The Dharma of Addiction Michael Fitzgerald

In very many cases he knows quite clearly that he is destroying himself, that for him liquor is poison that he actually hates being drunk, and even dislikes the taste of liquor. And yet he drinks. For, dislike it as he may, the experience of not being drunk is worse. It gives him the ‘horrors’ for he stands face to face with the unveiled, basic insecurity of the world. Herein lies the crux of the matter. To stand face to face with insecurity is still not to understand it. To understand it, you must not face it but be it,”
-Alan Watts-

It appears to me that a common theme runs throughout the various stories and interpretations of hungry ghosts; people are reborn into a non-living hell as a result of their cravings on earth. And in this hell their cravings are both intensified and unfulfilled. Everything they become and do to appease their unappeasable hunger and thirst only makes them crave and suffer more. In my cravings and addictions I have felt like the hungry ghost.

The Buddhist scripture, The Dhammapada, tells us that “from craving arises sorrow and from craving arises fear”. In our sorrow and fear comes our pain. When we try to medicate or numb our pain chemically, we become addicted. When we try to smother it in the comfort of our family and friends we smother the love of family and friends. What are we to do? To whom or what can we turn?

The Buddha noticed that everyone who lived experienced pain. He also noticed that nothing people tried removed the pain; they only made it worse. He said, “Birth is suffering, old age is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; grief, lamentation, pain, affliction, and despair are suffering: to be united with what is unloved, to be separated from what is love is suffering; not to obtain what is longed for is suffering”. I can certainly attest to the truth of this teaching, but the Buddha’s wondrous insight was to see the pain as a symptom of a greater underlying problem. The answer lay not in numbing the self with intoxicants, or food, or overwork, or to assuage it emotionally through others, or love or sex addictions, or compulsive religiosity, but to reach beyond the symptom to the disease itself: a misperception of our place in the universe.

Alcohol/Drug Addiction

The Buddha described addiction to intoxicants as one of the six causes of ruin. It brings about six main disadvantages: loss of wealth, quarrels and strife, a poor state of health, a source of disgrace, shameless and indecent behavior, and weakened intelligence and mental facilities. It may be for these reasons that the Buddha incorporated a teaching against the use of intoxicating liquids as a part of his "Five Precepts", a condensed form of Buddhist ethical practice.

Traditionally, Buddhists articulate their commitment to daily morality by subscribing to the five “precepts”. The precepts are simply that, principles intended as a general rule or guide for action. There are three basic modes of training in Buddhist practice: morality, mental culture, and wisdom. The Pali term sila is loosely represented by the English word, morality. The word sila denotes a state of normalcy, a condition which is basically unqualified and unadulterated. When we live out sila, we revisit our own basic goodness, our original state of being, unperturbed and unmodified. Killing a human being, for instance is not basically human nature; if it were, humans would have died out long ago. A person commits an act of murder because he or she is blinded by fear, hate, greed, rage or the like. These negative emotions are factors that alter people’s nature and make them into something other than their true self, like the transformation of Doctor Jekyll into Mr. Hyde. To practice sila, therefore, is to train in preserving one’s true nature, not allowing it to be modified or overshadowed by negative forces.

The Five Precepts:
1. To refrain from killing
2. To refrain from stealing
3. To refrain from sexual misconduct
4. To refrain from false, harsh, and idle speech
5. To refrain from intoxicants

We may summarize the five precepts in relation to the spiritual qualities that they are likely to produce and promote as follows. The first precept helps to promote goodwill, compassion, and kindness. The second can be instrumental in developing generosity, service, altruism, non-attachment, contentment, honesty, and right livelihood. The third precept helps to cultivate self-restraint, mastery over the emotions and senses, renunciation, and control of sensual desire. The forth precept leads to the development of honesty, reliability, and moral integrity. The fifth precept helps to promote mindfulness, clarity of mind, and wisdom.
-The Five Precepts, Chieng Mai Dhamma Study Group-

It is practice among some Buddhists to meditate daily on the five precepts. Daily meditation aids us in our resolve to practice these precepts as a part of who we are and not stray from them out of confused and foreign emotions.

I undertake the rule of training to refrain from killing living creatures.
I undertake the rule of training to refrain from taking what is not given.
I undertake the rule of training to refrain from wrong conduct in sexual pleasures.
I undertake the rule of training to refrain from false speech.
I undertake the rule of training to refrain from distilled and fermented intoxicants, which are the occasion for carelessness.

