In this answer to a viewer's question, "letting go" author Guy Finley explains that liberation from any addiction begins with seeing the dual nature of the divided mind that claims to not want the pain of the addiction, while at the same time being attracted to the sensations that come with getting the next fix.

There are two kinds of people: those who "miss the mark" and don't care, and those who realize that they have missed the mark and begin to care. How many people are willing to go through this life consciously recognizing where they have missed the mark? Agreeing to become conscious of where you have missed the mark is the only way to stop reliving old patterns...

Classroom Talk: 7/28/2019 - One of the great, unseen contradictions in our life is that we can so easily "talk ourselves" into acting against our own best interests. If anything deserves our dedicated spiritual study then, surely, it must be how we can be deceived into jumping into a pit that we dug for ourselves!

Classroom Talk: 2/10/2019 - Part 1: The contempt inherent in any sense of (unconscious) familiarity is innate in the false sense of security it seems to provide. Part 2: The real meaning of any unwanted moment can never threaten the truth of our innermost Self. In fact, the present moment reveals what it does...

Classroom Talk: 5/23/2021 - Since no desire can complete itself - by itself - through anything it imagines - its only recourse is to imagine "more of" whatever failed to satisfy it the first time around. This unseen cycle is the mainspring of all forms of addiction, as unconscious desire keeps trying to fill a bucket with no bottom by pouring...

Classroom Talk: 4/11/2021 - All unconscious negative reactions -- with others, events, or with ourselves -- deflect this one crucial revelation: as long as we meet life with any compulsive demand or unseen craving, we can't help but be painfully remanded into the hands of one self-punishing reaction after another. Anger, fear, and frustration are...