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  • Who Is Myself?

    BRN Academy

    Exploring identity in the context of Dharma and recovery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0aofOnrzls Meditation and Dharma Talk with time for Q & A

  • Building a Foundation for Freedom

    BRN Academy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMJ0EZVG0Uk When we are caught in addictive behaviors, we’re often acting from habits that have been strengthened over the years, and which can be difficult to break. The Buddha’s teaching on liberation and awakening, the Eightfold Path, also offers us a path to freedom from these habits.  When we intentionally use this path as a roadmap...

  • Recovering the Heart: Loving Kindness as a Path to Addiction Recovery

    Featured

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTNzP2jAJGM Mikey Livid (he/him) is a Buddhist teacher, author, and counselor. Mikey is the guiding teacher at Wild Heart Meditation Center in Nashville, TN. He regularly brings Buddhist meditation classes into addiction treatment centers, prisons, and a variety of settings. Mikey is the author of his upcoming book Blood, Guts, & Buddhism: The Dharma of...

  • Building a RAFT: From Addicted Doctor to Freedom

    Featured
    BRN Academy

    BRN Academy with Dr. Cathryn Jacob - August 3, 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzIFmeuR3tQ   Cathryn Jacob is a retired medical doctor who has dedicated herself to the study and teachings of Secular Dharma and early Buddhist teachings. Her recovery journey began with the 12-step program, where she became both a sponsor and teacher, but challenges with the concept...

  • The Buddha’s Intoxications

    Featured
    BRN Academy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QdPy16xHJA In this session, Vince explored Gotama's early life and his own "intoxications" with youth, health, and life itself, drawing parallels to the universal human journey of recognising the patterns that hold us back and embarking on a noble search for freedom.   The talk is based on chapter two of the RAFT to Freedom Workbook that is...

  • Starting Over: Recovery and the Courage to Begin Again

    BRN Academy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loJyLe_wOgc Recovery is not about perfection. It’s about beginning again—again and again. In this month’s BRN Academy talk Silasiri explores the courage and compassion it takes to let go of the past, return to the present, and choose a new way forward. The Buddha’s teachings remind us that each moment is a fresh start. With...

  • Angulimala and the Wreckage of our Past

    Featured
    BRN Academy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KskmIGMG_5o Many of us come into recovery, change our lives completely, and then get utterly surprised and disappointed when the closest ones around us still don’t trust or believe us. Some of us have to gruelingly trudge through legal repercussions for many years after committing to recovery.  These issues and an infinite of other problems commonly...

  • Liberate Yourself from Addictive Behaviors

    Featured
    BRN Academy

    Meditation and Dharma Talk with time for Q & AJoin the Teaching https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87579202512?pwd=b3PXF6s4kd3HHgoqSeZNzNDhzdcYnw.1      Meeting ID: 875 7920 2512 and passcode: 414176 Signup and Support herehttps://givebutter.com/DEC25More About the Teaching Are you navigating the challenges of recovery, seeking a deeper, more integrated path to healing? Join Vimalasara, co-founder of the groundbreaking 8 Step Recovery and...

  • Remembering to Remember. What would be wise for us to remember?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7VteHFB5z4  As we enter a new (Gregorian) new year (also, a new day, moment, hour) we can take a moment to reflect on this practice of remembering to remember as well as our practice of recovery and how they support one another. What would be wise for us to remember? In this time together, we...

  • Living in Vow – BRN Academy with Ryuko Laura Burges

    Living in Vow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlhuUIVbOKs Ryuko Laura Burges is a lay entrusted dharma teacher in the Soto Zen tradition, teaching and leading retreats in California. She received monastic training at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. A longtime educator, Laura co-founded the Meditation in Recovery programs at San Francisco Zen Center. She has been featured in Tricycle Magazine and Buddhadharma and her books...

  • Happiness Follows Like a Never-Departing Shadow

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrQE4JxOfHM More About George George Beecher first encountered the Dharma in 2010 when he read Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung’s book Savor, about mindful eating and the Buddhist path. Over the next 11 months, George lost 110 pounds and found a passion for the Dharma. This passion for sharing the Dharma led him...

  • Transforming the Heart

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1-rgfe1z3IApril BRN Academy SUNDAY April 5, 2026 at 10AM PST  With BRN Board President Walt Opie Transforming the Heart Both Buddhist practice and recovery from addiction point to an inner transformation of the heart. As practicing addicts, our hearts may have been pretty shut down, which we may not even realize until it starts to open in...

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