What do you think?
Rate this book
Eight Step Recovery (Revised Ed.): Using the Buddha's Teachings to Overcome Addiction
Winner of the 2014 USA Best Book Award in the Self-Help: Motivational category and Winner of the 2015 International Book Award in the Self-Help: Motivational category
"This book provides a spiritual pathway to recovery for people from any faith tradition, as well as for those who are not religious, and for those who suffer from addiction as well as those who are simply aware of the suffering associated with the human condition. This is a book for everyone!"—Chris Cook, PhD, director of the Project for Spirituality, Theology & Health, Durham University, United Kingdom
"Blending Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery with traditional Buddhist teachings and personal stories, the authors give us a wise and compassionate approach to recovery from the range of addictions. This comprehensive approach will be a valuable tool for addicts and addiction professionals alike."—Kevin Griffin, author of One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps
All of us can struggle with the tendency towards addiction, but for some it can destroy their lives. In our recovery from addiction, the Buddha's teachings offer an understanding of how the mind works, tools for helping a mind vulnerable to addiction, and ways to overcome addictive behavior, cultivating a calm mind without resentments.
Valerie Mason-John is the author of seven books. She works as a consultant in Conflict Transformation. She was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2005.
Paramabandhu Groves, MD, is a consultant psychiatrist for the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, specializing in addiction. He is ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2016
96 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 7, 2019
A good alternative or supplement to Refuge Recovery
I come to this book from a particular position: someone who read Refuge Recovery, a similar book using Buddhist principles to help people recover from addiction. I also participate in Refuge Recovery meetings both in person and online. So as a “true believer” in that program, reading a book like this makes me compare them in a lot of ways. Overall, I think I would still recommend Refuge Recovery as the first read to most people. It’s shorter, punchier, and fits my Buddhist preferences better (more on that below).
That said, this book is a treasure, and I would recommend it to anyone in recovery who wants the support of Buddhist teachings. This book is full of inspiring and practical wisdom filtered down through the ages. The practices inside are priceless and very similar to the practices I’ve employed as a Buddhist to stay sober for over a year.
What this book really access at, in my opinion, is speaking to a privileged and educated audience, and people who’s addictions are subtle and psychological. It tackles eating disorders, sexual addiction and similar problems with a lot more nuance and grace than Refuge Recovery. If your struggle is with these types of self-destructive behavior then this book is probably where you should start. In contrast, I feel Refuge Recovery, with its blunt efficiency, is easier to read and more straightforward, and would be more useful for someone in dire straights and in need of the hard truth as efficiently as possible. Almost every paragraph in Refige Recovery is quotable, but also a bit disjointed, whereas this book is a very smooth read, but with an impression of “filler” as a result. This question probably comes down to taste. For me, I think the style of Refuge Recovery was more likely to keep me reading and working on my recovery, but it’s impossible because I can’t go back in time and try this book instead.
The other aspect that’s very different between the two books is that Refuge Recovery is based on a “secular Buddhist” approach, taking teaching largely from “early Buddhism” and the Pali Cannon, the original teachings of Gautama Buddha. By contrast, this book is based on the Triratna Buddhist lineage (now known as “the Buddhist center” in the book) which is a Mahayana/Tibetan fusion version of Buddhism. The main outcome of this is the inclusion of chanting, prayer and bodhisattva (angel/saint) practices that are part of many Buddhist traditions around the world, but were developed hundreds of years after the Buddha’s death. For me, this is a turn off, and theses practices are less compatible with an atheist/secular/other-religion worldview than those found in Refuge Recovery (and the “insight meditation” tradition on which it is based). This isn’t a dealbreaker for me on the book, and I think anyone could make great use of the book and just ignore these teachings, but it’s a real difference that is worth being aware of.
Again, overall I love this book and I’m so glad it exists as a support for those looking for recovery. Buddhism is an amazing source of insight into addiction and suffering and I hope this book can help you get and stay sober!
May you be safe and well
May you be free from suffering
May you be happy and content
May you live at ease
I come to this book from a particular position: someone who read Refuge Recovery, a similar book using Buddhist principles to help people recover from addiction. I also participate in Refuge Recovery meetings both in person and online. So as a “true believer” in that program, reading a book like this makes me compare them in a lot of ways. Overall, I think I would still recommend Refuge Recovery as the first read to most people. It’s shorter, punchier, and fits my Buddhist preferences better (more on that below).
That said, this book is a treasure, and I would recommend it to anyone in recovery who wants the support of Buddhist teachings. This book is full of inspiring and practical wisdom filtered down through the ages. The practices inside are priceless and very similar to the practices I’ve employed as a Buddhist to stay sober for over a year.
What this book really access at, in my opinion, is speaking to a privileged and educated audience, and people who’s addictions are subtle and psychological. It tackles eating disorders, sexual addiction and similar problems with a lot more nuance and grace than Refuge Recovery. If your struggle is with these types of self-destructive behavior then this book is probably where you should start. In contrast, I feel Refuge Recovery, with its blunt efficiency, is easier to read and more straightforward, and would be more useful for someone in dire straights and in need of the hard truth as efficiently as possible. Almost every paragraph in Refige Recovery is quotable, but also a bit disjointed, whereas this book is a very smooth read, but with an impression of “filler” as a result. This question probably comes down to taste. For me, I think the style of Refuge Recovery was more likely to keep me reading and working on my recovery, but it’s impossible because I can’t go back in time and try this book instead.
The other aspect that’s very different between the two books is that Refuge Recovery is based on a “secular Buddhist” approach, taking teaching largely from “early Buddhism” and the Pali Cannon, the original teachings of Gautama Buddha. By contrast, this book is based on the Triratna Buddhist lineage (now known as “the Buddhist center” in the book) which is a Mahayana/Tibetan fusion version of Buddhism. The main outcome of this is the inclusion of chanting, prayer and bodhisattva (angel/saint) practices that are part of many Buddhist traditions around the world, but were developed hundreds of years after the Buddha’s death. For me, this is a turn off, and theses practices are less compatible with an atheist/secular/other-religion worldview than those found in Refuge Recovery (and the “insight meditation” tradition on which it is based). This isn’t a dealbreaker for me on the book, and I think anyone could make great use of the book and just ignore these teachings, but it’s a real difference that is worth being aware of.
Again, overall I love this book and I’m so glad it exists as a support for those looking for recovery. Buddhism is an amazing source of insight into addiction and suffering and I hope this book can help you get and stay sober!
May you be safe and well
May you be free from suffering
May you be happy and content
May you live at ease
June 9, 2025
This is a read multiple times in multiple ways reference book. I find it very useful and grounding. Each time I read a passage I learn something new.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews