--- In [email protected], "Rory Goff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> > wrote: > > > > For that matter, could *all* forms of addiction > > be a way to preserve the illusion of self, and > > keep selflessness at bay? <snip> > > I'd agree with this.
I think in some senses it's actually the reverse. The addiction aspect is secondary; what's important is the "self-medication" aspect, whether with substances or with a particular type of activity. One may or may not become addicted to either. I suspect just about everybody has a very dim, inchoate sense of the Self and of what it would be like to be nonattached, to not be overshadowed by the struggles of daily life, and find that certain behaviors (different ones for different people) tend to help lessen the feeling of being overshadowed while one is engaging in them. The temporary feeling of relief is usually an illusion, of course, and it may lead to even greater attachment if the behavior does become addictive, even if the behavior is "healthy," like running or playing a musical instrument. (Even meditation is sometimes said to be an addiction.) But the drive, the motivation, to engage in the behavior is, it seems to me, *away* from the self and *toward* the Self, whether or not it's understood as such. 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/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> 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/
