The Joy of Living: Don't Miss the Bliss The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 112 How do we connect with the joy of living, even when it's not so easy? Discussion of Dharma in recovery from addictions on this week's show. OK, we do that every week! THE FIVE POWERS Devotion Joyful Effort Mindfulness Concentration Wisdom From Restricted Text: Two Venerable Khenpos Alternate title: Keith Dowman...
Suffering as Compassion, Humility as Medicine: How to Overcome Arrogance The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 111 from Dodrupchen Jigme Tenpe Nyima, "Dropping the Attitude of Being Entirely Unwilling to Suffer Think about all the depression, anxiety and irritation we put ourselves through by always seeing suffering as unfavourable, something to be avoided at all costs. Now, think about two things: how useless this is, and how much trouble it causes. Go on reflecting on this repeatedly, until you...
It's well understood in the recovery community that an attitude of gratitude isa potent antidote to much of what ails us addicts in recovery. We all know how to make our gratitude lists. But how do Buddhists in Recovery use the Dharma (teachings) to further explore the medicine of true appreciation? Tune in, we'll get into it with a meditation so simple, you'll be amazed before we are halfway through. Word. Appreciating the Now: How to Train Our Minds to Feel Better The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast ...
The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 109 We're often told that what happens may be out of our control, but how we respond is up to us. That's easy for regulated people to say. For those who suffer with CPTSD and other problems due to ACEs have more work to do to get to the level where we can "pause when agitated," and not send that text or make that post! The Dharma offers us trainings that help us be fit for maximum service. Let's talk about it.
What is the nature of our relationship to psychedelics? As people in recovery, we've probably abused them at one time or another. Some people have taken mass overdoses and lost total control. So why would anyone in recovery consider the use, medicinal or otherwise, of something that seems pretty risky? It's OK. You can and it'll be alright. Let's talk about it on today's show, Episode 108. St. Theresa of Avila "The time has come to love more and think less. Sit in a deep quiet in which love is t...
Surrender to the Now: Get Grounded in Recovery The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 107 The famous now is where we want to be. But wanting gets us nowhere. The root of suffering, said Buddha, is attachment. To free ourselves, we must cut it out at the root. The root lies in our very desire to be somewhere, anywhere, other than right here, right now. As addicts we've tried to be somone else, somewhere else for our own survival. In recovery we need to learn heart opening, mindful skills to be our ...
Life on Life's Terms: Acceptance in Recovery The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 106 "And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation – some face of my life – unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by mistake. Until I could accept my ...
"We sought escape with all the desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, a 'design for living' that really works." Working with "Life as it is, the only teacher." Rather than fight, our recovery program says that we cease fighting anything, or anyone. This is surrender. From a Dharma perspective, as a Buddhist in recovery, this means we stop resisting our own mental\emotio...
Mindfully Manic; How to Keep Your Head as a Buddhist in Recovery The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 104 Sutra of Golden Light: Chapter 6 on Emptiness conclusion Update on my journey. Ideas from listeners. open to your thoughts info@compassionaterecovery.us The condition of 24/7 fire alarm, my instructor mentioning that some moments of confusion, etc are bound to happen at some point when we are on the path, but I asked what if that is the case for us 24/7? He thought about it and said, then yo...
What is a Buddhist Higher Power and How Do Buddhists in Recovery Pray? The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 103 Sutra of Golden Light: Chapter 6 on Emptiness cont. Let's talk about the obstacles to prayer and hence, spiritual development. That's right, you heard me. We must learn how to pray, with intention, not just because the house is on fire. From a Buddhist perspective however, the house is indeed burning up. The Dharma is the knowledge passed on from the Buddha. It is the knowledge that th...
Stabilizing Our Recovery with Dharma Practice The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 102 Sutra of Golden Light: Chapter 6 on Emptiness Dharma has to help, otherwise it's of no value. For it to work, we study, hear words, see things and do practices. Dharma has to be abporped into our lives over time. Our ability to turn confusion into peace without fighting anything comes with time and consistent effort. Never stop trying. Don't give up on the dharma, because the dharma wll never give up on you. T...
Addiction and Trauma: A Basis for the Practice of Recovery The Dysregulated Addict: Finding Spiritual Regulation Series Pt. 6 The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 101 Review of this series so far. **Understanding ACEs:** - **Definition and Types:** Physical abuse, emotional scars, a home where chaos reigns. These are ACEs, wounds that shape us, echoes of the storms we explored in the nervous system. They are the unseen baggage we carry, the ghosts that haunt our minds. - **Prevalence:** You're n...
The Dysregulated Addict: Finding Spiritual Regulation Series Pt. 5 The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 100 Part 5: Mindfulness for Addicts with ACEs The Impact of ACEs on the Brain and the Path to Addiction** **Introduction:** Remember our journey through the nervous system, the dance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic, the weight of allostatic load, the boundaries of the window of tolerance? Now, let's delve into ACEs, the unseen wounds that shape us, the scars that linger in our brains, o...
Calming the Fire Alarms - Allostatic Load, Window of Tolerance The Dysregulated Addict: Finding Spiritual Regulation Series Pt. 4 The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 099 https://podcast.compassionaterecovery.us Part 4: Balance in the Nervous System -Allostatic Load, Window of Tolerance This is where we encounter something called 'allostatic load.' Now, 'allostasis' is the process by which our body seeks to maintain stability, or homeostasis, through change. It's like a scale, constantly adjusti...
Balancing Our Nervous System - The CNS and Stress The Disregulated Addict: Finding Spiritual Regulation Series Pt. 3 Happy First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma Day The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 098 Part 3: Balance in the Nervous System - The CNS and Stress can definitely say I wasn't not just struck by lightening the first turning the four noble truths the truth of suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, the path to end suffering "Welcome back to another episode of The 12...
The Disregulated Addict: Finding Spiritual Regulation Series Pt. 2 The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 097 Episode 2: The Dance of the Nervous System - Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Deep dive into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems Their roles in stress, relaxation, and recovery Practical ways to balance these systems for better mental health
Do you get distressed easily in sobriety? You may have a disregulated nervous system. If so, it's important to not compare your insides with anyone else's outsides. In Compassionate Recovery: Mindful Healing for Trauma and Addictions, we gain an overview of what is happening in our brain and body when it comes to trauma, addiction and recovery. All are welcome. No experience necessary. Join us for meditation and discussion on topics that you can apply to your recovery right away. Transcript Host...
Everything is the path to enlightenment. The ground is everywhere. We can't step anywhere exept deeper into Teaching. More authentically into practice. As the smoke churned towards my face, plumes broiling hundreds of feet into the natural blue sky, my throat closed. Unable to inhale, vomiting on my knees, I looked up over my right shoulder to see about a half a dozen planes, some very big ones, and helicopters circling and dropping slurry on our mountains. They save our town, our structures, th...
What is ego, and how does it affect our practice as Buddhists in Recovery? When we practice Dharma, are we taking refuge in our identity, apparently concrete and permanent sense of self, or are we working to let go, to discover our real nature, same as all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Three Times and the Ten Directions. No different. To understand this context, in this sense of the Teaching, one must find a qualified Master and receive detailed instructions on how to overcome samsara without ...
To empower ourselves into a trajectory beyond suffering we must clearly understand our condition. How to arrive at this understanding, and then integrate this real, non-artificial Buddha Superinteligence that is our real condition, as blind as most of us are to that. The teachings afford us opportunities to tap into, develop and maintain our true state of Absolute Compassion, the only deity we'll ever need. Let's yack about it and do some practice on this week's episode. The 12-Step Buddhist Pod...
Buddha's Birthday - Saka Dawa If you were born after the 70s, your ideas of Dharma are probably your grandmothers, or even great grandmothers. So this here what we do on the podcast, this ain'tcher granny's dharma, y'hear? Listen in and listen up as we break it down as to exactly what it means to be born into the birthless, just like Buddha.
