November 12, 2015. As I write these characters signifying the idea
of 'today' on the page, I remember a few years ago, in November 2012,
wondering if some quantum shift was going to go down before the end of
the year. Then, the moment just passed... like Y2K... and it appears
that it's just more of the same, 'business as usual.' I have not seen
the promised metamorphosis of human consciousness. If anything, I feel
more depressed as the years go by and I get older, watching all the same
(and sometimes even worse) stupid human tricks and wondering why? What
is this life for, anyway? Will we - collectively - EVER wake up? I
have a hard time even going out shopping for things I need, as my
heart's desire to be compassionate and non-judgmental towards every
BEING vies with my observation and absolute loathing of
humanity's collective faults. I find myself saying things like "I love
people - individual ones - but hate humans," and more often than not I
stay home from public events, more of a hermit than I ever thought
possible. And yet there is STILL a spark in me, for example when I am
in line at the grocery store waiting to check out, that inspires me to
want to lift up the energy, to connect, to reach out. Which I
do. Despite everything. Confirming, for me, that the world is not
completely devoid of hope. Even if it feels that way sometimes.
Interesting
way to start this all up again! Just wanting to be real, I guess, and
speak to my current moment. I started writing this blog last week
(November 5th), thinking I was ready to be back in blogging mode, but
instead I got caught up reading about fragmentation and dislocation, a
subject worthy of attention here, as exploring the roots of addiction
and 'how we got here' as a society is part of the larger conversation of
what to do about the enormous problems besetting humanity and the array
of solutions offered by the spiritually-motivated use of entheogens.
According to Bruce K. Alexander, author of The Globalization of Addiction: A Study in Poverty of the Spirit,
the fragmentation of existing societies has been escalating for the
last five centuries. The basic definition of this term is hard to
determine, as it has seemingly become a 'catch-all' word to describe
many different aspects of the ills of modern society. What I can glean
from sifting through many diverse definitions is that fragmentation
means dividing into smaller and smaller parts, a move away and apart
from the concepts of unity and cohesiveness. A fragmented society will
not identify as a collective and will not share values, beliefs, social
norms, etc, although each particular fragment will share these
with intensity (ie white supremacists, religious sects, political
parties, etc). The ultimate fragmentation is to strip all other
groupings away till we just have individuals and everyone is 'doing
their own thing' for their own betterment. This is pretty much
glorified by the 'me first' attitude of our culture, by the concept of
'rugged individualism' and even the 'American Dream,' and pointedly
exemplified by corporations (run by individuals) who continue to destroy
our Earth home for short-term financial gain at the expense of, well,
everyone and everything else.
This fragmentation of
society has extreme costs to the individual, creating psychological
devastation such as alienation, disconnection, and dislocation. The
first two terms seem self-explanatory. Mr. Alexander goes on to write
the following abut the third term: "Dislocation refers to the experience
of a void that can be
described on many levels. On a social level it is the absence of
enduring and sustaining connections between individuals and their
families and/or local societies, nations, traditions, and natural
environments. In existential terms, it is the absence of vital feelings
of belonging, identity, meaning, and purpose. In spiritual terms it can
be called poverty of the spirit, lack of spiritual strength,
homelessness of the soul, or feeling forgotten by God." (1)
"Alexander sees this as an age of '...unprecedented, worldwide collapse of psychosocial integration.”' (2) "However,
prolonged, severe dislocation has a high price, because it eventually
undermines the normal societal bases of belonging, identity, meaning,
and purpose, leaving a unbearably empty and powerless experience of the
world." (3)
I resonate with this. I feel the lack of
meaningful traditions, the lack of connection to 'place,' the lack of
belonging to and sharing a deep connection with my extended family and
community; I also feel outside of and at odds with this society,
antagonistic to what I see our culture stands for. In fact I feel our culture
stands for 'no culture,' as evidenced by the gentrification of every
region of America into Wal-Mart- and McDonald-Land. Cheap, poorly made
goods, with little to no aesthetic value; or cheap, poorly made 'food',
with little to no nutritional value: this is how I view these hallmarks
of American culture.
In addition, I connect to the
feeling of lack of meaning, especially when looking at life from my
children's point of view. They are young adults, recently out of the
home - and what are they supposed to do now? Go to college and get
themselves $80,000 in debt? Somehow find a way to pay rent and other
bills while working a minimum wage job? Not motivated by making money,
they have also apparently inherited my lack of motivation to be
identified by a career. So what is the meaning of an 'undefined' life?
Does one have to have a career to find life meaningful? What does my life
even mean? I have had a lot of labels over the years: homemaker,
teacher, choir director, singer, performer, house-cleaner, office
assistant - and not one of them defines me, really. Is that what makes our lives meaningful, the labels we use
to describe ourselves?
Obviously I don't think so, or I would have worked on having at least a more consistent one!
I
think it all has to do with a person's sense of purpose. Partly it is
the programming we receive from parents, family and community: the
values we are taught and whether or not we ascribe to them. In my case,
I 'bought' the necessity of getting a college degree, even to the point
of getting my Master's in Education - only to have the Federal laws
change, making my teaching degree invalid (but not, unfortunately,
invalidating my debt). My children, despite being brought up to value
education, are not making the same choices. But honestly, their lack of choice is also a choice, and I have concerns about their futures (how mom-ish, I know - but true).
In my
recent work with other youth, my children's' peers, I have been increasingly aware of a sense of lack of purpose. These young people just don't seem to
know what to do with their lives, apart from the present moment. They know they need money to live but
resent having to go do some meaningless job for low pay (don't blame them there). From my point of view, they seem to
exist for one reason only: to entertain themselves. Feeling no
connection to any tradition, alienated from this society as a whole
(which to them is complete bullshit), and oftentimes not connected to
their parents or family, or to any extended family, the youth turn to
each other, making their social group their family, just to feel they
belong somewhere. It works, to some extent, to help them get by. But in my opinion, and
experience, the presence of - and prevalence of - addiction in the youth I know, and youth in
general, speaks to the lack of purpose, connection and meaning they are
experiencing.
As mentioned before, the frequency of
addiction in our modern world is increasing exponentially. According to
one statistic,"...the addiction treatment industry in the US alone has
been estimated to
have a $35 billion market, and to be “poised for accelerated growth”
[Munro, 2015, quoted in (1)]. (I will admit to being shocked at that
statistic. Really, wow.) Now comes along a researcher like Bruce
Alexander who feels that addictions are not just some chemical imbalance or genetic pre-disposition, but the result of a person's
grasping to fill the gaping psychological void of dislocation. "Addiction can provide dislocated people with some much needed relief and
compensation for their bleak existence, at least for the short term." (3) This
would be considered an 'adaptive function' of an addiction, in
psych-speak.
"The adaptive function of addiction is often hidden. Many addicted
people deny that they live in a state of dislocation, because they feel
ashamed of their inability to find a secure social life, a sense of who
they are, some values they can believe in, a place they can call their
own, or a reason to get up in the morning, even though they live in a
fragmented society that makes filling these needs problematic for
everybody. They may deny their dislocation because it feels like an
unbearable personal failure and they may be only dimly aware of the
adaptive function of their addiction. (1)
So,
how does all of this relate to using entheogens in a spiritual
context? Well, first of all, and most obviously, entheogens have been
shown to generate the Divine within - otherwise engendering what is known as Unitive Experiences: the experience of everything being ONE and all of it being LOVE. "Unitive Experience historically was seen as the experience of becoming one with the Divine. It is an experience which usually leads to a sense of clarity, inner quiet, and a new sense of being which transcends our usual experience of being a separate self." (4)
A person experiencing this state would feel immediate relief from feelings of alienation, disconnection and dislocation.
