Markis Hernandez’s Reviews > Recovery Dharma: How to Use Buddhist Practices and Principles to Heal the Suffering of Addiction > Status Update

Read the loving-kindness meditation. I like how they start you out with repeating the mantras toward yourself, then to someone you love, then a neutral person, then someone who annoys you. Reading it made me feel better on is own.

Part of what makes a sangha important is being able to ask for help from others. It's something most of us lack when we were deep in our addictions, and though it will take time, practice, and some vulnerability to be comfortable doing it, the sangha is a great place to cultivate this important trait. Another important tool the sangha provides is access to wise friends and mentors.

Sangha means community. This is vitally important for those in recovery bc we have been used to isolating, not trusting others, and generally being alone. For Recovery Dharma, the sangha is the community that organizes and attend meetings is crucial for our journey. Its where we can learn to trust ourselves and others again. Its a safe space to be vulnerable. We must have faith that there is a sangha out there for us

Wise concentration is about training the mind to be focused and undistracted. We do this by practicing mindfulness, whether it be via meditation or bringing ourselves back to the present moment at any given time when we are paying attention to what is going on around us. It can also get us out of negative thoughts or feelings of craving. Sangha means "community". Recovery Dharma meetings strive to be a safe space.

Wise mindfulness is about being present w what is in our minds, bodies, hearts, and world. We want to be present for our thoughts in a matter that promotes compassion for ourselves and others and not get caught up in creating stories from these thoughts. It's about building awareness of our feeling without judging them or being hard on ourselves. There are four foundations of mindfulness practice.

Went over wise livelihood and effort. There are five kinds of livelihood to avoid: trading in weapons or instruments of killing, trafficking in or selling human beings, killing other beings, making or selling addictive drugs, or business in poison. For wise livelihood, we want to maintain an effort to benefit others. Wise effort means devoting balanced energy towards the other parts of the path.

Went over wise speech and action. Wise speech means to have the intention to use speech to reduce harm. This includes speaking dishonestly, putting others down, gossiping, and exaggerating the truth. This also means listening actively and to speak up when necessary so as not to cause harm to ourselves. Wise action means we should try to make choices based on understanding and not via thoughtless habits and ignorance

We went over the 3rd and 4th heart practices for wise intention. The four heart practices are appreciative joy, compassion, lovingkindness, and equanimity. Lovingkindness, or metta, is simply wishing others to be happy, well, and free from suffering regardless of how others have treated us and despite what we can get from them. This is what makes genuine forgiveness possible. Not just forgiving others but ourselves.

Wise intention is the topic. It can simply be viewed as deciding to act in ways that produce good karma and avoiding actions that produce bad karma. Note the word "decide here." Even if the action is challenging, being willing to do so is enough here. Generosity is brought up here as the first choice we can make regarding wise intention. Wishing others well without comparison is important here. Compassion as well.

We get into the first part of the eightfold path which is wise understanding. Wise understanding is paying attention to our actions to understand better where our choices lead. We want to act in ways that promote good karma, which means "action" or "doing." Therefore, by reflecting on our actions in a truthful manner, we give ourselves the opportunity to act in ways that give us good karma as opposed to bad karma