The Psychology of Addiction! Spirituality

 The Psychology of Addiction! Spirituality

On the psychology of “addiction”!
From a spiritual perspective, there are many different types of addiction, but here I will speak about addiction in terms of psychology.

I myself am a smoker, and cigarettes, through the nicotine they contain, act on the brain and thus easily manifest as “addiction.”

Psychological addiction also triggers chemical effects in the brain, but here I am referring to it as a psychological matter.

In the past, I myself had a period when I was somewhat hooked on horse racing.

The Psychology of Addiction! Spirituality

It was in local horse racing, where there was always one horse that consistently pulled far ahead of the others, and I became deeply absorbed in cheering for it.

That horse eventually advanced to the central racing circuit, but when it actually ran, it was left far behind by the other horses and finished last.

At that moment, I woke up to reality, and from then on I stopped betting on horse racing.

Because of this personal experience, I can also understand, at least to some extent, the feelings of those who become engrossed in horse racing or fall into “addiction.”

The psychology of addiction, the pleasure principle, and spirituality

The psychology of addiction, the pleasure principle, and spirituality

On the psychology of “addiction,” seen through the lens of the “pleasure principle” and from a spiritual perspective, it could be said that everyone carries some form of addiction.

The psychologist Freud proposed that whether a person eats, sleeps, or relieves themselves, there is always some degree of “pleasure” involved, and that human beings are creatures who seek “pleasure”—this is what he called the pleasure principle.

In an extreme sense, one could even say that “a sense of existence” = “pleasure.” When a person feels happiness, they also feel both a strong sense of existence and a strong sense of pleasure.

Not being able to feel one’s “existence” is not just about the absence of that feeling. The body and mind constantly influence one another, and when this connection falters, “stress” can easily arise as if one’s life itself were under threat.

The stress response places a person in a state where they must either “fight” or “flee” from the source of stress. Either way, energy is required, and in this process, the mind and body also generate energy.

In other words, the psychology of addiction is essentially the psychology of seeking pleasure, and in doing so, it often manifests as a way of seeking one’s own “sense of existence.”

Furthermore, in people who have few hobbies or interests, the lack of a felt sense of existence can lead them to seek that missing sense through addictive behaviors.

The psychology of “addiction,” “spirituality,” and “spirituality”

The psychology of “addiction,” “spirituality,” and “spirituality”

On the psychology of addiction, seen through “spiritual growth” and the lens of “soul development,” the following perspective can be raised.

As I have often mentioned in this blog, the growth of knowledge is built on each individual “realization,” and likewise, the growth of the heart—what we call the growth of spiritual rank (reikaku)—is also formed through one realization after another arising from within.

When one’s spiritual rank rises, their existential presence in the spiritual sense grows stronger. Their creative power to fulfill the hearts of others also increases, and with more frequent realizations, their perspective naturally broadens. In essence, this is not a difficult concept—it is about becoming a “spiritual adult.”

By contrast, when one’s spiritual rank is low, their presence is weak. They tend to prioritize the desire to satisfy their own heart over fulfilling the hearts of others. With fewer realizations, their perspective becomes narrower. This, too, is not a difficult concept—it is simply the condition of being a “spiritual child.”

A low spiritual rank weakens one’s existential presence, makes them more susceptible to stress, and the energy of seeking “a sense of existence” can turn into the pursuit of pleasure—manifesting as addiction.

While this is not an absolute rule, it is often the case that people with lower spiritual rank are more prone to addictive tendencies.

At the same time, as Freud pointed out with his theory of the “pleasure principle,” human beings are creatures that inevitably seek pleasure. In that sense, each person lives with some form of “addiction,” broadly defined.

The world itself is sustained by balance, and when balance collapses, destruction follows. From a spiritual perspective, this imbalance is what gives rise to the darker side of addiction.

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