Speak to him, thou, for He heareth And spirit with spirit can meet. Closer is He than breathing. And nearer than hands and feet. -Tennyson As within, so without. Join us this week for a compassion meditation that is as close as you can possibly get to actual compassion. Apply this to recovery, as Dharma practitioners who are in recovery. I'm not an addict practicing Dharma. See the difference? Listen in for some clarity. The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast: Episode 91 https://podcast.compassionaterecov...
The notion of getting into a flow state, otherwise known as zen af, while maintaining our sobriety and living to our full potential. As Bodhisattvas on the path of recovery we can affect those around us with our own stable practice. To reach a calm state, and share gratitude, generosity and compassion with others from this place untouched by trauma, unscarred by addiction. Join us. The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast: Episode 90 https://podcast.compassionaterecovery.us/episode-090/ The notion of gettin...
We've spent many sessions on refuge and bodhicitta, compassion. For this episode, let's get into something that I wrote about in Step 11 in The 12-Step Buddhist (Atria\Beyond Words 2018), in reference to the practice of Vajrasattva for purification. We'll cover the building blocks of practice, continuing w/ pt. 3, more on Dedication of Merits. New shows on Fridays. Tune in for practices integrated with words and sounds on this and all the shows! All are welcome. Send questions to info@compassion...
Instead of putting ourselves in a position to be hurt, we place ourselves in a position to be blessed. What is Grace? We can discuss in a traditional sense the meaning of grace. How do we get out of the way and let the blessings fall on us? How does the notion of Grace integrate with our Dharma practice in recovery? Continuing with our discussion of the components of practice sessions so that you can make a good one that suits you, Part 2. The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast: Episode 88 New shows on Fr...
We can apply our development of refuge and bodhicitta on the path of recovery. We use rituals that include motions, breathwork, sounds and visualizations. We can offer flowers and scents and all of our attachments to the Refuge Field. From this refuge field we practice with body, speech and mind to apply the rest of our practice session. All sessions include components. Join us as we discuss all of them and some great ways for you to apply Dharma to your recovery! The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast: E...
Who is our Sangha? Choose wisely. In this aspect of the path, we study and try to understand our effect on other beings and our energy. The Buddha has shown itself in the sufferings of infinite karmas, filling bottomless oceans of beings who suffer but have not met the Dharma. To protect our commitments, to develop and strengthen our commitment to the path, we would be more helpful to ourselves if we find other like minded souls to take shelter with. Moreover, those with whom we share energy, sp...
What is this Dharma that we are offered to take refuge in? Can it be defined? Continuing our discussion of what, and what not to take refuge in. Now that we have some sense of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths and basic principles, we'll add the Refuge Field, and all Dharmas in our next Object of Refuge: The Dharma. As always, we'll use the instructions as tools to unlock our realizations and insights that are beyond words and concepts. The path has many layers, join us as we delve into the seco...
This week we continue deepening our understanding of precisely what it means to us to take refuge, in the Buddha, in recovery. Last episode, we discussed the Four Kayas of a Buddha. This episode continues the discussion of Objects of Refuge, Refuge in the Buddha, The Five Wisdom aspects. Don't worry, we'll break it down simply, and do some practice to gain direct knowledge of refuge in the Buddha. The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast: Episode 84 From Essential Instructions on Refuge and Bodhicitta and r...
Work with refuge in our meditations with "objects" to take refuge in. We started the topic on a simple way. Now, we get into the weeds on refuge in this ongoing series. Drawing from a rare translation on Refuge and Bodhicitta by Patrul Rinpoche and having received many teachings on esoteric texts by this amazing master, I comment in terms of the application of refuge in recovery. The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast: Episode 83 How to Take Refuge in Recovery, Part 2: Objects of Refuge - The Buddha Join ...