If in fact these feelings play into addictions, then the relief of such
feelings should help reduce addiction. This is, in fact, supported by
research, and by my own experience.
To take it to the personal, for me, the feeling of being connected to everything inspired in me a renewed sense of purpose, and a re-commitment to living my own life, something that was not 100% before then. Sometimes I used to wonder why I was alive, and why I should even stay here (ie stay alive). Since I started praying with the medicine, I have been able to quit smoking tobacco, a habit of over twenty nine years, almost six years ago, and I also was able to finally quit drinking alcohol two and a half years ago. I still have some addictions, compulsions, and other weird trips - but those two were the worst - and I view my experiences with the medicine as vitally important in supporting me to evolve past these addictions.
If dislocation
is the experience of the absence of belonging, identity, meaning, and
purpose, and it is possible to safely and with intention have an experience of belonging, an expanded sense
of connection to something greater than your small self, resulting in a renewed sense of meaning and purpose, wouldn't that be, like, the best thing, ever? Too bad it is (for now) against the law! THAT is just one more reason why I am writing this book!
OK
well it has been most of the day already. Amazing how the time goes
by! I am excited about the next steps for this book project. Please stay tuned for more, and share if you feel inspired!
(1)
Alexander, Bruce K. "Healing Addiction Through Community: A Much Longer
Road Than it Seems."
http://www.brucekalexander.com/articles-speeches/healing-addiction-through-community-a-much-longer-road-than-it-seems2
(2) Skinner, Wayne. "Homeless Souls: Addiction as Adaptation to Psychosocial Dislocation. Crosscurrents: The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health,
2010, Volume 14, Number 2.
http://www.brucekalexander.com/my-books/reviews-of-my-books/265-homeless-souls-addiction-as-adaptation-to-psychosocial-dislocation
(3)
Alexander, Bruce K. "Addiction, Environmental Crisis, and Global
Capitalism."
http://www.brucekalexander.com/articles-speeches/283-addiction,-environmental-crisis,-and-global-capitalism
(4) http://www.jflory.org/contemplative_quaker/mys_eng.htm
Showing posts with label new paradigm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new paradigm. Show all posts
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Entheogens in History
I have been sitting at my computer for about two hours, considering possible topics for this blog today. I have read SO many book on the subjects inherent to this discussion, and have more to read. My main question is how much do I discuss in THIS book what has been showing up in so many other books on the subject. In other words, where do I draw the line and just refer people to the other books, versus going into detail about different topics and subtopics?
One such topic is humanity's collective history of entheogenic use for religious purposes. As my friend James Joseph writes in his book Psychedelic Perceptions (1, p.5), "Long before the convoluted 'War on Drugs' lumped all illegal psychoactive substances into the same dangerous basket, the majority of ancient societies ritualistically exercised their birthright of revealing the content of their own minds by entering non-ordinary states of consciousness." Ingesting the 'food of the gods,' ancient people could have a direct experience of abstract spiritual concepts. From the somma of the Hindu religion, dating from 1,500 BC, to the manna from Heaven in the Old Testament, given to the Israelites in the desert as they fled Egypt, to the kykeon of the Greek 'Ceremony of Eleusis,' used for 2,000 years starting in 1,500 BC; to the 3000-year old ceremonies in Mexico and Guatemala during which participants ingested teonanactl - the 'Flesh of the Gods' - which research and ancient art has shown to be the psilocybin mushroom: there is evidence and well-founded supposition on the part of MANY researchers that most if not all of our modern religions and philosophical systems were inspired by plant-altered states of consciousness.
In The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience(2) by R.E.L. Masters and Jean Houston, Ph.D, the authors refer to a book, Poisons Sacres, Invresses Divines, written in the 1930's by Phillipe de Felice. Masters and Houston quote from this book, saying that de Felice "...provided considerable documentation to support the ages-old connection between the occurrence of religious-type experiences and the eating of certain vegetable substances. He wrote that the employment of these substances for religious purposes is so extraordinarily widespread as to be 'observed in every region of the earth among primitives no less than among those who have reached a high pitch of civilization. We are therefore dealing not with exceptional facts, which might be justifiably overlooked, but with a general and, in the widest sense of the word, a human phenomenon, the kind of phenomenon which cannot be disregarded by anyone who is trying to discover what religion is and what are the deep needs which it must satisfy.'"
These authors continue with a discussion of somma, from the Vedic or Hindu tradition: how it was seen as a deity, how it was ritualistically consumed to bring the worshiper to a state of "divine exhilaration and incarnation," and how it has been proposed to have been instrumental in the development of Hatha Yoga practices. It is still unclear exactly what somma was, but some researchers believe it was entheogenic Amanita Muscaria, the very distinctive red-capped mushroom with white dots. The Rig Veda, a collection of 1,028 hymns, contains 114 songs dedicated to somma, describing it as a "...powerful method for directly obtaining sacred knowledge." (1, p. 104)
Many people are familiar with the Old Testament story of Moses, and how he, with the help of the Lord God, led his people from captivity in Egypt through 40 years in the desert. God provided the Israelites with manna, which in Exodus, "...is described as being "a fine, flake-like thing" like the frost on the ground. It is described in the Book of Numbers as arriving with the dew during the night; Exodus adds that manna was comparable to hoarfrost in size, similarly had to be collected before it was melted by the heat of the sun and was white like coriander seed."(3) These characteristics are all similar to those of psilocybin mushrooms, and many enthomycologists [including Terence McKenna (see (4)] have suggested that manna was a type of psychedelic mushroom. In addition, the Israelites were accompanied by their flocks and herds through the desert - and psilocybin mushrooms grow very well on cow dung, making the conditions for their growth a distinct possibility (1, p.108). Dan Merkur wrote an entire book on the subject: The Mystery of Manna: The Psychedelic Sacrament of the Bible (which I have not yet read as of this blog). For anyone interested in the role that entheogens have played in the formation of modern religions, it sounds like this last book would be a good one to read.
The Biblical reference to plants altering consciousness goes back even father than Moses, though. In Genesis, in the Garden of Eden, most have heard the familiar story of Adam and Eve having been to told to freely eat of everything there except the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' and the 'tree of life.' Eve of course is temped by the snake, eats an apple from the first tree, and gets Adam to eat it too. Then they become 'self-conscious,' and clothe themselves. So, God kicks them out of the garden before they can eat of the 'tree of life,' which would have given them immortality. This story has been interpreted by the proponents of humanities more colorful (aka 'psychedelic') history quite differently than the traditional Christian view, as I am sure you can imagine. In this perspective, whatever the original couple ate was a psychoactive substance that altered their perceptions; and this story is probably the first example of a propaganda campaign proposing that altering consciousness is bad and goes against the wishes of the 'Father,' (ie the boss, the one in control, the masculine). In other words, you will be rejected (thrown out of paradise), 'daddy' will be mad, and bad things will happen to you if you alter your 'God-Given' consciousness by eating a plant that imparts non-ordinary wisdom. In other words, this anti-mind-altering-substance campaign as been going on for A LONG TIME!!!
In one of his seminal works, Terence McKenna, in Food of the Gods (4) takes this conversation even farther, by suggesting that the original evolution from monkey to human was in fact due in part to the altering and expanding of consciousness provided by groups of monkeys ingesting psychoactive substances. I'll just let the reader contemplate that for a minute. I suggest reading McKenna's work yourself it this piques your interest.
Here are a few more quotes from my friend James: "The relationship between entheogens and religion is unavoidable." (p.91) and "... before the prevalent meme suggesting that accessing valuable levels of consciousness through plant substances was dangerous or evil, this method of attaining enlightenment was a deeply revered and widespread practice." (p.90). By the way, James' book is a wonderful resource for anyone looking into the prevalent cultural taboos against entheogens. I highly recommend it - and you will see it coming up in my research again!
