Kicking the habit.

In past years I have had the displeasure of being close to several people with addictions. I was there for the hundredth last cigarette, the endless stream of liquor, the ugly hangovers. I was begged to be an ethical watchman. It made me uncomfortable, and it broke my heart to see the people I loved suffer. But how can a conscience be forced upon anyone? To be sure, we all struggle with addictions in some form or another, often times without even being conscious of it.

When we look for things, seek alternatives, when we are unhappy where we are, perhaps it’s time for an intervention. In the excessive western world I think that a lot of unhappiness is rooted in simply too much. We don’t appreciate things because we have never had to work for them. And we are too far into it to gain perspective. We don’t know anything else.

Should I feel sorry for those who can’t stop gambling / smoking pot / meeting married people in motels on their lunch break ? I have always wondered if the idea of an ‘addictive personality’ is a true phenomena, or if people simply say that to take the problem out of their hands, to justify their habits. I’m not insensitive to people who struggle, and I don’t doubt for a second that it totally sucks to quit smoking. In fact, someone once told me that I was ‘just like them – easily addicted’. I disagreed with this person and I still do, but addiction is in the eye of the beholder. Where is the line between a bad habit and the point where we throw our arms up in frustration and say “‘I’m addicted! Rehab, here I come!” We can justify anything to ourselves. It’s easy to believe that one more time won’t hurt, or that we ‘deserve this’.

Many religions view the flaws in our behaviour as earthly distractions, external factors that sink in as we get caught up in daily life. Confucianism, the Chinese philosophy and religion, places an enormous emphasis on the infinite potential of human beings. Perfecting the self through values such as filial piety, compassion, humanness is entirely possible. But how?

Two Confucian philosophers, Hsun Tzu and Mencius, both agree on the possibility of human perfection, but also acknowledge the existence of evil within human life. Hsun Tzu believed that man is inherently wicked, but can use outside factors to cultivate inner goodness. Mencius believed that everything is complete in the self, and he who knows his own heart knows heaven. We have to look no further than our hearts the find righteousness.

Each individual is a government in miniature, ruled by the mind, informed by the faculties, and guided by a heavenly directive. This comparison serves to explain the integration of all things – the self, the universe, heaven and the infinite potential of human beings. In order to understand ‘the way’ (of the Tao – a concept used in Chinese philosophies like Taoism and Confucianism and to illustrate the true nature of the world. Often compared to water – silent yet strong, clear, neutral),
we must make our minds tranquil and empty.
In his teachings, Mencius uses the analogy of seeds to explain the susceptibility of humans to be led astray by earthly factors. If children act out, it isn’t because heaven has given them different natural ways, but because their minds have been inundated. Seeds are sown in the same soil and planted at the same time will grow and ripen similarly. But if they don’t turn out all the same, we would say it is due to the difference in the fertility of the soil, or amount of rain, or because they were tended differently – How are humans any different?

The oppositional teachings of Hsun Tzu provide a practical way of attaining self perfecting in the employing of outside sources. Gathering information and internalizing it can achieve perfection. His texts employ analogies of craftsmanship, putting forth the idea that it is up to each individual to hone themselves. Without teachers, humans could never escape their evil nature.

I find these Confucian ideas refreshing. Inherent or not, they assure us that we can aspire to greatness – we just need the will to do so. Earthly distractions are cloying, and whether or not you believe that goodness is in the heart, or the answer is out there somewhere, it is a challenge to penetrate the layers of unimportant yet consuming details of life on earth.