When Holiday “Cheer” Isn’t: A Look at Addictions Today
Rev. Cynthia Cain

Addiction is actually something that affects every one of us. In Buddhism, tanha — or “grasping,” “thirst,” “desire” — is that which brings suffering. We talk about alcoholism and drug addiction, even food or gambling as if they are “diseases” and these people are separate from the rest of us, yet in reality, we all suffer from desire, and it is somewhere along the continuum that addiction begins to destroy lives. As we head into the winter months, and the holiday seasons, a sober and spiritual look at this universal problem.