One other historical context that gets many mentions in these books is the Greek Temple of Eleusis, home of the 1,900 year tradition of a mysterious ceremony involving kykeon, an entheogenic drink whose exact composition was a highly guarded secret and still not known, although conjecture is that it was probably a mixture of Amanita Muscaria or psilocybin mushrooms, ergot, and Syrian rue, all of which are psychoactive entheogens. Initiates to the Mysteries were prepared with instruction and went through purification and other initiatory rites prior to partaking in the 10-day ritual. More importantly, these ceremonies were occuring during the lifetimes of some of the primary founders of Western thought: Plotinus, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and Homer, just to name a few. (1, p.113) The implied thought here is that perhaps entheogens were responsible for some of the insights brought into the world by these highly revered thinkers.
A final thought before I end for the day. Most of the world's main religions were founded by a visionary who went against the cultural grain, so to speak, because of the overpowering inspiration and direct connection they were having with the Source/God/Creator. The process of religions seems to be that direct inspiration comes, usually to an individual, then this inspiration is formalized (or"crystallized into form") by 'followers', and then this form turns into dogma (by the organization that springs up around the followers) which must be strictly followed. The trajectory in most organized religions seems to be that the spiritual component of direct knowing is reduced over time, replaced by believing, adhering, behaving, judging, and condemning. It seems our normal human tendency is to condense, rather than expand. Maybe this tendency is an evolutionary explanation for the existence of SO many natural substances that expand consciousness.
According to Erika Bourguignon, a social anthropologist who has studied consciousness altering techniques in societies ranging from ancient to present-day, 90 percent of the 488 cultures she has studied 'possess institutionalized methods of altering consciousness.' She says, '"It is clear that we are dealing with a psychobiological capacity available to all societies, and that, indeed, the vast majority of societies have used (altered states of consciousness)...primarily in a sacred context." (1, p.101-02). Yet through the past two thousand years, "...there has been a movement away from direct access of the Divine and toward a relationship with a God mediated by an increasingly powerful clergy." (1, p.97). Somewhere along our historical route, entheogens went from being allies, giving humans a way to 'ingest God' or experience Oneness consciousness, to being considered dangerous and scary, causing permanent brain and chronological damage, rampant violence, addiction, and death. The modern government, in order to protect regular people not capable of making conscientious decisions about the use of dangerous substances on their own (except in regards to sugar, alcohol and tobacco, hardee har har), made these substances illegal, at the highest level of restriction.
Thousands of years of history, across hundreds of cultures, and NO records indicate that responsibly ingesting entheogens for the purposes of spiritual enlightenment causes insanity, brain damage, ill health, harm, or death. There must be other reasons for their vilification and restriction - which we will get to next week.
In today's world, with serious problems stacking up in every direction and no answers in sight, I am reminded of the famous Einstein quote, calling us to have a revolution in consciousness if we want things to get better:
"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."
(1) Joseph, James. Psychedelic Perceptions. Gaian Publishing, CO. 2006.
(2) Masters, R.E.L and Houston, Jean, Ph. D. The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience. Delta Publishing, NY. 1966. p. 249-50.
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manna
(4) McKenna, Terence. Food of the Gods. Bantam Publishing, NY, 1992.
One such topic is humanity's collective history of entheogenic use for religious purposes. As my friend James Joseph writes in his book Psychedelic Perceptions (1, p.5), "Long before the convoluted 'War on Drugs' lumped all illegal psychoactive substances into the same dangerous basket, the majority of ancient societies ritualistically exercised their birthright of revealing the content of their own minds by entering non-ordinary states of consciousness." Ingesting the 'food of the gods,' ancient people could have a direct experience of abstract spiritual concepts. From the somma of the Hindu religion, dating from 1,500 BC, to the manna from Heaven in the Old Testament, given to the Israelites in the desert as they fled Egypt, to the kykeon of the Greek 'Ceremony of Eleusis,' used for 2,000 years starting in 1,500 BC; to the 3000-year old ceremonies in Mexico and Guatemala during which participants ingested teonanactl - the 'Flesh of the Gods' - which research and ancient art has shown to be the psilocybin mushroom: there is evidence and well-founded supposition on the part of MANY researchers that most if not all of our modern religions and philosophical systems were inspired by plant-altered states of consciousness.
In The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience(2) by R.E.L. Masters and Jean Houston, Ph.D, the authors refer to a book, Poisons Sacres, Invresses Divines, written in the 1930's by Phillipe de Felice. Masters and Houston quote from this book, saying that de Felice "...provided considerable documentation to support the ages-old connection between the occurrence of religious-type experiences and the eating of certain vegetable substances. He wrote that the employment of these substances for religious purposes is so extraordinarily widespread as to be 'observed in every region of the earth among primitives no less than among those who have reached a high pitch of civilization. We are therefore dealing not with exceptional facts, which might be justifiably overlooked, but with a general and, in the widest sense of the word, a human phenomenon, the kind of phenomenon which cannot be disregarded by anyone who is trying to discover what religion is and what are the deep needs which it must satisfy.'"
These authors continue with a discussion of somma, from the Vedic or Hindu tradition: how it was seen as a deity, how it was ritualistically consumed to bring the worshiper to a state of "divine exhilaration and incarnation," and how it has been proposed to have been instrumental in the development of Hatha Yoga practices. It is still unclear exactly what somma was, but some researchers believe it was entheogenic Amanita Muscaria, the very distinctive red-capped mushroom with white dots. The Rig Veda, a collection of 1,028 hymns, contains 114 songs dedicated to somma, describing it as a "...powerful method for directly obtaining sacred knowledge." (1, p. 104)
Many people are familiar with the Old Testament story of Moses, and how he, with the help of the Lord God, led his people from captivity in Egypt through 40 years in the desert. God provided the Israelites with manna, which in Exodus, "...is described as being "a fine, flake-like thing" like the frost on the ground. It is described in the Book of Numbers as arriving with the dew during the night; Exodus adds that manna was comparable to hoarfrost in size, similarly had to be collected before it was melted by the heat of the sun and was white like coriander seed."(3) These characteristics are all similar to those of psilocybin mushrooms, and many enthomycologists [including Terence McKenna (see (4)] have suggested that manna was a type of psychedelic mushroom. In addition, the Israelites were accompanied by their flocks and herds through the desert - and psilocybin mushrooms grow very well on cow dung, making the conditions for their growth a distinct possibility (1, p.108). Dan Merkur wrote an entire book on the subject: The Mystery of Manna: The Psychedelic Sacrament of the Bible (which I have not yet read as of this blog). For anyone interested in the role that entheogens have played in the formation of modern religions, it sounds like this last book would be a good one to read.
The Biblical reference to plants altering consciousness goes back even father than Moses, though. In Genesis, in the Garden of Eden, most have heard the familiar story of Adam and Eve having been to told to freely eat of everything there except the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil' and the 'tree of life.' Eve of course is temped by the snake, eats an apple from the first tree, and gets Adam to eat it too. Then they become 'self-conscious,' and clothe themselves. So, God kicks them out of the garden before they can eat of the 'tree of life,' which would have given them immortality. This story has been interpreted by the proponents of humanities more colorful (aka 'psychedelic') history quite differently than the traditional Christian view, as I am sure you can imagine. In this perspective, whatever the original couple ate was a psychoactive substance that altered their perceptions; and this story is probably the first example of a propaganda campaign proposing that altering consciousness is bad and goes against the wishes of the 'Father,' (ie the boss, the one in control, the masculine). In other words, you will be rejected (thrown out of paradise), 'daddy' will be mad, and bad things will happen to you if you alter your 'God-Given' consciousness by eating a plant that imparts non-ordinary wisdom. In other words, this anti-mind-altering-substance campaign as been going on for A LONG TIME!!!
