The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast

The Joy of Living: Don't Miss the Bliss The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 112 How do we connect with the joy of living, even when it's not so easy? Discussion of Dharma in recovery from addictions on this week's show. OK, we do that every week! THE FIVE POWERS Devotion Joyful Effort Mindfulness Concentration Wisdom From Restricted Text: Two Venerable Khenpos Alternate title: Keith Dowman    

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 is, and how much trouble it causes. Go on reflecting on this repeatedly, until you are absolutely convinced. Then say to yourself: “From now on, whatever I have to suffer, I will never become anxious or irritated.” Go over this again and again in your mind, and summon all your courage and determination. 2 Cultivating the Attitude of Being Joyful when Suffering Arises Seeing suffering as an ally to help us on the path, we must learn to develop a sense of joy when it arises. Yet whenever suffering strikes, unless we have some kind of spiritual practice to bring to it, one which matches the capacity of our mind, no matter how many times we might say to ourselves: ‘Well, as long as I’ve got roughly the right method, I’ll be able to use suffering and obtain such and such a benefit’, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll succeed. We’ll be as far from our goal, the saying goes, as the earth is from the sky. Therefore, use suffering as the basis for the following practices: c. Using Suffering to Overcome Arrogance As I explained before, [as long as we are in samsara] we are never independent or truly free or in control of our lives. On the contrary, we are always dependent on and at the mercy of suffering. So we must eliminate ‘the enemy that destroys anything that is wholesome and good’, which is arrogance and pride; and we must do away with the evil attitude of belittling others and considering them as inferior. Transforming Suffering https://podcast.compassionaterecovery.us/all-podcast-teachings/transformsuffering/ Sapiens https://amzn.to/3GEBkId  

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: How to Train Our Minds to Feel Better The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 110 Grab a copy of The 12-Step Buddhist for someone that you love.  Compassionate Recovery: Mindful Healing for Trauma and Addictions Available in Kindle, Trade Paperback, Hardcover

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 be fit for maximum service. Let's talk about it.   

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. Theresa of Avila "The time has come to love more and think less. Sit in a deep quiet in which love is translating you into God." Meditation: what we're powerless to attain is attaining us in our inability to attain it inhale breathing in God, into the unresolved questions. Exhale give yourself in love. from James Finley, "Mystical Sobriety." The number 108 has a variety of significances across different fields: Mathematics: It's an abundant and a semiperfect number. A tetranacci number. The hyperfactorial of 3, as it is of the form 11⋅22⋅3311⋅22⋅33. Divisible by the value of its φ function, which is 36. Divisible by the total number of its divisors (12), making it a refactorable number. The angle in degrees of the interior angles of a regular pentagon in Euclidean space. Palindromic in several bases and a Harshad number in multiple bases. Religion and the Arts: Sacred in Dharmic Religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. In Hindu tradition, there are 108 attendants of Shiva, and in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Krishna had 108 followers known as gopis. The Sri Vaishnavite Tradition has 108 Divya Desams (temples of Vishnu). The Sudarshana Chakra, a weapon in Hindu mythology, has 108 serrated edges. The total number of Upanishads is 108 as per the Muktikā canon. In Tibetan Buddhism, malas or rosaries are usually 108 beads. Zen priests wear juzu, a ring of prayer beads, consisting of 108 beads. The Lankavatara Sutra has sections where 108 questions are asked and 108 statements of negation are listed. Martial Arts: Many East Asian martial arts, due to their ties to Buddhism, consider 108 an important symbolic number. According to Marma Adi and Ayurveda, there are 108 pressure points in the body. The ultimate Gōjū-ryū kata, Suparinpei, translates to 108. The Yang Taijiquan long form and Wing Chun wooden dummy form taught by Ip Man have 108 moves. Literature: There are 108 outlaws in the Chinese classic "Water Margin/Outlaws of the Marsh." "Astrophil and Stella," the first English sonnet sequence, has 108 love sonnets. Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" has 108 lines. Science: Hassium, a chemical element, has the atomic number 108. The human body's vital organs begin to fail at an internal temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit. The distance of Earth from the Sun is about 108 times the diameter of the Sun. Technology: 108 Mbit/s is a non-standard extension of IEEE 802.11g wireless network using channel bonding. Sports: An official Major League Baseball baseball has 108 stitches. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016 for the first time in 108 years. Card Games: There are 108 cards in a deck of UNO cards. Other Fields: In India, 108 is the toll-free emergency telephone number.

