What is "Refuge Recovery" from addiction?

Noah Levine, M.A. (RefugeRecovery.org), Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Dharma Punx center, Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, for Refuge Recovery

Is it true you're giving away free books tonight?

FREE, tonight only (6-13-14)

Yes, the publisher is making them available at the BLVD Open House and Book Launch Party.

So it's already out?

Yes, there were a lot of pre-orders. It's now shipping. Anyone can pick up a copy at the Melrose Center (AgainsttheStream.org, East Hollywood on Melrose Ave. next to Los Angeles Community College).

Why would anyone want to read this book or practice it?

Noah Levine, M.A., drug recovery counselor

Refuge Recovery is a nonprofit organization. It is our vision and intention to build an extensive and comprehensive network of Refuge Recovery meetings, communities, and treatment options [that don't depend on "God" as one's higher power].

We are actively seeking donations to build treatment centers with both residential and outpatient services.

What would these donations be for?

Our goal is to raise the capital to start treatment centers with tax-deductible donations, so that all the profit that comes from providing these services can go back into the community in the form of reduced rates for residential treatment for those without insurance coverage, as well as to scholarships to meditation retreats, access to outpatient services, and building of the nonprofit's infrastructure.

• A Buddhist Path to Recovery from Addiction
• BLVD for residential and outpatient services

Introduction to the book Refuge Recovery

The book that started it all (ATS)

Refuge Recovery is a practice, a process, a set of tools, a treatment, and a path to healing addiction and the suffering caused by addiction. The main inspiration and guiding philosophy for the Refuge Recovery program are the teachings of Siddhartha (Sid) Gautama, a teacher who taught in India 25 [26 or more actually] centuries ago. 

 

Sid was a radical psychologist and a spiritual revolutionary. Through his own efforts and practices he came to understand why human beings [and devas] cause and experience so much suffering. He referred to the root cause of suffering as “uncontrollable thirst or repetitive craving.”

• [Actually craving is the proximate cause and is focused on because we can do something about it immediately, unlike the other causes and conditions outlined in the formula of Dependent Origination of suffering.]

Dharma Punx tee (dharmapunx.com)

This “thirst” tends to arise in relation to pleasure, but it may also arise as a craving for unpleasant experiences to go away, or as an addiction to people, places, things, or experiences. This is the same thirst of the alcoholic, the same craving as the addict, and the same attachment as the codependent.

 

Eventually, Sid came to understand and experience a way of living that ended all forms of suffering. He did this through a practice and process that includes meditation, wise actions, and compassion. 

 

After freeing himself from the suffering caused by craving [and ignorance and aversion], he spent the rest of his life teaching others how to live a life of well-being and freedom, a life free from suffering.

 

Eva's 66-Day Meditation Challenge (WQ/ATS)

Sid became known as the Buddha, and his teachings became known as Buddhism. The Refuge Recovery program has adapted the core teachings of the Buddha as a treatment of addiction.

 

Buddhism recognizes a nontheistic [one not dependent on any God] approach to spiritual practice. The Refuge Recovery program does not ask anyone to believe anything, only to trust the process and do the hard work of recovery. More

Sounds good. Very modern. Thanks, Noah. See you at the party.

Support women's rights, support FEMEN

Amber Larson, Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; FEMEN.org (femenshop.com/Facebook)

FEMEN's topless demonstration over Ukraine, Crimea, and Russia makes cover of NY Times.

   

Topless protests call attention to vital causes.

One of the things that differentiates FEMEN from other groups is its financial independence. FEMEN does not need to negotiate with shareholders, sponsors, or politicians. Donations and purchases from supporters the world over are the only income source that makes protests, investments, new branches, Sextremist training programs, and the Website possible. So if readers share FEMEN's ideals, if they would like to see more actions, and if they believe in women's rights, support FEMEN right now by requesting an autographed FEMEN book, hoodie, or t-shirt: femenshop or femen.

ACTION: "Stop Putin's War" - During a protest against Putin's intervention in Crimea, French FEMEN sextremists were beaten by pro-Russian reactionaries, undercover agents (seen trying to suppress photography), and arrested by unknown agents. During the action they shout "F**K YOU, PUTIN!" and demand he step back from independent Ukraine during a Parliament gathering of bandits and marionettes deciding the fate of Crimea in Putin's renewed Union.

How I reached Full Enlightenment

Wisdom Quarterly; Daniel M. Ingram (DhO), Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha

FOREWORD AND WARNING

When I was about 15 years old I accidentally ran into some of the classic early meditation experiences described in the ancient texts and my reluctant spiritual quest began.

I did not realize what had happened, nor did I realize that I had crossed something like a point of no return, something I would later call the Arising and Passing Away. I knew that I had had a very strange dream with bright lights, that my entire body and world had seemed to explode like fireworks, and that afterwards I somehow had to find something, but I had no idea what that was. I philosophized frantically for years until I finally began to realize that no amount of thinking was going to solve my deeper spiritual issues and complete the cycle of practice that had already started.

I had a very good friend that was in the band that employed me as a sound tech and roadie. He was in a similar place, caught like me in something we would later call the Dark Night and other names. He also realized that logic and cognitive restructuring were not going to help us in the end. We looked carefully at what other philosophers had done when they came to the same point, and noted that some of our favorites had turned to mystical practices. We reasoned that some sort of nondual wisdom that came from direct experience was the only way to go, but acquiring that sort of wisdom seemed a daunting task if not impossible. 

