Ep 11 - Craving, Suffering, and Buddha: Kicking Addiction with a Side of Zen (and Coffee!) with Patrick Kearney
What I love about Buddhism is how it aligns with neuroscience (and how neuroscience proves that Buddhism is true). In this episode, I'm joined by Patrick Kearney. Patrick explains how the Buddha's teachings help us to understand and overcome addiction. He's particularly interested in the Buddha's original teachings before the invention of "Buddhism", and applying the Buddha's radical insights to our contemporary life. Patrick has practised mindfulness meditation since 1977 and spent several years as a Buddhist monk. A full-time mindfulness meditation teacher for over twenty years, Patrick conducts residential and online retreats, workshops, and seminars. For Patrick meditation as a physical practice that reconnects us with our senses and allows us to live life directly rather than through the cling wrap of our habitual thinking! In this episode, we discuss: Returning to the Buddha's original teachings before the invention of "Buddhism" Buddha's interest in human flourishing and asking, "How do we live well?" Having an addictive relationship is what the Buddha calls 'tanha', meaning thirst, clinging or craving (not good because it creates more pain) The four noble truths and the concept of dukkha (classically translated as 'suffering' but refers to all unsatisfactory experiences) Where there's addiction, there's craving; where there's craving, there's dukkha (suffering) The solution is to drop the craving because when the craving ceases, dukkha ceases... (easier said than done!) Patrick's past relationship with marijuana and coffee (he's not giving up coffee!) The simile of the second arrow to explain how we create more pain and suffering for ourselves Seeing Buddhism as a rational model for working with addiction and craving (once you understand the dynamics, you can do something about it!) How clinging to a sense of identity holds an addiction in place Why Buddha rejected fatalism (i.e., everything that happens is the will of God, a result of fate, or past causes) because if you believe any of them, you'll give up! Emotion as primary (we are not rational beings who feel, but feeling beings who reason) The more connected you are with your body, the better you can function; the more cut off you are, the less you can function (most of us have lost this skill!) The dangers of living in your head, how it's becoming more common and noticeably worse (probably all about the screens...) Addiction to thinking Meditation as a physical, not spiritual, practice Using meditation to live in the world more directly instead of using it to zone out and avoid unpleasant emotions Addiction is a habit, and habit is a choice, but it's so habitual we don't see it Going deeper into the mind, you see you have a choice, and freedom becomes real Our natural hesitation to meditate and dive into dukkha (our suffering) Why meditation is challenging when you're not living aligned to your values Mindfulness and seeing the results of your choices ('Oh, I thought this worked, but it doesn't!'). At the end of this podcast, we decided that Patrick, the Buddha, and I are all on a dukkha reduction project! We would love to know what stood out the most for you in this episode. Please feel free to contact either of us via the links below. Remember to rate the podcast on Spotify or leave a review on Apple Podcasts; your support will help us reach a wider audience and help more people. Connect with Patrick: Patrick Kearney Website Connect with Kerene: Website – Mindful at Work LinkedIn - Kerene Strochnetter Instagram – Kerene_strochnetter Facebook – Mindful at Work
