Any Buddhists here?

[bettygirl]

Any Buddhists here?

i just started my road to recovery, and buddhism has always interested me...i found this book and i like the way he writes, and his story.

"the 12 step buddhist" by darren littlejohn

i go to aa meetings, but find the god talk a bit much and very christian oriented...i am less of a religious person and more of a searcher who needs peace and is willing to go to any length to get it, so i am using aa, and mwo, as well as buddhist teachings to light the way.


i also got "12 steps on buddha's path" by laura s, but haven't started it yet. if you aren;t into the 12 steps, just ignore my post

[Kimberley]

Any Buddhists here?

Thanks for that BG - I'm not anti-steps, I've just not needed them to stay sober. But many people do have success with them, so I definitely don't knock them. I think I understand broadly why they work.

Yes I'm a peace-seeker too, in some ways. I enjoyed the Buddhist group I went to and I'm hoping to get some kind of formal teaching at some point. The temples are a bit of a trek, but there is one that I have my eye on. They do a course of free evening classes, which looks good.

[RedThread12]

Any Buddhists here?

Noah Levine is the real deal. His parents, Stephen and Ondrea, were among the first generation of seekers to bring authentic Theraveda Buddhist teaching and practice to the West. Guess having dharmic parents is no guarantee of anything, though, since Noah went deeply into addiction and on to prison before he found his own path. He's now associating and teaching with Jack Kornfield and other "senior" western Buddhist teachers. I noticed somewhere that there is a documentary about his life, that his parents are a part of. I'd like to see that.

Kevin Griffin Kevin Griffin is another "real" teacher, whose path out of addiction took him into Buddhist practice. I had a long-standing meditation practice before I fell into the wine bottle (go figure!), and his book "Buddhism and the 12 Steps" made going to meetings so much more accessible for me.

My teacher offers 10-day courses (and longer, for old students), free, at hundreds of centers all over the world. He says that 10 days is the minimum amount of time necessary to change the habit pattern of the mind. 10 days is an intensive dip into the dharma, and not everyone's cup of tea. But S.N. Goenka has been a teacher for many westerners teaching today, and if anyone is ready to dive in, there's probably a center within reach: Vipassana Meditation Website Saved my life when I was 30, and gave me more than a decade intoxicant free. Never even knew I was a "real" alcoholic!!!

When I attended my first 10-day course a loonng time ago, and heard the teacher state the First Noble Truth: This human life IS suffering, I was so incredibly relieved!!! I'd been trying to pretend it wasn't, and thinking there was something wrong with me!! The vast and profound knowledge of Buddhism - not beliefs, not rituals, just cultivating deeper and deeper understanding through direct experience - is a harbor for hearts and heads. I'd be dead without it.

[RedThread12]

Any Buddhists here?

Oops. Double post.

[kevin1969]

Any Buddhists here?

Aside from mindfulness meditations, there is also a Buddhist meditation practice called Metta (which means loving-kindness in the Pali language). It is very easy to find on youtube, etc. Jon Kabat Zinn's is called Heartscape; it's on the net.