Members of Alcoholics Anonymous and similar addiction programs begin their process of recovery by first admitting their addiction and powerlessness over it. That starts clearing away the blind spot that up until then made their life very problematic. This first step parallels Buddha’s first step of his Eight-Fold Path—Right Comprehension.
Continue reading…addiction
The Only Safe Escape
The only way I’ve found to escape life without unintended consequences is to give myself to life. This is an example of chapter 78’s Straight and honest words seem inside out, or as D.C. Lau put it, straightforward words seem paradoxical. I can essentially lose myself in the moment by utter devotion to that moment […]
Continue reading…Opiate of the Masses
Karl Marx said religion was the opiate of the masses. I say it is prosperity, not religion, which is the opiate of the masses. The United States has experienced decades of unprecedented prosperity. Indeed, most people have lived their whole lives accustomed to what is actually a historically rare era of unusual affluence. Now, the […]
Continue reading…Sobering up!
Up until my early forties, I was drunk on thought fortified with the certainty of belief. Fortunately for me, I found a way to help detoxify myself, but it is still a moment-by-moment affair. Recovering alcoholics continue to say, “I’m an alcoholic”, even as they stay on the straight and narrow moment-to-moment, day to day, […]
Continue reading…My Battle With Tobacco
I was recently reminded of the battle smokers go through to quit. My story has many twists and turns which reach an ironic finish. If you’re in a hurry for the Taoist meat, skim some and skip to the ending, The Long Journey’s End. I began to smoke when I came down with strep throat […]
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