No, tobacco cannot stop you from beginning your spiritual awakening. So, attain Self-Realization! It will in fact open up the right way to stop your intake of tobacco. When you’ve overcome your habit of smoking, you will enjoy pursuing the goal of ultimate liberation, without any distractions, having your total focus on it!
Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, an enlightened being, has said, ‘To realise that an addiction is bothering me in reaching my goal or is making me completely dependent, in itself is a remarkable thing.’
Once we recognise that I have become addicted to tobacco and that’s a problem, our next step would naturally be to go about hunting for a solution, which can help us become free from this addiction. But in an attempt to do so, we often adopt ways that try to curb our bad habit with force. As a result, later when our mind starts screaming to show its revolt, we are forced to give in to what the mind is saying. For example, by trying to control the mind when it feels an urgent urge to smoke, often leads to one smoking double the amount, after some time; and gradually, over time, one ends up becoming a chain smoker. So, this certainly is not the right way!
Let’s take a scientific approach instead.
Four steps to overcome an addiction:
Here’s a practical four-step solution described below, that works at the subtlest level of the mind, to get rid of any addiction or vice from its roots. This is one of the best methods, suggested by the enlightened being, tried and tested by thousands of human beings, and thus guaranteeing a positive result to all those who have an earnest will to follow it right.
DETERMINE - Have a strong opinion that tobacco is not a right thing to consume.
ANALYSE - The next step is to analyse the reasons why tobacco is wrong. Create a list of the ill-effects of smoking, in every way. This list will highlight the dangerous effects of smoking which gives our mind a clear understanding of ‘how smoking is actually harmful to me, my whole wellbeing, and to the well-being of all those around me.’ We must also analyze the benefits of not smoking. This entire process is very important as it helps counter our mind’s thoughts that have been in favour of smoking so far.
PRATIKRAMAN - Asking for forgiveness (from whichever God we follow) is called Pratikraman. This is a proven scientific weapon that cuts the veils of any kind of addiction. When you ask for forgiveness with a true heart, it implies that you are against that bad habit and thereby reverses all the wrong opinions that have been in favour of smoking. Also, Pratikraman helps calm the intellect by getting rid of all our opinions that were otherwise promoting the habit of smoking and.
NEVER PROTECT - When someone points out our mistake or complains about how bad our addiction is, we should never protect it. Our defensive answers like “What is wrong with tobacco? I smoke just 1 cigar? I used to smoke 10 cigars a day. Now I just have one” should be avoided. When we say ‘what is wrong with it?’, it reinforces the bad habit, and consequently, we will never end up quit smoking. So, instead of protecting our mistake, we will now genuinely accept our fault when someone points it out to us. In this way, we will gradually come out of our addiction.
Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, no matter how strong one’s addiction may be, but with a strong determination, with the right understanding, by asking for forgiveness for our fault, and never protecting the bad habit that we are wanting to quit, one will surely overcome that habit or fault forever.
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Ambalal M. Patel was a civil contractor by profession. In June 1958, spontaneous Self-Realization occurred within Ambalal M. Patel. From this point on, Ambalal became a Gnani Purush, and the Lord that manifest within him became known as Dada Bhagwan. A Gnani Purush is One who has realized the Self and is able help others do the same. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan used to go from town to town and country-to-country to give satsang (spiritual discourse) and impart the knowledge of the Self, as well as knowledge of harmonious worldly interactions to everyone who came to meet him. This spiritual science, known as Akram Vignan, is the step-less path to Self-realization.