Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: Ode to Heroin!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Ode to Heroin! - A Buddhist Solution

I. Rony, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly

Heroin used to be chic (lelaid). Thx, Big Pharma!

Oh, Heroin, you take all my pain away (temporarily).

And no matter what they say ordinarily,

I won't support our invasion of Afghan fields.

So I'm turning to fentanyl and Vicodin...

And any synthetic painkiller

My doctor can prescribe

Because roses are maroon

Orchids rainbow spread,

I know I'm doomed;

I'm so Hoffmanesque.

Bulging opium poppy pods? No, it's the "Buddha Belly plant," Jatropha podagrica, which grows from the bottleplant shrub (1guy2be/flickr.com)

A Buddhist solution?

Wisdom Quarterly

Levine's new book on recovery

Is there a "Buddhist" solution? Kevin Griffin, author of One Breath at a Time and A Burning Desire) says yes! Noah Levine and others agree. Siddhartha was born in Afghanistan, according to maverick historian Ranajit Pal, Ph.D. Poppies must have grown there at the time. And what is "addiction" but craving, the curable source of suffering? Where there is craving, there is also likely to be aversion, usually manifesting as fear: fear of pain, aversion to pain. And without exception, whenever craving or aversion are present, each is supported by the true cause and condition of all suffering, disappointment, and woe: ignorance. The solution? Enlightenment.

Chic Phillip Seymour Hoffman (cracked.com)

Easier said than done. How did the drugs and drink help your quest for awakening? Even people who drop LSD, DMT, GHB, E, and/or 'shrooms do NOT suddenly awaken to the liberating-truth. Which is odd, isn't it? One would think Space Cadets would because they're so far out, so "beyond the beyond" (Heart Sutra). The real "ambrosia," the nectar of the divine, is deathlessness, a synonym for nirvana. See, getting "high" is a kind of delusion, alcohol a "liquid ignorance," the urge to get stoned or s-faced a dream. We're already in a dream (maya)! Maybe "mind-expanding" (entheogenic) substances can help. But the best "drugs" of all are endogenous, that is, internally-manufactured by these great bodies. So stop taking artificial, external drugs. And take care of your pineal gland. How? For one thing, avoid pharmaceuticals like Prozac.

Death of a Drug Addict

A Martinez and Alex Cohen, Take Two, scpr.org

The death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman of an apparent drug overdose was a shock to almost everyone who heard the news. Hoffman, it has been widely reported, had over two decades of sobriety under his belt before relapsing into addiction last year. Journalist Seth Mnookin, co-director of MIT's Graduate Program in Science Writing and a recovering drug addict, joined "Take Two." He wrote about it in Slate.

AUDIO INVESTIGATION: Heroin's Resurgence

Salvation in a dirty spoon?

Take Two talks to author and LA Times reporter Sam Quinones about the resurgence of heroin in the US. More than 90% of opiate abusers are white and getting it delivered like pizza.

Authorities are still investigating the official cause of Phillip Seymour Hoffman's death, but the actor struggled with addiction, and investigators have confirmed the presence of heroin in his apartment.

It's a growing problem in this country, and heroin use here has doubled since 2007. According to the DEA, heroin seizures in New York State are up nearly 70 percent over the last four years. LISTEN