Freedom From Addiction and Obsession | Revelation Broadcast Event

And tonight he has chosen to release the revelation Freedom from Addiction and Obsession, one of the teachings in the part of the New Message from God that presents the reality of a new life that is possible for each person and what it takes to make the journey to that new life. And certainly this topic is one we all can resonate with, we all have had some experience with. And hopefully we can all take home some valuable wisdom, next steps, practices to help us avoid the pitfalls of obsessive behavior and addictive tendencies, which is certainly something any of us can experience. 

And we’ll be diving deep into why we tend to experience this and how we get there and how we get out of that deep pit when we find ourselves there. So a lot for us to receive tonight and to share together as we read and listen to this original revelation. This revelation has never been read or heard before, so you’re the first to receive it, so thank you very much for being here to do so. 

As I mentioned, Marshall has been in this process of receiving the Revelation for over four decades now. And what you’re going to hear tonight is the Voice of this Angelic Presence that he has been receiving for all these many years, speaking through him live in a spontaneous communication some years ago. This is not something he planned to receive. He had no idea even what would be presented through him in that moment. And indeed this is what came, this revelation on addiction and obsession. 

This is only one of the revelations of the New Message, however. There are over 800 of these revelations and we are making them available as the weeks go by and as the years go by, as well. We’re publishing them into books of the New Message. And all of these revelations are free for you to hear and read at NewMessage.org. And so tonight’s revelation will be posted there right after this broadcast is over. 

So tonight we’re going to read and listen to this revelation. After that I’m going to share some of my thoughts and some things that really stood out to me from this communication from a Divine source. And then we’ll take some time to talk and to communicate with each other, and I can take a few questions. I may have a question or two for you, as well. So that’s the plan for tonight. 

I’d like to start off by sharing this very short statement from tonight’s revelation about what addiction is:

An addiction is a replacement for real relationships. 

“An addiction is a replacement for real relationships.” I think this so powerfully, clearly and simply underscores the foundation for what addictive and obsessive behavior really is about. And every word of that statement I want to call out: It is a replacement for real relationships. So relationships with others in our lives—parents, siblings, friends, people who matter the most to us—we can become disassociated and disconnected from them, and there are many things that can cause that; relationship with the world, with the planet Earth, the environment, nature, the people of this world who we are actually innately connected to and meant to be purposefully engaged with—and there are many things that can cause dissociation in that relationship. 

And then relationship with ourselves, our bodies, our minds and also our deeper Self, what the New Message calls Knowledge, the spiritual Mind within us, which is really who we are; it’s the essence of our Being. And my God, there are many things that can cause us to become disassociated from our Being and from ourselves, broadly speaking. 

And so inside of that disconnect, a void is created, and inevitably something will fill that void because we are vital living creatures. We have a need for relationship. We have a need for direction and movement and self-expression and so much. And so when a void is created and when we are disconnected from our true means of accessing those deepest needs we have as human beings, something grows in that place. It’s like a garden bed; it’s not just going to be dirt. A weed will grow if we don’t tend something, some other crop or some other plant in its stead. And so other things take root: little addictions, big addictions. 

And in this sense, because we are all experiencing levels of connect and disconnect and we’re not yet deeply connected to ourselves at the level of Knowledge, you could say that we are all former, current or future recovering addicts. We are all recovering from the experience of replacing what is true and real and valuable with something that is less true, less real and less valuable, and experiencing the result of that replacement. 

It’s like reality replacement. We’re all engaged in this to some degree. And these small addictions can be seemingly innocuous; they can even be cultural establishments: “Everyone’s doing them,” right? And then they can escalate and grow to the point of being very destructive in our lives. And so this is what we are all experiencing. And I’d like to share another couple passages from tonight’s revelation about this:

People can be addicted to ideas as much as they can be addicted to drugs. They can be addicted to romance. They can be addicted to the acquisition of wealth, taking risks, and winning the game. There are countless things that people are addicted to, but they all represent a substitute for Knowledge, and a kind of compensation for a life that is fundamentally out of balance and filled with insecurity and uncertainty.

Everyone has addictions, great or small. They all emanate from the same lack of balance and awareness in one’s self. They all are a replacement for true relationships. They all represent a life that is out of balance. They all require a serious and determined approach, one that is carried out with compassion and patience, but with great strength and fortitude.

