In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts (addiction)

Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; Dr. Gabor Maté (drgabormate.com)

Hungry Ghost Realm next to humans as depicted in ancient art (Buddhism.about.com).

Dr. Gabor Maté, author of the Buddhist inspired In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction, talks about the root causes of addiction and how to deal with them. If no substance is addictive in and of itself (not even crack, heroin, Oxycontin, or Vicodin), and no substance is or else everyone who took it would become addicted, why do we become addicted? We certainly do become addicted not only to substances like white sugar and intoxicating chemicals but to self-soothing behaviors, dysfunctional ways of thinking, and our neuroses and bad habits (masturbation, sex, food abuse, etc.) The reason, Dr. Maté explains, is because early childhood trauma makes us susceptible to addiction. The combination leads us into the tormented Realm of Hungry Ghosts, the Peta Loka in Buddhist terms. This talk is taken from the Q&A portion of TJ Dawe's show, "Medicine."

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