Addiction III

The “addictions” we have been talking about over the last few weeks are not of the “substance abuse” variety. They are what we call “habitual patterns of thinking and reacting.” These have developed over our lifetimes, and may have been functional and practical in particular situations at some time in our life. However, as these patterns become ingrained in our mind, we can often find it hard to open ourselves to new ways of thinking and reacting in our current life situations; essentially stuck in an ‘addictive’ or habitual pattern.

So, how do we break out of an habitual pattern?

The first step is to recognize that we are caught in these patterns. This is the basic awareness that we are not free in any moment and that we suffer from being caught in these patterns of reaction.

Then, in order to release mind from these patterns, we need to find a refuge, a safe place, that we can trust. In our practice, this is our field of care that we access by recalling our benefactors and caring moments of connection with another being, our pets, with nature or art. Here is a short description from an article by Paul Condon in Buddhadharma magazine.

Simple moments of caring connection from our own life – with benefactors, ancestors, strangers, pets, and the natural world – have already been imprinted in the body, and by imagining them again, we are reconnecting with them with the body. By scouring our life for benefactors and caring moments, we can populate a field of refuge with our lived caring moments and benefactors, experiencing our fellow beings as expressions of buddhahood [our true nature] and as an ongoing communal support for practice, even when separated over space and time.