We must picture hell as a state where everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where everyone has a grievance, and where everyone lives with the deadly serious passions of envy, self-importance, and resentment. ( C.S. Lewis, 'The Screwtape Letters')
Anyone who had an addiction knows that in the usage phase the neural activity gets hyperactive (or pacified like in the case of alcohol or sleeping pills for example) but afterwards the neural network loses its potency. Substance abuse over decades makes the brain a vegetable as we all know.
J. Krishnamurti poses another risk factor for the brain, the absorption with self along the lines of C. S. Lewis’ quote. Thinking about how we might advance or regress in the future or ruminating about our mistakes in the past or how we might have fixed things differently has the same impact on our brain cells as substance abuse.
Living in the now is the body building of our brains. Life as is flows through us and keeps the brain cells vibrating in the serene energy of the now. As such, the spiritual quest to avoid compulsive self ruminating is the same as going to the gym for the brain. We see the truth when we see aging spiritual teachers. Their mind is potent just as the day when realization struck.
#spirituality #meditation #addiction #compulsivethinking #cslewis
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