In a series of six posts, I talk about how we can break free from our addiction to social media by using teachings from early Buddhist scriptures. These teachings are found in the Vitakkasanthana Sutta, which presents five strategies for dealing with compelling trains of thought and the urges that come with them. I’ll refer to it as “the Social Media Sutra” for convenience and because it highlights how these teachings apply to our lives today.
Now, let’s talk about the fifth and final strategy, which might surprise you: sheer willpower. The Buddha suggests that with teeth clenched and tongue against the roof of the mouth, you should squeeze, squash, and torture your mind with your mind to get rid of bad thoughts. This sounds harsh, and it is a last resort. It’s clear that willpower should only be used when other methods fail.
I’ve found this useful at times, like when I’m late-night surfing the internet for interesting articles but losing sleep. Suddenly, I experience a wave of disgust that makes me slam my laptop shut, overpowering my craving.
However, willpower alone isn’t always the best solution. There are smarter ways to handle urges. For instance, you can make decisions to limit your social media use, like deleting apps from your phone, or using parental controls to block access to certain sites. There are also browser plugins that limit your time on social media, or you can go a step further and delete your accounts altogether. That’s tough and requires strong willpower, but it’s effective.
Personally, I deleted my Instagram account because I craved validation that I wasn’t getting, and I didn’t like that feeling. I also deleted my Facebook account because I disliked the arguments and privacy issues. Research indicates quitting social media can make us happier, but addiction often convinces us otherwise.
I was left with just Twitter, which also became a problem. Twitter often fuels outrage and can be very time-consuming with endless scrolling and interesting links. So, I used a final “willpower” trick: locking myself out of my account. This way, I couldn’t log back in easily, which helped me stay away from Twitter and be happier and more productive.
This trick resembles the third strategy of reducing temptation by keeping social media out of sight and mind but goes further by creating barriers to access. You lock yourself out at a time when you’re not caught up in cravings, making it tougher to relapse. None of these methods are foolproof, but they create strong barriers that can help manage addictive urges.
To wrap up this series, we’ve explored five tools from the Vitakkasanthana Sutta to help free our minds from obsessive thinking and compulsive urges. Thank you for joining me in this journey of using the Dharma to overcome social media addiction. I’m grateful for the chance to explore and share these teachings.
May we all progress in overcoming obstacles to living with mindfulness, compassion, and joy.