Eight Step Recovery: Using the Buddha's Teachings to Overcome Addiction

New material includes Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn, how to run Eight Step Recovery Meetings, teacher's notes and handouts for the Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery Program (MBAR), and how to mentor people through the eight steps.

Human nature has an inbuilt tendency towards addiction. All of us can struggle with this tendency, but for some it can lead to the destruction of their lives, through obsessive and compulsive behaviour. We could say therefore that in some sense we are all in recovery.

It is no surprise that addiction is so widespread. We live in a world where many of us self-medicate in response to hardships, turning to food, drugs, alcohol, sex, relationships, work and so much more in an attempt to promote happiness.

Fortunately, recovery is widespread too. What can the Buddha’s teachings offer us in our recovery from addiction? They offer an understanding of how the mind works, tools for helping a mind that is vulnerable to addiction, and ways to overcome addictive and obsessive behaviour, cultivating a calm and clear mind without anger and resentments. The Buddha’s teachings offer us a path of recovery.

Whether you are struggling to stay off heroin or with an obsessive pattern of thinking that prevents you from leading a more fulfilling life, the same principles – the Eight Steps of this book – apply. These steps take you away from the trouble caused by addictive tendencies, helping you untangle these drives, to discover a richer and more fulfilling way of living.

ISBN-13: 9781911407126

Media Type: Paperback(Second Edition)

Publisher: Windhorse Publications

Publication Date: 09-18-2018

Pages: 280

Product Dimensions: 6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

Dr Valerie Mason-John (Vimalasara) is a playwright and the author of seven books, including Detox Your Heart (2005, Windhorse Publications), and her award winning novel Borrowed Body, republished as the Banana Kid. Her most recent publication, The Great Black North – Contemporary African Canadian poetry 2013, is the first national anthology to document the voices of African Canadian Poets. She has just completed her second novel, The War Done Done. She works as a consultant in Conflict Transformation, Restorative Justice, Leadership and anti Bullying in both the domestic field of education, social services, youth, addiction and the police, as well as in the corporate world. She was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2005. She is currently based at the Vancouver Buddhist centre. Dr Paramabandhu Groves is a consultant psychiatrist working in the National Health Service in the UK, and has specialized in the field of addiction for 20 years. He is the clinical director of Breathing Space, which is the health and well-being wing of the London Buddhist Centre, teaching mindfulness-based approaches to help with depression, addiction, and stress. He developed the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention course for addiction, which has successfully run in both the UK and Canada. He is the author of Practical Buddhism: Mindfulness and Skillful Living in the Modern Era, and has published academic papers and contributed to several books in the field of addiction. He is ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS
Dedication
Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Foreword by Gabor Mate

About the authors
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Our personal stories
Who was the Buddha?
The Buddha was in recovery
The Buddha’s teaching
Eight Steps toward recovery
Who is this book for?
How to use this book
Eight Step Recovery meetings
Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery (MBAR) program

Step One: Accepting that this human life will bring suffering
Three types of suffering
Everyone has pain
The Four Reminders
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Two: Seeing how we create extra suffering in our lives
The common ways we deal with suffering
Craving as the source of suffering
Types of suffering
The Hungry Ghosts
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Three: Embracing impermanence show us that our suffering can end
Impermanence
We can change
Impermanence and addiction
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Four: Being willing to step onto the path of recovery - and discover freedom
Vision and transformation
Kindness to help us stay on the path of recovery
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Five: Transforming our speech, actions and livelihood
The importance of thoughts and emotions
Transforming speech
Transforming actions
Transforming livelihood
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Six: Placing positive values at the center of our lives
Exploring values
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Seven: Making every effort to stay on the path of recovery
Staying on the path of recovery
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Eight: Helping others to share the benefits I have gained
The Fourth Sight
Helping ourselves and others
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE
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