What is addiction? It is having an excessive craving. Why is it present in some of us? Is it how we perceive life? Is it because one has no joy in life? Is life meaningless and taking a substance makes one forget our emptiness. Then we are looking at a world which is colorful and crazy. Okay, I am not going into the heavy-duty addictions immediately. Let us start with chocolate, coffee, sweets, different foods, sex, alcohol, smoking and drugs. It is not easy to give up some of these substances. We develop a dependence on them.

I have worked with addicts, men and women. My experience was that they had a deep sense of inadequacy, and it was a compensation. I taught them self-healing with prana, and I found that they needed to be taught every day. After the practice, they would be smiling and would promise that they would practice in the evening also. This did not happen. But what I observed was that giving them attention and being gentle made them responsive. Then the stories came out. It was the same story, a strong sense of rejection, which got compounded with taking more stimulants.

Full of hope

It is a very narrow path and according to Osho, one should tell them, that whatever you are doing, is acceptable. You are doing it because there is a reason. You will be given a better drug, which is not chemical. You will be taught meditation. He also said that people, who were addicts, entered into meditation more easily. The process is not to mention the drugs.

I experienced this myself, when I was giving them classes. They were like children, and they loved the practice. They were full of hope.

We have to fight one more crusade and this is the ongoing war against drugs. We must practice atmabhava and enable our loved ones to understand that the world is a beautiful place, without stimulants. We will not give up on them. We are Yogis and therefore we must remain compassionate and empathetic.

Aim Hrim Klim