A Model of Addiction: From a Nichiren Buddhist Perspective. (The Lotus School.) There are currently two schools of thinking and approaches widely used for treatment of addictions in a residential setting. 12 Step/Disease Model approach Therapeutic/CBT, Social Learning approach. These two philosophies dominate the treatment options available to people who want to address their addiction issues in a residential setting. On one side you have a spiritual approach which expounds “God as you know it” or “Higher Power” as a basis for recovery and on the other, you have a purely cognitive approach which expounds that the individual learnt their behavior over time and has the potential through cognition and awareness to change their thinking and through this, their behavior. What this model puts forward is a spiritual approach that does not offer an intervention of a “higher power,” but one that supports the individual to find their inner potential and develop themselves without an intervention from that “higher power” what is called in Buddhism, The Middle Way, or The Way, which teaches that human potential (life) is unlimited and that by tapping into that well spring of potential through Buddhist practice the individual can bring about a profound positive change on the deepest and most fundamental levels of life. This is also a human centered approach which says that the individual already has the potential for positive change and just needs the correct causes and conditions to reveal it without the need of an intervention by an exterior “God” or a “Higher Power”. Buddhism is a philosophical faith that has no Godhead, or Higher Power, to pray too, for salvation. It teaches that the individual can bring about their own salvation (enlightenment), through Buddhist practice, thus overcoming the universal sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death and all the other existential human sufferings including addiction. There are many ideas and concepts in the history of human religious/spiritual thought, such as Transcendent Reality, God, Godhead, Higher Power, Absolute Truth, Divine Reality, etc being philosophically quite broad in their concepts and principles. In the school of Nichiren Buddhism you have the most advanced, comprehensive and subtle description of the true aspect of reality and of all phenomena, ever put forward in the evolution of religious thought in the history of humankind. Nichiren Buddhism was founded by Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282.) or in English, The Great Sage Sun Lotus. in 13th Century Japan and is, as such, a contemporary school, which was revealed to be practiced in this modern age, and is a radical departure from the older more archaic schools of Buddhism as it teaches that there is no fundamental difference between a Buddha (one who is enlightened to the truth of life.) and an ordinary human being. This school is based on the essential teachings revealed in the Lotus Sutra, a Mahayana Sutra that has had the most powerful influence on Asian Buddhist thought and culture, which he revealed to be the essential teaching by which to attain enlightenment in this modern age, teaching a very simple but yet profound practice that is accessible to everyone and can be practiced in a modern urban environment. The most fundamental teaching revealed in The Lotus Sutra, is the concept of three thousand realms of being (potentials) in a single moment of life. This is a brief explanation of this highest principle of Buddhist thought. That there are Ten Worlds or life conditions, that are inherent in all living beings, which they can potentially experience according to their karma. In the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings. (Those teachings taught before the Lotus Sutra.) The Ten Worlds were viewed originally as distinct physical locations, each with its own particular inhabitants. The Lotus Sutra, however, teaches that each of the Ten Worlds contains all the other nine within it, ( The Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds) making it possible to interpret them as potential states of life inherent in each individual being. In other words, from the standpoint of the Lotus Sutra, The Ten Worlds indicates ten potential life states or conditions that a person can manifest or experience. The Ten Worlds are described as follows: Hell. Hell indicates a life condition in which living itself is misery and suffering, and in which, devoid of all freedom, one’s anger and rage becomes a source of further self destruction. “Rage is the world of hell,” Writings of Nichiren Daishonin p.358. Hunger. Hunger is a life condition governed by endless desire or cravings for such things as food, profit, pleasure, intoxication, power, recognition, or fame, in which one is never truly satisfied. “Greed is the world of hungry spirits,” WND p.358. Animality. Animality, is a life condition driven by instinct and lacking in reason, morality, or wisdom with which to control one self. In this condition, one is ruled by the “law of the jungle,” standing in fear of the strong, but despising and preying upon those weaker than oneself. “Foolishness is the