He was a bit farther along than I was in his spiritual crisis, and finally he had no choice but to give it a try. He quit the music business, moved back to California, and lived in a run down old mobile home, driving pizza to save money so that he could go off on a spiritual quest. He finally did some intensive meditation retreats and then eventually took off to Asia for a year of intensive practice under the guidance of meditation masters in the Burmese Theravada Buddhist tradition. When he came back, the benefits of his practice were obvious, and a few years later I began to try to follow a similar path.

 

In 1994, I began going on intensive meditation retreats and doing a lot of daily practice. I also ran into some very odd and interesting experiences and began to look around for more guidance on how to proceed and keep things in perspective. Good teachers were few and far away, their time limited and often expensive to obtain, and their answers to my questions were often guarded and cryptic. Even my old music friend was keeping most of what he knew to himself, and issues around disclosure of meditation theory and personal practice details nearly cost us our friendship. 

Frustrated, I turned to books, reading extensively, poring over texts both modern and ancient looking for conceptual frameworks that might help me navigate skillfully in territory that was completely outside my previous experience. Despite having access to an astounding number of great and detailed [D]harma books, I found that they left out lots of details that turned out to be very important. I learned the hard way that using conceptual frameworks that were too idealistic or that were not fully explained could be as bad as using none at all. Further, I found that much of the theory about progress contained ideals and myths that simply did not hold up to reality testing, as much as I wanted them to.

I also came to the profound realization that they have actually worked all of this stuff out. Those darn Buddhists have come up with very simple techniques that lead directly to remarkable results if you follow instructions and get the dose high enough. While some people don’t like this sort of cookbook approach to meditation, I am so grateful for their recipes that words fail to express my profound gratitude for the successes they have afforded me.

Their simple and ancient practices revealed more and more of what I sought. I found my experiences filling in the gaps in the texts and teachings, debunking the myths that pervade the standard Buddhist dogma and revealing the secrets meditation teachers routinely keep to themselves. Finally, I came to a place where I felt comfortable writing the book that I had been looking for, the book you now hold in your hands.

This book is for those who really want to master the core teachings of the Buddha and who are willing to put in the time and effort required. It is also for those who are tired of having to decipher the code of modern and ancient [D]harma books, as it is designed to be honest, explicit, straightforward, and rigorously technical. Like many of the commentaries on the Pali Canon, it is organized along the lines of the three basic trainings that the Buddha taught: morality, concentration, and wisdom.

Throughout this book I have tried to be as utilitarian and pragmatic as possible, and the emphasis is always on how to actually “get it” at the level that makes some difference. More

Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body

Wisdom Quarterly, new Dharma book by Sayalay Susila edited by Dhr. Seven

The Sayadaw, Sayalay, and Seven set out the Buddha's "Higher Teaching"

  

(Aidan McRae Thomson)

Wisdom Quarterly is overjoyed to announce that Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind & Body Through Abhidhamma, the much awaited new book by the accomplished Buddhist monastic Sayalay Susila and Wisdom Quarterly editor Yogi Seven, is now available on Amazon.

We are pleased to see our efforts come to fruition and have the opportunity to share this work of Dharma, the culmination of Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw's accessible teachings on this delicate and complex topic.

 

All proceeds from the book go to support the establishment of Appamada Vihari, Sayalay Susila's new meditation center, offering an opportunity for all to accumulate supportive merit to advance on the Buddhist path toward enlightenment in this very life.

Why would anyone go on a meditation retreat?

 
ABOUT

Ven. Sayalay Susila, Grand Canyon

Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind & Body Through Abhidhamma was originally derived from a series of PowerPoint presentations and talks on the Abhidharma (Buddhism's "Higher" or "Ultimate Teachings"). 

It is based directly on instructions by famed Burmese Buddhist Meditation Master Pa Auk Sayadaw -- presented by the Chinese-Malaysian nun Ven. Sayalay Susila on her trips around the U.S. and Canada in 2002.

How much longer will the liberating Dharma survive in the world? (Mikecogh/flickr.com)

 
Repeatedly told how helpful these were, Sayalay developed them into a startlingly clear visual presentation and eventually a book, now in its second completely re-edited edition.
 
At first glance the Abhidharma can appear so complicated as to be impenetrable. It may, therefore, seem dull and irrelevant, a mere commentary to the sutras rather than a systematic treatment of what is needed to attain enlightenment -- the details, the explanations, the factors explained in extreme detail.
 

The Buddha among devas explaining the Abhidharma leading to final liberation

 
That it has been largely overlooked outside of Burma comes as no surprise. But the Sayadaw, Sayalay, and Seven have made Abhidharma accessible by employing direct and concrete language, clear analogies, and simple anecdotes primarily based on the experiences of real meditators in Asia, America, and Europe over many years. 

The essence of Abhidharma is drawn out from its vast and complex matrix. Doing so makes it utterly practical, relating to everyday life in a way practitioners find meaningful for ordinary living. The way to realization is through concentration-and-insight meditation instruction to tie together theory and practice.

First edition (holybooks.com)

In this way analytical knowledge is made available for direct personal realization in meditation (bhavana, cultivation and development of various kinds). By providing clarity, this book helps practitioners come to a knowing-and-seeing, or knowledge and vision, of Abhidharma as a path revealed by the historical Buddha. It shows that its application, not its theoretical grasping, leads to happiness, mundane and supramundane. 
 

May all beings -- humans, devas, and others -- share in the blessings of this offering of liberating wisdom.

Who sees the Dharma (Dependent Origination) sees the Buddha (MN 28; Mikecogh)