Darren Littlejohn - The 12-Step Buddhist: Enhance Recovery from Any Addiction

Darren Littlejohns The 12-Step Buddhist is a down-to-earth presentation of the tools that helped him become familiar with his mind and how to change it. The 12 Steps, in their emphasis on looking inside, taking responsibility, and having the courage to change, fit the Buddhist approach like a glove.

Were all addicts, its just a question of degree. When we understand that the nature of attachment is dissatisfactionthe aching sense of never being enough, never having enough, always wanting morethis can begin to make sense. What Buddhas saying is deceptively simple: fulfillment, happiness, satisfaction, contentment are within our grasp.

Venerable Robina Courtin, executive director of the Liberation Prison Project, USA and Australia

The 12-Step Buddhist is one of those rare books that transcends genres by seamlessly integrating the 12-Step approach, Buddhist principles, and a compelling personal struggle with addiction and a quest for spiritual awakening. With its refreshingly direct, tell-it-like-it-is style, this book takes a systematic approach to blending the 12 Steps with timeless Buddhist meditations and wisdom.

The 12-Step Buddhist is an important guidebook to living life just as it is,beyond the insanity of addiction and recovery. This book is ideal for both spiritual seekers and those who feel that their life is out of control. As a former Buddhist monk and a practicing psychotherapist who works with recovering addicts, I highly recommend this book!

Donald Altman, MA, LPC, author of Living Kindness and Meal by Meal

This book is written not based on theory or assumption, but by a person who actually went through the experience of recovery and from that experience has seen the benefits of this system as a way to help other people who are facing the same circumstances. This will be an important contribution to the literature of Buddhism and of recovery in the West.

Yangsi Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist teacher and president of Maitripa Institute

The 12-Step Buddhist is a unique synthesis of the traditional 12-Step model and the liberating wisdom of Dharma, bridging the divide between traditional programs, which suffer from problematic terminology and pedagogy, and Buddhist teachings, which arent equipped to address some of the specific needs and concerns of the modern addict.

Mandala Magazine

Darrens book is an insightful, personal meditation on the many fruitful intersections between 12-Step recovery programs, science, and Buddhism. For those seeking recovery, but put off by what seems like a heavy Judeao-Christian orientation in many 12-Step programs, Darrens story will be a refreshing eye-opener to alternative possibilities.

James Blumenthal, professor of Buddhist Studies, Oregon State University and Maitripa College, author of The Ornament of the Middle Way

Addiction makes your life completely meaningless. It blocks your path to enlightenment, your spiritual path. But overcoming addiction is not easy because there are so many habits from the past. Studying Dharma is unbelievably important and is something that should be done right now, because death can come at any time. It is also the main thing for achieving everlasting happiness, total liberation from samsara, and from all suffering. It is the foundation for achieving enlightenment, for the benefit of others. Thus the benefit of practicing meditation is not just overcoming addiction.

Venerable Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition

If the 12-Steps lead to recovery, Buddhist practice and philosophy can provide the spiritual underpinnings needed to stabilize that recovery. [Darren Littlejohns] interpretation of the 12-Steps as seen through the lens of this wisdom tradition is fascinating and useful. A very practical and inspired guide.

Susan Piver, author of How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life

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Copyright 2009 by Darren Littlejohn

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This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed in the publication. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering medical, health, or any other kind of personal professional services in the book. The reader should consult his or her medical, health or other competent professional before adopting any of the suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it. The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Littlejohn, Darren.

The 12-step Buddhist: enhance recovery from any addiction / Darren Littlejohn.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Twelve-step programsReligious aspectsBuddhism. 2. Religious lifeBuddhism. 3. Self-help techniques. I. Title.

BQ4570.T85L58 2009
294.34442dc22

2008044310

ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-9595-3
ISBN-10: 1-4165-9595-3

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For my brother, Darryl,
who wanted to be free of sufferingjust like me

I am deeply moved by Darren Littlejohns remarkable story, and his broad grasp of everything that can possibly help us all to find more freedom from our various forms of addiction. He is talking real talk and walking a real walk. It comes through in every line of this no-nonsense and intensely compassionate book.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama never pushes some sort of Buddhism as a panacea for our problems, but always teaches us to look towards the teachings of compassion, tolerance, and peace in all spiritual traditions, while also taking advantage of whatever insight and technique science has to offer. Darrens book works in this same spirit, not pushing the 12 Steps or Buddhism as a panacea, but drawing on a wide range of experiences and traditions to provide a powerful, illuminating path that will benefit all who read or encounter it.

On the surface, it might seem strange to combine a Judeo-Christian recovery program with a Buddhist psychology and spiritual practice. But the way Darren puts them together in a non-dogmatic, essentially pragmatic way, makes sense. He speaks out to all of us, whether we are officially addicts or not. Understanding the pervasiveness of addictive habits is the only way to help our dear ones who are in trouble, while also facing the areas where we ourselves are also bound. Traveling this road with Darren helps us realize we are all attachedaddictedto something. And we all suffer as a result of such attachments. We all crave the kind of peace that will never come from a bottle or from a drug, but from understanding ourselves and the power of our minds.