The problem with desire

[Ziggy_wolf]

I have some, urges, or rather addictiouns, I am struggeling with.
While some of theese urges may even be benicifial to my health, others may indeed kill me. The main reason for wanting to controll or reduce them is the fact that they are getting in the way of my life and, ruining it.
I cannot concentrate, the urges wheter they be drugs or something else. Always seem to lurk at the back of my mind until they become unbarable and I simply give in. I`m tired of it, always looking for the next thing, never satisfied with what I have. Now this may be a good thing if I can only manage to focous that energy on my goals instead of fleating distractions that get in my way. I just want to be free of them, free of the whole vicious cycle. So does anybody have any tips, advice, anything at all, that may help, I`m desperate.

[Vir Sapiens]

Yes. Use the will you should have been cultivating to overcome your temporary distractions and desires. The cornerstone of all magical workings is an iron will that is focused solely upon whatever magical working you decide to undertake. It sounds like you are trying to walk before you can crawl. Luckily you have been given a golden opportunity to hone your will. Do not try to focus on anything more grand than willfully denying your desires as they present themselves. Want to smoke a joint really bad? Don't. Deliberately think of something else. Cigarette? Quit today cold turkey and do not smoke. The will of a successful practitioner does not compromise. There is no room for variance or doubt. If you cannot overcome even these simple distractions then you will likely find that you won't be successful in your workings ever and will not advance much beyond your curiosity.

[Ziggy_wolf]

I have reached a certain level of awareness, of ditatchment of the physical world.
I do not require, any medication, If I have a head ache or other minor alement, I need only realize that it is only in my physical body and therefore not truly a part of myself since I myself am nothing but experiance, therefore I can choose not to experiance it. I can focous my energy to heal others minor alements.
Yet, as you say I have tried to run before I could walk.
I know, that reality (or our perseption of it wich makes up reality) can be bent to our will.

I had an abusive teacher once. I used something called the hanging of the burning voodo doll ritual. (wich I will not disclose even to save my own life) The next day he was diagnosed with cronic spinal dissalignment and his mother died the same night. Even though the teacher was abusive, I regret my actions deeply.
Had I met him to day I would thank him, for showing me what it means to suffer.
What it means to stribe to over come this suffering, and for making me stronger.
So therefore it is dangerous, to try to grasp powers wich one is unable to comprehend the ramifications of. This is also why I belive I was being held back, so I would not harm myself or others.

I just need to foucus on wich experiance I wish t have.
Or as James Allen said, To deny all that is harmfull, or a distraction and to attract all that is good. But still denying theese distractions takes a tremendus effort. I hope by repitition and brute force of will I will be more capable of staying focused on my goals. I know that I have had this ability, and the ability to manipulate reality itself, for it is only a matter of focusing ones experiance. All this I have alreaddy known I just need to remember, as I have remembered how to walk, or how to drive a car.

Oh, by the way I have also quit smoking.

[Vir Sapiens]

Good keep at it. I wish I had more pertinent advice to give, but this is how it is, at least in my experience. Once you can control your desires you can indulge in them all you like, with a few admonitions about entheogens and sex, but until then it is important that you abstain by force of will and focus only on the path you are walking.

[The Djinn]

I had an abusive teacher once. I used something called the hanging of the burning voodo doll ritual. (wich I will not disclose even to save my own life) The next day he was diagnosed with cronic spinal dissalignment and his mother died the same night. Even though the teacher was abusive, I regret my actions deeply.

Spells with negative intentions are almost always regretted. Sometimes I've noticed that effects can seem to manifest without even performing a ritualized spell if my anger and hatred are strong enough.

[Vir Sapiens]

I personally think that is dependent upon path and belief of the individual. I've done things that would be considered very negative, motivated by anger and hate, which are powerful emotional backings for a working. I don't regret any of them. I am of the opinion that if one doesn't give in to their darker desires and motivations then eventually you become consumed by them. Balance is important. Once can go too far either way. Only working with benign intentions makes one weak and unable to deal with their darker impulses, even when such impulses are necessary or even vital. Likewise too much of the dark and one begins to forget what it feels like to work in the light. Balance in all things and regret nothing, it's the single most useless emotion humanity ever developed. It serves no purpose other than to drag you down because of an event that you cannot change.

[Ziggy_wolf]

You`re right regret is a useless emotion. One can stray to far in either direction, to far towards evil and it will consume you, to far towards good and you leave you voulnerable. Haveing desires to can be beneficial, but it a matter of controling them and making them work for you or letting them controll you.

[Apple]

Yes. Use the will you should have been cultivating to overcome your temporary distractions and desires. The cornerstone of all magical workings is an iron will that is focused solely upon whatever magical working you decide to undertake.

