Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: kevin

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Thursday, August 11, 2022

Spacey, cops and Batmobile, Alex Jones (TJDS)

Voice artist Mike MacRae (mikemacrae.com), Jimmy Dore, Kurt Metzger, Jackson Hinkle (The Jimmy Dore Show); Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Friday, April 17, 2020

Addiction Recovery: "One Breath at a Time"

Kevin Griffin, One Breath at a Time (excerpts), BuddhistRecovery.org; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

What would the Buddha say to an alcoholic or drug addict? What can the Recovery Movement offer the Buddhist path? Author Kevin Griffin immersed himself in the Buddhist and Twelve Step traditions, and in One Breath at a Time he gives some surprising and inspiring answers to these questions. As a Buddhist meditation teacher and longtime Twelve Step practitioner, he weaves his personal story of recovery with traditional Buddhist teachings, taking us on a journey through the steps

“Six months before the holiday retreat with [enlightened lay Buddhist meditation teacher] Ruth Denison [as confirmed by living Buddhist master Ajahn Jumnien, who is profiled in Jack Kornfield's classic book on Buddhist greats], I went on a solo retreat for a week at a Buddhist monastery in the hills above Santa Cruz.

Living Buddhist Masters (Jack Kornfield)

“The first couple of days of sitting I continued my usual prayer rituals, morning and evening. But as I got deeper into practice, I found praying to something or someone outside myself started to feel false and artificial. I asked myself what 'God' felt like.

“As I meditated day after day, the idea of a being called God faded and was replaced by a sense of spirit that was in me and in everything. The name Great Spirit sprang to mind. This sounded almost silly, as if I were adopting a Native American belief system and yet, these words best fit my sense of a Higher Power: a vast, subtle energy pervading all things – a Great Spirit.”

[A better "Higher Power" than God]

I'm your Highest Power, goddammit!

“So for some years I adopted these words when I prayed. My Higher Power was both inside and outside. Today, verbal prayer sometimes falls away entirely, replaced simply by the effort to be aware and awake, to be mindful in each moment. At other times I use Buddhist forms of prayer (which I’ll explore in Step Eleven).”

“I don’t mean to say that I’ve got the Higher Power thing all figured out and I’m on the right side. Rather, this is where I’ve come to. Buddhist practice, in one way, strips everything away, so it’s hard to hold on to concepts like 'God.'

“On the other hand, the practice gives you such powerful inner resources that another kind of trust may supplant the formal faith in God.”

“The idea of a Higher Power changes; like everything, it’s impermanent. We learn to trust our understanding and let it evolve. Sometimes our inner landscape is so parched, there’s no sense of power or life; at other times we feel a gentle hand guiding us.

“Mindfulness, developed in meditation, helps us to see our relationship to our Higher Power in this moment and to work with that relationship in the most helpful way. In fact, mindfulness itself can be used as a Higher Power, as we shall see in Step Three” (pp. 41-42).

“Looking back, I see how in meditation it was possible to deceive myself. In silence, in my own mind, what appeared and disappeared, was not seen or heard by anyone else. I got no feedback, and besides that, I didn’t recognize the “nature of my wrongs,” the destructive and dysfunctional quality of my thinking – not to mention my behavior. This is where the Twelve Steps have something to offer Buddhism.”

[Is it any easier in Asia?]

Sons of the Buddha (Kamala Tiyavanich)

“In Asia, the monastery is the center of social life for many people. The monks are teachers for the lay people, even confidants. They offer guidance on matters large and small. Buddhism acts as a social and spiritual support system. However, for lay Buddhists in the West, we’ve largely lost this element...”

“What’s difficult to achieve is the kind of support that those in Twelve Step groups give each other. This may be because of a central difference in orientation between Twelve Step groups and Buddhist groups.

“In the Twelve Step groups, what brings people together is a common affliction, be it alcoholism, drug addiction, codependence, overeating, or something else. The members of these groups share a struggle, and also the willingness to engage that struggle with tremendous honesty.

“The Twelve Step tradition emphasizes the need for support, for “carrying the message”, for an ongoing fellowship as we deal with our failings. People in recovery also have the sense of having survived something together, and like any group of survivors, they share a bond forged in pain, struggle and eventual redemption.”

“In contrast, a Buddhist group is filled with people who, in some sense, are striving for Buddhahood, for perfection. Everyone is trying to learn Right Speech, Right Effort, Right Concentration, and on and on.

“In that context, there isn’t the same tendency to talk about one’s failings. You’re 'supposed' to be meditating right and being a good little Buddhist. There’s a striving for this ideal. And in that striving, there may even be a touch of competitiveness.

“So although the Buddhist teachings emphasize compassion and interconnectedness, in many Buddhist communities we haven’t found ways to bring the kind of immediate bonding that newcomers to the Twelve Steps can feel after their first meeting when they are surrounded by people offering their phone numbers and asking how they can help” (pp. 124-125). More

One Breath at a Time
Preface
Introduction
Part One: Surrender
(Step 1; Meditation Exercise: Vipassana; Step 2; Step 3)
Part Two: Investigation and responsibility
(Step 4; Meditation Exercise: noting the Hindrances; Step 5; Step 6; Step 7; Step 8; Step 9)
Part Three: Fulfillment
(Step 10; Step 11; Meditation Exercise: cultivating the wholesome: mudita and karuna; Step 12; Back to Step 1)

RecoveryDharma.org is a recovery movement based on Buddhist principles.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Fired: Kevin & Bean Show cancelled!

Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; KROQ.radio.com; FHF Show

Penultimate podcast: March 12, 2020: What's Happening? Mugs out despite coronavirus. Virologist Dr. Shannon Bennett. Praying away coronavirus. Dan Woike re: NBA season suspended Covid-19. Kid jokes for t-shirts. Coronavirus calls. Dr. Drew calls in as the voice of reason.