world of animals,” WND p.358 Anger. This life condition is called the world of animosity, because it is characterized by persistent, though not necessarily overt, aggressiveness. It is a condition dominated by the ego, in which excessive pride prevents one from revealing one’s true self or seeing others as they really are. Compelled by the need to be superior to others or surpass them at any cost, one may feign politeness and even flatter others while inwardly despising them. “Perversity is the world of anger.” WND.p.358 The Worlds of Hell, Hunger, Animality and Anger are collectively known as the Four Evil Paths. Evil, in this context, means those actions which lead to suffering. Humanity. (Tranquility.) In this life condition, one tries to control one’s desires and impulses with reason and act in harmony with one’s surroundings and other people, while also aspiring for a higher state of life. “Calmness is the world of human beings.” WND.p.358. Heaven. (Rapture.) Heaven is a life condition of contentment and joy that one feels when released from suffering or upon satisfaction of some desire. It is a temporary joy that is dependent upon and may easily change with circumstances. “Joy is the world of heaven.” WND.p.358. The six worlds from Hell through to Heaven are called the six paths. Beings in the six paths, or those who tend towards these states of life, are largely controlled by the restrictions of their surroundings and are therefore extremely vulnerable to changing circumstances. One has to make no efforts to experience these life conditions. The remaining states, in which one transcends the uncertainty of the six paths, are called the Four Noble Worlds. Learning. The world of learning is a life condition where one awakens to the impermanence of all things and the instability of the six paths. In this state, one dedicates oneself to creating a better life through self-reformation and self-development by learning from ideas, knowledge and experience of one’s predecessors and contemporaries. Realization. The world of realization is a life condition in which one perceives the impermanence of all phenomena and strives to free oneself from the sufferings of the six paths by seeing some lasting truth through one’s own observations and effort. Persons in the worlds of Learning and Realization, are together called persons of the two vehicles, are given more to the pursuit of self-perfection than to altruism. They are also willing to look squarely at the reality of death and seek the eternal, in contrast to those in the world of heaven, who are distracted from life’s harsh realities. Bodhisattva. The world of Bodhisattvas is a life state of compassion in which one thinks of and works for others’ happiness even before becoming happy one self. Bodhisattva, which consists of bodhi (enlightenment) and sattva (beings), means a person who seeks enlightenment while leading others to enlightenment. Bodhisattvas find that the way to self-perfection lies only in altruism, working for the enlightenment of others even before their own enlightenment. Nichiren Daishonin states in The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, “Even a heartless villain loves his wife and children. He too has a portion of the bodhisattva world within him.” WND.p.358. Buddhahood. The world of Buddha’s or Buddhahood. This is the state of perfect and absolute freedom in which one realizes the true aspect of all phenomena or the true nature of life. One can achieve this state by manifesting the Buddha Nature inherent within one’s life. From the standpoint of the philosophy of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, Buddhahood should not be viewed as a state removed from the sufferings of and imperfections of ordinary persons. Attaining Buddhahood does not mean becoming a special being. In this life state, one still continues to work against and defeat the negative functions of life and transform any and all difficulty into causes for further development. It is a state of complete access to boundless wisdom, compassion and courage, and other positive qualities inherent in life. With these one can create harmony with and among others and between human life and nature. Addiction defined. As we can see from these descriptions, a person who is in the grip of an addiction dwells predominantly in the world of hunger or constant craving and after using or acting out, with their drug of choice, enters the world of heaven or rapture, experiencing their “high.” This experience is fleeting and the individual soon descends again to the lowest life state of hell, the “crash.” After a binge people experience shame, depression, anxiety, guilt and are physically and mentally damaged and exhausted. After time, they begin once again to enter the realm of hunger, where they constantly crave their “high” once more acting out, repeating the cycle of misuse. Eventually the person no longer even experiences the life state of rapture or heaven, due to building a tolerance to their drug of choice, but remains in the lower life states of hunger and hell. So according to Buddhist psychology a person trapped in the cycle of addiction, or