Addiction: It starts with pain and ends with pain.
 

"Every addiction arises from unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain. Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain..."
Echkart Tolle, The Power of Now.

I'd be interested to hear your personal experiences in the aspect of "moving through your own pain" and gaining positive results.

Being present as an observer essentially accomplishes process of pain dissolution and deep permanent healing.
The problem in practicing this is that it requires strong dedication and persistence and certain duration for such practice to gain benefits. In my experience I can be good practitioner for 2 minutes and then lose myself in thoughts and then get carried away by the daily routine. Hence not getting benefits from this powerful practice.

Please share your experiences.

Gleb

I was addicted to MMORPGs and marijuana throughout grad school. I'm clean now.

Addictions are just a way to swap one feeling of pain for another.

Being free from addictions isn't enough - we actually have to create a life that frees us from addiction in order to be happy. I'm about to write a massive blog post about to guide ourselves out of addiction. Stay tuned :D

I used to escape reality using art.
There was a reality that was so painful that only escaping you could find some relief. I used arts. Unlike drugs, arts is cheap. You can escape every time you want, and the consumables are quite affordable, and unlike drugs, you end with something people can admire.

My continued escapes caused me to develop enough technique so I started to sell commercial arts in the past without having any formal studies.

In the very past I did not do arts because of pleasure, it was more because of a need. Sometimes I forgot about eating or sleeping because I was living in my personal universe, where things were as I wanted, but I never was a God there, but at least everything had a happy ending. But later I got to make it commercially and made some money out of it.

I know you don't care iDreamCatcher.. but I've got to say now that I read this Echkart Tolle guy's quote.. (I know who he is.. thought he was okay in the thing I saw him in) if he's saying this is the only way to beat a addiction.. he's dead wrong.. pain is not the only way..

There are other ways to bypass behavior that we call negative.. maybe we should start with the idea of not labeling it negative.. crazy idea huh?

I am "very care" actually. Not labeling something as negative might as well be another door in the same house. To me personally "not labeling" sounds too intellectual. When i try to intellectualize and justify something - my ego always over-intellectualize me.
So working on the level of unconditional feelings brings better results because ego has no saying there.

after all the articles and books I have read on addiction I have come to the conclusion that my addictions were based on filling a void not covering up a pain -
a void that should have been filled by finding my true purpose

:)

Filling a hole or an emptiness we have inside ourselves is definately a major reason for alot of people having addictions to things...maybe it's a fear of going into the emptiness, rather than an acceptance and allowance of it?

It's always important to discover for yourself what your own reasons and motivations for anything you do are.

Addiction is a failed attempt to find inner peace, that causes more pain.
When in pain, escape from pain must be harmless, like arts, meditation, yoga or so...
And if addiction involves biochemical addiction, then treatment is needed.

It's up to each of us to determine whether our addictions are harmful, and whether they're worth the price we pay.

I am going to re-addict myself to MMORPG's and drugs at some point in the near future. I won't stick to them forever because there are other things I need to do. But I need to take a "break" from life for about 3 months. ;)