The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast

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...

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: Ho...

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 b...

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. There...

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 surviv...

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
mom...

"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 Buddhis...

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, bu...

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 Dharm...

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 tryi...

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 u...

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 int...

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 stabili...

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, t...

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 ...

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 he...

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 qualifi...

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 ...