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Craving and Aversion as Addiction and Denial: Buddha's Eightfold Path as a Step Program by Bradford Hatcher © 2013 Bradford Hatcher ISBN: 978-0-9824191-4-4 Download at: https://www.hermetica.info/Buddha1b.htm and https://www.hermetica.info/Buddha2b.htm or: https://www.hermetica.info/Buddha1b.pdf Cover Photo: The Great Buddha (Daibutsu) of Kamakura Table of Contents PDF Page Abstract 7 Preface 8 To the Reader Disclaimer Introduction 10 Recover what? Which Buddhism? Problematic Conflations Buddhism and religion Buddhism and psychology Buddhism and science The Four Noble Truths Suffering 26 Dukkha Nanam, the knowledge of suffering Anicca, impermanence Dukkha, painful imperfection Anatta, we imaginary beings Khandas, the five aggregates The emergent self Suffering's Causes 37 Tanha, craving and thirst Akusala Mulas, the three unwholesome roots Paticca-Samuppada, the chain of conditioned arising Addiction and denial Suffering's Cessation 49 The chain's weakest links Restraint and renunciation Upanisa, the twelve proximate conditions of liberation Samvega Upanisa, continued The Eightfold Path 58 That a path exists The path as a conceptual metaphor The steps of the path A different kind of faith The Noble Eightfold Path, Ariya Atthangika Magga Right View, Cognitive Self-control 64 The ownership of kamma The Four Noble Truths The voice of another and wise attention Higher purpose and reframing Unlearning Discerning wholesome and unwholesome Right Intention, Emotional Self-control 71 Substitution Latent tendencies and the evolutionary functions of affect Emotional intelligence Brahmaviharas, the immeasurable healing states Four more Brahmaviharas that we might think to add here The first tasks of Right Intention Right Speech, Verbal Self-control 83 Musavada veramani, avoiding falsehood, speaking true Pisunaya vacaya veramani, avoiding slander Pharusaya vacaya veramani, avoiding invective Samphappalapa veramani, avoiding frivolity Conflicts between the principles Sophistry and argumentativeness The power of the word Right Action, Behavioral Self-control 88 Good karma Natural, ingrained goodness Morals and ethics The precepts for the laity The precepts for monks and nuns Positive ethics and recovery Right Livelihood 95 Five unwholesome occupations Compassion for future generations Simple living Livelihood in the social environment Right Effort 101 Restraint: preventing the arising of unwholesome states Renunciation: abandoning the arisen unwholesome states Development: cultivating the wholesome states Persistence: maintaining the wholesome states The function of self-control Drives, motivations, desires and wants Right Mindfulness 109 Beginner's Mind Kayanupassana, contemplations of the organism Vedananupassana, contemplations of feelings and sensations Cittanupassana, contemplations of mental activity Dhammanupassana, contemplations of mental phenomena Cognitive bias and distortion Right Concentration 119 The Cetasikas of Right Concentration The Four Rupa Jhanas The Four Arupa Jhanas We're Not There Yet Appendices - Surveying the Field 125 A Buddhist's look at the Twelve Steps 126 Attempts to merge twelve steps with eight The twelve traditional steps Lessons from 12-Steps other than steps 137 A fellowship of men and women The serenity prayer My best thinking got me here Hitting bottom Attraction rather than promotion An attitude of gratitude Enabling The geographical cure The pink cloud Phrases of mixed blessing Alternative Recovery Programs 142 The recovery approach Rational Recovery Smart Recovery Psychology's Concepts and Therapies 145 Clinical addiction, abuse and dependence Psychology as taxonomic behavior Classifying and enumerating mental states and processes Narcissism Conditioned behavior Other ideas for study Cognitive Behavioral Therapies 153 Cognitive psychology Cognitive Behavioral Therapies (CBT) Cognitive reframing and restructuring Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Motivational Interviewing and self-efficacy (MI) Greek Philosophy 160 Stoicism Epicurean Hedonism Evolutionary Psychology 163 Human nature Social functions That no man is created or equal The mind-made body Problem solving Cognitive Neuroscience 167 The field The computational model Neurochemistry Neuroplasticity Embodied cognition Positive Psychology 170 The problem of happiness Individuation and the temporary self First things first Self-optimization An Outline of the Buddha’s Teachings 175 And Glossary of Buddhism’s Basic Concepts Bibliography 232 Study Links 236 Abstract Dhamma-Vinaya, or Doctrine-and-Discipline, was Buddhism's name for most of its long history. It has been called a religion and a spiritual discipline, even though it has no concept of a god or of spirit. More than anything else it is an array of ideas and exercises aimed at eradicating the internal causes of our suffering, our painful dissatisfactions. Three of the primary causes, the three Unwholesome Roots, are craving, aversion and delusion, each of which goes by many names. Recovery from addictive behavior in the West is concerned with patterns of addiction and