Originally Posted by Treebeard
I like this idea of AVRT. It falls in line with my Zen Buddhist practice of increasing awareness, and that reality is actually an illusion. That is, what we think exists actually exists only in our mind.
My mind (neocortex) is an example of what is only a few million years old. Right next door is my midbrain a part of my central nervous system that is a few billion years old. I don’t think of these facts about my brain as illusions. They are the basis of the “Structural Model” of addiction. This fifth grade level science model is ALL that is necessary to lay the foundation of Addictive Voice Recognition Technique.
It appears some would call the following two entities illusions;
1 - my chemically unaltered human mind’s better judgement, and
2 - my midbrain’s ancient function of motivating my organism to stay alive.
I do not consider them (my Recognition of my AV or my AV itself) illusions.
1 - My Recognition of a biologically driven desire to drink/drug is just like my recognizing my desire to sleep or eat. No illusions there, obviously. If I don’t think of sleeping or eating, I won’t last long.
2 - The central nervous system function of creating pleasure and pain towards satisfying appetites is a billions-of-years-old reality of life. So, while the Beast may be a very narrow part of this ancient function, still no illusion there either.
Originally Posted by Treebeard
We endeavor to see where real interaction with physical reality ends and thoughts about reality begin. I’ve been surprised to learn how much of my daily experience is just my thoughts about things.
AVRT seems to emphasize that addiction is a voice in the mind trying to BS you into thinking it’s something real, and therefore has power over you. But it doesn’t, so long as you see clearly that it’s only a thought.
It’s exciting to see my efforts in maintaining sobriety as another part of my daily spiritual practice.
What is missing here so far is what practicing the Technique of Addictive Voice Recognition very quickly and logically leads an addicted person to understand - and that is what the name of this subforum is - Permanent Abstinence.
The very popular illusion that an addicted person cannot make the decision “I will never drink again.” is at the core of what is called the American Addiction Treatment Tragedy.
It is also an illusion that swallowing/injecting alcohol/drugs happens as spontaneously as scratching an itch or taking a breath of air.
Is it an illusion that an addicted person can quickly reach the point at which they do not need to expend “effort in maintaining sobriety”?