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 survival. In recovery we need to learn heart opening, mindful skills to be our own best healers. In service to this vital necessity of practice, let's not gloss over the now, objectify the now, reify or even deify the now. Rather, let's follow the advice of the AA Big Book, which says that we had to let go absolutely, or the result was nil. Therein lies the conundrum, and the very core opportunity for practice.  Let's talk about it.  Books mentioned: Wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers: Ancient Advice for the Modern World Desert Fathers and Mothers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings, Merton Total Mind Power

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 moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and my attitudes." Alcoholics Anonymous, Basic Text, pg 417

"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 Buddhist in recovery, this means we stop resisting our own mental\emotional\physical state. This is the Buddhist corollary to the AA adage, "Let Go and Let God," except in our case, God, the authority, the truth and the reality is righte here, right now.  How to Be a Flimsy Reed The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 105 Resistance=suffering, so we try to relax, no matter what the situation. We work with it, rather than fighting against it. In AA terms, we "get out of the way," but here again, it's internal. We get out of the way of our own total experience and let life be, as it is, without attempting to fix it. Moving with the wind, like a flimsy reed, we are less likely to break. 

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, but I asked what if that is the case for us 24/7? He thought about it and said, then you're going to have to be on the job 24/7. Cold hard truth.  

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 Dharma is the knowledge passed on from the Buddha. It is the knowledge that the house is burning. Dharma is the set of instructions on how to stop our addiction to suffering and really, truely let go of our ego. Join me for this lively discussion with myself, and y'all. See you on the show!

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 trying. Don't give up on the dharma, because the dharma wll never give up on you. This work is for everyone, as it conflicts with nothing. For those taking refuge in recovery, practicing dharma recovery and participating in all manner of yoga recovery and other healing modalities, clarify and deepen your recovery with the King of Glorious Sutras called the Exalted Sublime Golden Light, a Mahayana Sutra. Oral transmission and teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche over many retreats. I don't think we finished it, but we got a lot. Here's a main point in the Chapter on Emptiness.  