And I would like to add to that, that it’s not just about focusing on these addictions, repairing the damage done, building new habits. It’s also about discovering what it is that dissociates us from life in the first place, that creates that void into which something will inevitably start growing. And so discovering what causes dissociation and what actually can fill that void from our being, from the purpose that has brought us into the world, from Knowledge within us, the spiritual Mind—I think this is so important going forward and gaining real freedom from addiction, which is what this revelation is going to talk about. 

And so in the end, it’s not just about addiction and the various problems and disabilities that we’ve accrued in our time on Earth. It’s really about getting back out into life, getting to our purposeful engagement with life. I’d like to share one more passage with you that speaks about this. Regarding purpose, the revelation says this is 

…a kind of revolution within yourself—where your former dictators are overthrown and replaced by wise counselors; where your former degrading behavior and experiences are replaced by that which is inspiring, meaningful and productive.

This is about 

…[initiating] a new life, a new awareness and a new experience of one’s self.

And so it’s really big. It’s way bigger than addiction. It’s way bigger than the things that have perhaps defined you or defined your past. It’s much more positive and productive. It’s much more purposeful. It has destiny in it. It has relationship in it. 

And so this is some of the excitement that I hope you can receive as you learn about what this revelation will present regarding addiction and some of these more destructive behaviors. There’s a much bigger path to take. There’s a bigger life ahead. And that ultimately is the healing, I feel. So with that, let’s listen to this revelation. You’re the first to receive it. It is entitled Freedom from Addiction and Obsession, and it was received by my father, Marshall Vian Summers, in a state of Revelation. And so with that, let’s listen and read what it has to offer us.

[The revelation plays.]

So this was the revelation, Freedom from Addiction and Obsession, and, wow, there’s a lot here. There’s definitely some clues about the origins of addictive behaviors. There are definitely some major points of wisdom about how to shift out of addiction, in general, and also how to shift out of severe forms of addiction, or very damaging physical forms of addiction. And so I’d like to talk about this with you all and get some of your input, as well. And I’m going to share a link with you all, or my team will, in the chat.

And my first question to you is: 

What impacted you most in hearing this revelation?

And so as I’m sharing some of what impacted me, feel free to to share, as well, what impacted you. 

You know, the New Message is so much about getting to the essence of things; not so much, grappling with the downstream effects, but getting to their origins, the source. And I really felt that hearing this revelation. There’s a lot of very helpful wisdom and information and assistance you can get in dealing with specific addictions. And I don’t want to underplay that. The need for professional assistance, medical intervention is real. So let’s keep that over here on this side of the spectrum. 

But that’s not where the New Message is. The New Message is on the other side of the spectrum. It’s speaking about the origins of things. And so I’m really curious about the origins of addictive forms of behavior. Where do they come from? Where do they originate?

And again, I come back to this statement about addiction being a replacement for real relationship and the fact that events in life, certainly traumatic events, can disassociate us from cherished and deeply needed relationships. And so I’d like to spend a little bit of time being with that. You know, what are those relationships? What caused that disassociation? What entered that space? Perhaps an addiction or something, some damaging form of behavior. And then, what ultimately revived that connection and, in a sense, became the replacement for the replacement?

So if addiction is a replacement for real relationships, what this revelation, one of the things it’s saying, is that reality needs to come back and re-replace the replacement. And so it emphasizes the need for responsibility, engaging with the Four Pillars of your life, which in case you didn’t pick up on, what those are, here’s a definition of the Four Pillars: health, relationships, work and spiritual development.

This is re-engaging with reality as a kind of replacement for the replacement. And I think this is a really important starting point in gaining freedom from addiction is, if appropriate, to not get overly fixated upon it, to not overly identify with it, to not let it become a stain on your sense of self-esteem. Because then again, it continues to encompass you and surround you—encapsulate you—from reality.

So this is about breaking that capsule that’s formed, and getting engaged in responsible, practical real work in the four domains of your life is a great way to begin to gain some freedom, or at least some space. It’s not to say that this behavior is gone or that it won’t be a tendency for a long time, even lifelong, and that it won’t need direct management, as it likely will. But the key is that you’re re-engaging with reality. Reality is reinfusing you with its necessity and its vital movement, and it is requiring things of you that are not originating from you.

