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Health & Fitness

Taking Refuge, Part 1: A Mindful Outlook on AA's Step Three

Within us all, there is a spiritual essence--what Buddha called our "buddha nature."

“We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood (God.)” – Step 3 of Alcoholics Anonymous

What did the founders of the Twelve Step program mean when they spoke of “turning our will and our lives over to the care of God?” In the East, this idea of committing to a spiritual life is known as “taking refuge.” As we begin the path of transformation, we turn in earnest toward meditation training and practice as a “shelter from the rain of problems and pain of life.”

For me, an addict in recovery and an adult child of an alcoholic family, this was a decision to surrender, to give up looking outside myself for happiness and running away from the difficulties life brings. These had been my refuges. I had followed in the tracks of my ancestors.

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But there were others paths to follow. The practice of taking refuge has been an ongoing, straightforward practice in the Buddhist tradition for more than 2,500 years. We decide to depend on it for the solace we once sought through drugs and alcohol, to let it be the safe harbor we seek in strife or storm. We commit wholeheartedly, realizing “half measures availed us nothing.”

Like Step Three in Alcoholics Anonymous, taking refuge is active. We decide to let go of our delusions of control, and instead turn toward three specific spiritual practices. These practices are called the “Three Gems,” or “Triple Treasures,” in Buddhist literature. They are:

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  • Taking refuge in awakening. The treasure of awakening is realizing that within us is a spiritual essence. Buddha called this essence our “buddha nature.” He taught that our inner nature can be awakened, leading us to see the path of light and beauty in the world.” The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, says it this way: “We found the Great Reality deep down within us.” Taking refuge in awakening is a decision to come home to our true self.
  • Taking refuge in the path of mindfulness, understanding, and love. Teachings about such practices and the truths they are based upon, such as Buddha’s Four Pure Insights into the Way Things Are, show us the way to a more peaceful life. We take refuge in the path of mindfulness when we decide to study Alcoholics Anonymous and other spiritual teachings, contemplating wisdom from a Power greater than Ourselves and abandoning our addicted ways of “self-will run riot.”
  • Taking refuge in community The third spiritual treasure is our relationship with others: our family, friends, and the fellowship of the Twelve Step community. We need to decide to trust in people again, because we need their help to fully recover from our addictions and codependency. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions explains the decision: “It became clear that if we were ever to feel emotionally secure among grown-up people, we would have to put our lives on a give-and-take basis; we would have to develop the sense of being in partnership or brotherhood with all those around us.”

In the following three weeks, we’ll look at each of these three refuges more deeply, especially considering their implications for recovery from addiction and codependency.

Thérèse Jacobs Stewart, M.A., L.P., has been a practicing psychotherapist, meditation teacher, and international consultant for more than 28 years. She is the founder of St. Paul’s Mind Roads Meditation Center, which integrates contemplative practices from both east and west and serves as home of the St. Paul chapter of the Twelve Steps and Mindfulness meetings. For more information about her center and teaching schedule, click on www.mindroads.com.

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