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 unseen baggage we carry, the ghosts that haunt our minds. - **Prevalence:** You're not alone. Millions bear these scars, these memories that refuse to fade. They linger, affecting our health, our relationships, our very essence, adding to the allostatic load we discussed earlier. **The Neurobiology of ACEs:** - **Brain Structure and Function:** Imagine your brain, a delicate machine, wired for love, trust, joy. Now imagine it altered, scarred by trauma. The prefrontal cortex, the seat of reason, impaired. The hippocampus, the keeper of memories, wounded. It's not just science; it's a tragedy played out in the very fabric of our being. - **Stress Response System:** A child in constant fear, a body always ready to fight or flee. The stress hormones flood, the balance is lost, and the dance becomes a battle. It's the window of tolerance, shattered and fragmented. It's not just biology; it's a daily struggle for peace, for normality. **ACEs and the Path to Addiction:** - **Increased Vulnerability:** The path from ACEs to addiction is not a straight line; it's a twisted road, filled with pitfalls and traps. The brain changes, the balance tips, and the allure of substances becomes a siren's call. It's the allostatic load, heavy and burdensome, leading us astray. - **Compounding Damage:** Addiction is not a choice; it's a compounding of pain, a response to a brain altered by ACEs. It's a cycle, a whirlpool that pulls you in, deeper and deeper, beyond the window of tolerance, into the abyss. **The Science of ACEs and Addiction:** - **Neurotransmitters and Addiction:** Dopamine, serotonin, words that sound distant, but they are the music of our minds. ACEs disrupt this music, turning harmony into discord. It's not just chemistry; it's the melody of our moods, our desires, our very selves. - **Brain Regions Affected:** The amygdala, the nucleus accumbens, names that might seem foreign, but they are the chambers of our fears, our pleasures. ACEs invade these chambers, altering our responses, shaping our addictions. It's not just anatomy; it's the architecture of our emotions, our cravings. **Mindfulness and Neuroplasticity:** ACEs and addiction are not just emotional scars; they leave tangible marks on the brain, altering its very structure and function. The effects are profound, affecting critical regions like the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. - **Specific Mindfulness Techniques for Recovery:** Mindfulness is not a one-size-fits-all approach; it's a diverse and adaptable set of practices, each with unique benefits and applications. For those on the path of recovery from ACEs and addiction, these techniques offer targeted healing, addressing specific aspects of the brain, mind, and body. - **Mindful Breathing:** A foundational practice, mindful breathing focuses on the breath as an anchor to the present moment. It can calm the sympathetic nervous system, reduce anxiety, and enhance focus. For those with ACEs and addiction, it's a way to find stability, grounding, and presence. - **Body Scan Meditation:** This practice involves systematically bringing attention to different parts of the body. It can increase body awareness, reduce stress, and promote relaxation. For those affected by ACEs and addiction, it's a path to reconnecting with the body, healing the disconnection often caused by trauma and addiction. - **Loving-Kindness Meditation:** Focusing on cultivating compassion for oneself and others, loving-kindness meditation can enhance empathy, self-compassion, and emotional well-being. It's a balm for the emotional wounds of ACEs and addiction, a way to nurture the heart and soul. - **Mindful Movement Practices (e.g., Yoga, Tai Chi):** These practices combine movement with mindfulness, promoting physical health, flexibility, and balance. They can be particularly healing for those with ACEs and addiction, addressing the physical toll of addiction and enhancing the mind-body connection. - **Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT):** MBCT integrates mindfulness practices with cognitive therapy, targeting patterns of thinking that can lead to depression and relapse. It's a targeted approach for those with ACEs and addiction, addressing the cognitive challenges and patterns that often accompany these experiences. - **The Personalized Path of Mindfulness:** The journey of mindfulness is a personalized one, guided by individual needs, challenges, and goals. For those on the path of recovery from ACEs and addiction, these techniques offer a tailored approach, a way to heal the specific wounds, restore balance, and reclaim life. It's a promise of transformation, a promise grounded in practice, illuminated by hope.

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 into ACEs, the unseen wounds that shape us, the scars that linger in our brains, our hearts, our very souls. **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 unseen baggage we carry, the ghosts that haunt our minds. - **Prevalence:** You're not alone. Millions bear these scars, these memories that refuse to fade. They linger, affecting our health, our relationships, our very essence, adding to the allostatic load we discussed earlier. **The Neurobiology of ACEs:** - **Brain Structure and Function:** Imagine your brain, a delicate machine, wired for love, trust, joy. Now imagine it altered, scarred by trauma. The prefrontal cortex, the seat of reason, impaired. The hippocampus, the keeper of memories, wounded. It's not just science; it's a tragedy played out in the very fabric of our being. - **Stress Response System:** A child in constant fear, a body always ready to fight or flee. The stress hormones flood, the balance is lost, and the dance becomes a battle. It's the window of tolerance, shattered and fragmented. It's not just biology; it's a daily struggle for peace, for normality. This is the path of bodhisattvas, yogis and Buddhists in recovery. "You can judge me, but please take what's in my hand." Want to opine? Leave a message on The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast hotline. Opine on the hotline (505) 219-1509‬ Compassionate Recovery: Mindful Healing for Trauma and Addictions Available in Kindle, Trade Paperback, Hardcover The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Theme by Clay Giberson Also available wherever you get your podcasts, such as iTunes, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio and Google Podcasts

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 stability, or homeostasis, through change. It's like a scale, constantly adjusting to keep balanced. But when we're exposed to repeated stressors, this scale can get tipped. The constant 'wear and tear' on our bodies, the continual need to adjust and readjust, can lead to what's known as allostatic load or overload. In the context of addiction, this allostatic load can become a heavy burden. The compulsion to seek and take a drug, the loss of control in limiting intake, and the emergence of a negative emotional state when access to the drug is prevented, all contribute to this load. Allostatic load is a term coined by Bruce McEwen and Eliot Stellar in 1993. It refers to the physiological consequences of chronic exposure to fluctuating or heightened neural or neuroendocrine response resulting from repeated or chronic stress. In simpler terms, it's the "wear and tear" on the body that accumulates as an individual is exposed to repeated or chronic stress. In the context of addiction, allostatic load can become a heavy burden. The compulsion to seek and take a drug, the loss of control in limiting intake, and the emergence of a negative emotional state when access to the drug is prevented - all these can add to our allostatic load.  