the worlds of hunger and hell, needs to make a higher life state or to be more precise, using the worlds of learning and realization, to gain insight into their predicament and finally to make the world of Buddhahood the predominate state of their lives, not the world of hunger. In doing so they overcome and change or transform the karma of addiction. This is termed “Changing poison into medicine” This is Buddhist Recovery. Positive Change. So what are the life mechanics of this process? How does a living being move from one world to the next, one life state to another, moment to moment? The Lotus Sutra reveals this in the teaching of the Ten Factors of Life, or The Ten Suchnesses. These ten factors are common to all life in any of the ten worlds. They are listed in the “Expedient Means,” (second) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which reads: “The true aspect of all phenomena can only be understood and shared between Buddhas. This reality consists of the appearance, nature, entity, power, influence, internal cause, relation, latent effect, manifest effect, and their consistency from beginning to end.” Since the Ten Factors are common to all life and phenomena, there can be no fundamental distinction between a Buddha and an ordinary person. While the Ten Worlds express differences among phenomena, the Ten Factors describe the pattern of existence common to all phenomena. For example, both the life state of Hell and the life state of Buddhahood, different as they are, have the Ten Factors in common. The Ten Factors are as follows: Appearance. Attributes of things or beings, discernable from the outside, such as colour, form, shape and behavior. Nature. The inherent disposition or quality of a thing or being that cannot be discerned from outside, that which is unchanging and irreplaceable. The nature of fire, for instance, is unchanging and cannot be replaced by that of water. Entity. The essence of life that permeates and integrates appearance and nature. These first three factors describe the reality of life itself. The next six factors, from the fourth, “power,” through to the ninth, “manifest effect,” explains the functions and workings of life. Power. Life’s potential energy. Influence. The action or movement produced when life’s inherent power is activated. Internal cause. The cause latent in life, that is created by action, that produces an effect of the same quality as itself, i.e., good, evil, or neutral. Relation, The relationship of indirect causes to the internal cause. Indirect causes are various conditions, both internal in the being, and external, in the environment, that helps the internal cause produce an effect. Latent effect. The effect produced in life when an internal cause is activated through its relationship with various conditions. Manifest effect. The tangible, perceivable result that emerges in time as an expression of a latent effect and therefore an internal cause, again through its relationship with various conditions. The Buddhist law of causality described by the four factors from internal cause to manifest effect is the distinctive characteristic of the ten factors. It concerns the most important matter of the cause and effect for attaining Buddhahood or enlightenment. Consistency from beginning to end. The unifying factor among the ten factors. It indicates that all of the other nine factors from beginning (appearance) to the end (Manifest effect) are consistently and harmoniously interrelated. All nine factors thus consistently and harmoniously express the same condition of existence at any given moment. So according to this factor a cause made in the life condition of anger, will produce an effect which will be experienced in the life condition of anger, thus being consistent from beginning to end, from internal cause to manifest effect. These ten factors elucidate the Buddhist Law of Universal Cause and Effect, or how the external world and the internal world of the living being interact from moment to moment or the Law of Karma, which we will explore further later. 3,000 Realms in a single moment of Life. So far we have the concept of the Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds or 10 x 10 = 100 realms And the Ten Factors of life, 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000 realms So how do we get to 3,000 realms of being? This is explained as the Buddhist principle of The Three Realms of Existence The realm of the five components, The realm of living beings, The realm of the environment. The concept of three realms of existence, views life from three different standpoints, and explains the existence of individual lives in the real world. The Realm of the Five Components. An analysis of the nature of a living entity in terms of how it responds to its surroundings. The five components are form, perception, conception, volition, and consciousness. Form. Includes everything that constitutes the body and its sense organs, through which one perceives the outer world. Perception. Means the function of receiving or apprehending external information through ones sense organs. Conception. Indicates the function by which one grasps