Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

116 G. Rita Dudley-Grant
individual. In order to understand the role that Buddhism can play in addiction theory
and recovery, it is necessary to understand the Buddhist formulation of substance
abuse and addiction as part of the larger problem of craving (Metzner, 1996).
Buddhist Theories of Addiction
From a Buddhist perspective, inherent in human nature is desire, and it is
fixation on this desire, which forms the psychical basis for addictions.
Specifically, as previously noted, Ralph Metzner (1996) has shown the Buddhist
concepts of the six worlds of consciousness and reality and the twelve fold chain
of interdependent origination can serve as a model for understanding the addictive
process. “... [I]n an addictive process, the individual does not cycle through
the whole process moving through desire and craving to birth and becoming.
Rather the addict gets fixated and continually repeats the behavior that satisfies
the craving, looping back around the cycle again and again instead of going on to
the next event, which might bring new and different sources of satisfaction” (p.
165). The concept of dependent origination is central to an understanding of
Buddhist doctrine. It speaks to the interdependence of all things positing that
nothing can exist outside of its relationship with another. All phenomena exist or
occur solely through their relationship with other beings and phenomenon. In the
twelve-fold chain, all phenomena, from birth and death to upadana or appetitive
behavior and sensation seeking, arise because of their relationship to each other.
This movement through the twelve steps of the chain represents the human experience.
In healthy functioning one moves from the less developed events, such as
avidya, or ignorance, blindness or unconsciousness, to the more creative conception
and birth. The point of fixation for the addict then is the re-experiencing of
the satiation of craving. Rather than the mind being able to regenerate new interpretations
and representations, hence developing new experiences of birth and
becoming, the addict cycles back through the same experience, stultifying
growth, perception and meaning.
In order to understand self-control and the addictive process within Nichiren’s
Buddhism, one must understand the formulation of the Ten Worlds, (Soka Gakkai,
1998). The previously mentioned doctrine of ichinen sanzen or three thousand
realms within a single life moment contains the concept of the Ten Worlds. These
worlds are conditions or states of life which all persons cycle through on a continuous
basis. The ten worlds are comprised of the six lower worlds including hell,
hunger, animality, anger, tranquility and rapture. From the Nichiren Buddhist perspective,
the addict is caught in the four lower worlds of Hell, Hunger, Animality,
and Anger. Hell is a state of ultimate negativity and destructiveness often characterized
by deep depression and feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and worthlessness.
The individual is unempowered, but rather feels trapped in his life, with