Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path to Recovering from Addiction

I tried to "have more faith" and "trust god" to heal me from addiction for 30+ years to no avail. Refuge Recovery was incredibly empowering for me. It game ME all the tools that I needed to put in the work and start recovering. 18 months sober from my addiction thanks to the four foundations of mindfulness and the heart practices of loving-kindness, campassion, appreciation, and equanimity. You can do this.

In one word: Brilliant.I work as a therapist in a treatment center. We treat 400-500 alcoholics and addicts each year. Many people resist the Judeo-Christian themes in 12 step work. For those people, there are few viable alternative recovery roads. Noah has illuminated for all suffering addicts the Buddhist path as a road to sustained recovery from addictions. He does an excellent job highlighting the truth of addiction, solid and deep inventory to explore, the necessity of abstinence in order to recover, the actions and practices (the path) one can take to contented long term sobriety, and the joy of fellowship and mentorship to sustain us as we travel the recovery and dharma road. Refuge Recovery can serve the purpose of helping newcomers get on the road to recovery, as well as benefit those who have been in recovery for some time but who may have gotten a bad case of so-dryety over the years, and now can re-discover contented sobriety through this powerful pathway.Refuge Recovery seems well suited to those who want to do 12 step programs AND Buddhist recovery/Refuge Recovery - as well as those seeking a different path to recovery than currently dominate the recovery world. There are many wonderful books that create a bridge between meditation, Buddhism and the 12 steps. What has lacked to date is the equivalent of a `Big Book' for recovering people open to Buddhist philosophy and teachings. This book is a great 'Big Book' for the 21st century - keeping the best of what is offered in 12 step philosophy - while removing antiquated aspects and language. Refuge Recovery is a complete recovery program, which if followed, can and has brought about complete recovery from addictions of all kinds. This path laid out in this book provides a way of living that will be compatible for those seeking a non-theistic way of walking the spiritual road of recovery. As an addiction treatment professional, I have extreme gratitude for Noah's efforts, as well as for those who share their stories in the back of this wonderful book. I hope the treatment community embraces this powerful movement. May Refuge Recovery grow and flourish, for the benefit of all beings.

Everyone should read this book. It’s a great way to keep you balanced in your life. And toheal from past events by giving your tools you might not have learned before.Life will have ups and downs. That just life. It’s how we accept that and deal with both that makes the difference.We will be get out of sorts at time. And we have to deal with an imperfect world with imperfect people. How we get through that has more to do with us and our own house then expecting them to change.See if you can find a local meeting we’re people read discus and mediate together. If there isn’t one you can take the initiative to start one yourself.Four agreements is another great book to check yourself in any situation.If we all put in a little more work on cleaning our own houses. There will be more clean houses to share with each other.

Well written, practical, experiential path to Recovery from Addictions.(Not perfect, but revisions are planned in a yet to be announced updated edition)The separate Refuge Recovery support groups spawned by the book combine some of the wisdom & experiences of 12 Step program 'structure' with the proven, transformative directions of the Four Noble Truths & Eight Fold Path.Accessible to all, newcomers & longer term recovery practitioners.Refuge Recovery support groups (non-profit, separate from Refuge Recovery Treatment Center, and the author/publisher of the book) have grown from about 100 in June 2015, to 300 worldwide in October 2017 to well over 600 in October 2018.Update & Clarification:One reviewer indicated that Refuge Recovery, which some people call RR, is pre-empted by Rational Recovery, which was also nicknamed RR, which was essentially a for profit support group created by Jack Trimpey in 1986.They effectively shut their doors in 1998 with this declaration:"The Recovery Group Movement is Over! ... Beginning January 1, 1999, all addiction recovery group meetings for Rational Recovery in the United States, Canada, and abroad are hereby canceled and will not be rescheduled ever again, it's just a waste of time and is completely unproductive."SMART Recovery, a credible & effective treatment program, evolved from the ashes of Rational Recovery.

Great book. Interesting to read the scope of the reviews. Is the book perfect? No, but it's very good. Would I have done things in a different order? Yes, probably. Is it the 12 steps reworked? Definitely not, but the Dharma and the 12 Steps naturally share some core principles. Is it better than the Big Book? ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY. It's clearly filled a void for a lot of people, myself included, and I'm grateful for it. The fellowship is spreading, and later this month we're starting a meeting in our area. If you have any interest in meditation and/or Buddhist principles being integrated into your or a loved one's recovery, this is simply a must read. Get involved. Create the community you seek. If your're reading this and you're stuck in hell, there is a way out my friend, but you have to take a step in the right direction. This can be that. Be well.