Source Text
PREFACE TO THE U.S. EDITION
In Canada my book has been praised as “humanizing” the hard-core addicted people I work with. I find that a revealing overstatement—how can human beings be “humanized,” and who says that addicts aren’t human to begin with? At best I show the humanity of drug addicts. In our materialist society, with our attachment to ego gratification, few of us escape the lure of addictive behaviors. Only our blindness and self-flattery stand in the way of seeing that the severely addicted are people who have suffered more than the rest of us but who share a profound commonality with the majority of “respectable” citizens.
FOREWORD For many people, addiction is a chronic, recurring problem, and its costs to society are enormous. It has been estimated that state and federal governments in the United States spend more than $15 billion per year, and insurers at least another $5 billion per year, on substance-abuse treatment services for some four million people.
The lingering questions remain, What is effective treatment? and How can it best be administered?
Dr. Maté advocates for harm reduction, a necessary, enlightened, and socially responsible view. While he offers no easy solutions or “cures,” Dr. Maté provides explanations that allow readers to envision a society that does a better job of preventing and healing addiction. —Peter A Levine, PhD, best-selling author of Waking the Tiger and clinical consultant for the Meadows Treatment Center, Wickenburg, Arizona
What is addiction, really? It is a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It is a language that tells us about a plight that must be understood. ALICE MILLER Breaking Down the Wall of Silence
Hungry Ghosts The Realm of Addiction Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Julius Caesar
The mandala, the Buddhist wheel of life, revolves through six realms. Each realm is populated by characters representing aspects of human existence—our various ways of being. In the beast realm we are driven by basic survival instincts and appetites such as physical hunger and sexuality, what Freud called the id. The denizens of the hell realm are trapped in states of unbearable rage and anxiety. In the god realm we transcend our troubles and our egos through sensual, aesthetic, or religious experience, but only temporarily and in ignorance of spiritual truth. Even this enviable state is tinged with loss and suffering. The inhabitants of the hungry ghost realm are depicted as creatures with scrawny necks, small mouths, emaciated limbs, and large, bloated, empty bellies. This is the domain of addiction, where we constantly seek something outside ourselves to curb an insatiable yearning for relief or fulfillment. The aching emptiness is perpetual because the substances, objects, or pursuits we hope will soothe it are not what we really need. We don’t know what we need, and so long as we stay in the hungry ghost mode, we’ll never know. We haunt our lives without being fully present.
It’s their attempt, I believe, to escape the hell realm of overwhelming fear, rage, and despair. The painful…
something of the emptiness that may also be experienced by people with…
AI Summary
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate Md and Peter A. Levine presents key insights from the Zen tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
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Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
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