LICKING THE RAZOR’S EDGE

Addiction #26 – INFORMATION
(Part 2 … a Way to Freedom)

“Some people read for instruction, which is praiseworthy, and some for pleasure, which is innocent, but not a few read from habit, and I suppose that is neither innocent nor praiseworthy. Conversation bores, games tire, and thoughts, which we are told are the unfailing resource of a sensible man, have a tendency to run dry. It is then that I fly to my book as the opium-seeker to his pipe … Of course to read in this way is as reprehensible as doping, and I never cease to wonder at the impertinence of great readers who, because they are such, look down on the illiterate. Let us admit that reading with us is just a drug that we cannot do without — and so let us be no more vainglorious than the poor slaves of the needle or the pint.” ~ W. Somerset Maugham

Ultimately, the fundamental solution for any addiction is “releasing by replacing”; which is to say, letting go of a self-focused, unhealthy behavior by consciously replacing it with a selfless substitute.

And yet, if we try to do this over a significant period of time – say, for a month, a year, or “for the rest of our lives”, we are almost certain to fail. All addictions are fueled by the ego – a mental construct that thrives primarily in the future, and that is fueled primarily by self-centered fear. As such, any truly effective cleansing of any addiction must come from a behavior that is consciously engaged only in the present moment, and that is fueled only by selfless Love.

As I’ve mentioned in several other posts, no matter what tactics we use to deal with our addictions, fighting the ego forcefully never brings lasting results. The ego loves to be criticized or rejected, and whenever it feels threatened in this manner, it simply recedes to the back of our minds, quietly gets stronger (while we think we have “made progress”), and then one day bursts forth twice as strong as it was before.

Fortunately, there is a readily available alternative to dealing with your ego – a method that is extremely effective, and one that only involves three simple steps:

STEP 01) ACKNOWLEDGE your ADDICTION

In this case, simply pause and recognize your information-hoarding desire. Understand in that moment that your urge comes from your ego’s fears; its fear that you don’t have enough “know-how” in your life to keep you happy – its fear that you don’t have enough “facts” about your life to ensure your safety.

STEP 02) CONSOLE your EGO

After you have recognized your addiction, have the wherewithal to thank your ego sincerely for all it has done in your past (especially your infancy and your childhood) to keep you safe and keep you sane. Without its fearful vigilance in your youth, you might indeed have died.

Admittedly, its current efforts to soak up obscene amounts of information are harming you tremendously, but the ego isn’t aware of this … It really is doing the best it can to take care of you, even though you are now old enough to finally Care for your Self.

Be gentle with your ego … Reassure it that you are not going to stop checking your email inbox forever – just for this one moment; that you are not going to stop watching the news forever – just for today.

These assurances will allow your ego to relax long enough for you to engage the all-important third step …

STEP 03) TRANSCEND your ADDICTION

Do so by immediately going forth (while you are still experiencing the desire to gather “facts” or comprehend “the truth”) and being Kind to another person. All you have to do is DO something – it doesn’t matter what – that is designed to bring another person Peace or Joy.

For as long as you choose to do so, you will be completely urge-free … and at least in these moments, you will no longer be addicted.

Note that the first letters of these three steps spell “ACT”, and this is purposefully so. It is not enough to think about being Kind, and it is not enough to “beam” Kind emotions to another. In order to alter your habits and release your self-destructive addictions, you will have to get up and go DO something. Even if it is just for one moment and even if the deed is a “small one”, you will have to have the courage to actually BE the change you wish to see.

Here is a suggestion to help you get started doing just that:

*TIP #01 (& tip “only”): TURN OFF “THE NEWS”

In our media-driven modern-world, this is one of the most powerful ways you can free your Self. Get rid of your cable or satellite TV, unplug from the Internet, and toss your cell phone away. If these solutions are too extreme for you, establish limits for the use of these media outlets and STICK TO THEM. Every minute you unplug from the news is one more minute you get to immerse yourself in the wonders of being alive — wonders that are NOT available online; wonders that are only available in those moments when we reach out to connect with another being.

Remember: you do not need to “be informed” the way the news outlets wish you to be. Regardless of how it is witnessed (via TV, radio, print or online), the news provides only a ridiculously narrow portrayal of the brilliantly fascinating – and often beautifully inspiring – world in which we live.

Even if you watch the BBC, read the New York Times, and tune in to the Global Post every day, you will never obtain an objective take on the state of our world – never.

Indeed, as far as your own life and your own community are concerned, there is almost nothing important or relevant to be learned from any of the world’s national or international news sources — nothing.

We don’t need to hear about the latest “medical breakthroughs” unless we are in need of one, in which case it would be wise to learn about them from a doctor – not a news outlet.

Catastrophe updates from abroad are equally irrelevant, at least until we soothe the damage of our disasters at home. 150,000 people die every day on planet Earth – many of them in our own communities; and THESE are the folks we should be informing ourselves about on a daily basis; people who we can reach out to and lend some real, tangible Compassion.

War updates from abroad are also irrelevant, at least until we create true Peace at home. Violent crimes are committed every day on the streets of most of our communities, and THESE people (both the victims of those crimes, as well as their perpetrators) are the ones we should be reaching out to — both with our Kindness and with our Forgiveness.

Poverty and Illness abroad are all irrelevant as well, at least until we enliven economic justice and a state of viable health at home. Hundreds of people are hungry or cold or sick in our own communities, and THESE are the people we should be learning about; learning about them so we can then reach out and Care for them – reach out with Kindness to ease their burdens in any small way we can.

In essence, the news outlets hook you by constantly informing you about problems; most often challenges that are far away from you – difficulties about which you can do very little. And by doing so — by tempting you to continue idly watching while the world writhes in front of your eyes, our mass media producers are indirectly encouraging you to avoid doing anything about the more immediate troubles that are right outside your own door.

In essence, if you have the courage to stop watching the news, you will probably end up spending your precious time helping to solve the problems in your own communities, as opposed to worrying about the problems in others.

If you watch only 30 minutes of news programs each day, you will have idly wasted almost 200 hours of your life every year until the day you die – 200 HOURS every year!

That’s 200 hours of smiling at strangers …
That’s 200 hours of community gardening …
That’s 200 hours of feeding the homeless …
That’s 200 hours of visiting prisoners …
That’s 200 hours of reading to the elderly …
That’s 200 hours of sitting with the sick …
That’s 200 hours of playing with your children …
That’s 200 hours of listening to your friends.

In the final analysis, there is only one question left to ask yourself:

Is your “need to know” really more important than your Need to Live?

“To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worthwhile. To watch a news program is to refrain from gazing with love upon a neighbor in need. The first discipline of education must be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter. The second discipline of education must be to demand resolutely that we rise to up to serve.” ~ inspired by Aleister Crowley

“As our dark nights deepen, we find ourselves recovering our love of mystery. When we were children, most of us were good friends with mystery. The world was full of it and we loved it. Then as we grew older, we slowly accepted the indoctrination that mystery exists only to be solved. For many of us, mystery became an adversary; unknowing became a weakness. The contemplative spiritual life is an ongoing reversal of this adjustment. It is a slow and sometimes painful process of becoming “as little children” again, in which we first make friends with mystery and finally fall in love again with it. And in that love we find an ever-increasing freedom to be who we really are in an identity that is continually emerging and never defined. We are freed to join the dance of life in fullness without having a clue about what the steps are.” ~ Gerald G. May

Filed under: Licking the Razor's Edge (freedom from hidden addictions) by Scaughdt