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[Music]

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As a medical doctor, I worked with some[br]very very addicted people people,

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people who use heroin,

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cocaine

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alcohol

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crystal meth

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and every drug known to man .

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And these people suffer:

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they lose their health

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they lose their beauty

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they lose their teeth

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they lose their wealth

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they lose human relationship

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and in the end they often lose their lives.

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And yet nothing can force them[br]to give up their addiction.

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The addictions are powerful

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and the question is why.

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If you want to understand addiction,

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you can't look at what's wrong with the addiction,

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you have to look at what's right about it.

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In other words, what is the person getting[br]from the addiction

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that otherwise they don't have.

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And what addicts get

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are relief from pain,[br]the sense of peace,

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a sense of control,[br]a sense of calmness

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very, very temporarily.

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And that's why[br]the real question in addiction is not

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why the addiction, but why the pain

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If you want to ask the question of[br]why people are in pain,

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you can't look at their genetics,

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you have to look at their lives.

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And in the case of[br]my highly addicted patients,

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it's very clear why they're in pain,

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because they've been abused[br]all their lives.

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They began life as abused children,

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physically abused, neglected,[br]sexually abused,

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abandoned over and over again.

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And that's why the pain.

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The human brain develops [br]in interaction with the environment.

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The kind of environment that a child has

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will actually shape the development[br]of the brain

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[Music]

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The Buddhists have this idea[br]of the hungry ghosts.

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The hungry ghosts are[br]creatures with large empty bellies

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and small scrawny necks[br]and tiny little mouths.

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So they can never get enough,

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they can never fill this emptiness[br]on the inside.

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And the addiction is all about

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trying to fill that emptiness[br]from the outside.

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[Music]

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From that perspective you can understand[br]that there's many many addictions

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Yes, there's the addiction to drugs

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but it is also the addiction[br]to consumerism,

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the addiction to sex,

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to the Internet,

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to food.

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For each person there is a different way[br]of filling the emptiness

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[Music]

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but the emptiness always goes back[br]to what we did the get

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when we were very small.

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[Music]

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Many of my patients were actually[br]First Nations Indian people

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and they are heavily addicted

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because their lands were[br]taken away from them

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and because they were killed and abused

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from generation to generation[br]and generation.

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If you can understand the suffering[br]of these native people

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and how that suffering makes them[br]seek relief from pain

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in their addictions,

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what about the people[br]who are perpetrating it?

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What are they addicted to?

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Well, they're addicted to power,

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they're addicted to wealth,

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they're addicted to acquisition.

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They want to make themselves bigger

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The addiction to power is always about

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the emptiness that you try and fill[br]from the outside.

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[Music]

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If you look at the story[br]about Jesus and Buddha,

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both of them were tempted by the devil.

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And one of the things that[br]the devil offers them

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is power.

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And they both say no

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because they have the power[br]inside of themselves,

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they don't need it from the outside.

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They don't want to control people,

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they want to teach people by example,[br]not through force-

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So they refuse power -

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Jesus says the kingdom of God is within,

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that the power is not[br]outside of yourself but inside

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And the Buddha says: [br]"Don't worship me,

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"find a lamp inside yourself

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"be a lamp unto yourselves,[br]find the light within"

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And so as we look at this difficult world,

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let's not look to the people in power[br]to change things

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because the people in power are very often[br]some of the emptiest people in the world.

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We have to find that light[br]within ourselves.

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We have to find the lightness[br]in humilitiy

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and in our own wisdom,

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in our own creativity.

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if we find that light within,

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if we find our own nature,

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then we'll be kinder to ourselves

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and we also be kinder to nature

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[Music]

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(We are social beings.)

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(When we feel disconnected[br]or alienated)

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(we experience pain.)

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(Addiction, depression, anger,[br]and violence)

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(are different ways we react to pain.)

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(To heal our society and our world)

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(we must heal the emotional wounds[br]at the roots of our pain.)

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(Support the creation[br]of other stories like this:)

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(https://www.patreon.com/sustainablehuman)

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(This video was produced[br]as a gift to humanity)

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(by Chris and Dawn Agnos.)