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, the end of suffering, the path to end suffering "Welcome back to another episode of The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast. I'm your host, Darren Littlejohn, and today we're continuing our exploration of the nervous system and its role in addiction and recovery. In our last episode, we delved into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, understanding their dance and how it affects our responses to stress. Today, we're going to focus on another crucial part of our nervous system - the Central Nervous System, or CNS, and how it interacts with stress.

The Disregulated Addict: Finding Spiritual Regulation Series Pt. 2 The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 097 Episode 2: The Dance of the Nervous System - Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Deep dive into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems Their roles in stress, relaxation, and recovery Practical ways to balance these systems for better mental health    

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 topics that you can apply to your recovery right away.    Transcript Host (Darren Littlejohn): "Hello, and welcome to The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast. I'm Darren Littlejohn, a fellow traveler on the path of recovery. I've been where you are, I've felt the pain, the confusion, the fear. I've been sixteen, lying in a fetal position on the bathroom floor, my face bruised from a beating, hair chopped, identity obliterated—out of my mind with debilitating agony. But I've also found a way out, a way forward, a way to heal. And that's what I want to share with you. Darren: "In this new series, we're going to explore some of the key concepts from my book, 'Compassionate Recovery: Mindful Healing for Trauma and Addictions'. We're going to delve into the nervous system, stress, allostatic overload, the window of tolerance, and how all these elements intertwine with mindful healing for trauma and addictions. Darren: "Today, we start with the nervous system. It's like the body's electrical wiring, a complex network of nerves and cells, known as neurons, that carry messages between the brain and the rest of the body. It's the body's communication superhighway, and it's as crucial to our survival as the air we breathe. Darren: "But why should we, as recovering addicts, care about the nervous system? Because understanding it is key to understanding stress, and stress, my friends, is a major trigger for relapse. We need to understand our enemy to defeat it. And in this case, our enemy is not just the substance or behavior we're addicted to, but also the stress that pushes us towards it. Darren: "The nervous system is split into two main parts: the central nervous system, our body's command center, and the peripheral nervous system, our body's messengers. Within the peripheral nervous system, we find the autonomic nervous system, the silent puppeteer controlling involuntary functions like heartbeat, digestion, and breathing. Darren: "This system is further divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic, our body's alarm system, preparing us for fight or flight. The parasympathetic, our body's peacekeeper, helping us to rest, digest, and heal. Darren: "In the episodes to come, we'll delve deeper into these systems, and see how understanding them can help us navigate the stormy seas of stress, trauma, and addictions. We'll learn how to recognize when our body is preparing for a fight or flight response, and how to use mindfulness and compassion to bring ourselves back to a state of rest and healing. Darren: "Thank you for joining me today. I hope this overview has sparked a flame of curiosity in you, and I look forward to fanning that flame as we explore these topics in more depth. Remember, recovery is a journey, and every journey begins with a single step. See you next time." art from https://twitter.com/gerrydiamond71/status/1531341614999797768

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 helicopters circling and dropping slurry on our mountains. They save our town, our structures, the animals and our lives. To all you fire professionals and first responders, God Bless You. And I say that as a Buddhist.  The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 095 Today's show is dedicated to Dave Dotan Davis, a Buddhist in Recovery who passed away June 18th 2023. Join us. Add your lost loved ones into our practice and dedication. May we all be free of suffering. 

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 qualified Master and receive detailed instructions on how to overcome samsara without resisting our suffering, or our Buddhahood. Listen in as we practice and discuss the how and why of Dharma in Recovery, instead of constructing an even more elaborate and sophisticated trap, called the Dharma Ego.  The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 094    

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 do some practice on this week's episode.  The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast Episode 093 Compassionate Recovery: Mindful Healing for Trauma and Addictions Available in Kindle, Trade Paperback, Hardcover Want to opine? Leave a message on The 12-Step Buddhist Podcast hotline. Opine on the hotline (505) 219-1509‬ Also available wherever you get your podcasts, such as iTunes, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio and Google Podcasts