Applying Buddhism in Addiction Recovery

In 2017, the Buddhist Recovery Summit was held in Washington State. It was apparent that many people attending had been AA members for years and credited AA with their own recovery; the point being, we do not have to choose between Buddhist groups and AA. You do not need to be unable to attend an in-person meeting to participate in an online AA meeting.

How can Buddhism benefit those in recovery?

Today, with a daily meditation practice and numerous seven-day retreats over the years, my practice has evolved into what I call Twelve & Zen, in which the Twelve Steps and Zen koans are central to my daily life. Learn about Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a self-help what are the signs of cocaine use fellowship for people with current or past alcohol use problems. Attendees are also invited to pick up “A Desire to Stop Drinking Chip,” also known as the “24-Hour Chip” or the “Surrender Chip.” This chip symbolizes the commitment to remain sober for 24 hours.

Addiction and Recovery: Buddhists on the Path to Sobriety in AA

Alcoholics Anonymous offers two types of meetings⁠—open and closed meetings. Anyone can attend an open meeting, but closed meetings are for members only. In the case of substance abuse, the focal point of a person’s addiction is usually drugs, alcohol, and the like. Refuge Recovery meetings offer recovery from all forms of addiction, including substances, food, sex, technology, gambling, relationships, spending, and more.

What does the Buddhist Recovery Network actually do?

AA is at a disadvantage here—because of its Twelve Traditions, it can’t take out advertising. Anonymity is another tradition and the reason I don’t use my last name. Open meetings tend to include a formal speaker who shares their story. These meetings are also an excellent opportunity to learn more about AA and other 12-step programs, regardless of whether or not you want to participate in one. Open AA meetings welcome anyone interested in the program or learning about alcoholism.

For people who want to curb their addiction for good, you’re not required to be a Buddhist to practice and benefit from its teachings. Just knowing and following the main principles – especially the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path – can definitely help you in your road towards an addiction-free life. Has been helping alcoholics recover for more than 80 years. A.A.’s program of recovery is built on the simple foundation of one alcoholic sharing with another.

Ah yes, the Heart Sutra, “form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form . Frank always lived in sober-living houses, in a small room of his own with a door. This reminds me of The Gateless Gate, the title of one edition of the Mumonkan book of koans. Just as we have experienced gateless gates opening to us, other doors continued to open for Frank even with his doorknob missing; but elsewhere doorknobs abound! The Big Book would look very different if written today, since the almost universal monotheistic Christian emphasis on a creator god has lessened. Seventy-three per cent of adults in Ohio consider themselves Christians; in New York it’s 60 per cent; and there are Buddhists living throughout the US.

Now that meeting draws in people a week, and is growing weekly. I also joined the board of directors of Northwest Buddhist Recovery, which supports our meeting, as well as 18 other Buddhist Recovery meetings in the Northwest. The book was published in June, 2014, and immediately I contacted Recovery Cafe about a meeting spot. This organization was important to me, because it had helped me get sober, years before.

1. After a battle with addiction Dale was able to find sobriety and become the first in his family to earn a Bachelor’s degree.
2. You do not need to be unable to attend an in-person meeting to participate in an online AA meeting.
3. Attendees do not need to do anything at a meeting other than be respectful of others in attendance.
4. Describes who A.A.s are and what they have learned about alcoholism.
5. It was apparent that many people attending had been AA members for years and credited AA with their own recovery; the point being, we do not have to choose between Buddhist groups and AA.

It was clear to me that was the format I should be teaching. We have created a virtual Refuge Recovery Northwest community, which includes a website, and Facebook and Twitter pages. Levine is a well-known counterculture author and Buddhist antibiotics and alcohol meditation instructor, with a strong focus on addiction issues. He is the son of Stephen Levine, also a very well-known Buddhist teacher. Everyone is gathered in a circle, perfectly still, meditating, many of them covered in tattoos.

I fault the editor for printing the op-ed as written. It’s a good thing when they print pieces about Buddhist-based recovery programs; but not by denigrating AA, a program that has helped millions become sober over the past almost 84 years. The Buddhist Recovery Network supports the use of Buddhist teachings, traditions and practices to help people recover from the suffering caused by addictive behaviors. The Buddhist Recovery Network does not present itself as a separate recovery path in competition with other recovery paths.

Before addiction, such refuges provide temporary feelings of comfort and safety. But at some point we crossed the line into addiction. And the substances or behaviors that were once a refuge inevitably became a dark and lonely repetitive cycle of searching for comfort as we wandered through an empty life. Alcoholics Anonymous allows people to attend meetings online.

“The biggest block I encounter with people is the view that the Twelve-Step approach is Judeo-Christian in nature,” said Lindsay Shea, a chemical dependency professional from Seattle. The first edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous was printed in 1939. Around that same time, some 91 per cent of Americans considered themselves Christian. Of course the Big Book would come off with a Christian tone.

It seeks to explore and celebrate the vast ocean of inspiration that the Buddhist traditions can offer those in recovery. Buddhist practices may be pursued as an adjunct to other support people may be receiving. People from all walks of life attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, which are informal gatherings held worldwide. As long as they’re in an open AA meeting, attendees don’t need to self-identify as alcoholics. The concept is recovery by way of the four noble truths, which are about the suffering we create; and by the eight-fold path, the means by which we can be free of suffering. My Zen practice, a koan tradition in the Pacific Zen School, began 10 years later.

According to Alcoholics Anonymous, their success rate is 50 percent, with 25 percent of members remaining sober after relapsing. Through Steps 6, 7, and 8, person is able to know the dangers of relapsing and conscientiously chooses not to stray from the right path anymore. Through Steps 3, 4, and 5, the person can make the needed adjustments to his lifestyle and activities. According to the Buddha, a person who does alcohol withdrawal delirium not overcome his worldly desires is doomed to repeat his unhappy existence through an endless cycle of death and rebirth – a condition known as samsara. The Buddhist philosophy, as exemplified by (its) eight points, could be literally adopted by AA as a substitute for or in addition to the Twelve Steps. Generosity, universal love and welfare of others rather than considerations of self are basic to Buddhism.

The only requirement for members is the desire to overcome their addiction to alcohol. Again, you are not required to be a Buddhist to apply the Eightfold Path to your treatment. So long as it (and the other teachings of Buddhism) can help you, then by all means practice them constantly.