alcohol and spirituality

[out]

alcohol and spirituality

my cat hit the keyboard in my last post..

hope it made it and if it did my apologies for the abrupt ending and lack of spell check, if it didn't make it..well it was brilliant and sorry you missed it

[bootcampbarbie]

alcohol and spirituality

oh rats it didn't post

[satori]

alcohol and spirituality

slightlysuze;229462 wrote:

Your phrase 'to fill the void' resonates with me. Inside myself I am constantly hungry for something.....I used to think alcohol could fill it. I still don't know what it is!

Suze x

Suze,

It is this pervasive "hunger" that Buddhism mainly seeks to address - except Buddha called it "craving"


Love :l


Satori

xxx

[beatle]

alcohol and spirituality

exactly Satori!. which explains why a lot of us alkies are really very spiritual-- or searching for a spirituality. We've just stumbled down the wrong path in that search.

[slightlysuze]

alcohol and spirituality

satori;229716 wrote: Suze,

It is this pervasive "hunger" that Buddhism mainly seeks to address - except Buddha called it "craving"


Love :l


Satori

xxx

And it's an illusion anyway....right? I am very attracted to Buddhism and have done some reading around it...Thich Nhat Han, Pema Chodron......and have been on the spiritual search for as long as I can remember



Suze x

[satori]

alcohol and spirituality

slightlysuze;229743 wrote: And it's an illusion anyway....right? I am very attracted to Buddhism and have done some reading around it...Thich Nhat Han, Pema Chodron......and have been on the spiritual search for as long as I can remember



Suze x

Oh Suze - you know us Zen types - we would have to say that everything is AND ISN'T an illusion .

You will never get a sensible answer from us - because words are also ultimately an illusion .


I spent a good while conversing on my Buddhist leanings / the nature of reality / emptiness / the lack of anything concete we can actually describe as "me" (or you!) with another member here (by PM) recently.

Feel free to PM me if you are interested in throwing some ideas about!
I wouldn't want to bore the folks here by posting this stuff in the open forum -


Love

satori

xxx

[satori]

alcohol and spirituality

beatle;229719 wrote: exactly Satori!. which explains why a lot of us alkies are really very spiritual-- or searching for a spirituality. We've just stumbled down the wrong path in that search.

In my case, I was well rerouted!

I first came across Buddhism in my teens - well before I started drinking - because even then, I recognised that I was looking for "something".

Buddhism was the only thing I had seen that sought to address this "craving" - and also didn't require me to believe in some unverifiable supernatural entity purely on "faith", which was something that didn't sit well witih me.

Here were the writings of a man - just like me.
But this was one who recognised, with amazing insight, things that were fundamantal to the human condition, this basic "hunger" and this feeling that "something" was missing that seems to be present in most (all?) of us, and who set about finding practical ways to deal with this condition.

Unfortunately - before I had gone too far down the "eightfold path", I went off to university, discovered alcohol (and a few other worldly pleasures! ) and went off down a spiritually blind alley for many years.

I found my way back on to the path (more or less) I guess about 12 years ago now, but by then - I also had some minor problems with alcohol addiction! .

Never mind - I am still plodding along the path - it is the journey that counts, there is no destination!

love

Satori

xxx

[Cinders]

alcohol and spirituality

Satori,

One of my counselors was a Buddhist adherent. He said that the 12 step program was sent to the Buddhist teachers to determine if it was okay by Buddhist philosophy.

The only change they recommended was to change the word "God" to "Good" and then it was alright by them.

I tried doing that and it doesn't really read right but I do get the jist of the meaning..

Cindi

[satori]

alcohol and spirituality

db2fromala;229760 wrote: Satori,

One of my counselors was a Buddhist adherent. He said that the 12 step program was sent to the Buddhist teachers to determine if it was okay by Buddhist philosophy.

The only change they recommended was to change the word "God" to "Good" and then it was alright by them.

I tried doing that and it doesn't really read right but I do get the jist of the meaning..

Cindi

Hi Cindi - good to see you back!

I'm afraid the 12 step programme when "converted" in that way doesn't really read right for me either!

Perhaps I should try producing a Buddhist compatible version :H .

Actually, the sad thing is, that we Buddhist types are not supposed to drink or indulge in any other intoxicants in the first place - so we theoretically should never need a "buddhist" 12 step programme!

There are 5 "precepts" that "everyday" buddhists (ie not monks! - they have a load more arduous ones!) are supposed to live by.

The first 4 were never a problem for me

ie
Dont kill
Don't Steal
Don't indulge in Sexual Misconduct
Do not make False Speech (ie lying, backstabbing, gossiping, stirring it etc!)

The fifth - Do not take intoxicants - was a teensy weensy little bit of a problem - as by the time I returned to Buddhism - I was already addicted to alcohol.

Hopefully I now have this one under control too .

Love :l

Satori

xxx

[MorningGirl]

alcohol and spirituality

I truly love this kind of thread. Perhaps, I too, have been trying to figure out things about myself, that really, I don’t care to know right now. At times, self-diagnosis can be detrimental to ones health.

Right now, living without alcohol, is the best decision I have made in 25 years. I have prayed so many times for help, but this time, it was different, I REALLY meant it. And God (my spirituality), I believe, is holding mine as well as all of our hands.

Love and continued success, Theresa

[beatle]

alcohol and spirituality

MorningGirl Theresa, I think you make a good point about that self-diagnosis is not always good for you. I think I've spent too much time on that and too little on following the very simple ways of Buddhism, which I have read so much about.

My understanding is that the self becomes LESS important as you travel towards enlightenment, not MORE. (Christianity also teaches this.) We should be thinking about others, not ourselves. True compassion can only come when we eliminate ourselves (our egos) from the picture. I know I am not managing to articulate this well at all. But, the point is, too much self-analysis is detrimental to the very process we are seeking to follow. (I think Cashy had something to say about navel-gazing.)

[bootcampbarbie]

alcohol and spirituality

i do not know at all how even on the path of enlightenment it is possible to eliminate the ego unless you were liberated. then and only then would the ego cease to exist. but tis possible to move the channels of the ego states into higher states of awareness and that would give a sense of much more love and a different set of eyes to look from. since the ego is tied to the experience well here we are. the idea of transcending would be to release the self or smaller i and ego and dwell in the all of all or no self. so i find that a life of service is and even in my drinking state is a place of moving me up the ladder of ego states into a much more generous space or vibration. always if i can seek to serve first and the greater good of it. then that is what is about to me. and that doesn't take much analysis at all on my part. just how can i serve today...

[bootcampbarbie]

alcohol and spirituality

of course none of what i said is actually true except that what i said about service is very true for me...

[beatle]

alcohol and spirituality

Again BCB, you know I do love you, but I don't understand shit of what you are saying. (Maybe if you used a little more punctuation? I don't know.)

[beatle]

alcohol and spirituality

p.s. I certainly don't mean any offence, Boots. I truly think you are saying something important and it's just flying right over me...maybe if I had spent more of my formative years in the U.S., I would get it. It may just be that I am out of touch with the culture and language.