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Originally Posted by Swami Chihuahuananda
Okay, that makes sense . Basically , your brain is addicted to external stimulus (to simplify it down to one point) , activity... intensity . That's what Mrs. Chi and I used to talk about a lot ; people are addicted to intensity , and so the things in life that bring intensity are what they reach for . Even self -destructive things; sometimes especially self destructive things, because those can be very, very intense.
So you know that you have choices; you're not hopelessly addicted like I was for a long time , and so then you can decide where to put your attention. Where your attention and effort go, there you plant the seeds that will grow (into spiritual intensity ) , and yes, I'd say that's a really good way of letting your brain return to whatever normal is . The good thing about spiritual intensity is that it's also peaceful and calming a lot of the time (but not always !   ) .
Actually, I'm not still and calm very often ; it's just not how I am , and I accept that . Finding out what you're really like as an individual, and accepting that , goes a long way towards peace of mind , contentment , hapiness, etc., if not actual contemplative silence. But I'm good with the way I am. There is an eternity for contemplative silence, if I should so choose.... which I probably won't , the way it's going  |
Yes, that is a very good point about self acceptance going a long way towards happiness. I completely agree.
It also reminds me of a chapter of a book called "The Book of Secrets" by Deepak Chopra where he talks about the full self needing to be exposed so that you can bring the Universal intelligence within to your inner flaws and by using such attention you can fix the issues and become more whole as a being.
Just thought that would be interesting to add to this conversation :)
I'm glad you are happy within yourself, sometimes I struggle to let go of my conceptualized self you know because I feel like if I let go I might return to what I deem to be bad habits since they are so deeply engraved in my conditioning, but I guess since they have never stained my being, if I am in that place I will be able to see clearly what is not right for me.
Do you think my brain will stop craving things? I'm kind of thinking about the more minor addictions like food and games like I would cigarettes for example.
I know that when I smoked I used to love the feeling, crave cigarettes and be annoyed and angry if I had to go any reasonable amount of time without being able to smoke one. But when I quit, I had intense cravings for a while and wondered how the heck I was going to never smoke again and then eventually with abstinence the cravings went away totally and I wondered why I even smoked in the first place.
So I am looking at gaming, for example, like that. I actually crave to play a game of battlefield and fantasize about it and imagine myself flying a fighter jet in it and winning air to air battles! lol
But I know that it is bad for my attention, my emotional system and it makes me angry all the time and actually releases adrenaline when I am in the intensity of the virtual combat, so I don't want to play it again but it is pulling me in like cigarettes used to lol
The same goes for food. Sometimes I want to eat for the fun of it but I know that is another desire and addiction that makes me crave and I know craving is one of the aspects of suffering so I want it to stop eventually and I am just hoping that it will, you see?