Who Needs a Higher Power, Anyway?

Well, I do.

As an addict, my thinking and my habituated responses have been hijacked by my addiction. And even before I became addicted, my personality was based on shame and a lack of self-worth. These aren't just nasty mental habits; they are, in a sense, hard-wired. They take years of recovery work to correct; in the meantime, I can't just think or will my way out of them. I tried that and it didn't work. That's why I'm in recovery.

Also, as an addict, I tend to isolate, distrust and fear others and believe nobody can really help me. To heal, I've got to get over that -- I've got to start to trust in a "power greater than myself."

As a Buddhist, I try to recognize that the Self is an evanescent, constantly shifting thing at best; at worst it is simply an illusion. If there is no power greater than my Self, there is no power at all.