To add a scenario to the original question:
What if an alcoholic comes to the Guru (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji) asking in his heart for redemption from his ailment (of alcoholism). If he does nothing else but listen to the Guru (and act as instructed by the Guru), will he be cured?
Or will he still need AA, support groups, therapy, medication, etc. etc.
ok, this is from purely personal experience, I have been an alcoholic, amongst other things, and it was great fun, until my liver turned out to be worse than a 90 year olds! Although I still have the occasional drink, rarely these days, I have not been desperate for a drink for some time now, probably 15 years or so. I did go to AA, but found it too Abrahamic, it is about putting your faith in God, about prayer, works for some, did not work for me, especially meeting members that had not drunk in 4 or 5 years, because you could see under the thin veneer, they were desperate for a drink, it was mostly pure discipline, I did not want that, I wanted understanding, I wanted to why I needed a drink, and what I could do to stop that need, rather than just stop drinking. Therapy was not much help, I guess getting a bottle of scotch out in the middle of sessions did not help, but there you go, medication, well there is antabuse, which turns you purple if you try drinking, but again, none go to the root of the problem.
I actually do not believe such an ailment as alcoholism exists, people drink to escape, because they have problems, deal with the problems, the drink deals with itself, I do not think I have ever come across someone with a serious alcohol problem that had a great life!
It is also, in my view, about how you perceive yourself, who are you?
I am not so sure about the
comes to the Guru (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji) asking in his heart for redemption from his ailment (of alcoholism). If he does nothing else but listen to the Guru (and act as instructed by the Guru), will he be cured?
However, what I did discover, is if one lives life as true, if your true qualities can shine through, if by helping others you realise that you are more than a drunk, if through time, and practice, and contemplation, you try and live Mool Mantra, every day, and you realise the joys of being sober, then, yes I do believe you can cease being a slave to any master. Creation is the true master, I bow to Creation, which in turn contains Creator, it is a bigger picture,
The answer lies in the truth, in my belief a central tenant of Sikhism, a drunk me, is not the true me, after a while you yearn to be the true you, and I feel that the only way to find the true you is through the SGGS