Meditation & Addition and Recovery
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About
Thousands of people in recovery across the world hear these words every day at 12 Step recovery meetings:
"Let us begin with a moment of silence…"
This “moment”—usually five seconds at best—represents the first intentional encounter that many addicts have with silence. The purpose of this program is to share Christian Meditation as a simple inclusive way to enter more deeply into the silence, in which we can achieve the “conscious contact with God” sought in the 11th Step.
Whether you are a newcomer to recovery, or an old-timer seeking to enhance your spiritual life, meditation can reinforce the God-centered spirituality of the 12 Step paths to healing and growth. John Main, the Irish Benedictine monk who rediscovered this way of prayer in the Christian tradition said,
The essence of meditation is learning to stand back and to allow God to come into the forefront of your life, to take that step away from self-centeredness to God Centeredness.
Meditation is the practice of silence, stillness, and simplicity. Silence means letting go of thoughts. Stillness means letting go of desires. And simplicity means letting of self-analysis. By cultivating these three spiritual principles, meditation is part of a universal tradition while it also represents a contemporary expression of the centuries-old stream of contemplative prayer within the Christian tradition. It offers the quiet, interior, and transformative approach to God followed by the Desert Fathers and Mothers, and all the great mystics and monastics like Julian of Norwich, the Cloud of Unknowing, St Francis of Assisi, John of the Cross.
While deeply rooted in this wisdom tradition, this way of practicing the 11th Step stands open to us all, whatever our conception of God may be. The silence beckons to us from the core of the world’s great spiritual traditions, and in that silence we find confirmation of what the early members of Alcoholics Anonymous discovered:
To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek.
May this simple way of prayer be useful across the broad spectrum of 12 step programs – and beyond.
To be alive is to be addicted, and to be alive and addicted is to stand in need of grace…Grace is our only hope for dealing with addiction, the only power that can truly vanquish its destructiveness. (Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions by Gerald May M.D).
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Mission Statement
Addiction & Recovery outreach shares an ancient path of contemplative prayer as a way to practice the 11th step. We are not a replacement for nor are we affiliated with any 12-step program. All are welcome, faith or none, 12 step or not.
“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out.”
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Online Groups
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Neptune Beach Meditation Centre
Neptune Beach Meditation Centre is a silent space and bookstore for meditation groups, including those groups who use Christian Meditation as an 11th Step Practice. It is close to Jacksonville, Florida in the US. Regular retreats and other events are held.
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Talks
Grace at Work
Laurence Freeman presents meditation as a simple way to gain freedom from addiction. Compulsive behaviour develops when our search for happiness becomes fixated on a single desire that brings temporary satisfaction. In meditation, we shift our attention from our desires and place it on the mantra. This gentle discipline opens us to the work of grace which restores us to wholeness.
Addiction and Recovery
In May and June 2022, Liz Watson presented a series of four talks reflecting on different aspects of the WCCM 2022 Unified Consciousness: One Mind One Heart. Each 20-minute talk is followed by a period for group or personal reflection in the tradition of lectio divina.
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Seminars
Meditation, Addiction and Recovery Workshop
Workshop at the Meditatio Centre with Laurence Freeman OSB, Linda Kaye and May Nicol.
Meditatio Seminar: The Way Through Youtube
The Meditatio Seminar Meditation and Addiction: The Way Through was held in London on Tuesday, 30th October. The seminar brought
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Resources for Purchase
