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Welcome to the Buddhist Recovery Network Academy!

The BRN Academy is a new incarnation of the former Healing and Insight Teaching Faculty, co-founded by Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John and Giles Collins. The Academy has invited some of the leading teachers in the field of Buddhist recovery. On the first Sunday of every month for an hour each teacher will explore the sharp edges of suffering through the lens of the Buddhist Teachings. The Academy brings together teachers from different Buddhist lineages and approaches. Themes like addiction, alcoholism, depression, stinking thinking and compulsive behaviours will be explored.
Events at this venue
Today

How Buddhist Wisdom Helps Us Stay in Recovery – March Teaching with Walt Opie

BRN Academy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0pwyr3uysg The first two path factors of the Noble Eightfold Path, namely Right View and Right Intention, combine to be the wisdom factors. When we understand and develop these to a certain point, we start to see how they can help aim us in the right direction and guide our thinking. This leads to healthier,...

Meeting the moment with a Clear Heart with Carol Cano

BRN Academy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz1zDTXg99s Meeting the moment of high stress with a clear heart involves embracing the challenge with a sense of calm and purpose. It’s about grounding yourself in the present, acknowledging the pressure without letting it overwhelm you. A clear heart means letting go of unnecessary tension, judgment, or fear, and instead responding with clarity, focus,...

How ‘Not Wanting’ is the Key

BRN Academy

Next BRN Academy teaching with Walt Opie -- June 2nd 2024 @ 10:00am US Pacific Time https://youtu.be/zR1lSWytJ-E I once heard the teacher Joseph Goldstein say on a retreat that what we are really practicing is "not wanting." He added that this is the Third Noble Truth (of the Four Noble Truths). In this talk I...

Bringing the New Year in with Wisdom

BRN Academy

Every day is a new year, and it’s an opportunity to do something different because the past has gone . However so many of us hold onto the past or cling onto a future that hasn’t even arrived. Today we will explore letting go and discovering a freedom in the present moment. Let’s leave behind...

Topic: My Journey Into Recovery and Dharma

BRN Academy

Since this is my first time speaking at the BRN Academy, I thought I would share some stories about my personal journey with you. I've been in recovery from drugs and alcohol since 1987, and there have been plenty of ups and downs along the way. Finding the practice of insight meditation and the Buddha's...

The Zen Way of Recovery

BRN Academy

Laura will be sharing from her recently released book The Zen Way of Recovery: An Illuminated Path Out of the Darkness of Addiction,  a collection of dharma talks on teachings that are congruent with recovery. The twin paths of Zen practice and recovery have evolved and sustained her since she got sober in 1985. Here is...

The Basic Pattern of Things: Managing Expectations

BRN Academy

The Buddha's First Truth or Realisation was "Life is painful and then you die." If this is true, then how do we respond to the disappointments of life and the certainty of death? This session will explore how we are conditioned to protect, promote and satisfy a 'self' which can never be satisfied. As the...

Understanding No Self and a World Based on Identities

BRN Academy

For this session, in honor of LGBTQ+ Pride, Lev will read a poem from the book Transcending: Trans Buddhist Voices and talk about why it's important to honor who we all are, or identify, while also understanding the emptiness of us.