They’re originating from out there, whether it be from your family members, from those you’re involved in serving from the world itself. It’s demanding things of you—greater things—that you possess, and you’re going to discover that you possess them as you give them. And so the New Message is very much about this practical, grounded, productive, purposeful re-engagement with reality. And this revelation is presenting that as a replacement for the replacement that has entered the gaps, you know, within your life. And so I think that’s a really important starting point. 

I’d like to turn over to the Slido here. I’ll give it, it will take me just a moment to pull it up. In fact, I don’t think I’m ready to pull it up. But a link is…actually, I can get to it. There we go. All right, I’ve got to have my pages loaded here.

So Levy says…so my question is: 

What impacted you most in hearing this revelation? 

Levy said, The part that we can replace an addiction with a seemingly good thing that is really another addiction, and which doesn’t fix the underlying issue. Yes, that’s very interesting. Sometimes we reach for the moon and we try to go for gold, and really bronze is all we could really reach for and it was good enough; it was a stepping stone toward gold.

David: I have a history of addiction from my culture and family. I was entwined in it. The New Message was my new addiction in 2012. This revelation has been a huge help for me to see where addiction replaces relationship in my life and has in the past. Hearing this again is really important for me. Thank you. Thank you, David.

Julia: That addictions need to be replaced with another strong attraction before a balance can be achieved. So again, the replacement of the replacement. 

Ivan: That if we walk the path of great addiction, that we will have to deal with this obsessive part of us on going. Yes, and I think this is a really important point here. The New Message is very good at distinguishing the levels of reality. It doesn’t put a blanket solution on the complexities of life.

It invites us to engage in original knowing, or original inner guidance, around the necessary action specific to a certain situation we’re facing. And so, here’s a great example, you know, the addiction we have to examine, what domain of life is it in? How long has it been a problem for us? How strong are the, you know, behavioral tendencies involved? That all plays into the solution. And so, and if we do have an obsessive personality, then that is something that is in the mix and has to be accounted for.

And so the New Message is not just, you know, throwing wishful thinking into the wind. It is gauging the wind. It is gauging its direction, how close it is to the surface of the Earth and it is implementing a solution unique to that situation. So thank you, Ivan, for calling that out. 

So yes, everyone’s calling out this teaching on replacement of the addiction with an equally strong activity. That’s very important here.

And then Mohammed: If I’m not harmonizing with my values, I’m generating conflict and it is robbing my life. 

And I also pulled out this word, as well, myself: value, values. At one point, the revelation talked about self-violation, activities that are violating to our nature. And then, of course, there would be opposite to that—activities that are affirming to our nature. And so one of my questions to you is to consider what activities you are engaged in.

They can even be innocuous. They can be cultural, social. They can be what everyone else is doing. But are they violating to your nature, to your Self? And you will know, based on the effect they have, in terms of your energy, your inspiration, what you tend to think about, the influence they cast upon you. So do take a moment here and see are there any activities you’re engaged in that have a violating quality for you?

Next, I want to call out this statement by Dave here: This revelation really helped me see how an addiction starts by leaving the harmony and balance of Knowledge and thereby seeking a God outside oneself. So true, Dave. And as I was being with this revelation over the last week, I could really see how our authentic needs really cannot be removed from our being. I mean, we have a need for a higher power; we have a need for inclusion; we have a need for self-expression—valuable needs. 

And yet, to lose touch with the constructive means of achieving or attaining that, we associate—because our minds are very associative, being basically, you know, a giant cosmic map of neural pathways and nerves connected to nerves—we associate certain things with those authentic needs and then the replacement occurs. 

And so we have this deep need to be in relationship. And relationship I don’t just mean with another person or a romantic partner. I mean, it’s a line of connection by which communication flows both ways.

And so if you own a vehicle, well, you’re thinking about it, you’re looking at it, you’re servicing it, you’re driving it, you’re fueling it, right? And it requires things of you, okay? Maybe it even affects your self-identity. That’s a vehicle. 

And so we have this kind of relationship with our home, with our job, our co-workers, our boss, our partner. We have all these lines of relationship, most of them unacknowledged. Very interesting. 

And so my next question to you all here—thank you, Dave, for the segue to this—is: 

How has the experience of being disconnected from real relationships, played a part in your experience of addiction or obsessive behaviors? 

