BRN Podcast: Buddhist Recovery Network: Recent Episodes
Buddhist Recovery Network
Buddhist Recovery Podcast brings together teachers, leaders, and peers from different recovery lineages and approaches. Themes like addiction, mindfulness, sobriety, gratitude, compassion, stinking thinking and compulsive behaviors will be explored.
Episode Notes A Talk by Pannavati
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Episode Notes This is a talk from the SHE RECOVERS symposium about Critical Conversations About Race. We are in the unfortunate time of having to witness the Trial of Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. And during this time of the trial the slaying of Duante Wright took place in the Minneapolis. This talk although given in the fall of 2020, it is very relevant.
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The Vulnerable Disco Vince Miller and Valentine Darling chat about how they got sober, queer community in sobriety, healing from trauma, and developing friendships. Both Vince and Valentine are active on instagram. Follow Vince @thevulnerabledisco, and Valentine @goingsomewheresober. Get more information on their projects at www.TheVulnerableDisco.com and www.RecoveryDisco.com
Recovery for the Revolution Carolyn, who uses they/them pronouns, is a queer, non-binary Afro-Indigenous neurodivergent human in long-term recovery and believe recovery from a decolonized, anti-oppression lens can point the collective towards liberation. They are breathing fresh life into recovery and they are a powerhouse of wisdom, I’m really excited to see what comes next for Carolyn and Recovery For the Revolution. To contact Carolyn you can check out www.RecoveryForTheRevolution.Com. They offer coaching and advising services as well as a form to contact them to speak at an event or on a podcast and are working on offering more community and workshop spaces for the collective. And of course, don’t miss our live BRN Academy series the first Sunday of each month. Our guest teacher March 7th will be Rachel Lewis from Insight Meditation Society and Spirit rock.
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The Sober Voices Team https://www.sobervoices.co/ The Sober Voices Summit is multiple days of intentional content from a diverse array of leaders in the sober movement. This event brings together people from multifaceted backgrounds to share their stories and vision for the future of the sober movement. The content is accessible and inspiring to all sober and sober curious humans. By appealing to many types of sober and sober-curious people, the impact of the Sober Voices Summit is to amplify diverse sober voices and bring awareness to multifaceted points of view on short- and long-term sobriety. The Summit will inspire folx to see questioning or opting out of drinking culture as a major way to step into radical self-love.
February 4-6 2021. Tickets on sale now!
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Lucy Rocca tells our President of BRN Vimalasara, all about Soberistas, a recovery community founded in the UK, that serves predominantly women all over the world.
https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/christmas-eve
https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/new-years-eve
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Critical Conversations About Race Ester speaks on race in recovery and Emotional Freedom Tapping
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https://www.patreon.com/buddhistrecoverynetwork In this episode shary speaks about life growing up as a queer teenager, and as an adult recovering from meth and drinking. She shares BIPOC recovery resources, and talks about her use of holistic recovery modalities. Shari will be facilitating the upcoming event at SheRecovers: Healing the Effects of Racism for Black Women in Recovery: A Critical Conversation October 18th The first half is open to all women and nonbinary folks in recovery to take part in this conversation, and the second part is a closed afterparty for black folks only. http://sharihampton.com/ https://sherecovers.org/critical-conversations/ http://www.servedupsober.com/
https://www.patreon.com/buddhistrecoverynetwork This topic is so incredibly important for us in recovery. Doing anti racist work is an integral part of our healing, especially in Buddhist Recovery where we aim to cause less harm. How can we do that without exploring how to be an anti racist and by learning how to not perpetuate the racism inherent in our society? AntiRacism work IS recovery work, and if you don't realize that, you are practicing spiritual bypassing and spiritual materialism. You’re holding yourself back from reaching the next step in your recovery journey. This episode is long, but that's because the topic needs that much time to explore. Listen till the end, it keeps getting better.
Liberation Now: From the Progressive Path to Direct Experience Join us this Sunday September 4th. Go to https://BuddhistRecovery.Org for more info
Healing the Effects of Racism for Black Women in Recovery put on by SheRecovers. www.SheRecovers.Org This online program will be taking place: Sunday October 18th 11:00 AM Pacific/1:00 PM Central/2:00 PM Eastern 90 minutes ALL Women/Nonbinary folks WELCOME FOLLOWED BY: Closed Roundtable Conversation (Black Women/NonBinary Only) 1:00 PM Pacific/3:00 PM Central/ 4:00 PM Eastern 60 minutes
In this interview Taryn Strong, co-founder of SheRecovers, opens up about the trauma and inner child work she set out to do after her relapse and what it's like to run a recovery community with her mother. "At the core, we are all the same... Everyone is recovering from something" These words are core values at SheRecovers which is a program open to women and nonbinary folks no matter what they are recovering from.
https://sherecovers.org/ https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/
Holly Whitaker speaks on Tempest and what it means to create an inclusive online recovery program. Interview by Vimalasara Mason-John. https://www.jointempest.com/ https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/
Kevin Griffin reflects on his past 35 years of sobriety using Buddhism and the 12 steps followed by Q&A.
https://insightla.org/event/the-addiction-to-racism/2020-07-31-09-30/ https://insightla.org/event/efforts-of-recovery/2020-08-03-18-30/ https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/
HAPPY PRIDE. This episode is all about sex and relationships in recovery featuring Clif Cannon, Amanda Hamp, Ojoku Anoiyusogwu and hosted by Valentine. Donate to keep this podcast going at https://www.patreon.com/join/buddhistrecoverynetwork or visit our site at BuddhistRecovery.Org
"I have worked in mental health for the last 12 years, which is where I saw the need for sexual education and sexual trauma support.I have a MS in Health Psychology. This has led to my passion for assisting and supporting those that are sexual assault survivors and those without access to comprehensive sex education. My compassion and passion for these populations has pushed me to continue building safe spaces for clientele, sharing education, and supporting their mental spaces." - https://traumaqueen.love/
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Ojoku shares his story on being a gay black man in america, leaving the military and recovering from addiction. https://www.patreon.com/buddhistrecoverynetwork
https://www.patreon.com/buddhistrecoverynetwork During this talk Martine will look at the habits that bind us and stop our potential for wisdom and compassion manifesting fully. She will explore the meditative tools found in the Vipassana tradition like mindfulness of the breath, sounds and feeling tones to show how we can engage creatively with our habits and transform them into positive functions. When we break free from the habits that limit us, a new world of possibilities opens up. Negative patterns of mind may manifest as fear, avoidance, depression, addiction, judgment of self or other, and any of a host of other physical, mental, or psychological forms.
Peers in recovery share their experience and practices for Weathering the Storm. Featuring Cliff, Amanda, Stevie & Valentine.
https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/ https://www.patreon.com/buddhistrecoverynetwork https://www.facebook.com/groups/recoverydharmaBIPOC/
In this session we will release self-doubt and/or self-blame, and engage in a practice of self-love and self-forgiveness.
Fresh Lev White is a love and compassionate activist. He offers mindfulness, coaching, mediation, and diversity trainings as tools for shifting towards more authentic, conscious and passionate living. He teaches and writes about how love and self-compassion are the ultimate gateways to loving and understanding others; thus, healing our communities, and our planet.
Our Next BRN Academy teaching Sunday May 3rd 2020 @ 1pm PT, 4pm ET, 8pm UK w/ Carol Cano
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Interview with Dr. Maté, renowned addiction expert, who calls for a compassionate approach toward addiction, whether in ourselves or in others. Dr. Maté believes that the source of addictions is not to be found in genes but in the early childhood environment. In The Realm Of Hungry Ghosts, his most recent best-selling book, draws on cutting-edge science and real-life stories to show that all addictions originate in trauma and emotional loss.
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Re-Release from Taboo Addictions. Vimalasara talks about eating disorder recovery.
BRN Podcast will be taking a break for the next month. If you have ideas for 2020 episodes or want to be involved in any way please email me at finding.valentine@gmail.com
Zoom link for our online Xmas Day meeting: https://zoom.us/j/518564313 or you can find the link on our website BuddhistRecovery.org or on our facebook page.
Want to meditate with us Xmas Morning? Come hand out with Vimalasara and the community for a BRN meeting Xmas morning. The President of BRN will be sharing top tips to stay abstinent at Christmas and will hold space for anybody who is needing support and connection. Number one tip reach out for help and number two tip join us on BRN at 9:30am Pacific Time - 12:30pm Eastern Time and 5:30pm UK Time on Xmas day
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Top up on tips and coping mechanisms to deal with the next 32 days. Do the festive season with a sense of freedom and joy. Recorded from the Buddhist Recovery Network Academy: Watch the Triggers: The Festive Season is Here featuring Vimalasara Mason John.
