distilled spirit

d i s t i l l e d s p i r i t

“Break the wineglass and fall towards

the glassblower’s breath.”

Jelaluddin Rumi

Addiction is desire.Desire for more.

No bounds.No boundaries.

Enough is nothing.Nothing is enough.

Reflect on the power of desire:

it contains within it

the potential for

the greatest creation

or total destruction.

Addiction numbs the senses,

confuses awareness,

hides us from the great stories

and caricatures spirituality.

Addiction is unreality

operating as an illusory reality

in an uncomprehending world.

When mind and mood are altered

everything changes

and becomes other than what it is.

Nobody understands –

neither the experiencer or the onlooker.

Addicts treat life as an experiment – searching for the perfect chemical balance.

False experiment.False hypothesis.Fruitless search.

Alchemy gone wrong.

Every drop drunk,

every ‘taste’ experienced,

becomes an ever more desperate search

for the ‘right’ prescription –

the addict dressed as scientist and doctor,

wrapped in a philosopher’s cloak

and disguised by an executioner’s mask.

AddictionGriefLoss

ChangeDepression

Control

all constitute symptoms of SOCIETY – AS – BODY.

Each addictive event, feeling, mood and state is experienced by the

society that CREATES ITS ADDICTS.Society, like the addict, looks out

and says, ‘Ha! They are the problem.’

They cannot see themselvespointing at the mirror.

Addicts are the modern scapegoats-

saddled with everyone else’s sins

and driven into the wilderness-

the modern jail.

What is the true value of a mindif its only desire is to desirethat which is destroying it?

Addictions only do dealsthat allow them to keep on keeping on.

There is no deal except continued use.

Bargaining is not an option

in this MARKET DRIVEN WORLD.

Attempt to change any habit –physical, psychological or emotional –and the attempt will create discomfort.

Some people need a guaranteethat a change will:

a.Be easy.b.Lead to wealth and riches.

No such luck.

acceptance

avoidanceawareness

admissionambivalence

Standing still – stasis – means one will always return to the original state.

Dynamism is critical for growth.

Habit is the enemy of change

when change is the only real option-

unless you count death, insanity or prison.

Life is uncertain.

The desire for certainty cripples

the capacity to act.

Intelligence or stupidity

are no protection

against addictive processes.

Don’t think for a minute you can think your way out of this problem.

It is easy to confuseadrenaline driven behaviour

with creative energy-

and yet they are opposites in effect.

Loss is change.Change is loss.

Loss is grief.Life is loss and change

Life is grieving.Grieving is life.

No grief – no life.

Grieving gives us a direct connectionwith our soul.

Each individual carries within them

the molecule of perfection.

It simply needs to be brought to

consciousness

and then

recreated in action.

ParadoxTension

andNOT KNOWING

are the alchemy of growth.

“I do not trust a man who thinks with the mind alone.

I want a man who thinkswith the marrowbone.”

from William Butler Yeats

words and concept:David Chaloner

presentation:David Brown

music:Johann Sebastian Bach

Concerto in A Minor for Violin©Amraco inc.1988