For this week’s Buddhism and recovery post, I thought to share an older Dharma Talk. I’m steadily approaching my second sobriety birthday; it seems appropriate to revisit where I was roughly one year and three or four months ago.
Also, I spent the last two days driving across a large section of the United States. There was very little time to write!
The Dharma Talk offered here presents my recovery journey prior to and including about eight months of enduring sobriety. It appears as but one entry in a series of talks offered at O-An Zendo on the Engaged Buddhist Precepts—reminders for how to bring Zen practice “off the cushion” or “out of the zendo (meditation hall)” and into everyday life. The precept that forms the backdrop of the talk is
Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including personal contact, visits, images, and sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.
It’s in this spirit that I invited the sangha to hear my story of suffering through substance abuse; it’s also in this spirit that I continued to open my own eyes to that part of my life. And, lest I forget, it was the first time that I shared my story publicly.
Now I invite you to listen too. Enjoy.
Dharma Talk: Rebirth and Recovery