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
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From the International Buddhist Recovery Summit in Lacey WA September 6th 2019. Intention, Mindfulness & The 12 Steps ft Kevin Griffin
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
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Buddhist Recovery Network Facebook
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Today on the Buddhist Recovery Network podcast we have an inspiring story by Kim who speaks about her experience through the 12 steps, she speaks about her Italian family, and her upbringing... her queerness in the rooms, and having community during this global pandemic.
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From the International Buddhist Recovery Summit in Lacey WA September 6th 2019.
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
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https://www.5th-precept.org/Fifth-Precept-Sangha-Meeting-Format.pdf
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There is a correlation between our inner state of being and our outer circumstances. By noticing our inner sensations and thoughts, tracking them to witness their changes, we make the unconscious conscious and can hold the inner and the outer experiences in an attitude of expanded focus. Observing our own continuously evolving experience centers us in reality and allows us to nourish whatever arises with less fear and more love. Developing an increased capacity for resiliency allows for a shift in perception toward a more loving state of being in which to create our reality. In this webinar we will discover our own organic wisdom to notice patterns, track changes and transform limited perceptions. Rather than a constant search for that elusive something out there, we turn attention within to feel for what wants to emerge.
Noticing thoughts, stories and sensations and tracking them to observe positive changes as they happen can shift our perception, and create greater clarity and meaning in life.
http://www.vancouverbuddhistcentre.com/programs/retreats/
Holiday RD Event in WA: https://intersanghaholiday.eventbrite.com, https://www.facebook.com/events/382608125948545/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
Dana/Donation https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
Buddhist Recovery Network https://www.BuddhistRecovery.org/
Buddhist Recovery Network Facebook
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From the International Buddhist Recovery Summit in Lacey WA September 6th 2019. Craving, the Sutta's & Addiction
http://www.vancouverbuddhistcentre.com/programs/retreats/
https://mtadamszen.org/event/oct-sober-fest/
Holiday RD Event in WA: https://intersanghaholiday.eventbrite.com, https://www.facebook.com/events/382608125948545/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
Dana/Donation https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
Buddhist Recovery Network https://www.BuddhistRecovery.org/
Buddhist Recovery Network Facebook
https://www.5th-precept.org/Fifth-Precept-Sangha-Meeting-Format.pdf
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From the International Buddhist Recovery Summit in Lacey WA September 6th 2019. Tabboo Addictions: Sex, Porn, Love, Eating Disorders and Screens.
http://www.vancouverbuddhistcentre.com/programs/retreats/
https://mtadamszen.org/event/oct-sober-fest/
Holiday RD Event in WA: https://intersanghaholiday.eventbrite.com, https://www.facebook.com/events/382608125948545/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
Dana/Donation https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
Buddhist Recovery Network https://www.BuddhistRecovery.org/
Buddhist Recovery Network Facebook
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From the International Buddhist Recovery Summit in Lacey WA September 6th 2019. This is the second part of our Sangha Safety discussion where the community discusses question like “How do we as a sang ha set an intention for safety? What Safety Statements can we read at Meetings. What does safety look like in Online Communities? And more”
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
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Buddhist Recovery Network https://www.BuddhistRecovery.org/
Buddhist Recovery Network Facebook
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From the International Buddhist Recovery Summit 2019: Safe Sangha - Creating Safer Spaces.
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Buddhist Recovery Network Facebook
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Compassion: A Quivering of the Heart w/ Kara Haney
Compassion (Karuna) is one of the primary heart teachings. It is the felt experience in response to a being’s pain. When we understand this through practice, we are able to cultivate compassion for our own pain and the pain of others. Thus compassion becomes a vehicle of connection, further dissolving the myth of separateness and isolation. This felt sense of separateness, the identification of being separate from, not included, or abandoned; perpetuates our pain and often is a reason why we use substances and process addictions. By developing this practice of compassion, we can begin to turn towards and see the pain, not run from or suppress it, but to recognize, open to and acknowledge that pain and sorrow exists and is a common experience with all beings. Let’s care about pain together and see what arises in seeing the true nature of suffering in the world.