And I’m going to try to get something better to show on screen here. Almost there. There we go. 

How has the experience of being disconnected from real relationships (with self, others or the world) played a part in your experience of addiction or obsessive behavior?

And while you’re thinking about that, this chicken and the egg analogy came to mind regarding the topic of balance and addiction in this revelation. The revelation talks about how addiction is fueled by the imbalance of one’s Pillars. And yet I also wondered, what if it is the originating cause of imbalancing one’s Pillars? Where is the addiction in terms of the process of going from balance to imbalance?

And as I thought more about it, it really is a chicken and the egg example here where I think there is an originating event in life in many cases. It could be a deep trauma in childhood; it could be something in adulthood; it could be something psychological, really, at any point in one’s life, in any domain of one’s life, that causes an original imbalance, perhaps internal, that then manifests as an external imbalance—a very imbalanced career, for example, or always needing money and being out of it or something like that—an external imbalance that is really an expression of an original imbalancing moment. And then the addiction kind of is the weeds that take shape in that piece of ground, you know, that’s presented to it. And of course, then that becomes a vicious cycle.

And so this topic of regaining balance, rediscovering balance, I think is really important, especially if you’ve felt out of balance for a very long time. You know, that very, that life, all those habits that play into an imbalanced life can just be the soil for addiction to grow and to regrow and to never stop growing.

And yet if you go back to the origins of that imbalance, it could be something very different than any of the imbalance that you’re experiencing today. It could actually be deeply spiritual. It could even be related to the existence of God—something like that. And if you can go to those points of origin to your imbalance, there’s a need there that could be very directly met without a whole lot of self work and, you know, kind of thrashing yourself back into some sort of perceived or optimal state of balance. Really there was an original need, an original event that took place; and if that can be addressed, that could then ripple down. It could actually ripple balance into an imbalanced life. So chicken and the egg regarding balance and addiction.

So let’s turn over and see what you are saying to this question here. So Maureen: I became addicted to smoking when I was young based on family members and friends that were role models for that behavior. It was also, at that time, as a teen I associated it with the self image of being an adult, not knowing it was addictive.

Jane says: I had a life filled of many errors—drinking, gambling, multiple partners. I was out of balance until I found the New Message.

Jeffrey: The New Message speaks so much about our “natural state.” […]

Let’s do it this way so it doesn’t jump around on us.

Okay, Gina: I identified a profound loneliness within when I found myself habitually scrolling through Reddit (social media) with no purpose or real need to be there. It was filling time superficially, bandaging a deep wish to connect with someone or maybe myself.

Julia: During the pandemic it was so obvious that because of isolation and very limited social contacts I fell into two addictive behaviors, one of each I am still trying to tame two years later.

Thank you for sharing that, Julia. And I think you’re right. These two years of profound isolation and the loss of many of the activities and behaviors that fueled our positive relationships, addiction…the risk of it goes up massively and I think is up all around the world in so many different ways.

Roberto: The experience of a consistent, almost unconscious response to the inner pain of being disconnected leading to diving into mind- and heart-numbing activities (like the mindless social media scroll) leading to even more disconnection. A feedback loop that I sometimes find myself in.

From Shane: Wow, that’s huge. I haven’t ever really considered how the lack of relationship lended itself towards these habits becoming addictions.

Ariel: As my relationship with my father dissolved after they both got divorced, I adopted an addiction towards nail biting—the same thing my father used to do when I was a child. Really interesting, [isn’t it]? 

From Aaron: Trauma and the difficulty of separation brought addiction. Missing a vital rendezvous cemented it. Being apart from the people and purpose meant for me sustained it.

You know, it is really interesting to see how some of our downstream behaviors are really connected to something completely different and seemingly not related at all—and even something very cherished, deep, positive. And so I think this is part of the healing and the freedom from addiction is to realize that at their origin is an authentic need and that you can meet that need if you go towards it and if you reconnect to yourself first, instead of…because again, you can try to go meet, for example, a social need or a romantic need or a need for vital activity or engagement through some other thing, a lesser substitute for the real, you know, the real fuel.

And so, start with self; start with yourself. Because if you’re out of relationship with yourself, you could say, kind of everything is a replacement, at least for the urgent need that you feel to be, you know, not internally disassociated. So starting with self is a great step to take and then identifying the authentic needs and then speaking out for them, making space for them, shaping new behaviors or activities that literally meet them, and more.

