The 12 Steps and Buddhism - from Judith Ragir and others

Really wonderful integration of the 12 Steps and the Buddhist path. So helpful to anyone on the path of practice- you don’t have to be a recovering addict to benefit. Judith had 50 years of practice with healing her own childhood trauma and addictions along with her zen practice at the time these talks were recorded. Plus she’s a mother and a wife. Her wisdom and advice are invaluable.

These teachings, go back to 2004, run AA along side Buddhism. Judith Ragir Roshi Is a recovering addict, who’s gone through program, but it’s also a Buddhist priest. she is a lineage holder of Katagiri Roshi. She shares teachings in Buddhism, meditation, and how to recognize and move through your habituated patterns. On a practical level, she provides great insights and practical advice for how to meditate. She draws from Zen, Tibbetan, Theravada Buddhism. One thing I really liked was how she shares techniques and such that typically are not shared in Zen Buddhism meditation practice. they typically sit you down on a cushion for 10 years, and then you’ll be saved. She combines all of her life experiences, and learning and shares it with us. for example, I learned that envy in competition are actually habituated patterns. Recently, a very strong habituated pattern of mine started to run, and I caught it. this particular pattern, I hadn’t done in sometime. But I was going through some intense things in my personal life. And I sat there with these most intense feelings that I didn’t know, I couldn’t name, but could feel. it was intense, it was uncomfortable, but I didn’t do what I typically do to deal with the pain. and, I know, that I sat with this feeling and emotions, because of her teachings. I could hear her saying, stop the pattern. “The dogs are barking” stay with the present moment. Her teachings are life changing. If you think about it, we’re all addicts in one way or another. Thank you, Judith Ragir!

This is one of the best 12 step podcast actually the best that I’ve ever heard! This podcast is really been setting me free from performance and giving me new and fresh perspective on my spirituality in the 12 steps I’d give it 10 stars if I could