and forms some idea or concept about what has been perceived. Volition. Means the will to initiate action following the creation of conceptions about what has been perceived. Consciousness. Is the cognitive function of discernment that integrates the components of perception, conception, and volition. It distinguishes an object from all others, recognizes its characteristics, and exercises value judgments, such as distinguishing between right and wrong. From another viewpoint, while consciousness is regarded as the mind itself, the components of perception, conception, and volition are regarded as mental functions. Form corresponds to the physical aspect of life, and the other four components, to the spiritual aspect. The principle of the five components explains how life expresses each of the Ten Worlds differently. Someone in the world of hell, for example, will perceive, form a conception of, and react to the same object in a completely different manner than someone in the world of bodhisattvas. The Realm of Living Beings. The individual living being, formed of a temporary union of the five components, who manifests or experiences any of the Ten Worlds. The realm of living beings refers to an individual as an integrated whole, but since no living being exists in perfect isolation; it is also taken to mean the collective body of individuals who interact with one another. (Society). The Realm of the Environment. The place or land where living beings dwell and carry out life-activities, or planet Earth, which also includes the rest of the Universe, which planet Earth is intimately connected too. In addition, the three realms themselves are not to be viewed separately, but as aspects of an integrated whole, which simultaneously manifests any of the Ten Worlds. The number 3,000 here comes from the following calculation: 10 (Ten Worlds) x 10 (Ten Worlds)x 10 (ten factors) x3 (three realms of existence). Life at any moment manifests one of the Ten Worlds. Each of these worlds possesses the potential for all ten within itself, and this mutual possession, or mutual inclusion, of the Ten Worlds is represented as 102, or a hundred, possible worlds. Each of these hundred worlds possesses the ten factors, making 1,000 factors or potentials, and these operate within each of the three realms of existence, thus making 3,000 or the entire phenomenal world, or universe, exist in a single moment of life. This is The Mystic Law of Life or as Nichiren himself wrote: “It is called the Mystic Law because it reveals the principle of the mutually inclusive relationship of a single moment of life and all phenomena in the universe, That is why this sutra is the wisdom of all Buddha’s. Life at each moment encompasses the body and mind and the self and environment of all sentient beings in the Ten Worlds as well as all insentient beings in the three thousand realms, including plants, sky, earth, and even the minutest particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the entire realm of phenomena and is revealed in all phenomena.” In the school of Nichiren Buddhism you have the most advanced and profound description of the true aspect of reality ever put forward in the evolution of religious ideas and thought, in the history of humankind. So how do we explain the differences between living beings? Why do certain people become addicts and others not? And how can we change addictive behavior. Nichiren Buddhism reveals that on the deepest level of life it is our individual Karma that governs our behaviors and circumstances. Karma is a much used and a much misunderstood concept, so lets now look at this topic. Karma. Potentials in the inner, unconscious realm of life created through one’s actions in the past or present that manifest themselves as various results in the present or future. Karma is a variation of the Sanskrit Karman, which means act, action, a former act leading to a future result. Buddhism interprets karma in two ways: as indicating three categories of action, i.e., mental, verbal, and physical, and as indicating a dormant force thereby produced. That is, one’s thought, speech, and behavior, both good and bad, imprints themselves as a latent force or potential in one’s life. This latent force, or karma, when activated by an external stimulus, (See: The 10 factors of life,) produces a corresponding good or bad effect, i.e., happiness or suffering. According to this concept of karma, one’s actions in the past have shaped one’s present reality, and one’s actions in the present will in turn influence one’s future. This law of karmic causality operates in perpetuity, carrying over from one lifetime to the next and remaining with one in the latent state between death and rebirth. Or as Nicihren Daishonin states, “If you want to understand the causes that existed in the past, look at the results as they are manifested in the present. And if you want to understand what results will be manifested in the future, look at the causes that exist in the present.” It is karma; therefore, that accounts for the circumstances of one’s birth, one’s individual nature, and in general the differences among all living beings