Recovery Using Vipassana as a Recovery Tool - Sobriety from Weed

Thanks for all the wonderful links and quotes, very inspiring indeed. Just wanted to add a comment as a newbie and recent weed quitter (so far 15 months of total abstinence, cold-turkey hard core, not a single puff since!). When I was using I was very desperate to quit but just couldn't take the first step, I would relapse the same day I quit hating myself for being so weak, so unable to resist the urge to smoke.

I was addicted to weed for a long time till some 15 months ago. For many years was trying to quit but was failing every attempt till I came across Vipassana meditation, after the first course I stayed clean for some time but eventually I relapsed again and again and again and ..again, eventually it took me 5 x 10-day courses to finally quit weed for good. After going-for about 8 months-through the well known hellish withdrawals of insomnia, vivid-dreams, irritability, night-sweating etc., finally I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

What I found that really did the trick was sitting the 10-day silent course and confronting my own self head on, learning to be equanimous to both craving and aversion as they're both sensations having the same characteristic of arising and passing away = sounds easy but is hard!! Confronting oneself at a such deep level can be a very unpleasant experience but once it's over (being impermanent like everything else in life) it leaves a deep grove (at the experiential level) one can refer to while in the real world, while observing ones behavior and reactions especially to cravings (addictions, habits) as they arise, as they fade away and eventually as they leave for good.


Good luck to all



Some of the links that helped me a lot to stay focused and not to relapse:


https://youtu.be/5DgvHnt-_x0 -What Is Addiction? Definition, Simple Test and Causes

https://youtu.be/FmjjxdDwOIc -Relapse Prevention: Early warning signs and important coping skills

https://youtu.be/9JVrzc_dxK4 -Overcoming Addiction

https://youtu.be/ixu4Kd5R1DI -Vipassana Meditation and Body Sensation

https://youtu.be/H2PZRKqbOUE -Vipassana Meditation Short Intro

https://youtu.be/yVfpIJxYg74 -How I Quit Drugs Forever

https://youtu.be/yfbEJI-k7T8 -Vipassana Changed My Life

https://youtu.be/XKy3B4Tb6jY -How To Do Vipassana Meditation

https://youtu.be/H-KSjtsKxpA -What Are The Four Noble Truths Of Buddhism

https://youtu.be/apMtC6nzqJI -Loving & Accepting Yourself

For quitting drugs like weed, cigarettes, alcohol, etc., I'd say a Vipassana Meditation 10-day silent course is the best bet, as a first timer will cost you $ 0,0 and thereafter whatever you feel/can donate. It did it for me, I had to take 5 x 10-day courses though, it depends the person and the habit, some people quit fast others slow. The reason I relapsed was because I made the classical mistake thinking I was cured so I could handle a joint ..little did I know. Finally I learned from my mistakes, now 15 months later I'm still weed-free without one hit/puff and also without craving for weed either. The beauty of it is I don't feel suppressing any desire to smoke at all, it's out of my mind and system, no cravings! I feel extremely happy I have my life back. https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/about/vipassana

Meditation in itself is a great tool http://www.neurosoup.com/meditations-role-in-drug-addiction-recovery/, The Vipassana Meditation retreats really work because you stay for 10 days in total silence (the whole thing is well organized, of course you can talk with the teacher about your experiences during the course), since no drugs are allowed you get a 10-day drug-free head-start. The idea behind it is to learn how to be equanimous towards craving and aversion https://youtu.be/9JVrzc_dxK4.

it's a worldwide organization based purely on donation, first timers are not encouraged to donate anyway. it's not sectarian, although Buddhist, open to all religions, all races and all walks of life, you can always call and ask for advice before you sign up for the course, don't be afraid to admit your addictions etc., the deeper the shit you're in the more they want to help you-of course-free of charge, sounds weird but is true. For a location near you check their worldwide list: https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/locations/directory. Of course are many different types of Vipassana courses offered throughout the world especially in Buddhist countries like Myanmar and Thailand but if your budget is tight and can't fly there this is a very good chance to conquer your addiction and free yourself from the misery of your suffering.


Some links to shed some light:


https://youtu.be/yVfpIJxYg74

https://youtu.be/ixu4Kd5R1DI

https://youtu.be/yfbEJI-k7T8

https://youtu.be/XKy3B4Tb6jY

https://youtu.be/H2PZRKqbOUE

https://rhcpifyouhavetoask.blogspot.nl/2009/11/john-frusciante-talks-to-mind-part-3.html


Good Luck to All

Only downside to Goenka retreats is that they are pretty hardcore traditional Buddhist. I would never recommend someone how has very recently detoxed or is detoxing to go on one. They are so challenging that it's something that is better left for once one is a bit more stable. The cost is really great though, although lots of other retreat centers like Spirit Rock and organizations like MARC and ATS also offer scholarships that make the retreats very affordable. I'd suggest Spirit Rock (depending on who is teaching) and MARC to beginners more than ATS or Goenka though.