Kevin & Bean begin in LA radio and are a hit.

Dr. Drew Pinsky strikes again. He was fired from an AM station for public diagnosing failed presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was clearly suffering from a brain disease, with another doctor. He was soon fired, because the DNC's tentacles reach far and wide. He lost his KABC 790 AM show, throwing him off the public airwaves and forcing him onto an assortment of podcasts.

Dick Cheese, L, Jimmy Kimmel, M, Kevin, Bean

He's been a regular guest on the flagging, faltering, and ultimately failing "Kevin & Bean Show." Funny a-hole Bean Baxter was smart; he quit and moved to England to try to get into British radio. He'd been phoning it in (literally) for a long time. Kevin Ryder stayed behind with the show's first Jewish co-host, Jensen, and dimwitted Lisa May replacement ginger Allie. The show doesn't work and it hasn't for a while.

But when Dr. Drew came on and had the audacity to tell his truth saying people should calm down about the novel coronavirus COVID-19. BAM! Less than a week later the 30-year-old show was cancelled. Or maybe everyone got fired for being so pathetically not funny. Bean-less Kevin has been fired effective immediately, no warning, no goodbye, but a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that means no explanation coming any time soon.

Dr. Drew calls in as he does every Thursday to downplay worldwide coronavirus panic.

Humor was the heart of the show, giving birth to Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Corolla, Ralph Garman, Psycho Mike Catherwood, Dick Cheese... This is radio. DJs and particularly morning drive personalities serve at the pleasure of a heartless corporation and a program director (in this case Mike Kaplan) trying to save his behind. The show is cancelled.

Frank Kramer of the "Frosty, Heidi & Frank Show" over at KLOS 95.5 FM, Los Angeles, extended the same offer he did when Lisa May was heartless canned, followed by funnyman loser Ralph "Man of 100 Voices" Garman (who has his own struggling paywall podcast and bit work over at Family Guy). Kevin ignored the friendly hand, as did socially awkward Allie. But Jensen reached out and mentioned the NDA, thanking Frank for the offer, saying only, "Take our audience."

Monday, May 14, 2018

Buddhist recovery from alcohol and drugs

AgainstTheStream.org/Refuge-Recovery; Seth Auberon, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly

Against the Stream in Hollywood and Santa Monica has ongoing weekly meetings open to anyone interested in addiction recovery and Buddhism.

"Refuge Recovery" is a community of people who are using the practices of mindfulness, compassion, forgiveness, and generosity to heal the pain and suffering addiction has caused in our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

The path of practice that followed is what Noah Levine [currently under investigation] and friends calls the "Four Truths of Refuge Recovery." These are a Buddhist-oriented path to recovery from addiction.

It has proven successful with addicts and alcoholics who have committed to the Buddhist path of meditation, generosity, kindness, and renunciation.

RefugeRecovery.org counseling, housing

This is an approach to recovery that understands that “All beings have the power and potential to free themselves from suffering.”

Confident in the power of the Buddha’s Teachings, known as the Dharma, when applied (put into practice) will relieve suffering of all kinds, including the suffering of addiction.

These meetings are appropriate for anyone in recovery or interested in a nontheistic approach to recovery. No meditation experience is necessary. Donation only; no preregistration; just drop in. More

7:30pm Tues, 4300 Melrose Ave., LA 90029
7:30pm Thurs, 1001a Colorado Ave., SM, 90401
6:00pm Sat, 1001a Colorado Ave., SM, 90401
7:00pm Sun, 4300 Melrose Ave., LA 90029

Refuge Recovery at Against the Stream

For more info on Refuge Recovery including formats to start your own meeting, please visit the Refuge Recovery Website. Questions or for more information, write: service@againstthestream.org.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Everyday Addiction: Healing Habits

Kevin Griffin is the author of the classic One Breath at a Time and A Burning Desire on the Buddhist approach to recovery.

Whereas most Alcoholics Anonymous and related 12-Step (codependence, sex addiction, marijuana abuse, love addiction, narcotics, rage, etc.) work revolves around the notion of a God who take on one's burdens, how might recovery be approached by nontheists?

Lilou Mace interviews Kevin Griffin, an innovator in the field of
addiction treatment. The insight and intimacy of his teaching
have made him a leader in the mindful recovery movement.

It can be done, and quite well. Anything useful can be one's "higher power." In this daylong workshop Griffin will look at the issues that trouble us in our daily lives, both internal and external. Together participants will explore self-judgment and painful emotional habits and work with letting go of the habitual behaviors that undermine our happiness and serenity.

Using themes like honesty, intention, and acceptance, we will come to understand the roots of our distress and develop tools to overcome and heal these persistent problems.

The day's teaching will include mindfulness meditation techniques and Buddhist/12-Step parallels. This day is open to ALL those who are interested. You need not be in a 12 Step program nor have a background in Buddhist meditation. The day will include introductory meditation instructions. Beginners are welcome.

One Day Retreat with Kevin Griffin
Saturday, April 7, 2012, 9:30 am-4:30 pm
Cost: $50 plus plus dana to the teacher.
(No one is turned away for lack of funds).
Please pack a brown bag lunch. (Parking)
Against the Stream, 4300 Melrose Ave., LA 90029
REGISTER

Kevin Griffin is the author of One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps and Burning Desire: Dharma, God, and the Path of Recovery. A longtime Buddhist practitioner and 12 Step participant, he is a leader in the mindful recovery movement and one of the founders of the Buddhist Recovery Network. Kevin teaches internationally in Buddhist centers, treatment centers, professional conferences, and academic settings.