What keeping the precepts does is that it liberates you from the very confined behavior of following your desire, anger, and ignorance. In fact, not keeping the precepts means staying with a way of behaving which is repressed, self-destructive; not sound of self or in relations. Keeping the precepts means turning away from tunnel vision, a very wide range of behavior; and not keeping the precepts means keeping a very, very narrow range of behavior, because you’re just stuck in the same habit of “I, my, me”.

It may be of benefit to note at this point that Buddhism, whether you think of it as a religion, philosophy, psychology or any combination there of, is considered 'non-theistic'. The Buddha himself made no claim to divinity and did not have recourse to a term we might translate as 'God'. Therefore, the 'Five Precepts' are not the Eastern equivalent of the Western 'Ten Commandments'. Essentially, they represent ethical and moral principles governed by examining whether one's action or intent is likely to be harmful to one's self or others.
Along with being non-theistic, there is no 'Buddha Bible' to dictate the ultimate law or truth. For forty-five years, the Buddha taught, over and over again, to monks, nuns, nobility and laypersons, "I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering". The Buddha described himself as an open-minded teacher whose lessons were open to all people. Before he died, Buddha refused to select a successor believing that all individuals should be responsible for their own liberation.

Do not be satisfied with hearsay or with tradition or with legendary lore or with what has come down in scriptures or with conjecture or with logical inference or with weighing evidence or with liking for a view after pondering over it with someone else's ability or with the thought "The monk is our teacher." When you know yourselves: "These things are wholesome, blameless, commended by the wise, and being adopted and put into effect they lead to welfare and happiness."
-The Buddha, Kalama Sutra-

The fifth precept covers all intoxicants that alter the state of consciousness and are physiologically addictive. Intoxicants, especially alcohol, are part of our Western culture. Many individuals enjoy an occasional drink to socialize or unwind. Alcohol, especially wine, is part of many religious observances. Why then the precept against its consumption?
For one thing, drinking alcohol is not part of the Buddhist culture. While it is true that alcoholic consumption was prevalent before and during the time of the Buddha, he never approved of the practice. The fact that something is commonly practiced does not necessarily mean that it is good or wholesome. The fifth precept is based on respect for mental health. It guards against the loss of control of one’s mental facilities. It is particularly important to those who meditate because, by refraining from taking intoxicants, they can more easily cultivate awareness, attention, and clarity of mind.

There are people who drink alcohol and get drunk, who destroy their bodies, their families, their society. They should refrain from drinking. But you who have a glass of wine every week during the last thirty years without doing any harm to yourself, why should you stop that? What is the use of practicing this precept if drinking alcohol does not harm you or other people? Although you have not harmed yourself during the last thirty years by drinking just one or two glasses of wine every week, the fact is that it may have an effect on your children, your grandchildren, and on society. We only need to look deeply in order to see it. You are practicing not for yourself alone, but for everyone. Your children might have a propensity for alcoholism and seeing you drinking wine every week, one of them may become an alcoholic in the future. If you abandon your two glasses of wine, it is to show your children, your friends, and your society that your life is not only for yourself. Your life is for your ancestors, future generations, and also your society. To stop drinking two glasses of wine every week is a very deep practice, even if it has not brought you any harm. That is the insight of a bodhisattva who knows that everything she does is done for all her ancestors and the future generations. The emptiness of transmission is the basis of the Fifth Precept.

Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, defines drug addiction as the compulsive use of drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use. Drug addiction has two components: physical dependency, and psychological dependency. Physical dependency occurs when a drug has been used habitually and the body has become accustomed to its effects. The person must then continue to use the drug in order to feel normal, or its absence will trigger the symptoms of withdrawal. Psychological dependency occurs when a drug has been used habitually and the mind has become emotionally reliant on its effects, either to elicit pleasure or relieve pain, and does not feel capable of functioning without it. Its absence produces intense cravings, which are often brought on or magnified by stress. A dependent person may have either aspects of dependency, but often has both.