Kara Haney has practiced meditation and studied Buddhism since 1993. With over twenty years in recovery, her background includes both Buddhist practice in the understanding of craving and twelve-step recovery. Since 2013 she has assisted in starting Buddhist recovery groups within communities, addiction treatment facilities, and jails; and continues to be a foundational member and mentor for the Buddhist recovery community. Kara was empowered to teach by Bob Stahl and was also trained to facilitate Mindfulness and Buddhist meditation by JoAnna Hardy and Vinny Ferraro of the former Against the Stream Meditation Society. She teaches weekly Dharma groups, daylong retreats, and offers Dharma courses such as "A Year to Live" and "Eightfold Path." Kara completed a twenty-year career as a dental surgical assistant and currently enjoys living in Santa Cruz while working towards a Masters degree in Social Work.
Dana/Donation https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
Buddhist Recovery Network https://www.BuddhistRecovery.org/
Buddhist Recovery Network Facebook
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Gary Sanders and Vimalasara speak about Gary's choice to leave Against the Stream and Refuge Recovery, using Hallucinogens in addiction recovery & the importance of the Brahma Viharas.
We are accepting donations to offer scholarships to the Buddhist Recovery Summit https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
Buddhist Recovery Daylong Olympia WA https://waking-up.eventbrite.com
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Joan has had personal experience with alcohol addiction, a fingerbiting compulsion (classified as an impulse-control disorder), compulsive thinking, and depression. She does not believe there is one recovery model that fits everyone, and she encourages people to find what works for them. What she offers is an approach rooted in open awareness – giving nonjudgmental attention to the whole happening that we call ‘addiction’ or ‘compulsion’ or ‘depression,’ without trying to change it, but simply shedding light on it. She also stresses the liberating recognition that both our apparent imperfections and the stormy weather in life are often essential to evolutionary growth and transformation, and that the light and the dark go together and cannot be pulled apart. Joan does not consider herself a Buddhist and does not belong to any tradition, but she has spent time with a number of Buddhist teachers, including Charlotte Joko Beck, Steve Hagen, Anam Thubten and Mel Weitsman, and her main teacher, Toni Packer, was a former Zen teacher who left the tradition behind to work in a more open way.
We are accepting donations to offer scholarships to the Buddhist Recovery Summit https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
Joan Tollifson https://www.joantollifson.com/home.html
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Amy Reed is an Asheville, NC based writer. She got sober in Oakland, CA in 2008 in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous and dabbled a little in Buddhism via Kevin Griffin and Spirit Rock. When she moved to Asheville with her family in 2014, she found herself drifting away from 12-steps and struggled to find a recovery community in her new town. Then she saw a flyer for Refuge Recovery in a café, went to her first meeting in the summer of 2016, and found exactly what she was looking for. She soon started a dedicated meditation practice, became active in her local and regional Refuge community, and was elected Asheville’s inter-sangha treasurer. In 2018, she was invited to join the Refuge Recovery Literature Committee and became part of the team that co-wrote what would eventually become The Dharma of Recovery, the first literature offering of the Recovery Dharma program. In February 2019, she joined the Refuge Recovery Board of Directors. On July 13, 2019, Amy represented the newly formed organization Recovery Dharma at the State of the State Address at the Refuge Recovery 5th Annual Conference in Chicago, joining Noah Levine in outlining the two new organizations that have been born from the dissolving of Refuge Recovery. She is currently on the core transition team of Recovery Dharma and has been busy behind the scenes helping to build this new grassroots movement using Buddhist practice and principles to end the suffering of addiction.
We are accepting donations to offer scholarships to the Buddhist Recovery Summit https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
Recovery Dharma https://recoverydharma.org/
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Living an Authentic Life
A life free from craving, addictions and compulsions isn’t just about avoiding intoxicants, it invites the opportunity to live a full and authentic life with creativity and joy. This isn’t just a possibility. Research suggests that although people in recovery from substance misuse often suffer more in the first year, in the longer term they are on average happier than the general population. Could this be because recovery demands effort, self-reflection and a willingness to change? We will explore how we can use these qualities on the Buddha’s path as a self-study and training programme that shines a light on the mistakes we make so that we can give them up and live life on life’s terms. Living an authentic life, in harmony with the Dharma is a life of peace and joy. Please join me as we explore this together.
