*Symbolism of a Habitual Ritual* Q: I put my name in, just sort of as a lark. B: A lark? Q: But I thought it would be fun to talk to you. I haven't talked to you for a while. There is one thing that I have thought about in the last few days. B: Oh, one thing in a few days. All right. Q: Lots of things. But one thing that I thought I'd like to discuss with you, or see what you have to say about is that, a lot of times you will say to people: once you have recognized something as a habit... B: Yes. Q: ... it's not a habit anymore. B: Yes. Q: And I, for one, have one habit, which I dislike quite a bit - which is very bad - which I've known was a habit for years. B: All right. Why do you keep doing it then? Q: I don't know. I have, quote, tried many different techniques not to do it anymore, and I keep doing it. B: Oh, all right. Q: And I know it's a habit, and I still do it. B: All right. Q: So I don't really agree with you that... B: Oh, thank you. Q: ... once you recognize something is a habit it is not a habit anymore. Could you... B: Recognize the full statement we have made. Q: Okay. B: Once you recognize it as a habit, it is no longer a habit, and you can then recognize you do not have to keep doing it - unless you either keep choosing to do it, or use it as an excuse to continue to do it, or do not really believe you have the capability of stopping it. /That/ is the full statement. Q: Okay. B: So: do you, if I may ask, really believe you have the capability of redefining yourself to become the person that does not contain that habit? Q: Well, I - yeah, that's one technique I've tried. Let me tell you what it is. B: Oh, all right. Q: I'm not at all proud of it; I don't like it at all. I have found that sometimes when I talk about it, especially in a big crowd, that it does reverse things sometimes. B: Then this may be your technique now. Q: Anyway, the habit is that I wake up - I sleep like an hour and a half, two hours at a time. Then I wake up and I smoke. B: Yes. Q: And then I go back to sleep, and I wake up and I smoke. B: Yes. Q: And so I smoke throughout the night, which is terrible. B: Do you enjoy it? Q: Well, yah. Yes, I do. B: All right. Why? Q: I don't know. Well, I... B: You don't? Q: No. I'm sure it's because it's a physiological addiction. B: Oh, one moment. One moment. Don't be too sure. Why do you enjoy it, if you do? Q: Because it's a habit. B: Not necessarily. Q: Part of it is that I often do it half consciously. I just wake up, and I don't think the way I do - the way I think during the day. B: Oh, all right. And in that state when you automatically smoke, what does it do for you? Q: I guess it fulfills some kind of need that my body has - you know, for the nicotine - and then I go back to sleep. B: All right. But let's not think about it for now physiologically. What does the act itself do for you - atmosphere-wise, as you say? Q: Hmmm. I never thought about that. B: Well, think about it now. What kind of mood does it create? What kind of mood does it help to reinforce? To perpetuate? Is it one of contemplation? Does the smoke, to some degree, symbolize your very thoughts? Q: Hmmm. B: Does it seem to be your way of meditation? Q: Maybe. B: If that is what it does for you, it may not be as negative as you think - maybe not for you. Remember every individual is different. And certain things that may even be generally negative within the consensus reality do not necessarily have to be negative for everyone, depending on how you use it. Many individuals can transform what may be negative to the general population into something that has no negative effect on them. Q: Hmmm. B: How are your lungs? Q: Well surprisingly good, considering I've smoked for years. B: Ooohh. Surprisingly good. All right. Then maybe it simply doesn't affect you that way because you don't buy into it that way. Q: And maybe that's possible, except that I do fall asleep with cigarettes in my hands, and I burn my nightgown, and burn myself. B: All right. Then perhaps just a slight variation of the idea is all that is really necessary, more than an absolute transformation of it. Perhaps allow yourself to simply put the cigarette out first. Q: I've thought about that. B: The idea is, perhaps, that if you do have a different attitude about it, you may allow yourself to be a little more conscious and conscientious of exactly how you are using it, and that will allow the timing and your awareness of what you need to do with it, to be done in a more natural way. For if you are coming from the point of view that it is something that you shouldn't be doing, then you may not be paying attention to the natural timing of it; and the natural timing of it may give you, in no uncertain terms, the absolute signal as to when to put it out. Q: Oh! B: For you, it may be an extension of something you have done in the past - smoking the peace pipe. Q: Yeah, we have talked about that once before. B: Yes. So if you can use it in a similar fashion, it can be an active meditation. It can, as many of you say, be your version of prayer. Because that is what the smoke from the American Indian peace pipe represents - prayer, spirit. Q: Interesting. B: So look at it that way, and see if that makes a difference. Q: Yeah. You know, something happened just now. I've noticed many times when we talk that I do get things at different levels without realizing it, or I realize it later that night, or something like that. And I just, a few minutes ago... I just felt it. It was very mice. B: Yes. Thank you. And also remember one other thing we have talked about: symbols and physical ideas and actions. When you allow a symbol to serve the purpose you actually have designed it to serve; when you give it the definition; when you recognize the definition you have actually given it - that's when you may not need it any longer. And then it will transform. Q: Right. B: In continuing to apply the assumption that it automatically must be negative just because of the way it looks on the surface, you have not allowed yourself to recognize, perhaps, what the real definition and purpose of that particular act was. And therefore you could not allow it to change, because you had not identified it for what it was to begin with. Understand? Q: Yes, I do. Thank you very, very much. Very helpful. B: Thank you very much. See if that makes a difference. Q: Thank you, it will. Bye, bye. B: Thank you. Sharing!