Change is constant, change is ongoing, everything is constantly changing. life is always in a constant state of flux. change is inevitable and it is unavoidable. we are born into this world, we grow up to become adult human beings, we age, we grow old, our bodies decline, we get sick and then we die. this is inevitable, and then we are reborn according to our karma once again, this is the eternal cycle of birth & death that every single living being experiences. (Myoho) we are either changing for the better or for the worse, change is either positive or negative. we know when someone develops an addiction disorder their life changes in many negative ways and these negative changes sends them into a downward spiral that ends in worsening physical & mental health and if left unchecked, eventually death. this first session is designed to be an introduction to the programme and the sole purpose of sun lotus recovery is that of instigating a positive change in the participants life. that is, for them to stop using their substance of choice, to quit and not only to stop using but to continue in their newly found abstinence. it introduces prochaska & diclementes model of behavioural change which I found to be a great help at the start of my recovery. for the first time i could see my using behaviour mapped out in a diagram and i realized i had been round and around this cycle innumerable times trapped in my own personal hell of incessant suffering before coming to the conclusion that i needed professional support to help me abstain from using alcohol & drugs. the goal is to enable the participant to move into stage five of the cycle of change that of maintaining the behavioural change of living a drug & alcohol free lifestyle and to avoid moving around the cycle into stage six, that of relapsing back to the old behaviour of using. This will give the practitioner an awareness as to where they are in their journey of change. Also in the first session, the first part of learning the dharma begins by learning a brief history of buddhism as this gives an historical context to Nichiren shoshu buddhism which is taught in the programme. buddhism is nearly 3000 years old and has taken on many different forms in many different parts of the Asian continent over the millennia that have followed the birth of the historical buddha shakyamuni in nepal on the subcontinent of india. it explains the first and earlier southern transmission into the indian subcontinent and on into sri lanka and across the indian ocean into the thai peninsula in its early or theravadin form and also the later northern transmission in its mahayana form into china and travelling through the korean peninsula eventually ending in the islands of japan
session two:
addiction is a chronic dysfunction of the neurological systems that involve the reward, motivation and memory functions of the human brain, it is about the way your body and mind crave a substance or a behaviour, especially if it causes a compulsive and obsessive pursuit of 'reward' with a total lack of regard or concern of the consequences no matter how negative those consequences may be (death) there are always feelings of regret, remorse, guilt and shame after returning to the addictive behaviour of using your drug of choice, once again breaking the vow of abstinence, yet another relapse. "i'll never, ever, ever, ever drink/use again" but as soon as the cravings return , the total lack of concern of the consequences of using also returns. what causes this compulsion to use our drug of choice in this way? why do we always forget the long term consequences of using? in this session we will begin to explore the neuroscience of addiction and begin to answer these questions. This session will give the participant a greater understanding & awareness of their condition and also give them insight into why they are like they are. this will give them a framework or scaffolding on which to build their recovery, giving them insight into their real life experience and an understanding of very basic brain structure and in particular an insight into the reptilian complex, the most ancient part of the brain in evolutionary terms which lies at the heart of their compulsive behaviour. when i underwent treatment in a residential rehab this knowledge was not part of the intervention and is still sadly lacking in most treatment services. this is something that i researched myself as i wanted to have a better understanding of what actually happened to me during my years of using and what physically caused decades of compulsion and self destruction that i experienced and found that gaining this self awareness and understanding has helped me to process the trauma that addiction causes. in this session the participant also looks more closely at the highest and most complete of the teachings of the buddha (dharma) that of the lotus sutra and starts to gain an understanding of the foundation of faith in the nichiren shoshu buddhist tradition and also a greater understanding of self.
session three:
this session continues to enhance an understanding of the physical workings of the human brain and building on the awareness gained during the first two sessions by looking at neural transmitters and how they work in the processes of addiction, the waves of dopamine that drive us towards using again and again. addiction includes a very strong compulsive property, so when people have been addicted to something for a period of time, the psychological processes move from impulse to compulsion and that also involves in part neurological changes. the parts of the brain that become activated when a craving is triggered by cues is our 'lizard brain addiction monster' this lizard brain, the seat of our cravings, is highly sensitized to triggers through repeated exposures to these cues, which builds a synaptic network that provides a potent 'meaning' for the drug of choice and a surge of dopamine is triggered by these associations. the part of the lizard brain called the striatum has a component that focuses your attention on the goal (getting & using) this is called the ventral striatum, which is the key player in cravings, but the striatum also has a motor component called the dorsal striatum which releases actions like bullets from a gun, it puts these actions into effect and there you go again, taking your drug of choice even before you have even thought about it! it is this dorsal striatum that is the culprit when it comes to compulsive behaviour, this is 'the lizard brain addiction monster' at work. we also look at these learnt cues called triggers and the cravings they create because in recovery it is fundamental that we learn to recognize and manage both these physical and emotional phenomena, thus avoiding relapse and until we master these skills we will continue to relapse and go round and around the cycle of change. we will also look in more detail at the fundamental practice of the chanting meditation of the nichiren shoshu buddhist tradition, called shodai. this can be a valuable tool in managing your triggers and cravings in many ways, from distraction techniques to changing low moods. i know from personal experience how crucially important it is to be able to recognize and develop the skills needed to manage these phenomena called triggers & cravings, as it could well be a question of life & death if you do not succeed. this is where buddhist practice is very beneficial for dealing with your emotional well being and all the internal triggers that arise from difficult emotional experiences.
session four:
in this final session of exploring the physical, neurological aspects of addiction, we will look at how to control cravings and look at some techniques to enable the practitioner to manage and overcome these phenomena. this is fundamental to a person's recovery from an addiction disorder, especially in the first few vulnerable months, there is scientific evidence that after three months the human brain begins to accept and reconfigure to the new behavioural regime and cravings start to become weaker & weaker. these skills known as 'cravings management skills' are an essential foundation to a persons recovery and i cannot over emphasize how important these skills are because without them relapse is inevitable. the learning process for any new skill is practice, repetition, repetition, repetition which enables you to master them. this allows your brain to construct new neural pathways needed in order to integrate these new life skills. we have allowed our disorder to run our life, acting out continually in response to urges and demands from our brains reptilian complex. our lizard brain has been running the show for years & years. we have no impulse control because of this. the impulse to use and the behaviour of acting out have become fused together to form a compulsion, we need to retrain our brain, we need to develop a pause button to stop ourselves from being in this reptilian autopilot mode. this allows the pre frontal cortex, the rational brain, to challenge and dispute the impulse, as we must learn to ignore and not listen to 'the lizard brain addiction monster' when it shouts at us to use and to listen to our rational neo cortex. i call this 'making up both your minds.' this means you no longer listen to 'old base brain.' you do not want to even give it a moments thought because if you do you will relapse. you already know this, as your real life experience is that you have always acted out when you have listened to 'the lizard.' this session also introduces the participant to more dharma. it focuses on the ten worlds teaching, which is a fundamental teaching or dharma revealed in the lotus sutra. this gives the practitioner an understanding of the ingredients of life and the mechanics of positive change and spiritual evolution, towards a greater sense of well being, which is another essential for a healthy recovery. when i discovered 'the ten worlds teaching' it was another light bulb moment of recognition for me as i completely identified with the lower world due to the consequences of my addiction disorder. i also found the technique of verbalization which will be covered in this session as an indispensable tool to managing my cravings and i still use it even after being in recovery for many years, as cravings can still arise on occasion. it is imperative that the practitioner masters these techniques as relapse prevention is the bedrock of building a life free from using drugs & alcohol.