In one of his seminal works, Terence McKenna, in Food of the Gods (4) takes this conversation even farther, by suggesting that the original evolution from monkey to human was in fact due in part to the altering and expanding of consciousness provided by groups of monkeys ingesting psychoactive substances. I'll just let the reader contemplate that for a minute. I suggest reading McKenna's work yourself it this piques your interest.
Here are a few more quotes from my friend James: "The relationship between entheogens and religion is unavoidable." (p.91) and "... before the prevalent meme suggesting that accessing valuable levels of consciousness through plant substances was dangerous or evil, this method of attaining enlightenment was a deeply revered and widespread practice." (p.90). By the way, James' book is a wonderful resource for anyone looking into the prevalent cultural taboos against entheogens. I highly recommend it - and you will see it coming up in my research again!
One other historical context that gets many mentions in these books is the Greek Temple of Eleusis, home of the 1,900 year tradition of a mysterious ceremony involving kykeon, an entheogenic drink whose exact composition was a highly guarded secret and still not known, although conjecture is that it was probably a mixture of Amanita Muscaria or psilocybin mushrooms, ergot, and Syrian rue, all of which are psychoactive entheogens. Initiates to the Mysteries were prepared with instruction and went through purification and other initiatory rites prior to partaking in the 10-day ritual. More importantly, these ceremonies were occuring during the lifetimes of some of the primary founders of Western thought: Plotinus, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and Homer, just to name a few. (1, p.113) The implied thought here is that perhaps entheogens were responsible for some of the insights brought into the world by these highly revered thinkers.
A final thought before I end for the day. Most of the world's main religions were founded by a visionary who went against the cultural grain, so to speak, because of the overpowering inspiration and direct connection they were having with the Source/God/Creator. The process of religions seems to be that direct inspiration comes, usually to an individual, then this inspiration is formalized (or"crystallized into form") by 'followers', and then this form turns into dogma (by the organization that springs up around the followers) which must be strictly followed. The trajectory in most organized religions seems to be that the spiritual component of direct knowing is reduced over time, replaced by believing, adhering, behaving, judging, and condemning. It seems our normal human tendency is to condense, rather than expand. Maybe this tendency is an evolutionary explanation for the existence of SO many natural substances that expand consciousness.
According to Erika Bourguignon, a social anthropologist who has studied consciousness altering techniques in societies ranging from ancient to present-day, 90 percent of the 488 cultures she has studied 'possess institutionalized methods of altering consciousness.' She says, '"It is clear that we are dealing with a psychobiological capacity available to all societies, and that, indeed, the vast majority of societies have used (altered states of consciousness)...primarily in a sacred context." (1, p.101-02). Yet through the past two thousand years, "...there has been a movement away from direct access of the Divine and toward a relationship with a God mediated by an increasingly powerful clergy." (1, p.97). Somewhere along our historical route, entheogens went from being allies, giving humans a way to 'ingest God' or experience Oneness consciousness, to being considered dangerous and scary, causing permanent brain and chronological damage, rampant violence, addiction, and death. The modern government, in order to protect regular people not capable of making conscientious decisions about the use of dangerous substances on their own (except in regards to sugar, alcohol and tobacco, hardee har har), made these substances illegal, at the highest level of restriction.
Thousands of years of history, across hundreds of cultures, and NO records indicate that responsibly ingesting entheogens for the purposes of spiritual enlightenment causes insanity, brain damage, ill health, harm, or death. There must be other reasons for their vilification and restriction - which we will get to next week.
In today's world, with serious problems stacking up in every direction and no answers in sight, I am reminded of the famous Einstein quote, calling us to have a revolution in consciousness if we want things to get better:
"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."
(1) Joseph, James. Psychedelic Perceptions. Gaian Publishing, CO. 2006.
(2) Masters, R.E.L and Houston, Jean, Ph. D. The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience. Delta Publishing, NY. 1966. p. 249-50.
(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manna
(4) McKenna, Terence. Food of the Gods. Bantam Publishing, NY, 1992.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Entheogens: Wachuma (San Pedro) and Ibogaine
Switching gears, and going for a more strictly research-based post this time.
The San Pedro Cactus, aka Wachuma, Huachuma, Achuma
The San Pedro cactus, named after a Christian Saint who holds the keys to the gates of Heaven (Saint Peter) (1), is a plant native to the high altitude regions of the Andes, primarily in the countries of Peru and Ecuador. Known as Wachuma, Huachuma, or Achuma to natives, it contains the alkaloid mescaline, the same entheogenic substance found in the peyote cactus, of which it is in the same family.
The earliest images featuring use of this plant medicine come from Peru, between 4000 - 3,500 years ago (2, 3), after which there are many examples, featuring both male and female healers and animal helper spirits, such as the jaguar, deer, snake, and condor.
Among healers San Pedro is also known by the name "El Remedio," the Remedy, since it can "... help us to let go of the illusions of the world." (3) As one author relates:
"Cactus ceremonies are held today for the same reasons as ever: to cure illnesses of a
spiritual, emotional, mental, or physical nature; to know the future through the prophetic
and divinatory qualities of the plant; to overcome sorcery or saladera (an inexplicable run
of ‘bad luck'); to ensure success in one's ventures; to rekindle love and enthusiasm for life;
and to experience the world as divine." And "...those who drink it can heal, discover their
divinity, and find their purpose on Earth."(3)
One of the authors (3) interviewed a female shaman, Lesley Myburgh (known as La Gringa, "the outsider woman") who has led ceremonies with San Pedro for almost 20 years.
'"It is a master teacher", she says. "It helps us to heal, to grow, to learn and awaken, and assists us in reaching higher states of consciousness. I have been very blessed to have experienced many miracles: people being cured of all sorts of illnesses just by drinking this sacred plant. We use it to reconnect to the Earth and to realize that there is no separation between you, me, the Earth, and the Sky. We are all One. It's one thing to read that, but to actually experience this oneness is the most beautiful gift we can receive."'
Of course, as with all entheogenic medicines, when the Christian church conquered the Andean territories, they concluded that this sacred plant teacher was a tool of the Devil, used to deceive the ignorant and lead them further into sin. They tried, without much success, to suppress its use. Currently, in the US and in many other western countries, it is illegal to extract the mescaline (ie make the tea) from the cactus, since it is a Schedule One controlled substance, unless you have membership in the Native American Church, who have permission to use mescaline in their religious ceremonies. However it is legal to grow the cactus for ornamental purposes.
Ibogaine
Ibogaine is an entheogenic plant medicine, an indole alkaloid, that comes from a central West African shrub named Tabernanthe Iboga. It has been used for thousands of years for a variety of reasons, mostly for spiritual development and also to initiate youth into adulthood in rites of passage ceremonies. In the modern world, since the 1960's ibogaine has gained recognition as an addiction interrupter, helping addicts quit such varied substances as heroin, cocaine, alcohol, tobacco, and methamphetamine. However it is a Schedule One controlled substance in the US, and so is illegal to use in this country (see below (*)for exceptions).
(Side note: from what I have heard, no one would EVER want to take ibogaine as a recreational substance. It is reportedly the most intense of the substances I am covering in this blog
The way ibogaine works is that it cleanses the body of the drug in question while at the same time chemically resetting the addictive pathways in the brain, balancing out the different neurochemicals in the brain, such as dopamine and serotonin, setting them back to pre-addicted levels. After ingestion, the converted ibogaine is stored in fat cells which helps to curb future cravings, also helping reduce depression and negative thought patterns.
