A Letter to Neale: Does 'awakening' end an addiction?

Reader Question:

Dear Neale...Some of us have reached that inner self realization that we are light bringers to this planet, but we are not able to stop our own body/mind/spirit conflicts. For example, addictions (in my case binge eating), and there is eagerness to be one's inner self, but one is constantly blocked by this imbalance. Do you have any reflections on how to approach this issue of awakening vs mind/body/spirit integration, and does it mean that to be completely awakened one has to overcome mind/body imbalances, such as addictions?

Thanks, Marilyn.

Neale Responds

Marilyn...I see your question the other way around. It is not that one "has to overcome" all mind/body imbalances, such as addictions, to achieve what you call "integration" -- it is the reverse. When one achieves integration (awakening, higher consciousness, enlightenment) one automatically experiences balance in all areas, and the imbalance of addictions disappears by itself.

For instance...think of it this way: When you were a small child, you may very well have "taken" someone else's candy...or maybe grabbed your sibling's toy. ("I had it first!", "NO, I had it first!", etc.) Yet now that you are grown, you would never think of "stealing candy from a baby" or taking someone else's stuff because "you had it first." AND, what's more, you never consciously chose to stop this behavior. You just DID....automatically. You simply sloughed off those childish behaviors.

The same thing happens when you achieve enlightenment.

You will know when you have fully "integrated" the truth of Who You Are when your addictions simply disappear. Yet they don't have to be "disappeared" in order for you to achieve integration. You can achieve integration on a moment's notice. With the snap of a finger. Whether you are then addicted to something or not.

Yet as soon as you achieve integration, the addiction will end. My own experience has been that I move in and out of "integration." Or, if you please, in and out of "awareness" or "enlightenment." As I have often said, "Enlightenment is not like getting your tonsils out. It is not a one-time thing; something that 'happens' and then it's done. Enlightenment is a moment-to-moment experience, to be achieved over and over again in each golden moment of Now. When we string a whole bunch of those moments together, we are said to have reached Mastery."

Got it? Now, if you do not want to continue binging on food, stop binging on food. Just stop it. I stopped my smoking habit (a tough one to tackle) in one day, and never lifted another cigarette to my mouth (after smoking a pack and a half a day). That was 30 years ago.

I'm not saying that ending an addiction is easy, but I do know that it can be done.

Sending God's Pure Love to you all ways,