Five Possible Reasons To Go To Rehab

“All living entities are rotating throughout the universe, going sometimes up to the higher planetary systems and sometimes down to the lower planets. This is the material disease, which is known as pravritti-marga. When one becomes intelligent he takes to nivritti-marga, the path of liberation, and thus instead of rotating within this material world, he returns home, back to Godhead. This is necessary.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 6.1.2 Purport)

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1. Drug addiction

“It was terrible. What can I say? That was the culture. I could barely get through a show without indulging. The technicians had my stash ready for me, right on stage. No one noticed, but there I was, consuming away. The dependency became chemical, after a while. I needed help, and I needed it badly.”

2. Gambling problem

“I am ashamed to admit how much money I lost. I would look for any person, at all hours, to wager with me. I suddenly became interested in sports that no one has ever heard of. As long as someone was giving me odds, I was in. This practically destroyed my family life. The amount of debt we were in was like being consumed by the snow falling from an avalanche. Rehab was the last resort, but it certainly helped.”

3. Alcoholism

“Let me tell you, it is no picnic in there. They break you down on the first day. They take away all of your pretensions. There are no formalities. You get down to the real reason for the problem. For me, it was my inherent desire to please. I wanted to make others happy. I failed miserably at it, so I reached for the bottle to ease the pain. I need to stand up for myself, every now and then. My needs have to come first, as selfish as that sounds.”

4. Overeating

“No, go ahead. You can laugh. It is as crazy as it sounds. I indeed attended what they informally refer to as a ‘fat farm.’ I met the requirements. I was certainly fat. It got so bad that I would hide bags of snacks in different places around the house. I would be out of breath walking to the bedroom. I don’t know what happened. I guess I lost control. Too many parties. Too much eating out.”

5. Illicit affairs

“I know there is a raging debate on this issue. Some people laugh at the idea. They think it is impossible to be addicted. In one sense they are correct, but they do not understand the intense desire to conquer. For some of us, it turns into a game. You want to see if you can score with the next person. You get a rush out of winning someone over, after they initially decline your advances. I have since learned that there are better and healthier outlets for this competitive spirit. It was like the more I indulged, the less I got out of the experience.”

…

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada advises that the human birth should choose in favor of nivritti-marga. To make a conscious choice implies intelligence at a higher level than other species. It is the same living entity within the body of a cat or a dog or even a tree, but there is no choice. The animal must follow instinct. It has the four basic activities: eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. These behaviors can be compared to boundary walls in a square. The animal cannot deliberate at length on its identity, its purpose, or the consequences to its actions.

The human being is blessed with the faculty for deliberation, and so given the choice between the two paths, the intelligent choose nivritti. It should be understood that in isolation pravritti and nivritti are like positive and negative, in terms of action. In cooking, for example, pravritti would be turning on the stove and nivritti would be turning it off. The positive action is adding an ingredient like salt and the negative is making sure not to include sugar.

When we add the term “marga” to the end, we get the concept of a general path. The above reviewed hypothetical situations of a person requiring entry into a rehabilitation facility help in understanding the dangers of pravritti-marga. If we focus only on indulgence, we not only see the principle of diminishing returns in action, but by hitting the gas, so to speak, in increasing the intensity of the indulgence, we run the risk of addiction. That addiction is unwanted, in every case. The resulting state is like being prodded constantly, from morning until night. The state is not dependent on economic conditions, either. Even the wealthiest person in the world can suffer from the condition known as ajitendriyah.

स इत्थं निर्जितककुबेकराड् विषयान् प्रियान्
यथोपजोषं भुञ्जानो नातृप्यदजितेन्द्रिय:

sa itthaṁ nirjita-kakub
eka-rāḍ viṣayān priyān
yathopajoṣaṁ bhuñjāno
nātṛpyad ajitendriyaḥ

“In spite of achieving the power to control in all directions and in spite of enjoying all types of dear sense gratification as much as possible, Hiranyakashipu was dissatisfied because instead of controlling his senses he remained their servant.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 7.4.19)

The Vaishnava attempts to implement yoga with greater emphasis on pravritti. It is still nivritti-marga, in the general sense, as a person is giving up material life. The systematic implementation involves a phase known as anartha-nivritti. This is the negation of behaviors which are unprofitable, or anartha. The higher level principles in this case are no meat-eating, no gambling, no intoxication, and no illicit sex. If a person cannot give these up outright, they should at least try to limit them.

The pravritti to this implementation is the chanting of the holy names: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. There is also remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavan. There is cooking and offering. There is serving in some capacity to help build and maintain a culture of bhakti, such that others can benefit, as well. In comparing to our review from above, it is extremely rare, if not impossible, to find someone who regrets the individual components of the experience. Someone may not be able to keep up to the standards of chanting the holy names on consecutive days, but they do not require intervention to break the habit. There is no harm in overindulgence, for example. No one is unhappy that they spent the past weekend reading Bhagavad-gita and Shrimad Bhagavatam. Rather, even the associated education, the vidya, is known to be joyfully performed.

राज-विद्या राज-गुह्यं
पवित्रम् इदम् उत्तमम्
प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं
सु-सुखं कर्तुम् अव्ययम्

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ
su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.2)

In Closing:

How last weekend was spent?
To the temple certainly went.

With joy chanted and danced,
Invigorated my spirits enhanced.

And from sacred texts blissfully read,
From kitchen offerings to altar led.

In this path never a regret,
Like renewing pleasure to get.