On a psychological level, ibogaine helps a person see, examine, and clear the roots of their addiction, leading one author to state the following: "In effect, years of therapy can be replicated in a matter of hours."(4)
Ibogaine has been approved for clinical trials in the US since the early 1990's (*), but due to lack of funding, the treatment remains largely undeveloped. (5) The National Institute on Drug Abuse was at the center of these clinical trials in the early '90's, and made the final decision to not continue funding their own protocol. Interestingly, "Opinions of consultants from the pharmaceutical industry were a significant influence in the NIDA decision not to fund human efficacy trials." (6)
Many private clinics offering ibogaine therapy can be found in Central America and Mexico. I may be accompanying a friend to one of these in the near future: if so, I will have more first-hand information to report later on!
(Well, it had been almost 4 hours here at the old computer desk. Time to go make some kale chips and blackberry cobbler! See you next time!)
(1) "What is a San Padro Ceremony, or Huachuma?" Gaia Sagrada, http://gaiasagradaspiritualretreatcenter.com/Ayahuasca-San-Pedro/What-is-San-Pedro-Huachuma.php
(2) Samarco, F (trans). " Huachuma, Wachuma, Achuma, San Padro: Cacuts of the Four Winds." El Mundo Magico. http://www.elmundomagico.org/huachuma-wachuma-achuma-san-pedro-cactus-of-the-four-winds/
(3) Heaven, Ross. "San Pedro, the Miracle Healer." https://www.erowid.org/plants/cacti/cacti_writings1.shtml
(4) "What is Ibogaine?" http://www.awakeninginthedream.com/ibogaine.html
(5) http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/
(6) http://www.ibogaine.desk.nl/history.html
The San Pedro Cactus, aka Wachuma, Huachuma, Achuma
The San Pedro cactus, named after a Christian Saint who holds the keys to the gates of Heaven (Saint Peter) (1), is a plant native to the high altitude regions of the Andes, primarily in the countries of Peru and Ecuador. Known as Wachuma, Huachuma, or Achuma to natives, it contains the alkaloid mescaline, the same entheogenic substance found in the peyote cactus, of which it is in the same family.
The earliest images featuring use of this plant medicine come from Peru, between 4000 - 3,500 years ago (2, 3), after which there are many examples, featuring both male and female healers and animal helper spirits, such as the jaguar, deer, snake, and condor.
Among healers San Pedro is also known by the name "El Remedio," the Remedy, since it can "... help us to let go of the illusions of the world." (3) As one author relates:
"Cactus ceremonies are held today for the same reasons as ever: to cure illnesses of a
spiritual, emotional, mental, or physical nature; to know the future through the prophetic
and divinatory qualities of the plant; to overcome sorcery or saladera (an inexplicable run
of ‘bad luck'); to ensure success in one's ventures; to rekindle love and enthusiasm for life;
and to experience the world as divine." And "...those who drink it can heal, discover their
divinity, and find their purpose on Earth."(3)
One of the authors (3) interviewed a female shaman, Lesley Myburgh (known as La Gringa, "the outsider woman") who has led ceremonies with San Pedro for almost 20 years.
'"It is a master teacher", she says. "It helps us to heal, to grow, to learn and awaken, and assists us in reaching higher states of consciousness. I have been very blessed to have experienced many miracles: people being cured of all sorts of illnesses just by drinking this sacred plant. We use it to reconnect to the Earth and to realize that there is no separation between you, me, the Earth, and the Sky. We are all One. It's one thing to read that, but to actually experience this oneness is the most beautiful gift we can receive."'
Of course, as with all entheogenic medicines, when the Christian church conquered the Andean territories, they concluded that this sacred plant teacher was a tool of the Devil, used to deceive the ignorant and lead them further into sin. They tried, without much success, to suppress its use. Currently, in the US and in many other western countries, it is illegal to extract the mescaline (ie make the tea) from the cactus, since it is a Schedule One controlled substance, unless you have membership in the Native American Church, who have permission to use mescaline in their religious ceremonies. However it is legal to grow the cactus for ornamental purposes.
Ibogaine
Ibogaine is an entheogenic plant medicine, an indole alkaloid, that comes from a central West African shrub named Tabernanthe Iboga. It has been used for thousands of years for a variety of reasons, mostly for spiritual development and also to initiate youth into adulthood in rites of passage ceremonies. In the modern world, since the 1960's ibogaine has gained recognition as an addiction interrupter, helping addicts quit such varied substances as heroin, cocaine, alcohol, tobacco, and methamphetamine. However it is a Schedule One controlled substance in the US, and so is illegal to use in this country (see below (*)for exceptions).
(Side note: from what I have heard, no one would EVER want to take ibogaine as a recreational substance. It is reportedly the most intense of the substances I am covering in this blog
The way ibogaine works is that it cleanses the body of the drug in question while at the same time chemically resetting the addictive pathways in the brain, balancing out the different neurochemicals in the brain, such as dopamine and serotonin, setting them back to pre-addicted levels. After ingestion, the converted ibogaine is stored in fat cells which helps to curb future cravings, also helping reduce depression and negative thought patterns.
On a psychological level, ibogaine helps a person see, examine, and clear the roots of their addiction, leading one author to state the following: "In effect, years of therapy can be replicated in a matter of hours."(4)
Ibogaine has been approved for clinical trials in the US since the early 1990's (*), but due to lack of funding, the treatment remains largely undeveloped. (5) The National Institute on Drug Abuse was at the center of these clinical trials in the early '90's, and made the final decision to not continue funding their own protocol. Interestingly, "Opinions of consultants from the pharmaceutical industry were a significant influence in the NIDA decision not to fund human efficacy trials." (6)
Many private clinics offering ibogaine therapy can be found in Central America and Mexico. I may be accompanying a friend to one of these in the near future: if so, I will have more first-hand information to report later on!
(Well, it had been almost 4 hours here at the old computer desk. Time to go make some kale chips and blackberry cobbler! See you next time!)
(1) "What is a San Padro Ceremony, or Huachuma?" Gaia Sagrada, http://gaiasagradaspiritualretreatcenter.com/Ayahuasca-San-Pedro/What-is-San-Pedro-Huachuma.php
(2) Samarco, F (trans). " Huachuma, Wachuma, Achuma, San Padro: Cacuts of the Four Winds." El Mundo Magico. http://www.elmundomagico.org/huachuma-wachuma-achuma-san-pedro-cactus-of-the-four-winds/
(3) Heaven, Ross. "San Pedro, the Miracle Healer." https://www.erowid.org/plants/cacti/cacti_writings1.shtml
(4) "What is Ibogaine?" http://www.awakeninginthedream.com/ibogaine.html
(5) http://www.ibogaine.co.uk/
(6) http://www.ibogaine.desk.nl/history.html
Monday, August 3, 2015
Collecting the loose ends - and more about addiction
Just want to put this out there - I was away from home, and then house-sitting without internet, for the past 2 weeks, since the last publish date (7/23). Feeling stressed that I didn't write last week! Today is already Thursday and while publishing once a week at this point seems like a good goal, I am finding it sometimes difficult to maintain. Also aiming to keep in mind the practice of not entertaining stress in my body, mind or experience. I choose to relax in this moment. I choose to accept that my writing could not happen last week, and relax into my knowing that it is all happening in divine timing. I choose to trust myself to write in a structured way whenever possible, and to accept when that cannot be so. To those of you who are following this blog - thank you! - and just know that I will do my very best to write something good here every week.