Well the Goenka retreats could be hardcore for the untrained westerner but not if you compare them with other Vipassana traditions around S.E.Asia. I was trying desperately to quit weed for 15 years and after few courses without taking any medications or having any counseling the cravings were gone for good within the first 10 days, I did go through the withdrawals of course but meditating on a daily basis helped me a lot to cope with, seeing the incredible results the price I had to pay in terms of discomfort, panic attacks etc., was minimal and definitely worth the effort.

To complement Vipassana I would recommend rigorous yoga (for ex. Iyengar or traditional Hatha), occasional sauna and good food, preferably vegan macrobiotic. I found out that my best defense was being equanimous to the arising desire to use and not reacting to it till it would pass away, very simple straight forward logic that has been proven rock solid for the last 2,500 years and still going strong (No medications needed).

Day 456

I am glad you have found a program that benefits you.

This thread is geared towards the harm reduction and recovery communities, not the vipassana community, plus I personally have found that while some traditions, such as Sayadaw's metta-vipassana Burmese Mahayana school, have the kind of depth in meditation that the more Western interpretations often lack (I mean, it isn't like the US is a Buddhist country unlike those found in Asia), it is really the basics of mindfulness that benefit one the most generally speaking.

Enlightenment isn't what interests me or the MBHR program I am creating so much as relational mindfulness, which is the focus of MBHR. If you are familiar at all with MBSR or MBRP you would get the idea. They are about the clinical, practical daily utility of vipassana and metta practices, and as such emphasize the cultivation of mindfulness as opposed to other skills.

And I have never heard anyone I respect in the vipassana community refer to Goenka as anything but on the hardcore side. They are very strict, like many Japanese Zen traditions tend to be. They take the precepts very literally, which isn't something I find particularly useful in our modern day American context. It is certainly good to work with them on a strict basis for a short period of time, but the precepts are infinitely more valuable when one works with them in a more flexible, nuanced way at folks like Thich Nhat Hahn interpret them.

And don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to get rid of your pictures from this thread. They are something of a clutter-nuance. Apologizes. Feel free to start your own Recovery Journal thread documenting your progress in sobriety as opposed to going off topic with your progress here (although please understand, I feel that your progress should be celebrated, just in a more appropriate venue).

I for one would be interested to hear more about where and how you got sober and how you have maintained your sobriety since then (just, again, not here).

EDIT: I just when ahead and started you your own thread. Please post here regarding your journey as opposed to the MBHR thread. Post there only if you are interested in discussing your experience or anything else directly related to mindfulness, vipassana, etc.

Well the people reading the threads are mostly people struggling with a drug problem, since it worked for me it might work for others, my intention is not to spread Buddhism nor to advertise the Goenka retreats but very simply to inform people they can quit weed effectively the "easy" way without medications and without converting to Buddha, to Allah or Christ.

Feel free to take my pictures down or even to delete my posts, one thing it's not possible to erase is simply the truth.

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense

Click to expand...

Cheers


PS. No worries I won't post anymore anywhere in this forum, I understand tolerance is scarce in this part of the world. Good luck!

You have your own thread now. Feel free to do whatever you want with it. I shouldn't have deleted those pictures (that was before I decided to just go ahead and create your own thread for you). Post whatever you want here as long as it continues to be in line with the SL guidelines and BLUA. This is your show now, enjoy

Metta! Sabbe Satta Sukhi Hontu

Always more metta the majority of my early recovery, particularly the first three years, has been all about relational mindfulness. In terms of my formal practice, and occasionally my practice off the cushion, that means practicing more metta! :D

Do you have any favorite metta practices jdfisse?

Yeah I was gonna say Vipassana retreats are the most hardcore - you essentially become a monk for the 10 days, and a lot of people drop out before completing. I personally always went for the 'softer ones'.

Lighter retreats lasting 3-5 days which focus on mindfulness and perhaps meta are more suited to people in recovery. But if it works for you man, that's awesome to hear. The Dharma is there to be tested, that is what Buddha taught, so it's vital you find the right technique and practice and approach that works for you after testing them. That's my take on it anyway.