[Advaita-l] Addiction/Attachment

[nanda chandran]

>What is the difference between addiction and attachment?

i think the difference between the above is only marginal.

a person living a normal life as we know it, attached to his family, 
position, pasttimes etc, might consider a person overly attached to 
something like drugs etc as an addict.

but for a jnaani even the normal person's "attachments" might be considered 
as an addiction.

we think that a person addicted to drugs suffers. a jnaani might think that 
we suffer because we're addicted to samsaara.

>Can a realized
>being have addictions? Suppose some one is a smoker and that person is
>also a disciple of the way. If that person becomes liberated in this
>lifetime, what becomes of his addiction to smoking? Is he still attached
>to smoking?

a realized being is somebody who's a thing in itself. consciousness as as 
the normal person knows it is only through our psycho/physical/sensual 
faculties. we're conscious through our body/mind/senses etc. but nobody 
knows of consciousness in itself. a jnaani is that - he is consciousness in 
itself - non-dual consciousness.

and all addictions/attachments are only in relation to the body/mind/senses. 
in contrast non-dual consciousness by definition has no other to attach 
itself to.

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