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Under A-Rest The First Addiction I would say that the rst addiction is the mind being addicted to the idea of being a self, (sel ng) the sense of being a long-lasting, independent, separate entity. The expression of this addiction is a devotion to the thought system. Its result is an identi cation with the body. No-thing, (a Higher Power) is seemingly forgotten as the body-thing is remembered. How is the body-thing constantly remembered? By being thought about. The thought system is rooted in its rm conviction that we are a body. The thoughts are used to suggest that we are the thinker or the thought about subject—object.
The rst addiction spawns all other addictions. All the other drives to escape were attempts to get relief from the rst addiction. The dilemma is that the problem is identi cation as self. If the self attempts to escape from the self, that’s just more self. As we say in AA, self cannot get out of self. Therefore the only way to get out of self is to realize you are not in self. The alcoholic and/or addict has lost the ability to control their drinking and/or using. Unknowingly, the host has been taken over by a parasite (alcoholism). For all intents and purposes, you are being used to get its food.
It’s not about ever nding anything because it’s never about the drug, it’s about the addiction of self. That is what’s causing all the other addictions such as eating, sex, gambling, shopping and everything else. People are trying to get out of something that they are not in. That’s why nothing works. If it worked, you would not have to keep applying it every freaking day, because it would work. It’s like having a tool that works and then you put it away, you would honor that tool but you wouldn’t have to pick it up again.
Uprooting The Root Once you realize that the drinking and using are symptoms, then you start to see the root of the problem is that you are the problem, and once you start telling the truth about being the problem, there is another place that it can take you. That place is when you thoroughly own what you are not, then what you are not, will become obvious.
We’re trying to get in what we can’t be out of and trying to get out of what we can’t be in.
You cannot use that system to nd out your own nature. For me, it’s just recognizing that you are not what the system presents you to be and then your own nature will be revealed.
Mind is like space and empty sky. When a bird takes a shit, it doesn’t land on the sky. A myriad of things appear in the sky, but do they stay long? How long do they stay?
You will realize that you are what is looking, like Saint Francis of Assisi says, “What’s looking, is what you are looking for.” He doesn’t say, ‘who’ is looking, he says ‘what’s’ looking. Under A-Rest
But it’s not you, it’s what. It comes to you. Really. It’s like a Zen bitchslap. That’s what it’s like. NOTHING happens and that proves to be everything.
Change, it will, but now the change will be directed by the Spirit, not the mental state. It’s just that your interest and attention has been withdrawn from that dead preoccupation.
AI Summary
Under a-Rest by Paul Hedderman and Julie Rumbarger presents key insights from the contemplative tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
- [To be expanded]
Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
This entry was generated from Readwise highlights. Expand with additional context as appropriate.