01-31-2011, 12:00 AM
"Drugs are a substitute for internal discipline, just like money is a substitute for energetic power." This is a judgment call--it may be important for you to differentiate in this manner but in doing so it closes off important tools--ones you may not wish to use, but powerful tools nonetheless. Any tool can be used for a specific purpose and for a specific time frame--when overused or use is extended beyond the inherent functionality of that tool then the tool becomes a liability rather than an asset. The statement also differentiates between external objects (drugs and money) and internal energy expenditure (internal discipline and power) and I think it's optimal to leave as many categorizations as we can open rather than defining them or putting them into categories that limit them. We can also look at these "categories"--drugs, money, internal discipline, energetic power--as energy in motion--neither good nor bad, and therefore useful as energy expansion if the timing is right, if our intent is set, and if those things come before our awareness for our individual use and exploration.

