the ten perfections and addiction recovery

[cattasalla]

The Ten Pāramīs or "Perfections" in Theravāda Buddhism are ten qualities that a person can cultivate in their lives to bring them in harmony with the Dhamma. They support practice, and are themselves practices. They are: dāna (generosity), sīla (ethics or morality), nekkhamma (renunciation), paññā (wisdom or discernment), viriya (energy, effort, zeal, perseverance), khanti (patience or endurance), sacca (truthfulness or honesty), adhiṭṭhāna (resolve), mettā (loving-kindness), and upekkhā (equanimity). In meditation a few days ago, one of the trains of thought distracting me from my breath that I had to abandon in order to bring attention back to the breath was how to relate the pāramīs to recovery from addiction and substance abuse. It was the sort of train of thought that I promised myself I’d come back to after sitting practice to make it easier to abandon, so here I am!

1. Dāna, generosity. “Generosity” is so often interpreted as being generous to others, as giving freely without expectation for reward (even appreciation from the recipient). And while it encompasses those things, it can also be taken to mean generosity towards oneself. That is, doing good, healthy things for oneself. Too often we neglect our own health, even when we’re being generous to others. Our own lives deserve that same generosity. And abstention from substance abuse, and recovery from addition, these are good things to do for oneself.
   
   
2. Sīla, morality. “Morality” or “ethics” might not be the best translations for sīla. Those words have certain connotations in Western culture, from the idea of obedience to a commandment delivered by a supernatural being whom one is trying to please, to the idea of a reasoned system of philosophy. In Buddhism, sīla (like everything else) is viewed more as a training in a skill meant to bring you towards the goal of liberation from stress and suffering (dukkha). Doing things that harm yourself or others impedes progress towards that goal. The language of ethics in Buddhism is often “skillful” vs “unskillful.” The Buddha gave us five basic training rules to establish a baseline of ethical conduct upon which to build our practice. They are, in essence: no killing, no stealing, no use of sexuality in harmful ways, no lying, and no intoxicants. So the connection to recovery is very obvious! The fifth precept is, explicitly, “I undertake the rule of training to refrain from intoxicants which create the condition of heedlessness.”
   
   
3. Nekkhamma, renunciation. I find this one interesting, because it comes from the verb nikkhamma, which means “to depart.” When the Buddha spoke of entering into the practice, he spoke of “going forth” or departing from worldly life. Renunciation is the abandoning of sensual pleasure, and the departure from a world centered around acquiring sensual pleasure. The goal of Buddhism is liberation from stress and suffering, and one major source of stress and suffering is a clinging desire for sensual pleasures. The connection to recovery is straightforward: The desire for the sensual pleasure of intoxication drives us toward it. We need restraint and abandonment to be free of it.
   
   
4. Paññā, wisdom. This term refers to a couple of different things, but in general means clearly seeing reality for what it is. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu refers to wisdom as “doing things you don’t want to do that are good for you and not doing things you want to do that are bad for you.” It is being able to discern the ultimate outcome of activities, and whether they will be harmful, and contribute to constriction and bondage, or be helpful, and contribute to expansion and release. It is so easy for someone drawn to intoxication to see only the pleasurable sides, and to invent excuses as to why the intoxication is worth pursuing. Wisdom lies in realizing that those are mere rationalizations, and the reality is that intoxication is harmful, especially for an addict. In seeing clearly that it is harmful. And thus avoiding it.
   
   
5. Viriya, energy. Buddhism is not like other religions in which you simply have to believe something and you’ve reached the goal. Buddhism is a practice. It’s not something you believe, it’s something you do. And so it takes constant effort. Constant energy. Perseverance. Similarly, people who have strong desires to drink, or who know that if they get started they’re not going to stop, need to exercise constant vigilance and restraint, which takes energy and effort.
   
   
6. Khanti, patience. This is a virtue of endurance. The key to resisting a craving is staying still and not acting on it. But it is important not to repress the craving. That just builds an aversion, and ultimately gives it more power. The craving should be experienced. A craving is a multifaceted, complex experience, just like an emotion. One can tune into one’s body, and feel where the craving exists. Is it in the chest? The arms? The hands? The waist? There are parts of the body that may have sensations of tingling or energy or warmth, or that may suddenly feel like moving. Cravings trigger images (although it might be best not to dwell on these, as sometimes they can increase craving). Most difficult are the thoughts craving creates. In my experience, these come in two main forms: Strategies and rationalizations. Strategies are simply trying to figure out how to satisfy the craving. What steps will be taken in order to acquire whatever it is that is being sought. Rationalizations are more insidious, and for me more difficult, because strategies can simply be ignored or not acted upon. Once one has decided on abstention, the craving will do its best to generate excuses, series of thoughts, reasons, all designed to overcome the resolve for abstention. Instead of being swept away by these rationalizations, one may patiently watch them. Watch as they are constructed by the craving. Don’t even try to argue with them. Just watch them, and knowing that they are simply fabrications of a craving makes them hollow.
   
   
7. Sacca, honesty. Lying is such a fundamental part of addiction. Not just lying to others, although that can happen, but lying to oneself. Lying to oneself about whether or not one even has a problem, lying to oneself about how bad that problem is, lying to oneself about what the motivations to consume the intoxicant are. Thus, honesty in a quality essential for overcoming addiction. And it can require courage to face what is scary. Lying can be a way to conceal frightful realities, to hide things from oneself. This must be confronted and accepted.
   
   
8. Adiṭṭhāna, resolve. This is setting an resolution, and resolving to do it. Acting with intention towards an intention. In the case of sobriety, the connection is clear: The resolve is to abstain from intoxicants. Resolve requires energy and effort and perseverance, wisdom to see what helps and what doesn’t, patience to get through the cravings, the willingness to step back and remind yourself that you don’t want the intoxicant.
   
   
9. Mettā, loving-kindness. This word derives from the same root as “friend” (mitta). It’s sort of a friendliness that you extend to all beings, but not a surface friendliness, like simply being cordial, but a kindness that springs from the heart. It is one of the “divine abodes,” and is indeed the base from which the others spring. With a baseline of loving-kindness, one develops compassion for the suffering of others, and rejoices in the joy on others, and this develops into a calm abiding, an expansive love that embraces all, even those that do harm. To abstain from intoxicants is an act of kindness for oneself. Committing this act of kindness requires generosity towards oneself. While intoxicated, our actions often harm others, so in that sense, abstention is also an act of kindness for others.
   
   
10. Upekkhā, equanimity. This is even-mindedness. It is sometimes framed as the way a parent loves all of their children equally, no matter what they do. This is a state of being unmoved by pleasure or pain or desire or fear or anger, of simply accepting everything as it is and not feeling as though one needs to do anything in response to anything. It is a peaceful state. And it is one that needs to be cultivated in the face of the cravings to consume an intoxicants, and if one is using an intoxicant to escape from some painful reality, what is needed to face that pain without being moved.