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
We are accepting donations to offer scholorships to the Summit https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
Recovery Dharma Information & Book https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dlCPMtSNOk6ttGhY_9QIOitdB8cV1HVXygwPD6tJemY/edit?usp=sharing
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Trauma, whether connected to early childhood, an event as an adult or to social oppression, changes our nervous system, our physiological responses to life and impacts our self image, relational capacities, perception and self regulatory abilities. It is, in my view, a core underlying cause for the arising of addiction patterns. Looking through the trauma lense, addiction could be viewed as a means of regulating the underlying pervasive dis-regulation associated with addiction. Therefore “recovery” involves “recovering” or more likely developing self regulatory capacities. What we learn in Meditation is that where we direct or attention has a profound impact on the way we feel. In this session I’ll give an overview of trauma and how it functions and offer a few simple attention based or reflective exercises that support regulation of the nervous system.
Trauma, self regulatory capacities are lost or never developed. And it is, in my view one of the core causal factors in addiction Often people with a history of trauma will have extra challenges that require additional tools and a different framework for how to think about what it means to be present without overwhelm.
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
We are accepting donations to offer scholorships to the Summit https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
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This episode features a conversation between Vimalasara and Sue Neufeld-Ellis covering the topic of sexual misconduct in spiritual communities and creating safer spaces.
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
We are accepting donations to offer scholorships to the Summit https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
Find out more at https://brn-podcast.pinecast.co
A Conversation with Kevin Griffin & Vimalasara on the Buddhist Sutta's and more... Listen for a sneak peak into what to expect at the upcoming Buddhist Recovery Summit. Register at BuddhistRecoverySummit.org
Check out Kevin's Website http://www.kevingriffin.net/
We are accepting donations to offer scholorships to the Summit https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
Find out more at https://brn-podcast.pinecast.co
A Conversation with Kevin Griffin & Vimalasara on Kevins books, Buddhist Sutta's and more... Listen for a sneak peak into what to expect at the upcoming Buddhist Recovery Summit. Register at BuddhistRecoverySummit.org
Check out Kevin's Website http://www.kevingriffin.net/
Offer Dana & Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
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A Conversation with Deborah Grace & Vimalasara on sex & love addiction and more... Part 3 of a 3 part series giving a sneak peak into what to expect at the upcoming Buddhist Recovery Summit. Register at BuddhistRecoverySummit.org
Offer Dana & Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
A Conversation with Deborah Grace & Vimalasara on sex & love addiction and more... Part 2 of a 3 part series giving a sneak peak into what to expect at the upcoming Buddhist Recovery Summit. Register at BuddhistRecoverySummit.org
Offer Dana & Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
A Conversation with Vimalasara & Deborah Grace on interracial adoption, sex & love addiction and more... Part one of a 3 part series giving a sneak peak into what to expect at the upcoming Buddhist Recovery Summit. Register at BuddhistRecoverySummit.org
Offer Dana & Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
Suffering and Happiness – Both are Present, Embrace Them
“Living Happily with things as they are (Drishta dharma sukha viharin) encourages an ancient Buddhist teaching. Those of us who have lived with addiction, struggled with recovery and found our common bonds: trauma and toxic shame, may find that teaching simplistic or even dismissive. As Buddhists, we know that suffering is part of life. We accept that. Then, right in the center of the Big Book of alcoholics anonymous (p 132) is a wonderful sentence: “We absolutely insist on enjoying life... we are not a glum lot”! How do we create a life that includes both suffering and happiness? Letting go! Gil Fronsdal writes: “Renunciation is one of the most beneficial, empowering, and freeing practices of Buddhism. As its purpose is to heighten the best qualities of our hearts and minds, renunciation is not meant to diminish our lives but rather to enhance them. Abstaining from intoxicating drinks and drugs—the fifth ethical precept—is an important Buddhist practice. So, we welcome suffering and delusion when they arise, we notice them, but we do not cling. We let them go and we acknowledge that happiness is also present. Not one, not two.”
Offer Dana & Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
Offer Dana & Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
Offer Dana & Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
Offer Dana & Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
International BRN Summit https://www.buddhistrecoverysummit.org/
BRN Academy Live https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/academy
Offer Dana & Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
As soon as we’re born we’re faced with what life throws at us and we develop ways of coping that may or may not be beneficial. We’re also bombarded with messages from family, friends, school and society at large about who we are and what we should or shouldn’t be. These habits and messages become embedded and we may not even be aware of them, but they influence us on a daily basis. This is what the Buddha means when he talks about our conditioning. This conditioning can harden into the unwise stories we believe; craving and addiction are a destructive way of handling these beliefs.
