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Recovery Dharma is a peer-led community using Buddhist practices and principles to overcome addiction through meditation, investigation, and mutual aid.

WE welcome anyone looking to heal from addiction and addictive behavior including substance use, process addictions like codependency, gambling, eating disorders, relationships, technology, or any obsessive or habitual pattern that creates suffering.

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ABOUT RECOVERY DHARMA

Recovery Dharma is a global community that is unified by our potential to find freedom from the suffering of addiction. We believe that recovery means empowerment and we support each other as partners walking the path together.

The Practice

Renunciation • We commit to the intention of abstinence from alcohol and other addictive substances and behaviors.

Meditation • We commit to the intention of developing a daily meditation practice.

Meetings • We attend recovery meetings and commit to becoming an active part of the community, offering our own experiences and service wherever possible.

The Path • We commit to deepening our understanding of the Four Noble Truths by practicing the Eightfold Path in our daily lives.

Inquiry and Investigation • We explore the Four Noble Truths as they relate to our addictive behavior through writing and sharing in-depth, detailed Inquiries.

Sangha, Wise Friends, Mentors • We cultivate relationships within a recovery community, to both support our own recovery and support the recovery of others.

Growth • We continue our study of these Buddhist principles and undertake a lifelong journey of growth and awakening.

The Four Noble Truths

As people who have struggled with addiction, we are already intimately familiar with the truth of suffering. Even if we have never heard of the Buddha, at some level we already know the foundation of his teachings, which we call the Dharma: that in this life, there is suffering.

The Buddha also taught the way to free ourselves from this suffering. The heart of these teachings is the Four Noble Truths and the corresponding commitments, which are the foundation of our program.

1. There is suffering. We commit to understanding the truth of suffering.

2. There is a cause of suffering. We commit to understanding that craving leads to suffering.

3. There is an end to suffering. We commit to understanding and experiencing that less craving leads to less suffering.

4. There is a path that leads to the end of suffering. We commit to cultivating the path.

The Eightfold Path

The Buddha taught that by living ethically, practicing meditation, and developing wisdom and compassion, we can end the suffering that is created by resisting, running from, and misunderstanding reality. We have found that these practices and principles can end the suffering of addiction.

The Eightfold Path helps us find our way in recovery and consists of the following:

Wise Understanding
Wise Intention
Wise Speech
Wise Action
Wise Livelihood
Wise Effort
Wise Mindfulness
Wise Concentration