can define addiction as 'any recurring, unwanted thought or desire'. Any thought or idea that causes you pain or grief in any form is a candidate for removal using a very simple idea.

In the modern Western culture, the idea that this is at all possible seems a bit strange. It appears to some people to be lunacy. The idea is often rejected out of hand. So let’s begin with a very simple truth: Addicts, those who are addicted to anything, are addicted in the first place because deep down inside they love the object of their addiction. This goes without saying, of course.

We must understand that some addicts have built an entire life, an entire mode of existence, around their beloved object of addiction. For many who find themselves addicted, taking away the object of the addiction takes away a huge piece of the addict's very self image. Giving up that addiction sometimes leaves a gigantic hole that cannot be filled, save with another addiction, be it a 12- pack or a 12-step program. This of course turns recovery into a monumental mental struggle. Nonetheless, the idea I will discuss briefly here works.

To begin to understand what makes this simple idea work, you must first understand how the mind works. We must first understand that addiction is deeply engrained in the subconscious mind of the addict.

The subconscious mind (below the level of awareness) has sometimes been called the reptilian mind or the ‘monkey mind’. This part of mind is concerned with but a few things:

Survival

Creating Pleasure

Avoiding Pain

This base part of mind loves pleasurable feelings. Seldom does one pick up a drink, a drug, a donut or a horse-racing form without the full expectation of gaining pleasure from the act. Think about it. Would you swallow that vile tasting, throat-burning concoction in the shot glass lest it bring you some form of pleasure? Would you choke on the smoke of a marijuana joint if you gained nothing from it save a smoky, smelly burning sensation? Would you eat a dozen donuts if they each tasted like sand?

No indeed. Your base mind, the subconscious, expects pleasure from these things because it has received pleasure from these things in the past, whether the form of the pleasure is physical, mental or psychological in nature.

Now consciously, being a bit wiser than this part of your mind, you may know these things may cause you great harm. And so you decide not to participate in these activities anymore. But the monkey-mind overrides your common sense, in the interest of the pleasure or the sense of safety these things will surely bring to it. It then presents you with the dreaded craving.

Now you are smack in the middle of a terrible war; a war with your own mind. You know you shouldn’t. But you want to. But you know you shouldn’t. But you want to. Shouldn’t. Want to. You know you shouldn’t want to. On and on it goes.
Back and forth, back and forth you waver - fighting but yourself.

This is akin to having a foreign will inside of you; something seemingly uncontrollable! The sad part? Your subconscious will often win. And ‘you’ will lose. But you can win, if you desire to do so.

The addict often loses because the subconscious is, in a word, relentless. It will not give up. It simply must have the object of the craving. And, in many cases, the base mind is quite simply stronger than the part of you that knows better. The base mind is, in fact, so strong that it will risk killing YOU to get what IT wants. This is lunacy. Yet it happens precisely that way to millions of otherwise rational people. This is elementary. Psychology 101. There is nothing new in this.

Now, as regards substance addiction specifically, anyone can be detoxed from any drug and most certainly must be if addicted to a chemical substance. One should never try to quit ‘cold turkey’ from any substance and always, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, everyone should seek the advice of a medical professional when going through detox. Trying to withdraw from a substance can be life threatening if attempted without medical supervision. But for most addicts, detox is but the first step. For now the fight within the mind begins with a vengeance.

The monkey-mind begins to scream its displeasure. It literally goes berserk. Like a child denied, it goes on the attack. YOU don’t want the offending substance or object anymore. The subconscious does want the substance or the object and at any cost.

So here is a very simple question. Keep an open mind now, if only for a moment.

What if we could simply shut off the voice of the base mind; turn it off like we turn off our televisions or computers? What if we could do away with this monster once and for all - push a button and it is gone, like our alarm clocks in the morning? What might happen then?

This is what most addicted people believe they cannot do, and for a very simple reason.

If we COULD do this, the mental tug of war, the incessant struggle would be gone. We would be at peace and would simply be also in a recovered state, all of it behind us. No war. No resistance. No fight and no struggle.

This is precisely what most people believe cannot happen. However, using the technique I demonstrate in my books, it can happen and quite easily.

Think on this and be completely honest. If the offending substance has been removed from the body, the actual physical need for the object eliminated, what is it that causes a person to relapse back into addiction?

It is but the gremlin inside. The monkey-mind. The 'mind with a mind of its own'.

So how does one overcome this monster? The return to sanity begins by understanding one simple fact:

YOU are NOT your mind.

You believe that you ARE your mind. You are not.

You believe that your mind IS you. It is not.

You believe you must DO what your mind commands, because you believe it IS you. It is NOT you. You are not it.

This seems so simple. However, though we can understand this immediately, we do not really accept this idea. Many feel it is too simple - ridiculously so. They say ‘Oh yes well I know that!’ However, when it comes right down to it, they immediately turn around and allow their own minds to destroy their very lives.

The key point that must be understood here is that the mind, this mind you possess, has a will of its own. And you simply believe you cannot control it.

Listen to that again. Your mind has a mind of its own. You do not control it. You try, but you can’t.
If one really understood this idea and internalized it, put it into practice, addiction simply would not be possible at all. However, almost no one can accomplish this, using the methods our societies have generally accepted.

This mind that you believe is 'you' is not ‘you’ – it is instead actually the mind of the body – the ‘body/mind’. It is the reptilian mind .It is the animal mind. It is not, however, YOU.

This awareness, however, is just the preliminary step to undoing this part of your mind.

It is a given that, left to its own devices, the mind can be addicted, slothful, lazy, depressed, sad and negative. As long as we believe we ARE our minds, we believe that WE are addicted, slothful, lazy, depressed, sad or negative. We are not. Our minds are. The method I teach simply allows one to disconnect this part of mind – to pull the proverbial plug. The end effect is that the addicted mind is simply undone.

The method I teach allows this to happen almost instantly.

I would end here by stating the First Law of Mind:

YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR MIND BY CHANGING YOUR BEHAVIOR
BUT
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR BY CHANGING YOUR MIND

You cannot stop smoking by stopping the behavior of smoking. You cannot stop the addiction to drinking by simply not drinking. Why is this? It is, again, the body/mind.

You can stop putting cigarettes in your mouth - Your body/mind will still want them.

You can stop putting alcohol and drugs in your body -Your body/mind will still want them.

You can stop putting cheesecake in your belly - Your body/mind will still want it.

The addiction does not matter. What does matter is that changing your physical actions will NOT change your mind – it will still want the addictive substance. But changing your mind WILL change your physical actions quite easily – your mind will no longer crave what YOU don’t want. That is the key to overcoming any addiction immediately, completely and without struggle.