Alcoholism is defined as a dependency on alcohol characterized by craving (a strong need to drink), loss of control (being unable to stop drinking despite a desire to do so), physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms, and tolerance (increasing difficulty of becoming drunk).
In a 1992 JAMA article, the Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine published this definition for alcoholism: "Alcoholism is a primary chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, mostly denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic"

Gerald G. May, M.D., in Addiction and Grace, defines addiction as "any compulsive, habitual behavior that limits the freedom of human desire. It is caused by attachments, or nailing, of desires to specific objects. Five essential characteristics mark true addiction: (1) tolerance, (2) withdrawal symptoms, (3) self-deception, (4) loss of will power, and (5) distortion of attention."

The Mayo Clinic indicates that physical dependence on alcohol--alcohol addiction--occurs gradually as alcohol consumption alters the balance of some chemicals in the brain, such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which inhibits impulsiveness, and glutamine, which excites the nervous system. Alcohol also elevates the levels of dopamine in the brain, which is associated with the pleasurable aspects of drinking alcohol. Excessive, long-term drinking can deplete or increase the levels of some of these chemicals, leading the body to crave alcohol in order to restore positive feelings or to avoid negative ones.

Other factors that may lead to excessive drinking that contributes to the addiction process includes:

• Genetics--Certain factors may cause an individual to be vulnerable to alcoholism or another addiction. For example, an imbalance of certain brain chemicals may predispose one to alcoholism.
• Emotional state--High levels of stress, anxiety or emotional pain can lead some people to drink alcohol to combat the turmoil and pain. Certain stress hormones may also be associated with alcoholism.
• Psychological factors--Possessing low-self esteem or suffering from depression may make one more likely to abuse alcohol. Having friends or a close partner who drinks regularly, but who may not abuse alcohol may lead to excessive drinking on one's part since it may prove difficult to distance oneself from these "enablers" or at least from their drinking behaviors.
• Social and cultural factors--The glamorous way that drinking alcohol is portrayed in advertising and in the entertainment media gives many people the idea that it's socially acceptable or even advantageous to drink excessively.

In Conclusion

Andrew Weil posits that we are all addicted. He believes, along with Roger Walsh, that addiction is the fundamental problem facing our future survival. For example, upcoming global catastrophes have much to do with addictive behavior. The world population explosion is connected to sex addition. The destruction of rainforests and ocean and atmospheric pollution is tied to the addiction to power and money.

Addiction is fundamental in all aspects; it is a profound central dilemma at the core of being human. It is also at the center of all the specific problems that we face in the world today. It is a universal problem and all of us are caught up in addictive behavior. Weil claims, "that the essence of addiction is craving for an experience or object to make yourself feel all right. It's the craving for something other than the self, even if that's within the realm of the mind. I also feel addiction is something that's fundamentally human; it affects everybody". He also states that this addiction to an inner experience is rarely discussed in the Western world but it is in Buddhism. In Buddhist psychology, addiction is considered to be a grave impediment to enlightenment. That's one of the reasons we meditate-to endeavor to get some freedom and release from thought.

From a Buddhist perspective, it seems to me that addiction is the contradictory aspect of the Dharma. According to Peter Morrell, the teachings of the Buddha are entirely designed to help us to become joyful and contented people, by reducing or eliminating those things from our lives which cause us, and others, suffering. This is accomplished through helping us to reflect more deeply upon the consequences of our actions, and by increasing those things that bring us joy and contentment. Since there is no authentic "good" or "bad" in Buddhism, what exist are simply actions that bring us greater happiness or greater sorrow and pain. "To live skillfully, therefore, is to live in harmony with these principles. In general, it means to reduce our selfishness, to give more to others, to increase our happiness and to stop those things that harm self or others--to adopt a life of non-harming. Non-harming to self and all beings."
I can tell you from experience that I have found addiction to be a maladroit, egocentric, joyless and excruciating substitute for living. For me it is the Anti-Dharma.

Tanha translates as desire, graving, thirst, want, longing, yearning. Tanha is a term for wanting to have or wanting to obtain. It also encompasses the negative as in wanting not to have. We can crave for the presence of agreeable emotions, and for disagreeable feels to be absent. The significance of tanha extends beyond the desire for material objects or sense pleasures. It also entails the desire for life (or death for the suicidal), desire for fame or infamy, and desire for, or aversion to, certain mental or emotional states of being. Tanha is sometimes translated as addiction, but this is by far too narrow a definition. The meaning of tanha is far-reaching and covers all desire, all wanting, all craving, irrespective of its intensity.