Evolution of the BRN

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Timothy O’Brien (Dh. Amara)
Former Treasurer
Buddhist Recovery Network
 

The Buddhist Recovery Network was founded ten years ago. The founders, who ranged across diverse geographies, interests, approaches, and involvement felt that a cohesive and comprehensive organization was needed to help guide the burgeoning Buddhist recovery movement.

The mission statement the founding board developed and that has remained the same since is: “The Buddhist Recovery Network promotes the use of Buddhist teachings and practices to help people recover from the suffering caused by addictive behaviors and is open to people of all backgrounds, and respectful of all recovery paths.” Then link to the rest on the BRN website.

The intent of the founders was to provide an umbrella under which all the various approaches to Buddhist recovery could be represented and coordinated.

Meanwhile, the Buddhist recovery movement has expanded dramatically. The growth has been somewhat organic, although there have been a few key drivers and individuals. One of the most significant earmarks of the movement is that the meetings are, for the most part, peer-led.

One of the great challenges of “Buddhist recovery” is how to strike the appropriate balance between “Buddhism;” that is, the actual formal teachings of the Buddha as understood by various traditions and “recovery,” which also has a number of interpretations. Without institutional oversight, what’s to guarantee that any specific meeting strikes this balance?

In the meanwhile, BRN has had its own ups and downs. There was tremendous energy at its founding, which resulted in a very successful conference in Los Angeles in 2009.

Since then, the BRN boards have worked to understand how to fulfill the mission. We have maintained a website with a comprehensive list of meetings around the world as well as other resources for supporting individuals and meetings focused on using the tools of the Buddha’s teachings to overcome the suffering from addiction.

There is a renewed sense of purpose on the board. This is partially a result of the positive energy created by the 2017 Summit. As you can read in the newsletter, there is now a committee structure for involving as many folks as possible.

The board consists, and has consisted, of people willing to donate their time to seeing the movement grow in appropriate and meaningful ways. We come from a broad range of backgrounds and have various relationships to the movement.

So, please join us. You can donate, to provide the funds needed for us to expand our activities; you can become involved in one of the committees; you can join the board; or you can suggest ways in which we might have a greater and more direct positive impact on the Buddhist recovery community.