There are many loose ends in my previous posts: the legal aspects of using Schedule One controlled substances - which is one aspect that will have to wait until I am able to schedule an appointment with a lawyer; the other entheogens I have not yet written about (San Pedro and Ibogaine); the cultural taboos and vilification of entheogens in general; the possible dangers of using, and misusing these medicines; rites of passage; elders and eldering; and a deeper look at what is known about how these substances do what they do for us. After clearing up some of these loose ends, I want to take a look at some of the world cultures that use entheogens, specifically looking at how they raise their children around these medicines. There may be a few more subjects arising as this research is completed, after which I plan to begin interviewing people who are raising or who have already raised their children in the US as members of an indigenous spiritual tradition.
Just a note on staying focused: it has been hard these past few weeks to get in the state of mind I feel I need to achieve in order to write. I have found myself performing avoidance maneuvers - like this morning I was going to focus for 3 hours on writing and instead deep-cleaned the bathroom (it needed it!) and went to work on my other home project an hour early. Tired myself right out with five hours of labor, troweling concrete onto the exterior and interior walls of our addition/ greenhouse. Now it is 10 pm, I am beat, and I still have not gotten this blog written. I feel like I am falling short. Just admitting this in writing feels like a good step. However I will not be satisfied until I get into some real content here. My coach, the one who initially advised me to start this blog, recommended I write (or research, or focus on this project) from 9-12 every Tuesday and Thursday. Starting next week, I am going to hold to that. I am definitely a morning person when it comes to thinking!
Before continuing on with my list, I want to share about an article I recently read: "The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered and it is Not What You Think, ",(1) by Johann Hari, author of a book on this subject entitled Chasing the Scream. In his article, the author mentions some of the drug studies done on rats which seemed to prove that addictions are completely self-destructive, even unto death, and that the "War on Drugs" is completely necessary for our continued survival. Researchers put a rat in a cage, alone, with two water bottles. One bottle contained regular water, and the other water with cocaine added. The rat would quickly become obsessed with the cocaine water and would drink it until it died. These results seem to point to the fact that access to drugs causes addiction.
Then along comes another researcher, a Psychology professor from Vancouver named Bruce Alexander, who noticed that these rats were all alone in their plain cages with nothing to do all day but take the offered drugs. He designed an alternative experiment, where rats got to live together in "Rat Park," a special environment where there was stimulation, exercise, games to play, good food, and other rats to hang with, as well as regular water and cocaine water. Lo and behold, the rats in Rat Park did not drink the cocaine water very much, consuming less than a quarter of the amount that rats in isolation drank. And they did not get addicted! According to the article, "Professor Alexander argues this discovery is a profound challenge both to the right-wing view that addiction is a moral failing caused by too much hedonistic partying, and the liberal view that addiction is a disease taking place in a chemically hijacked brain. In fact, he argues, addiction is an adaptation. It's not you. It's your cage."
The prevalent view in our culture on addiction has been that people get addicted because drugs 'hijack their brains.' But with these studies, and further studies showing that even addicted rats can stop using the cocaine water if they get moved into Rat Park, the view of addiction as the result of chemical hijacking is coming into question. The new paradigm looks at the bigger picture, seeing that the addict is not finding what they need in their life to be happy and fulfilled, like the rat in the barren cage. What is needed is a new cage (aka environment). And what many people are starting to realize is this new 'cage' needs to be one where bonding and deep connections are made. Professor Peter Cohen, also quoted in the article, says people will connect with whatever they can. If there isn't a person or people available to connect with, the addict will connect with a drug, or with a behavior, searching for that (missing) comfort and sense of belonging..
In the words of the article's author:
"So the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection."
If this perspective were adopted, the treatment for people with addictions would begin with the view that addiction is just a symptom of a much greater issue - and the addiction itself would NOT be the focus of the treatment! Instead, treatment would focus on teaching people how to find connection and meaning in the world: how to connect with themselves, how to connect with their emotions, how to connect with others, and how to connect with the sacred and discover a purpose for their lives.
This is the essence of the medicine work of which I have been a part for the past 10 years.
(1) http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/the-likely-cause-of-addiction-has-been-discovered-and-it-is-not-what-you-think/
There are many loose ends in my previous posts: the legal aspects of using Schedule One controlled substances - which is one aspect that will have to wait until I am able to schedule an appointment with a lawyer; the other entheogens I have not yet written about (San Pedro and Ibogaine); the cultural taboos and vilification of entheogens in general; the possible dangers of using, and misusing these medicines; rites of passage; elders and eldering; and a deeper look at what is known about how these substances do what they do for us. After clearing up some of these loose ends, I want to take a look at some of the world cultures that use entheogens, specifically looking at how they raise their children around these medicines. There may be a few more subjects arising as this research is completed, after which I plan to begin interviewing people who are raising or who have already raised their children in the US as members of an indigenous spiritual tradition.
Just a note on staying focused: it has been hard these past few weeks to get in the state of mind I feel I need to achieve in order to write. I have found myself performing avoidance maneuvers - like this morning I was going to focus for 3 hours on writing and instead deep-cleaned the bathroom (it needed it!) and went to work on my other home project an hour early. Tired myself right out with five hours of labor, troweling concrete onto the exterior and interior walls of our addition/ greenhouse. Now it is 10 pm, I am beat, and I still have not gotten this blog written. I feel like I am falling short. Just admitting this in writing feels like a good step. However I will not be satisfied until I get into some real content here. My coach, the one who initially advised me to start this blog, recommended I write (or research, or focus on this project) from 9-12 every Tuesday and Thursday. Starting next week, I am going to hold to that. I am definitely a morning person when it comes to thinking!
Before continuing on with my list, I want to share about an article I recently read: "The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered and it is Not What You Think, ",(1) by Johann Hari, author of a book on this subject entitled Chasing the Scream. In his article, the author mentions some of the drug studies done on rats which seemed to prove that addictions are completely self-destructive, even unto death, and that the "War on Drugs" is completely necessary for our continued survival. Researchers put a rat in a cage, alone, with two water bottles. One bottle contained regular water, and the other water with cocaine added. The rat would quickly become obsessed with the cocaine water and would drink it until it died. These results seem to point to the fact that access to drugs causes addiction.
Then along comes another researcher, a Psychology professor from Vancouver named Bruce Alexander, who noticed that these rats were all alone in their plain cages with nothing to do all day but take the offered drugs. He designed an alternative experiment, where rats got to live together in "Rat Park," a special environment where there was stimulation, exercise, games to play, good food, and other rats to hang with, as well as regular water and cocaine water. Lo and behold, the rats in Rat Park did not drink the cocaine water very much, consuming less than a quarter of the amount that rats in isolation drank. And they did not get addicted! According to the article, "Professor Alexander argues this discovery is a profound challenge both to the right-wing view that addiction is a moral failing caused by too much hedonistic partying, and the liberal view that addiction is a disease taking place in a chemically hijacked brain. In fact, he argues, addiction is an adaptation. It's not you. It's your cage."
The prevalent view in our culture on addiction has been that people get addicted because drugs 'hijack their brains.' But with these studies, and further studies showing that even addicted rats can stop using the cocaine water if they get moved into Rat Park, the view of addiction as the result of chemical hijacking is coming into question. The new paradigm looks at the bigger picture, seeing that the addict is not finding what they need in their life to be happy and fulfilled, like the rat in the barren cage. What is needed is a new cage (aka environment). And what many people are starting to realize is this new 'cage' needs to be one where bonding and deep connections are made. Professor Peter Cohen, also quoted in the article, says people will connect with whatever they can. If there isn't a person or people available to connect with, the addict will connect with a drug, or with a behavior, searching for that (missing) comfort and sense of belonging..
In the words of the article's author:
"So the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection."
