Quitting an addiction to 11 years of smoking cigarettes by spiritual practice – Case study

Abstract :

Omprakash, a resident of Dubai, UAE was addicted to smoking cigarettes for 11 years despite innumerable efforts to quit smoking. In a workshop conducted by the Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF), he came to know about the spiritual root cause of addiction as well as the spiritual healing remedies for it. He immediately took up the spiritual healing remedy of chanting and overcame his addiction within 7 days. This article is based on a telephonic interview with him on 2nd October 2006.

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Introduction

Omprakash (34) is originally from India. He is a Business Development Manager in Dubai. Even though he is not an overtly religious person, he believes in a higher divine power. He was not doing any chanting or ritualistic worship of God prior to attending the SSRF workshop. His wife had to literally force him to attend any form of ritualistic worship of God. His father was also addicted to smoking.

Interview with Mr. Omprakash 

Interviewer : Hello Omprakash, thank you for giving us this interview. Before we start the interview, congratulations on successfully giving up smoking.

Omprakash : (smiles) Thanks

Interviewer : Can you give us a brief history about your smoking addiction?
Omprakash : The smoking habit started in 1995 when I was 23 years old. After coming to Dubai, I saw girls smoking at a party, which was quite unusual from a traditional Indian perspective. I thought to myself, if girls can smoke freely then why do I hesitate to indulge in it? Initially it was all for the fun of it, but gradually it became a compulsive habit. Now it is almost 11 years since I began smoking. Initially I used to smoke 2 to 3 cigarettes a day. Later it increased to 10 to 15 cigarettes a day.

Interviewer : Did you ever try to give up your addiction?
Omprakash : A number of times. I would take some measures to stop, such as keeping coins in my pocket instead of currency notes so that I would be able to buy only loose cigarettes and not a packet or I would buy only loose cigarettes and not the packet etc., but this way at the most I could reduce to 6 to 8 cigarettes a day. However this phenomenon would go on for a week and again I would be back to my routine of smoking 10 to 15 cigarettes a day.

If at all I did quit smoking entirely, the maximum I could stay away from it was for 7 days and then I would be back at it.

Earlier when I would be smoking I would feel fatigued, stressed out and tired but when I would quit smoking I would be worse off as i would get a bad cough and cold. When I would start again, I would feel better. At times, I used to even drink every week but somehow I was able to stay away from that habit taking root through sheer will power.

Interviewer : So how did you overcome smoking?
Omprakash : It all came about after attending an SSRF lecture. I came to know about the lecture on ‘Spiritual research on ghosts’ held on 15th Sep 2006 in Dubai through a family friend who had seen the advertisement poster put up in the temple. Then my friend coaxed me to attend the lecture. I felt it was a divine intervention that a person like me actually landed up for that workshop. During the course of the lecture, I came to know that most addictions are due to demonic possession and one of the spiritual healing remedies is chanting the Name of God as per one’s religion of birth. I decided to try it at once.

Interviewer : What made you follow the advice given by SSRF?
Omprakash : I just felt that my presence at the lecture was clearly due to divine intervention. I also liked the scientific explanations given by SSRF in the lecture. Hence when I understood that the cause of my problem is possession, I decided to give the remedy a try.

From that day onwards I started chanting 2 malas (2 x 108 times) of ‘Om Namaha Shivaaya’, which is the chant of my family deity. I used the help of my fingers to keep a count of my chanting. Since that very day, whenever I got an urge to smoke and I held a cigarette in my hand, I felt as if it is a devil and I threw it down at once. This phenomenon kept on repeating. Now it is almost 15 days that I have stayed away from smoking. I don’t even get the urge to smoke.

The Spiritual science behind the cure : Only if the cause of the addiction is purely due to a spiritual factor like being affected or possessed by a ghost (demon, devil, negative energy etc.) can it go away this fast. The increase in the subtle basic sattva component brought about by chanting acts in two ways:

• By creating a protective sheath around the person.
• By removing the black covering created by ghosts around the person.

Ghosts are high in the subtle basic tama component and therefore feel stifled, intimidated and distressed with the increase of the subtle basic sattva component in the person that they are possessing.

Refer to the article on ‘What are the three subtle basic components of sattva, raja and tama?’

On 22nd September 06, we performed the yearly rituals (Shraaddha rituals) for departed ancestors. My departed father was a smoker too. I was told that as he was a smoker, I need to smoke after we finished the Shraaddha lunch to satisfy his craving. But I was not able to even hold the cigarette in my hand and felt like dropping it like a hot coal. My wife was surprised to see this, as she is aware of my addiction to smoking.

Interviewer : But why did you share this so late with us, i.e. after 15 days?
Omprakash : Because I wanted to be sure that it is not like my past efforts where I would start smoking again within 7 days. This time I wanted to give it more time and so I shared this spiritual experience with you during SSRF’s next lecture on ‘Destiny’.

Interviewer : Are you continuing chanting now that your smoking habit has gone?
Omprakash : Now I chant even more. I do not keep a count but I chant while driving, walking and working. Hence I am not sure of the number of chants.

Interviewer : Have you observed any other change in yourself in any other aspect?
Omprakash : Being a business development manager, I constantly suffer from stress related to my job but nowadays I never think about it. I just chant and that has reduced some stress. I am even experiencing some peace.

Interviewer : Do your family members notice any changes in you?
Omprakash : Yes, they have seen a change in me but they are unable to believe it and so they just dismiss it.

Interviewer : Did you share this freedom from addiction with your other family members (not immediate family), friends, colleagues etc.?
Omprakash : Yes I did share my experience with a few. They all say that the Name of God coming from my mouth sounds odd and so they make fun of me.

Interviewer : Did you tell any other smoker or drinker about this? What was your experience?
Omprakash : Yes, I tried to share it with my friends with habits but they all make fun of me. I am waiting for a complete change in myself so that they will see it is for keeps and then believe in it completely.

Interviewer : Would you mind if we publish your experience on our website?
Omprakash : Of course not. Why should I mind? I only pray that if there are others like me suffering from addictions, then they be helped by reading my case study.

Editor’s note : We have been following up with Omprakash regarding his addiction since this interview was taken.As of 2nd May 2007, Omprakash has been able to quit smoking of cigarettes for over 7 months and has become addiction free. He has not felt the need to go back to it. Through out this period he has been persistent with the chanting of his family deity’s Name.