So again, don’t get stuck in that downward spiral—that eddy in the river where the water does not keep flowing where it needs to flow—of getting fixated on the outward appearances of the behaviors, the addictions, for example. Go somewhere new. Meet authentic needs. Get back into life. Seek out relationship, and that doesn’t just mean with people. Again, it starts with yourself. You know, start holding your own hand because there are parts of us that might feel abandoned due to many different events in our lives. 

So there’s a progression there to take that I think can alleviate the very need to fill in the gap because the gap is being filled in through an authentic experience of presence—your presence, the Presence, the Presence of the Creator of all life—the energizing effects of purposeful activity with others in relationship. So right there, that’s filling some of the gaps that these other behaviors are otherwise going to fill. So thank you for this.

I’d like to turn and see if there are any questions. So I have a short list here. We had a question:

How many relationships are available, by the way?

I surmise you meant revelations, because there are billions of relationships available in this universe. I think our capacity for them dwarfs…is dwarfed by the enormity of how many are available. So I took it to mean how many revelations are available in the New Message. There are 394 revelations available at newmessage.org. And today’s revelation joins that list, so 395.

From Dan, a question:

It seems that replacing a set of destructive elements in the environment with another set of elements do eventually turn destructive as well. So how does one truly find their right place? 

The revelation gave the example of sports, how a very constructive activity of being engaged in a sport can then, in the end, become obsessive, dominating and cause a new disorder in our value structure in life, so something lesser taking a much higher position. And so, Dan, I view these as stepping stones. And, you know, the New Message is teaching us how to constantly stay in the game of being in our lives every day, every week, month by month. 

And so we’re on this progressive journey. It’s not just, let’s just do this one big thing, believe in God or believe in the Prophet or the Messenger or do this one practice and that will heal the divide and reconnect to you with life. It’s not like that. So it’s a progressive step. Every day something different may be needed. And the New Message is training us to keep our eyes open, you know, our footsteps light, ready for action so that we can make adjustments.

So yes, for example, you know, here’s a good example right out of my own life. Whenever I’m in an unhealthy place, exercise is a huge and very beneficial way for me to quickly climb out of that. Up early—6AM—to the gym. Do my exercise regime. After an hour and a half, I feel fantastic. And in that state, at 8AM, I can make much better decisions throughout the day. But I need to be making those new decisions that have nothing to do with exercise. If I just go home and sit around and say, Well, I did what I needed to do today. I did the most important thing; I worked on my body, right? 

Well, you can see where that goes, right? That could easily become, you know, a path down which you go and you put way too much value and importance, way too much time and energy. And again, it inverts the value hierarchy. It becomes a new disorder, something else you have to climb out of. So any of these temporary actions can become something they’re not if we lose touch with, you know, the reins of our life. 

You know, the horse? We’re riding the horse; we got the reins? Well, you can’t just do one thing with the reins; different things are needed at different times to travel this landscape. It’s a very good question. And so staying in the game, staying eyes open and feet light and ready to move I think is part of this.

From MR:

So we should leave behind addictions that aren’t helping us to progress and to pay more attention to our interest in seeking Knowledge? 

Well, I think you’re on the right track. I might recommend inverting the two ideas in this statement. I think if we try to leave behind addictions as its own first act and then pay attention to our interest in seeking Knowledge, I don’t think that’s a strong enough movement in life that’s going to replace the replacement. Because again, these addictions are wired in now. And so to just leave them behind and enter the empties, you know, as we call them in the New Message, and then find your desire for Knowledge—not sure about that. 

This is why Steps to Knowledge is such a valuable program because right off the bat, it engages us in our dilemma—we are without Knowledge—and yet it stimulates our original experience of Knowledge even in that very acute condition of being without it. So it’s not trying to, you know, cause us to focus on our current condition only or abandon it and reach for something high and great. It’s making us aware of where we are today and how we got here. But it’s also stimulating the very thing that’s going to fuel our journey out. 

And so yes, there’s a little bit of pixie dust right at the beginning and we need it all along the way, and that is the experience of Knowledge within us—the original experience. Because the more we have that, the more we will want it and then we may leave behind the addictions that have encapsulated us in the past. So yes, I think we’re on the right track there. 