If this perspective were adopted, the treatment for people with addictions would begin with the view that addiction is just a symptom of a much greater issue - and the addiction itself would NOT be the focus of the treatment! Instead, treatment would focus on teaching people how to find connection and meaning in the world: how to connect with themselves, how to connect with their emotions, how to connect with others, and how to connect with the sacred and discover a purpose for their lives.
This is the essence of the medicine work of which I have been a part for the past 10 years.
(1) http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/the-likely-cause-of-addiction-has-been-discovered-and-it-is-not-what-you-think/
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Addiction, Suffering, and Compassion
If you have been reading along so far, it should be pretty clear that we live in a very addicted country (world?). I looked up "Types of Addictions" online and up popped a website, listing them A - Z!(1) Seriously. Besides things I have discussed in previous blogs, like television, alcohol, and sugar, and the obvious villains, the 'bad drugs' like heroin, cocaine, crack, and PCP, and tobacco, there are SO many other things to which we can be addicted: food, shopping, shop-lifting, sex, gambling, gaming, porn, plastic surgery, exercise, risky behavior, and on and on and on...
Addictions and the Brain
Before we go farther down this road, let's take another look at brain chemistry. In the last post I was talking about the dopamine-reward brain circuitry. This circuit developed to guide evolving humans towards natural rewards like food, sex, and bonding. In today's world, however, "extreme versions of natural rewards have a unique ability to capture us." (2) When we are exposed to high calorie foods, or the constant novelty of endless numbers of beautiful, potential 'mates' having sex on a screen, or anything on the above list, each occurrence gives us an extra dopamine hit to the brain, too much of which can override our natural satiation mechanism. In addition, there is a protein which Wilson (see reference 2) describes as a molecular switch, called Delta Fos B, which is released when dopamine surges. This protein accumulates in the brain's reward circuit over time, and causes cravings for more... of whatever 'it' is. This cycle - excessive consumption and dopamine surges, followed by accumulation of Delta Fos B, followed by cravings for more - ends with structural changes to the addict's brain: it numbs their pleasure response, it gives them a hyper-reactivity to whatever they're addicted to, and it erodes their willpower. (2)
Why? What do ALL of these 'things' have in common? Some of them are behaviors, and some are substances. Some people can use these substances and/or participate in these behaviors without getting addicted - but many cannot. For example, there are an estimated 2 out of 3 Americans who are overweight (this statistic is shock to me, btw), and about half of them are obese.(3) So the rate of becoming 'addicted' to food seems pretty high. On the other hand, hard drugs like cocaine, crack and heroin only hook about 10% of people who try them. So the things in and of themselves are not necessarily the cause of the addiction. What is going on that makes some people more likely to become addicted?
What Causes Addiction?
Dr. Gabor Maté has an excellent You Tube video out entitled "What is Addiction?" (4) that answers precisely this question, in my opinion, anyway. His view is that all addictions are attempts to soothe the pain of life, to get away from distress. Interestingly, according to Maté, the brain does not distinguish between physical pain and emotional pain. When a person suffers from an emotional rejection, it lights up or activates the same part of the brain as if they had been stabbed with a knife.
In his work with severe addicts, Dr. Maté begins not by asking "Why the addiction," but instead, "Why the pain?" And in this work, with thousands of addicts, this question is always, every single time, answered by emotional loss or trauma experienced as a child. In his video, Maté quotes Keith Richards, guitarist (and famous heroin addict) from the Rolling Stones, who says, "All the contortions we go thorough (are) just not to be ourselves for a few hours." So why would anyone not want to be themselves? Because of the pain. Because it hurts. Because anything is better than having to face THAT...
Or is it? Sadly, trying to get away from the pain, to escape or avoid it, just causes more pain. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying says "Whatever you do, don't try and escape from your pain, but be with it." My medicine tradition is big on teaching about surrendering to 'what is' in the moment, believing that by surrendering (as opposed to fighting against), we can move through the pain. Easy to say - and NOT so easy to do, especially when we feel our pain is going to overwhelm us. I can remember years ago worrying that if I started crying I would NEVER be able to stop. I would just shut it down if tears came up, get angry, push it away, and then reach for that next cigarette, next shot, etc...
(7)
Benefits of Suffering
A good friend once commented on suffering (and I am paraphrasing here), "Suffering is like water flowing through a canyon: the more water that flows, the deeper the canyon is gauged into the rocks; the deeper the suffering, the more it gauges out your heart, making more room for you to be filled with empathy, compassion, joy, happiness, faith, hope, and gratitude." Most spiritual traditions agree that suffering has many benefits, including teaching us greater humility, expanding our natural capacity for wisdom, increasing our creativity and resourcefulness, providing us with greater compassion, and (in our best moments) helping others who are struggling by our example. (8)
A Way Out
If you or someone you know is addicted, consider using a mindfulness technique to focus on the present moment, and not on regrets from the past or worries about the future. "Where we put our focus on is what our mind grabs onto," says Dr. Paul Gilbert. (5) If we are always focusing on the problems in our lives, we will feel worse and worse. If we instead can focus what is true in this moment ("I am safe," "I have a warm home," I have food to eat," etc), and even better, on what we are grateful for in the moment, our minds will start working like that - towards the positive. One very simple and helpful mindfulness practice: noting thoughts that come through as 'past,' 'present,' or 'future,' whenever you think of it during your waking hours. This can help to connect our conscious mind to our unconscious mental habit of living in the past or the future. I also highly recommend The Presence Process by Michael Brown as a mindfulness primer and as a way to get in touch with and release stored negative emotions.(9)
Finally, remember that none of us - and yet paradoxically, all of us - are alone. We all feel alone with our pain, but we are not. There are people who can understand how it feels, who can listen, who can empathize without criticism or judgment. And this small grace can help us, can shine a tiny ray of light into the darkness of our pain. Sometimes that's all it takes. If you are addicted and want help, or you're suffering and are not sure how to cope, please reach out to your neighborhood community, to your religious circle, to your co-workers; go to the library and look for support circles, for meditation classes, for a way to connect with others. If you are not addicted or suffering, reach out and find someone who needs a supportive, compassionate presence in their life. Become a mentor, a hospice worker, a meals-on-wheels driver... there are many opportunities to give back to the world when we are in a place of fullness. And this just in: listen to a great spiritual teacher speak on the subject of compassionate listening. (10)
This tradition of which I am part is one such supportive community. And this medicine path, although not for everyone, is one way to learn how to be more present with all of it. May all sentient beings find and share compassion in this lifetime!
(1) http://www.addictionz.com/types-of-addictions/
(2) Wilson, Gary. "The Great Porn Experiment." TED Talk, TEDxGLASCOW. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSF82AwSDiU
(3) "Overweight and Obesity Statistics." NIH. http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Pages/overweight-obesity-statistics.aspx
(4) Mate, Gabor, PhD. "What is Addiction?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5sOh4gKPIg
(5) http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/bs-s03.htm
(6) Scharff, Constance, PhD. "Cultivating Compassion in Addiction Recovery." Psychology Today, 9/9/13. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ending-addiction-good/201309/cultivating-compassion-in-addiction-recovery
(7) http://www.robot-hugs.com/comics/2013-05-20-Nest.png
(8) "Benefits of Pain and Suffering." http://www.whypain.org/benefits_of_pain.html
(9) http://www.namastepublishing.com/products/book/presence-process-revised-edition/9781897238462
(10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyUxYflkhzo
Addictions and the Brain
Before we go farther down this road, let's take another look at brain chemistry. In the last post I was talking about the dopamine-reward brain circuitry. This circuit developed to guide evolving humans towards natural rewards like food, sex, and bonding. In today's world, however, "extreme versions of natural rewards have a unique ability to capture us." (2) When we are exposed to high calorie foods, or the constant novelty of endless numbers of beautiful, potential 'mates' having sex on a screen, or anything on the above list, each occurrence gives us an extra dopamine hit to the brain, too much of which can override our natural satiation mechanism. In addition, there is a protein which Wilson (see reference 2) describes as a molecular switch, called Delta Fos B, which is released when dopamine surges. This protein accumulates in the brain's reward circuit over time, and causes cravings for more... of whatever 'it' is. This cycle - excessive consumption and dopamine surges, followed by accumulation of Delta Fos B, followed by cravings for more - ends with structural changes to the addict's brain: it numbs their pleasure response, it gives them a hyper-reactivity to whatever they're addicted to, and it erodes their willpower. (2)
Why? What do ALL of these 'things' have in common? Some of them are behaviors, and some are substances. Some people can use these substances and/or participate in these behaviors without getting addicted - but many cannot. For example, there are an estimated 2 out of 3 Americans who are overweight (this statistic is shock to me, btw), and about half of them are obese.(3) So the rate of becoming 'addicted' to food seems pretty high. On the other hand, hard drugs like cocaine, crack and heroin only hook about 10% of people who try them. So the things in and of themselves are not necessarily the cause of the addiction. What is going on that makes some people more likely to become addicted?