and their environments. The idea of karma predates Buddhism and was already prevalent in Indian society well before the time of Shakyamuni. This pre-Buddhist view of karma, however, had an element of determinism, serving more to explain one’s lot in life and compel one to accept it than inspiring hope for change or transformation. The Brahmans, who were at the top of the Indian class structure by birth, may well have emphasized this view to secure their own role. The idea of karma was further developed, however, in the Buddhist teachings. Shakyamuni maintained that what makes a person noble or humble is not birth but one’s actions. Therefore the Buddhist teaching of karma is not fatalistic. Rather, karma is viewed not only as a means to explain the present, but also as the potential force through which to influence one’s future. Mahayana Buddhism holds that the sum of actions and experiences of the present and previous lifetimes are accumulated and stored as karma in the depths of life and will form the framework of individual existence in the next lifetime. Buddhism therefore encourages people to create the best possible karma in the present in order to ensure the best possible outcome in the future. In terms of time, some types of karma produce effects in the present lifetime, others in the next lifetime, and still others in subsequent lifetimes. This depends on the nature, intensity, and repetitiveness of the acts that caused them. Only those types of karma that are extremely good or bad will last into future existences. The other, more minor, types will produce results in this lifetime. Those that are neither good nor bad will bring about no results. Karma is broadly divided into two types: fixed and unfixed. Fixed karma is said to produce a fixed result – that is, for any given fixed karma there is a specific effect that will become manifest at a specific time. In the case of unfixed karma, any of the various results or general outcomes might arise at an indeterminate time. Irrespective of these differences the Buddhist philosophy of karma, particularly of Mahayana Buddhism, is not fatalistic. No ill effect is so fixed that, or predetermined that; good karma from Buddhist practice in the present cannot transform it for the better. (Changing poison into medicine.) Moreover, any type of karma needs interaction with the corresponding conditions to become manifest. So according to these principles, a person who is suffering from an addiction, has created the causes in the past to experience this entrapment in the life condition of hunger, but also has the potential to create causes to overcome and transform this and to change this karma and elevate their life condition through Buddhist practice, or “change poison into medicine.” Let us know explain how Buddhist practice can manifest the life condition of Buddhahood in a person’s life. The Nine Consciousnesses. Buddhism postulates that there are nine distinct consciousnesses, or nine kinds of discernment. “Consciousness” is the translation of the Sanskrit “vijinana,” which means discernment. The nine consciousnesses are: Sight consciousness (Skt. chaksur vijnana) Hearing consciousness (Skt. shrota vijnana) Smell consciousness (Skt. ghrana vijnana) Taste consciousness (Skt.jihva vijnana) Touch consciousness (Skt. kaya vijnana) Mind consciousness (Skt. mano vijnana) Mano consciousness (Skt. mano vijnana) Alaya consciousness (Skt. alaya vijnana) Amala consciousness (Skt. amala vijnana) (The Sanskrit is the same for both the sixth and seventh consciousnesses.) The first five consciousnesses correspond to the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The sixth consciousness integrates the perceptions of the five senses into coherent images and makes judgments about the external world. In contrast with the first six consciousnesses which deal with the external world, the seventh, or mano-consciousness corresponds to the inner spiritual world. Awareness of and attachment to the self are said to originate from the mano-consciousness, as does the ability to distinguish between good and evil. The eighth, or alaya-consciousness, exists in what modern psychology calls the unconscious; all experiences of present and previous lifetimes, collectively called Karma, are stored there. This is what Karl Jung termed the “collective unconscious,” in modern psychology. The alaya-consciousness receives the results of one’s good and evil deeds and stores them as karmic potentials or “seeds,” which then produce the rewards of either happiness or suffering accordingly. Hence it was rendered as “storehouse consciousness” in Chinese Buddhism. The alaya consciousness thus forms the framework of individual existence. The amala-consciousness lies below the alaya-consciousness and remains free from all karmic impurity. This ninth consciousness is defined as the basis of all life’s functions. Hence it was rendered as “fundamental pure consciousness” in Chinese Buddhism. This is the Buddha nature inherent in all life which is activated and made manifest by Buddhist practice. This brings us to Buddhist practice itself, or the tool (cause,) that enables us to overcome/transform