Welcome to Recovery Dharma Minnesota

Most meetings are one hour. While different meetings can follow different formats, most meetings start with a silent group meditation, often 20 minutes in length, followed by reading and discussion from the book Recovery Dharma. There is no expectation to share, and no experience with meditation or Buddhism is necessary.

No, you don't have to be a Buddhist to participate in Recovery Dharma. Recovery Dharma is a peer-led, non-theistic movement, meaning it doesn't require belief in a higher power or any specific religion. This is a program of empowerment and doesn’t ask us to believe in anything other than our own potential to change and heal.

Recovery Dharma is a mindfulness-based, Buddhist-inspired recovery program that is not based on the 12-step model, instead focusing on the Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path and other Buddhist principles to support recovery from addiction. We understand that this is not the only path to recovery and many may choose to combine these practices with other recovery programs.

Financial support for each individual meeting comes from participant donations or "Dana", which is a Buddhist term for the practice of generosity. This helps cover essential costs such as rent, books for local groups, and other resources. Typically, at the end of a meeting, a basket is passed to collect Dana and it is asked that you only give what you can.

Unlike programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, Recovery Dharma does not have a traditional sponsorship model where one person is responsible for guiding another through their recovery journey. There are, however, opportunities to connect with a peer support guide who has completed significant work on their inquiries, established a meditation practice, and achieved renunciation from their addictive behaviors, for help on the path to liberation from addiction.

It should be noted this is a peer-to-peer, mutually supportive relationship, and does not follow a top-down, prescriptive model. Recovery Dharma recognizes that everyone's path to recovery is different, and peer support guidance is about mutual support and learning rather than a hierarchical relationship.

Many may also choose to seek out groups of "wise friends" from the meetings that can act as partners in self-inquiry and support each other’s practice. These groups may choose to get together outside of meetings to work through the questions of inquiry from the Recovery Dharma book, just casually get-together to check in or engage in activities, or any number of other supportive activities of their choosing.

At Recovery Dharma we are gathered to explore a Buddhist-inspired approach to recovery from addiction of all kinds. This program leads to recovery from addiction to substances like alcohol and drugs and from process addictions like sex, gambling, eating disorders, etc. This is a path to freedom from any repetitive and habitual behavior that causes suffering.