What Causes Addiction?
Dr. Gabor Maté has an excellent You Tube video out entitled "What is Addiction?" (4) that answers precisely this question, in my opinion, anyway. His view is that all addictions are attempts to soothe the pain of life, to get away from distress. Interestingly, according to Maté, the brain does not distinguish between physical pain and emotional pain. When a person suffers from an emotional rejection, it lights up or activates the same part of the brain as if they had been stabbed with a knife.
In his work with severe addicts, Dr. Maté begins not by asking "Why the addiction," but instead, "Why the pain?" And in this work, with thousands of addicts, this question is always, every single time, answered by emotional loss or trauma experienced as a child. In his video, Maté quotes Keith Richards, guitarist (and famous heroin addict) from the Rolling Stones, who says, "All the contortions we go thorough (are) just not to be ourselves for a few hours." So why would anyone not want to be themselves? Because of the pain. Because it hurts. Because anything is better than having to face THAT...
Or is it? Sadly, trying to get away from the pain, to escape or avoid it, just causes more pain. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying says "Whatever you do, don't try and escape from your pain, but be with it." My medicine tradition is big on teaching about surrendering to 'what is' in the moment, believing that by surrendering (as opposed to fighting against), we can move through the pain. Easy to say - and NOT so easy to do, especially when we feel our pain is going to overwhelm us. I can remember years ago worrying that if I started crying I would NEVER be able to stop. I would just shut it down if tears came up, get angry, push it away, and then reach for that next cigarette, next shot, etc...
We are also not taught how to do this - how to be with our pain, with ourselves. Our parents didn't know how, or if they did, it was minimal. Nor did their parents before them. So each new generation gets to hold the unresolved pain of the last one, plus the layers passed down from our lineage, as well as our own stuff layered on top, with no tools with which to cope. We are not taught emotional intelligence as kids in school, and are in fact more likely to be further traumatized by bullies, gossip, cliques, and negative stereotyping. My peers mostly taught me about rejection, and to be more mistrustful of others and protective of myself. I can't speak for every religious tradition, but speaking personally, I was not taught how to be with myself and my pain in my Methodist church groups or though sermons. We live in a culture, as already written about in this blog, that is about instant relief, ' a pill for every ill.' We live in a culture that prizes distraction, surface beauty, and external symbols of success. As Dr. Maté says, "...we live in a culture that is based on, both economically and psychologically, on not supporting people to be with themselves." Thus, we live in a culture of addicts.
Scientists are still looking for the reasons why some people become addicted and some don't.
How Can People Be With Themselves (with their Pain)?
Buddhists believe that the way to start to end suffering (dukkha) is to first admit to oneself that suffering is unavoidable and is a natural part of life. (5) Christians believe (in part) that the way to end suffering is to turn over ones troubles to God, letting the burdens go, then praying and remembering to be thankful for all of it.
Compassion
Dr. Maté says
that people CAN learn to be with their pain, but only if there is an 'other'
present, from whom they can sense some compassion. He says, "So
addicted people need a compassionate presence which will permit them to
experience their pain without having to run away from it."
Compassion means "to suffer together." (6) It basically let's the sufferer know that they are not alone.
Compassion means "to suffer together." (6) It basically let's the sufferer know that they are not alone.
I like this treatment of the issue:
(7)A good friend once commented on suffering (and I am paraphrasing here), "Suffering is like water flowing through a canyon: the more water that flows, the deeper the canyon is gauged into the rocks; the deeper the suffering, the more it gauges out your heart, making more room for you to be filled with empathy, compassion, joy, happiness, faith, hope, and gratitude." Most spiritual traditions agree that suffering has many benefits, including teaching us greater humility, expanding our natural capacity for wisdom, increasing our creativity and resourcefulness, providing us with greater compassion, and (in our best moments) helping others who are struggling by our example. (8)
A Way Out
If you or someone you know is addicted, consider using a mindfulness technique to focus on the present moment, and not on regrets from the past or worries about the future. "Where we put our focus on is what our mind grabs onto," says Dr. Paul Gilbert. (5) If we are always focusing on the problems in our lives, we will feel worse and worse. If we instead can focus what is true in this moment ("I am safe," "I have a warm home," I have food to eat," etc), and even better, on what we are grateful for in the moment, our minds will start working like that - towards the positive. One very simple and helpful mindfulness practice: noting thoughts that come through as 'past,' 'present,' or 'future,' whenever you think of it during your waking hours. This can help to connect our conscious mind to our unconscious mental habit of living in the past or the future. I also highly recommend The Presence Process by Michael Brown as a mindfulness primer and as a way to get in touch with and release stored negative emotions.(9)
Finally, remember that none of us - and yet paradoxically, all of us - are alone. We all feel alone with our pain, but we are not. There are people who can understand how it feels, who can listen, who can empathize without criticism or judgment. And this small grace can help us, can shine a tiny ray of light into the darkness of our pain. Sometimes that's all it takes. If you are addicted and want help, or you're suffering and are not sure how to cope, please reach out to your neighborhood community, to your religious circle, to your co-workers; go to the library and look for support circles, for meditation classes, for a way to connect with others. If you are not addicted or suffering, reach out and find someone who needs a supportive, compassionate presence in their life. Become a mentor, a hospice worker, a meals-on-wheels driver... there are many opportunities to give back to the world when we are in a place of fullness. And this just in: listen to a great spiritual teacher speak on the subject of compassionate listening. (10)
This tradition of which I am part is one such supportive community. And this medicine path, although not for everyone, is one way to learn how to be more present with all of it. May all sentient beings find and share compassion in this lifetime!
(1) http://www.addictionz.com/types-of-addictions/
(2) Wilson, Gary. "The Great Porn Experiment." TED Talk, TEDxGLASCOW. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSF82AwSDiU
(3) "Overweight and Obesity Statistics." NIH. http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Pages/overweight-obesity-statistics.aspx
(4) Mate, Gabor, PhD. "What is Addiction?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5sOh4gKPIg
(5) http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/bs-s03.htm
(6) Scharff, Constance, PhD. "Cultivating Compassion in Addiction Recovery." Psychology Today, 9/9/13. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ending-addiction-good/201309/cultivating-compassion-in-addiction-recovery
(7) http://www.robot-hugs.com/comics/2013-05-20-Nest.png
(8) "Benefits of Pain and Suffering." http://www.whypain.org/benefits_of_pain.html
(9) http://www.namastepublishing.com/products/book/presence-process-revised-edition/9781897238462
(10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyUxYflkhzo
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