our sufferings (addictions) and reveal our full potential and attain and experience the life condition of Buddhahood (effect,) inherent in our lives, or as Chinese Buddhism states. “To dwell in the Palace of the Ninth Consciousness.” Nichiren Daishonin or the Buddha of the Latter Day revealed the practice relevant to this modern age. In Nichiren Buddhism it is as follows: The ultimate Law or truth of the universe, according to Nichiren’s teachings is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. (The entity of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.) Nichiren first taught the invocation (chanting) of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to a small group of people at Seicho-ji temple in his native province of Awa, Japan, on the twenty eighth day of the fourth month (April) in 1253. It literally means devotion to Myoho-renge-kyo, or life itself. Myoho-renge-kyo is the Japanese reading of the Chinese title of the Lotus Sutra, which Nichiren regards as the sutra’s essence, and appending nam (a phonetic change of namu) to that phrase indicates devotion to the title and essence of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren identifies it with the universal Law or principle implicit in the meaning of the sutra’s text. The meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is explained in the opening section of The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, compiled by his disciple Nikko. It states that namu derives from the Sanskrit word Nama and is translated as devotion, or as “dedicating ones life.” What one should dedicate one’s life to, he says, are the Person and the Law. The Person signifies “Shakyamuni,” which means the eternal Buddha, and the Law is the “Lotus Sutra,” which means the ultimate truth or Myoho-renge-kyo. According to The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, the act of devotion has two aspects: One is to devote oneself to, or fuse one’s life with, the eternal and unchanging truth. The other is that, through this fusion of one’s life with the ultimate truth, one simultaneously draws inexhaustible wisdom that functions in accordance with changing circumstances. The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings further states: “We may also note that the nam of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a Sanskrit word, while Myoho-renge-kyo are Chinese words. Sanskrit and Chinese join in a single moment to form Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. If we express the title (of the Lotus Sutra) in Sanskrit, it will be Saddharma-pundarika-sutra.” This is Myoho-renge-kyo. Sad (a phonetic change of sat ) means myo or wonderful. Dharma means ho. Law or phenomena. Pundarika means renge, or lotus blossom. Sutra means kyo, or sutra. The nine Chinese characters (that represent the Sanskrit title) are the Buddha bodies of the nine honored ones. This expresses the idea that the nine worlds are none other than the Buddha world. Myo stands for the Dharma nature, or enlightenment, while ho represents darkness, or ignorance. Together as myoho, they express the idea that ignorance and the Dharma nature (enlightenment.) are a single entity or one in essence. Renge stands for the two elements of cause and effect. Cause and effect are also a single entity. Kyo represents the words and voices of all living beings. A commentary says, “The voice carries out the work of the Buddha, and is called kyo.” Kyo may also be defined as that which is constant and unchanging in the three existences of past, present and future. The Dharma realm is myoho, the wonderful Law. The Dharma realm is renge, the Lotus blossom. The Dharma realm is kyo, the sutra. As Nichiren states, namu derives from Sanskrit, and Myoho-renge-kyo from Chinese. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is, therefore, not simply a Japanese phrase, but a Japanese reading of a Sanskrit and Chinese phrase. In this sense, it contains aspects of the languages of three countries in which Mahayana Buddhism spread. According to Nichiren Daishonin. Practice involves chanting it oneself and teaching others to do so as well. Nichiren not only established the invocation (daimoku) of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo but embodied it as a mandala, making it the object of devotion called Gohonzon (The True Object of Worship.). In Reply to Kyo’o he states, “I Nichiren have inscribed my life in Sumi ink, so believe in the Gohonzon with your whole heart. The Buddha’s will is the Lotus Sutra, but the soul of Nichiren is nothing other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.” So the primary practice in Nichiren Buddhism is the chanting or invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is extremely accessible and easy to do, with the sometimes chaotic lifestyle of people who misuse substances. Buddhist Recovery. Changing poison into Medicine. The life philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism, encourages the individual to take total responsibility for their own individual karma, the causes which they themselves have made, which is an antidote to the denial and blame experienced