This type of Buddhist addiction recovery brings together those suffering from substance use disorders. The unity and bond shared between members help them become free from the suffering that addiction has caused. There are people who have been sober for 20 years in Twelve Steps and found that something was missing for them, and then they found Buddhism and that was the missing piece. And there are also brand-new people who have never meditated before, who got sober and started the Refuge program, which ensured their sobriety. I think Refuge Recovery fits well for people who are already Buddhist, and it fits well for people who need recovery and are agnostic or atheist.
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- With guidance on mindfulness meditation and thoughts on working the Steps, Buddhism & the Twelve Steps Daily Reflections provides a wide range of tools for healing and spiritual growth.
- However, like any religion, those who practice Buddhism are not immune from falling prey to substance abuse.
- Click here for our Mindfulness Resources page which books, videos and links which can get you started on mindfulness and meditation.
- We need to take a lesson from Shitou and Ma and realize that we practice in different recovery programs but we aren’t in competition with each other.
Other times they organize by topics of recovery, affinity groups or circles of interest. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader. Yuttadhammo is more in favour of allowing the addiction in, but being mindful about it when you act it out, really picking it apart from the level of the five senses so you can see there is nothing intrinsically good or beneficial about it. He recommends addicts try to give their habit up just for a short time to begin with, just to see what happens and how they cope with it.
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The practice of mindfulness will help you find your own unique response to addiction. It will improve self awareness and allow you to observe the mechanics of addiction as well as thought processes that drive it. You can respond to to it in a mindful way that works for you. His Sirimangalo video page has at the time of writing more than 750 videos where he addresses the Buddhist perspective on many different issues and problems. It is the undisputed resource on Buddhist philosophy applied to daily life and problems we all face.
#62 – The Breath of Recovery
“The most dramatic rescue was when Janis Joplin ODed in the Haight.” The HAFC served as a meeting site for 12-step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous and referred patients to Alcoholics Anonymous groups in the neighborhood. He still remembers when doctors were punished for treating people dependent on drugs. It hadn’t occurred to most people then that integrated, whole-person treatment was an option. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous existed, as did Synanon. We need to take a lesson from Shitou and Ma and realize that we practice in different recovery programs but we aren’t in competition with each other. We may have different techniques, but we have a common goal.
Unlike these recovery programs, Buddhist addiction treatment, as presented by Flatirons Recovery, may be applied to any addiction. The commitment to understanding the existence of suffering and trauma, understanding how craving leads to suffering, understanding that less craving results in less suffering, and reinforcing the commitment to the path that ends suffering. Buddhist addiction treatment teaches that by accepting the world just as it is–not as we would like it to be–we can truly heal and create a more meaningful life. The recovery program uses Buddhist wisdom, compassion, community, and meditation practices for healing and recovery. People can often benefit from several treatment modalities and various methods. One holistic, peer-led addiction support program is the Buddhist addiction recovery fellowship Recovery Dharma.
The Suffering of Addiction
Buddhism & the Twelve Steps Daily Reflections offers an entry for each day of the year to support your recovery. Teachings on Buddhism, the Steps, mindfulness meditation, addiction, and recovery are all covered. Recovery Dharma offers a trauma-informed, empowered approach to recovery based on Buddhist principles. We welcome all those who wish to pursue recovery as part of short & long-term effects of heroin use our community. Yutthadhammo repeatedly emphasises this in his videos – the Buddhist path is a gradual path and requires constant practice to build up the mindfulness required to let go of addictions and other strong attachments. In general terms, we would first like to lay out how the Buddhist tradition is so well suited to help people understand and deal with addiction.
Some Vietnam combat veterans came home addicted to heroin they used in overseas. But even though they were in a foreign and unpopular war and ostracized by society, they knew we would be a place to get help. They came marijuana statistics in the us to our clinic for its nonjudgmental health care,” Smith recalls. With patients experiencing multiple relapses, Haight Ashbury Free Clinic also had a mobile overdose “squad” carrying Naloxone to reverse ODs in 1971.
The principles in the 12 Steps can help anyone willing to take the first steps toward recovery. When David E. Smith, M.D., now age 85, was a shiny new doctor just graduated from UCSF, he launched the first free medical clinic in the United States in San Francisco during the “Summer https://rehabliving.net/ecstasy-mdma-effects-hazards-extent-of-use/ of Love” (1967). Dave,” Smith’s initial plan was to help some of the tens of thousands of young people flocking to the area for sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, most with little or no money. Some became ill from using hallucinogens and other drugs, and some developed addictions.
Smith is also concerned marijuana could become commercialized like tobacco. “One of the things I fear is big companies will promote marijuana to youths as big tobacco did while denying they cause addiction with health consequences.” Smith wrote a personal account of his concerns in a scientific paper on psychedelics. He worries large corporations may similarly misuse psychedelics if researchers discover psychedelics are effective treatments for depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders. At first, Smith tried valiantly to obtain funding for his free clinic from the state to treat all these problems in one place, but to no avail. Rock stars and promoters of the time, aware of the kindness of Dr. Dave and his staff, helped fund the clinic, which became known as the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic (HAFC). David Smith was a role model to other physicians and became known as one of the fathers of addiction medicine in the United States, a title of which he is rightfully proud.
I’m disappointed, however, to see few magazine articles and opinion pieces by Buddhists who have found long-term recovery in AA. It’s in forums such as magazines where one can carry on (anonymously of course) meaningful dialogues about Buddhism and AA. I yearn to learn more about practicing the Buddhist Way and the Twelve-Step Way together. I was re-reading “Koans for Troubled Times” by Joan Sutherland in Buddhadharma Magazine’s Spring 2008 issue when it dawned on me that Mazu Daoyi (709–788) and Shitou Xiqian (700–790), two famous Chan teachers of old, set an example for us today.
I believe that real addicts and alcoholics cannot gain balance, which is treated only by abstinence. And beyond that, like the Buddha I believe that in order to come to a spiritual awakening, abstinence is necessary. Whether you are an addict or not, if you care about awakening, if you want to develop wisdom and compassion, then a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle is what the Buddha taught. Buddhist recovery manuals, a genre that has emerged in the last 30 years, aim to use Buddhist ideas and practices to address the challenges of addiction. These books draw on classical Buddhist thought and Twelve-Step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
In general terms, he does not advocate avoiding or pushing away addictive behaviours or substances in an obvious sense like some perspectives do, particularly Western ones. So of all the major religious views then, the Buddhist teaching and practice is the one most suited to observing and learning how the mind works. The meetings are also free of charge, but members can donate funds after the meeting. For those seeking addiction help, here is what to expect from a Recovery Dharma meeting. When it comes to relapse prevention, each individual will have a unique post-treatment plan.
This is an interesting variation from Yuttadhammo, who on one level expresses almost the opposite viewpoint, that we should not push away addictions because by doing so we don’t understand them. Secondly, he mentions from his own experience giving up drink that a tremendous power can come from choosing to give up a certain habit, even for a week or so to see what happens. There can be a surge in energy as you experience the power of taking control of your life. It can also have a knock on effect where this positive energy can give you the power to start leaving other addictions behind as well. Whilst this “cold turkey” elimination approach can work for some people, the problem with this approach is that it can represent avoidance and suppression; we are desperately trying to keep the source of our addiction at arm’s length.