Where to Begin

So how can we use Buddhism for our recovery? There are three ways in which we focus our energy: not step by step, but in a holistic way as our insight and our awareness grow.

We come to understand the Four Noble Truths and use them as a guide for our own path of recovery. This program doesn’t ask us to believe in anything other than our own potential to wake up: just allowing ourselves to believe that it’s possible, or even that it might be possible. We begin to believe that our own efforts will make a difference. This is the realization that there is a way to recover and then the decision to start that process.

As we learn about the Four Noble Truths—including the Eightfold Path that leads to the end of the suffering caused by addiction—we put these principles into practice in our lives. This book includes an introduction to these truths, and there are many ways to continue studying them. The Eightfold Path is a guide to a nonharming way of being in the world. It’s not just a philosophy, but a plan of action.

Meditation is an essential part of the program. This book has some basic instructions so you can start right away. Most of us have found it very helpful to attend meetings that include an opportunity to practice meditation with others. A key to this program is establishing a regular meditation practice, in and outside of meetings. This will help us begin the process of investigating our own minds, our reactivity, and our behavior. We look deeply at the nature and causes of our suffering so we can find a path to freedom that’s based on authentic self-knowledge.

The following chapters talk about these three aspects of the program—the “three jewels” of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha—as a way of developing the wisdom, ethical conduct, and spiritual practice that we have found leads to recovery. We hope that people and groups will use this book in ways that are useful for their own processes of recovery. We offer some suggestions in that spirit. You’re invited to take what works for you and leave the rest.