In order to move towards freedom we have to wake up to our conditioning and disentangle it. Slowing down the mind and taking a step back to see the impersonal nature of the mind and developing a deep intimacy with our experience is how we move toward letting go of the craving and addiction. This talk will offer ways to examine our stories and the baggage we carry with us and investigate how to let them go in order to live a more liberated life.
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In a time of great conflict and contention in our society, it’s helpful to look to the Buddhist teachings on loving-kindness for guidance. In this evening talk, Kevin will introduce the themes of his latest project, how to live with wisdom and open-heartedness in the world. Drawing from several early suttas he will talk about the challenges of living in harmony, free from ill-will and the suffering of attachment.
Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
Racism remains one of the most rooted and painful impasses of our time. It is fed through unawareness and the misuse of power. Embedded in racism is the skeletal shape of all oppressions. To understand the dynamics of racism and the flesh we put on its bones is to also understand other forms of oppression and our relationship to differences, divisions, and diversity.
Too many of us want racial suffering to go away without first being touched by it or caring for it. Yet recognizing how we have been conditioned to think and react is at the heart of both racial distress and racial healing.
In this introductory talk, we discover how our inner life is reflected in the world through the Buddha’s teachings on Ultimate and Relative Reality and Distortion of Mind, and the three truths we must remember but often forget.
Ruth King Bio:
Ruth King is an international teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition, and an emotional wisdom author and life coach. She is on the Teacher's Council at Insight Meditation Community of Washington and Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and is the founder of Mindful Members Insight Meditation Community in Charlotte, NC.
In former years, King managed leadership training and organizational development divisions at Levi Strauss and Intel corporations, specializing in culture change initiatives, including the behavioral implications of mergers and acquisitions.
A world traveler, King’s work has been influenced by many cultures. She has a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, CA, and is the author of several publications including Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible and Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism From The Inside Out.
Currently recognized as a heart activist, trainer of trainers, and consultant to consultants, King teaches the Mindful of Race Training program, which blends mindfulness principles and meditation with an exploration of our racial conditioning, its impact, and our potential. Website: www.RuthKing.net
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Recovery and gratitude seem to go hand in hand. In the heat of our addictions, whether substance or process, we all tend to really focus on the hardships of our lives, our trials and tribulations and get stuck in the old comparison game, comparing our insides to others outsides, a line heard frequently in 12 step meetings. That's probably a big reason why we drink, use or act out. We get stuck in the unhealthy mental loop of "poor me", "why me" or "what's wrong with me"...those "Greatest Hits of Addiction", right? We start to believe those stories, we start to program these minds to constantly get hyper-focused on the difficult and painful. And we suffer. So, with this practice of gratitude, we can begin to rewire the mind to appreciate what is good and true and wholesome. This isn't a make-believe practice. As the internet meme says "there's ALWAYS something to be grateful for". Let's dive into this more, practice with it and find some freedom.
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Exploring one of the seminal text in the Buddhist teachings -‘ Non-Self’. Paraphrasing the late Pat Parker – she once wrote ‘first you remember I’m a person of color and second you forget I’m a person of color’. What would it be like to be free from all our labels and not attached to the identities we give ourselves and identities forced upon us? Join senior teachers Shahara Godfrey – Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John for a day of meditation, dharma talks and compassionate inquiry.
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The Pearl in Sorrows Hand
I have recently been considering the nature of 'Dukkha' or 'suffering' or 'stress' in a Buddhist context, particularly how it plays itself out in my life.
One ancient talk goes along the lines... "Now what, friends, is the noble truth of stress? Birth is stressful, illness is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful..."
Birth, sickness, old-age and death are all unavoidable... and undeniably stressful.
I visited one of my favourite aunts in Cork last month. She has advanced dementia, so she doesn't know who anyone is, and she must have all of her personal care provided for her. She was being cared for by her 82-year old husband and surrounded and supported by a large loving family taking care of her every need.
It was inspiring to see her held in so much love. But it was equally sad to see a once vibrant wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and good friend as a mere shadow - almost unrecognisable - of her former ‘self’.
The truth of 'birth, sickness, old-age and death' is the usual description of universal suffering given by the Buddha, and I sometimes forget that the full definition of Dukkha is more than that, quite literally, the complete explanation goes...
