--- In [email protected], "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > --- In [email protected], "jim_flanegin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > So what would you say is the difference between an enjoyment > > and an addiction? > > You mean, between an enjoyment and an addiction to > an enjoyment?
That's actually a nice distinction. In a classic Buddhist context, even enjoyment is binding, because it sets up the cause to a binding effect. Indulging in the enjoyment sets up a samskara to want to indulge in it again, and thus one perpetuates the desire- fulfillment-new desire cycle. But that's just an intellectual argument from which there is no escape. If you try to *avoid* the enjoyment, then you're just setting up a new set of samskaras, part of the aversion-lack of fulfillment-new aversion cycle. :-) I guess if I were forced to define the difference between simple enjoyment and addiction, I would have to say that you have the ability to resist the enjoyment. The desire is not so strong as to over- shadow that aspect of self that has free will. Some samskaras are more addicting that heroin. The pathological need to be *afraid* that we see in the Neocons. The pathological need for recognition or adoration that we see in some spiritual teachers. The pathological need for a "path" to follow, even when one has gone past the need to "go" anywhere. People in the grip of any of these needs can't really be said to have free will, in my opinion. Something usually has to happen before the option to break the cycle can even be entertained as a thought. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