I personally think the whole 'will' a little misunderstood and overrated, sort of like the other one, karma. But thats just my opinion, maybe some others might agree, or not. There is another catch all called surrender, that i feel is just as important.
Sometimes addiction is the manifestation of resistence, in fact i would say it is most of the time. Not to say that is good or bad, it just is. We go through the pain and let ourselves die off more or less as we become ready. Running toward the pain however will speed up the regeneration process of enlightenment. In other words.... stay sober and cry in the bathtub instead... if spiritual growth is what your after primarily.

[Apple]

Hello,,,,,,, i agree with you,,,,,,Once you can control your desires you can indulge in them all you like, with a few admonitions about entheogens and sex, but until then it is important that you abstain by force of will and focus only on the path you are walking.thank's lot...........
I'm pretty much down with that, Nothing wrong with boring the diviners with a little meta/physical masterbation, were the ones with a pulse anyway

[VII_Sins]

One aspect to focus on isn't necessarily forcing yourself to abstain, however redirecting it towards another path. Find a way to alternate your desires in a fashion that helps, and not hinders. Of course it is always easier said than done, however it is an option to think upon.

- Amar

[S0urceror]

I seperate Desire from addiction. Addiction is a craving of the body, which interferes with my idealistic desires.

[Cartoon Character]

There is a difference between addiction and desire. From another perspective, the removal of desire is not very practical in the human sense, as the "desire" to be rid of all desire is also a desire. Some of our desires have kept us alive, and are therefore necessary while we are living in the world. Daoists speak of being "untouched by the dusts of the mundane world", which is similar to the Buddhist notion of "being in this world but not of it." Both of these are easily misconstrued, and the matter is not helped by the influence of Social Mind and most organized systems of religion. A complete lack of desire is also quite disempowering, and it is addiction/obsession that we should seek to subjugate.

[KashakuTatsu]

There is also a large diverence between craving and addiction. I have times where things are craved and depending on if they are healthy for me (within my short list of foods that won't send me to the er) I'll decide to ignore or indulge with no consequence either way. Physical cravings that are accompanied with pain, etc. if they are not indulged are the addictions. Indulging the cravings (be they addictions or just temporary cravings) in small amounts will most often rid it from your mind. ex: Certain weeks all I can think about is chocolate. I've gone as far to zone out and buy it without conscious thought. It may seem I'm addicted to it by that behaviour, but once curse week is gone the need goes away. I also can alleviate the craving by consuming something else that has the nutrients my body needs at the time. I can also crave to eat/drink blood in vast quantities in an addiction like fashion during that week. An iron and iodine pill will take care of that craving if I can't make blood stew atm.

Desires being more mentally driven, things we want, are helpful in pushing us to move forward. My desire to be a known artist keeps me from just accepting my current job and do nothing with the art. I continue to get better and try to get into circles that will help me get to where I desire to be. If I didn't desire to be more then my days would be pretty dull.

[devakxes]

Sometimes overindulgence will cause them to become listless and kill desire of them. That may be dangerous though. The other way would be to replace the addiction/obsession with something else... say your personal improvement.

[Cartoon Character]

Sometimes overindulgence will cause them to become listless and kill desire of them. That may be dangerous though. The other way would be to replace the addiction/obsession with something else... say your personal improvement.

In the folk novel "Seven Taoist Masters", one of the seven disciples needs to overcome his sex addiction in order to attain Dao and become an Immortal. So, he decides to live in a brothel as a means of accomplishing this. This is basically a "sink or swim" means of dealing with the problem, but can take care of it once and for all. On the other hand, since one is confronting the issue directly, the results can be not so good. Many times, our methods of clearing up our issues can make us feel good in the short term, but cause the issues to re-emerge down the road with a renewed strength.

[Cartoon Character]

Yes. Iza, you are correct. In reality, we can only do it for ourselves, and the reliance on other people for this only prolongs the matter and can make it worse.

[devakxes]

There is also the concept of exorcism.
You'd need an intensly emotional state of being, then you would have to symbolically rid yourself of your addictions. After that, you would just have to keep aware and not give yourself to them until they fade.

And I agree, Ghost of Shaolin and Iza. Thus why I said it is dangerous. The mind also has this means of justifying itself. So we may end up seeing that we have to do something like end an addiction but then we think ''my life is too stressful and I need this to maintain sanity'' or some other excuse. Some people might think ''I am going to go and overindulge and end this addiction'' when really it is just an excuse to overindulge and keep the addiction.

[Cartoon Character]

Yep. Another shortcoming of "desire" is that it inhibits intuition.