I have a question from David:

What about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? And how is companionship not essential? 

So the Revelation says…see if I can pull that up in a flash…oops, that’s not it. 

There are important needs that are not essential such as companionship, sexuality, social engagements, artistic expression. Next, there are needs that are neither very important nor essential, and this includes a vast array of human activities.

David, I took the word companionship to not mean a broad statement that companionship is unessential. I took that to mean intimate companionship with one other person, given that sexuality was the next word mentioned. The New Message makes a big point about this that being married or paired with one other person intimately is not an essential need; it is an authentic need and yet that need can be met in other ways. 

So I think that’s what it’s saying here is…In fact, as I read this passage with you all I thought of a quadrant. You know, along the top you have, let’s see, important or not important; and then on the left you have, you know, essential and not essential. And so you have essential needs that are very important, and then you have not essential needs that are also important. And so you can kind of see obviously one quadrant is not essential and not important, and that’s a vast array of what we do. And so yeah, I think the New Message is trying to make it clear that we can’t just try to meet every need we’re experiencing now and call that essential and important. There is some sort of differentiation there. 

And Knowledge is really about the essential and important needs in our lives. As for Maslow’s hierarchy? Yes, I think, you know, at different levels of self-awareness and freedom there are different needs to meet in different ways. And so again, the New Message is not making a blanket statement to say companionship is not essential for anyone. It’s again, it’s sensing the needs in your life, connecting with Knowledge within you, discerning the next steps for you to take and beginning to take that daily, weekly, monthly journey, making adjustments as you go. This is what the New Message calls being the captain of your ship. 

The captain cannot control the winds. They do not know the depth of the sea around them at all times. They don’t know what’s over the horizon. It’s more about navigating the winds and the currents, dealing with issues that arise and becoming a full-fledged owner of your life, ownership in the sense that you are owning your daily and weekly experience and self-expression, not the greater direction your life is meant to take. 

And so, this is captainhood in our lives. And addiction and obsession is clearly one thing that can happen on deck; it’s maybe the equivalent of a mutiny of the crew. And so the captain has to be able to deal with mutiny and get those thoughts, which are the crew, back in order so that the ship can move in the right direction.

And so this revelation today is not the only available to you all. And I’d like to share some other revelations that are online. There’s a whole corridor in the New Message on The Journey to a New Life. And the core book of that corridor is what you see on the left here; it’s available online—also, Living the Way of Knowledge. And then three future books are also in this corridor of the New Message: The Bridge to a New Life, Love and Relationships and Building the Foundation for a New Life. 

So there’s a lot more to take in. And I also encourage you to consider beginning Steps to Knowledge. Start taking the journey back to Knowledge and let that reveal how to disengage from damaging or destructive behaviors and give you that counterbalance to help you broaden your vision to see, “Oh my God, life is so much bigger and more vital and I don’t have to live within this addiction or within this small self that’s so very defined by it.” So the New Message is broadening our experience and our vision to take in a bigger context for our lives. And I think that is a key part of the freedom journey here. 

So I invite you to read and listen to this revelation again. It is now available online. All the books in revelations of the New Message are at NewMessage.org/library. 

We have a little bit of change in the flow going forward. So we’re going to have a new revelation in two weeks’ time on June 20th entitled God’s Plan for the World, only you will not be seeing me sitting here. Instead, you’ll be seeing my mother, Patricia, who’s going to offer the next release of a new revelation because June 20th is the due date for my son and his entrance into the world. So I literally can’t be here, possibly, depending on when he enters the world. So thank you Patricia for offering the next revelation to be released on June 20th. After that, July 4th, we have The Reformation and then on July 18th, What God Wills for You. 

And again these are all original full length revelations received by Marshall over the last 40-year period that he is releasing for the first time to the world. 

So it is with joy and good energy that we continue this journey of bringing the New Message to you and to others. Please share this if you can with others who need it. I think today’s revelation on addiction could be a gift, a Godsend really literally to many, many people who are encapsulated by that experience; they don’t have any sense of self or life beyond it. And this Revelation could help them a lot. So see if there’s anyone in your life who needs this. 

And with that, I want to thank you for being with me here. And I’ll take time to read your other comments and questions. And with that, we’ll see you again in two weeks’ time. Thank you all.