"Now what, friends, is the noble truth of stress? Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful; separation from the loved is stressful; not getting what is wanted is stressful..."
So, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful... again these are not really avoidable. To be human is to experience physical and emotional discomforts. But can I experience these without becoming overwhelmed by them? I suppose that is the practice.
"Association with the unbeloved is stressful; separation from the loved is stressful; not getting what is wanted is stressful..."
Daily life is inconstant, unpredictable, uncertain, it is woven together with impermanence. I cannot control what I get and what I don't get, but - whether I like it or not - this is my life. To argue with impermanence and uncertainty is to argue with the inarguable.
I have a recurring theme in my head lately. The closing verses from the long version of Rumi's poem 'The Guest House'...
"And if the pearl is not in sorrow's hand,
let it go and still be pleased.
Increase your sweet practice.
Your practice will benefit you at another time;
someday your need will be suddenly fulfilled."
So, maybe, that's what we all have to do... increase our sweet practice... and then, I hope friends, that someday all of our genuine needs will be suddenly fulfilled.
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Regional Buddhsit Recovery Summit in Oakland CA @ Eastbay Meditation Center. Jean Tuller, Kevin Griffin, Vimalasara, Stephen Teirney, Agusta Hopkins, Carol EBMC discuss what the World needs in the midst of the current addiction crisis.
Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
Regional Buddhsit Recovery Summit in Oakland CA @ Eastbay Meditation Center. Jean Tuller, Kevin Griffin, Vimalasara, Stephen Teirney, Agusta Hopkins, Carol EBMC discuss what the World needs in the midst of the current addiction crisis.
Support BRN https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate
Imagine not being able to find your way home to your loved one’s, to your friends and family. Imagine how traumatic this would be. And this is the same trauma we experience when we have split from our body and can not find our way back into the body. We have to find our way back home to our body if we want freedom from the prison of our minds.
The Buddha was teaching us to breathe through the body, feelings, mental formation and all mind objects with calm. The anapanasati meditation, the mindfulness of breathing is teaching us to come back to the body.
The journey of wisdom is learning to find our way back to the body. But some of us have lost our way home because our bodies were violated in childhood. To protect ourselves we made sure nobody was at home in our body. We switched all feeling off.
If we are able to find our way back home. Turn all the feelings back on in the body. We will learn to turn towards our direct experience unfolding in every moment.
In Vipassana meditation we are saying come back to the body, come back to the breathing, inhabit your body, and be in direct experience with whatever is arising in the now.
The body is the home for all of us. It's where we live all our lives, and if we are not at peace in our body, we will not be at peace in any other areas of our lives. We have to learn to befriend our body, and not treat it like an enemy. And know it is safe to have our feelings now.
We come home to the body with breath. (This is an edited version from Vimalasara's new course for Insight Timer launching September 10th)
Three tips for practice
Breathe
Do nothing when discomfort, comfort or neutral sensations arise in the body or mind
Be kind and compassionate to yourself by remembering to pause
Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John is the current President of BRN. She was the co-founder and guiding teacher of Healing and Insight, an online faculty that explored the sharp edges of suffering. Award-winning author of 8 books, she is the co-founder and co-author of Eight Step Recovery: Using The Buddha's Teachings to Overcome Addiction, with 8 step meetings in 3 continents. And she is also the co-founder of Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery. Vimalasara is a senior teacher in the Triratna Order and Community.
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Seeing Past the Impulse
Tuere Sala, Guiding Teacher for Seattle Insight Meditation Society (SIMS), is a retired prosecuting attorney who has practiced Vipassana meditation for over 25 years. She has been an active member and volunteer at SIMS since 2001. In 2009, she was appointed to be a Local Dharma Leader and has often supported SIMS in unconventional ways such as answering the many letters SIMS receives from practitioners in prison; offering beginning classes at Angeline Women's shelter and Jubilee House, a women's transitional house; and facilitating workshops using nonviolent communication (NVC) to support a mindfulness practice. She is now the co-lead teacher of SIMS, and is interested in using the dharma to work with depression. Tuere believes that urban meditation is the foundation for today's practitioner's path to liberation. She is inspired by bringing the Dharma to nontraditional places and is a strong advocate for practitioners living with high stress, past trauma and difficulties sitting still. Her teachings reflect an approach to Dharma that is both easy to follow and understand — making it accessible to everyone. https://www.buddhistrecovery.org/donate