denial. Addiction is simply a more entrenched and intractable form of craving, primarily due to the behavior's immediate effect on the evolved reward circuits in the brain. Denial represents a formidable combination of aversion and delusion that forms the armament and defense of addictive behavior. It is the assertion here that the ideas and exercises of Buddhism are perfectly applicable to recovery from our addictions and have been available as such for a very long time. No modification of the system is necessary, except that the specific applicability of some elements of the doctrine might be pointed out in this context, and augmented with some of the further knowledge we have gained in the last twenty-five centuries. Despite the contributions of alternatives to 12-Step programs, there is still an insufficiency of recovery approaches which avoid religious or spiritual indoctrination, and the adoption of a victim or disease model of addiction. Most alternatives which do exist have borrowed heavily from Buddhism, with or without due acknowledgement. Yet Dhamma-Vinaya remains the most highly articulated and time-tested method- ology. Many have tried to rephrase the twelve steps in more Buddhist-sounding terms, but this is a disservice to both. This book presents Buddhism strait up, but interpreted here as a path to recovery, from addiction and denial, as well as from our more garden- variety sufferings. Preface To the Reader This book is not intended to be an easy read with mass-market appeal: that book is for somebody else to write. Neither is it written for a majority of the people who are trying to recover from addiction. It is presented for the non-theist or a-theist who is ready to claim personal responsibility for both addictive behavior and its correction. Sobriety, especially the kind that will put the problem behind and get on with life, is a lot of dedicated, hard work. This is written for someone either intelligent or patient enough to read it through, or else for their therapist's benefit. It's also written as a broad introduction to Buddhism, since the doctrine has not been altered to fit the subject at hand. There exist several attempts at developing a Buddhist Recovery program, one for those without a deity to fall back on, but most of these try to rework Buddhist doctrine to fit into the 12-Step model instead of regarding the Middle Path in and of itself as steps along an ancient path that leads to the elimination of suffering due to craving, aversion, and delusion. Where I use the words drink or alcoholic here, this is meant to stand in for all forms of addictive behavior. Whether substance abuse or behavioral, all addiction is ultimately chemical addiction, a feeling-seeking behavior that has employed the organism's evolved chemistry, the endocrinological reward systems, in cementing and armoring itself into place. Addiction also implies that the behavior is a problem, and not something like basic needs for oxygen, water or coffee. Drink is also a reference to the Buddhist word tanha, one of its many words for craving: its primary meaning is thirst. It is not the goal of this work to convert anybody to Buddhism, or even from alcoholism. As Buddha said, "Let him who is your teacher remain your teacher" (DN 25). While I personally feel affinity with the doctrine, I would not call myself a Buddhist unless the name was inserted into a much longer string of labels. There is nothing easy about being a real Buddhist. Eight steps instead of twelve is not an indication. It's even more than the work of not having an imaginary deity helping you, or the placebo effect that that entails. Salvation in Buddhism is a matter of lifelong diligence and heedfulness, and you don't even get an eternal or immortal soul for a reward. And what rewards there are you aren't even allowed to hang on to, although it's OK to enjoy them while present, even as they are slipping way. At least all of the work you get to do here will help keep your mind off the the thing that you used to think you needed. Buddhism is a first-person investigation of whatever may prove to be true, a first- person science. The states of awareness that are needed to reprogram one's views and intentions and thereby transcend addiction, call them apotheosis, epiphany, gratitude, awe, forgiveness, compassion, patience, equanimity, etc., may be arrived at by any number of routes. This particular path, and the techniques for attaining these states, has undergone considerable testing over the centuries. But, with that said, yes, I am aware of a number of important popularizers of Buddhism in the West who had serious problems with alcohol addiction. The method here is not automatic: it still has to be applied specifically to the problems at hand. The practice of Buddhism is not a guarantee of sobriety, well-adjustedness or of mental health. The talk must be walked, and this is a fundamental part of the teaching. I have written this from some experience. I had a 15-year drinking habit and a 25-year tobacco habit, both fairly heavy, now broken, 22 and 20 years ago respectively.
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