by people with addictions. Empowering them to have ownership over their own feelings and experiences and not to blame others or external stimuli (parents, society, trauma, etc,) for their condition, which is a fundamental and essential component of the recovery process. By chanting and tapping into, or activating their inherent Buddha nature, they can then acquire the wisdom to gain insight and understanding of their condition and to know what is the best action to take, i.e., to seek support and go into treatment. The courage to take that action and compassion towards themselves to enable them to take the appropriate actions needed for their recovery. The action of chanting can enable the practitioner to feel they are taking practical steps towards their recovery giving them a sense of achievement, control and empowerment, helping with raising levels of self-esteem, confidence, motivation and belief. Chanting can also be beneficial for use with relapse prevention, as it helps to relax and calm the practitioner and to decrease anxieties, stress and anger, which can trigger a using episode. It is also a good tool to use for cravings management, as the person can chant as they ride the craving, and put in place a safer coping mechanism than using their substance of choice. The Lotus Sutra teaches that all living beings inherently possess Buddha nature without distinction and that there is no fundamental difference between an ordinary person and a Buddha and through practice a person comes to understand the inherent dignity and value of their own life and learns to treasure and value oneself just as they are. This is also a great help to persons suffering from low levels of self-esteem, which all people who misuse substances experience, due to the nature of the condition. Chanting brings about a fundamental transformation in the depths of the practitioners life as they begin to activate the Buddha nature inherent within their lives enabling them to bring about positive change. Some practitioners have very emotional responses to chanting for the first time, while others do not, it is a very personal experience and one to be explored by the practitioner over time. As practice progresses the world of Buddhahood becomes more and more the predominate life state of the individual. This is a lifelong process, as is the journey of recovery. So the primary practice is the invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo along with study of the life philosophy of Nichiren Daishonin (Dharma.), which can be done individually or in a group setting which deepens the practitioners understanding of the processes and practice. The practice is not a quick fix and has an accumulative effect and should be carried out daily, morning and evening, throughout a person’s lifetime, making it the bedrock of a person’s recovery. What is important is to remember that revealing one’s Buddhahood is the objective of Buddhist practice, but what does this mean in practical terms? Buddhahood is inherent in all life, and can be described as qualities that manifest in the practitioners personality, the three most fundamental aspects being, courage, compassion and wisdom, but have also been described as revealing your true, pure, happy, eternal self. Happiness here is important, in the sense that, people who suffer from addiction issues usually use substances to deal or cope with situations and thoughts that cause a whole range of emotions or feelings, such as, pain, anxiety, depression, stress or trauma, which they want to change or eradicate, and to replace with feelings of euphoria and well being. So their using is a search for a way to feel better or happier, to change their feelings for the better. Their using becomes a dysfunctional coping mechanism. Buddhist psychology defines happiness in two distinct forms, temporary and permanent, or relative and absolute. Relative happiness occurs when ones desires are fulfilled; this is a temporary state of life or Rapture/Heaven, the 6th of the ten worlds. Absolute happiness corresponds to the state of life of Buddhahood, which is a state of absolute freedom that transcends birth and death and is experienced in the eternal realm. When ones predominate life state is Buddahood, brought about by a lifetime of Buddhist practice, life itself becomes a joy. This is the healthy and life enhancing emotional experience, which the addict is seeking for in the ultimately empty experience of using. On a deep unconscious level it is Buddhahood or enlightenment that the addict is craving and searching for. This experience fills the emotional void that the addict experiences in the depths of their lives, giving them a sense of peace and completeness, and a feeling of ease “within their own skin.” This transforms the addict from a “user” to a “giver”, from a selfish, self obsessed, destructive individual, to an altruistic, individual, who becomes a positive force in society. This happens when Buddhist practice fuses with the individual’s recovery becoming one and the same thing.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 10:42:24 +0000
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