Having drunk alcoholically from the age of 14 until 39, Vince Cullen sat in his kitchen and poured a glass of lager. He made a promise to himself that this would be his last drink… ever. That was 25-years ago. Since then, he has been associated with Wat Thamkrabok, the famous detox monastery in Thailand and Buddhist-oriented drug and alcohol recovery.
Vince founded and has facilitated Fifth Precept Sangha meditation-for-awakening Sit-and-Share meetings in England, Scotland, Ireland, India, Nepal, Thailand and the USA as part of his ongoing teaching of Hungry Ghost Retreats. He is a board member of the Buddhist Recovery Network and a keynote speaker at Buddhist Recovery Summits.Vince has completed both the Committed Dharma Practitioner and Advanced Practitioner programmes offered by Gaia House in England. Vince has completed the Mindfulness Teachers Development Programme offered by Bodhi College in Switzerland and the UK. Vince has twice taken temporary ordination in the unique Buddhist tradition practised at Wat Thamkrabok monastery in Thailand. He has previously been a Buddhist Prison Chaplain in both male and female prisons in the UK. In 2022, Vince became a regular teacher for the Mindful Recovery Foundation.
The way out of suffering, the Buddha said, is the Middle Way; the middle path between the extremes of sensual existence. The first and most critical step of the Middle...