The Zen Way of Recovery: An Illuminated Path Out of the Darkness of Addiction

by Laura Burges

An accessible, compassionate guide to Buddhist principles and practices that can help support recovery from addictions and addictive behaviors—written by an experienced lay teacher with long-term recovery.

For anyone struggling with addiction, Buddhism offers powerful, grounding wisdom and tools to help support recovery. In The Zen Way of Recovery , Laura Burges shares her experience as a dedicated Zen practitioner who came to terms with her own addiction to alcohol and found support for her recovery. Through the lens of Buddhist teachings, Burges offers tools and practices which, together with the help of recovery programs, can offer a road to sobriety.
     Burges is an experienced and compassionate guide, and her message is resonant for people with any type of addictive behavior—and for people who aren’t necessarily familiar with Buddhism. Her teachings are drawn from the Buddha's life and teachings (specifically the Eight Awarenesses of the Awakened Being  and the Six Paramitas), and the wisdom of Japanese Buddhist priest Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Soto school of Zen, among others.
     Burges emphasizes the importance of being in an active recovery program, and the teachings and practices she offers in each chapter—including reflections, journaling prompts, meditations, instructions for setting up and altar and zazen—are both a perfect adjunct and powerful reinforcement. 

Examples of reflections and journaling prompts

Genres: Buddhism, Addiction, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Zen, Psychology, Self Help

232 pages, Paperback

Published July 18, 2023

About the author

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and came to Buddhism at the San Francisco Zen Center. I received monastic training at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and returned there to cook for the guests during the summer guest season. I taught children for 35 years and my books are a reflection of my long- term Zen practice and my work with children.
I lecture, teach classes, and lead retreats at different practice centers in Northern California. I co-founded the Sangha in Recovery program at the Zen Francisco Zen Center and continue to study and lead classes on Buddhism and recovery. My daughter Nova, who took this photo, is an artist and a gifted preschool teacher in Oakland. My hope is that my books will reach children and their families with wisdom stories and activities that will introduce them to the principles of Buddhist practice. I hope that my book "The Zen Way of Recovery" will help support people who are interested in both of these pathways to peace.

Reviews

[Linda Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many books written for anyone struggling with addiction. But Laura Burges’s book The Zen Way of Recovery addresses addiction and recovery in ways that no one else has. As someone who has been in recovery for decades, she is brutally honest about her own history of addiction and how she continues to strive towards a life free of addiction. Her book is filled with both wisdom and humor. Her humanity and compassion illuminate every page. She shares stories from Buddhist teachings as well as personal stories from others in recovery communities. She draws from psychology, from folklore, and also, as a third grade teacher for many years, from the innate wisdom of children. I recommend this book highly to anyone who is on the way to recovery or to anyone who is still finding their way.

[Robyn van de cater · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are in recovery (and everyone is recovering from some thing) this book is for you. I am not an alcoholic, but I have plenty of things in my life that I have needed to recover from. Ms. Burges clearly and beautifully explains how to recover from the darkness of addiction. She provides easy to follow practices at the end of every chapter. You don’t need to be a Buddhist to use her approach. I found the book easy to read, and her personal reflections were very helpful throughout the book. She has a beautiful writing style, a good sense of humor, which kept me engaged throughout the book. I highly recommend this book for everyone.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am neither a Buddhist, nor in recovery, and I found basic wisdom for everyday life on every page of The Zen Way of Recovery by Laura Burges. The combination of deep expertise in two worlds, personal experience, gentle advice, warm humor, and specific practical suggestions make it an easy read. But it is also the kind of book I like to pick up again and again and just dip inside for whatever wisdom it might offer on the spot. It will have a place of honor on my spirituality bookshelf.

[kate rothrock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This intimate, beautifully written book is like listening to a close friend, one who talks frankly and without judgement about the winding path through spirituality and recovery. Laura deftly blends her penetrating knowledge of both—reflecting many decades of practice, study, and teaching—with a light touch that drew me in, helped me see myself in her many anecdotes, and often made me laugh. She not only shares the wisdom of Buddhism’s historic spiritual teachers, but also that of her third-grade students, her irrepressible daughter, and even Mel Brooks. Her reassuring reminders of our shared experience show us that both Buddhism and recovery aren’t something alien and apart, but practices woven simply into the fabric of our everyday lives.

[Brian Hyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in how Zen and recovery go together, Laura Burges offers accessible insights, lively anecdotes, compassionate instructions, and plenty of opportunities to reflect and practice in order to personalize and integrate the universal lessons found within her remarkable book The Zen Way of Recovery. People in any stage of recovery, as well as therapists, social workers, and others who work in the field of addiction recovery, will benefit from these tools and teachings that complement and support those who seek solutions to any form of addiction of similar type of suffering.

I have been sober for more than 14 years now and this book definitely enhanced my overall recovery.

[patsy creedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Zen Way of Recovery is a book I will return to over and over. The author's levity and vulnerability help to illuminate the miraculous blending of buddhism and recovery. Buddhism can be dry and overly academic and recovery can feel impossible but the author's experience and compassionate sharing of her own life is the opening of one of those magical doors that can help us find our way. The exercises at the end of each chapter are really useful and I love those third graders so much.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about how spirituality intersects with psychology, recovery, and self-improvement. I appreciated the exercises at the end of each chapter and am thinking of adding a section to the end of my self-help, how-to book in progress.

[Tanya Dreke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author, publisher and Goodreads for the paperback copy. Great read, easy to understand, and highly recommended.