About this Program
This program was recorded live on Thursday, August 17, 2023
The Insight Recovery Sangha will meet monthly on Zoom and is for anyone (self-identified) who is working with strong cravings or addictions. We will meditate, hear short dharma talks related to Buddhist teachings and recovery, and share candidly with each other in community. The purpose of this group is to foster community and learn how to apply teachings on mindfulness, compassion and wisdom to our recovery program.
The emphasis will be on how craving causes suffering and how cultivating insight into the nature of craving can greatly ease our suffering, and help us lead more peaceful and contented lives. We have no affiliations with any other organizations and this is not a 12-Step group, although various known addiction recovery modalities may be referred to from time to time.
This group is open to everyone. There is no need to qualify for membership when you introduce yourself to the group. However, we do believe this group will work best for those committed to a life free from substance abuse and harmful addictive behaviors.
The teachers, Walt Opie and Dalila Bothwell, will serve as group facilitators, dharma teachers, and sangha (community) members. Over time, there will be guest teachers, as well.
Special Guest Speaker
For the sangha meeting this month, we had a special guest speaker, Valerie Mason-John (Vimalasara).
Poet, author, and public speaker Valerie Mason-John (Vimalasara) is the award-winning author/editor of ten books. Their debut novel, Borrowed Body, won the 2006 Mind Book of the Year Award. They co-authored the award-winning book Eight Step Recovery: Using the Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. And authored Detox Your Heart Meditations for Emotional Trauma. They are one of the founding facilitators of Dr. Gabor's Mate's Compassionate Inquiry, and have curated ten conversations on the Psychedelics as a Path to Freedom: A New Frontier for Mental Health Treatment
Their most recent book, published in 2020, I Am Still Your Negro: An Homage to James Baldwin has won critical acclaim. They began writing as an international correspondent covering Aboriginal deaths in custody and land rights in Australia. They are a senior teacher in the Triratna Buddhist Community and one of the leading African descent voices in the field of mindfulness for addiction. In 2024 A First Aid Kit for The mind: Working with habitual behaviours will be published. They work as an international public speaker and professional trainer in the field of mindfulness approaches for addiction and trauma. They live on the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, and can be found online at valeriemason-john.com
Meet Your Teachers
Walt Opie
Walt Opie (he/him) is a dharma teacher in the insight meditation tradition who has been
in recovery for over three decades. He was first introduced to insight meditation in 1993
and began sitting regular residential retreats in 2005. Currently, his most influential
teachers include Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Bhikkhu Analayo, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon
Salzberg, Guy Armstrong, and Gil Fronsdal. Walt is a graduate of the recent IMS
Teacher Training Program, as well as Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders
program. He has led sitting groups for people in recovery and served as a volunteer
teacher in several California prisons for many years. He teaches around the U.S. at
centers including Sacramento Insight Meditation, Cambridge Insight Meditation Center,
New York Insight Meditation Center, Spirit Rock, and Insight Meditation Society. His
website is www.waltopie.com.
Dalila Bothwell
Dalila Bothwell’s (she/her) Dharma-meditation practice lives at the intersection of love for
community, land, justice, and 12-step recovery. The granddaughter of Claudia and
Gussie Pearl, she finds refuge and hope in the liberation teachings of revolutionary
lovers - from the Buddha to bell hooks. During her nearly decade-long tenure as a
director for New York Insight Meditation Center, she learned the priceless value of
sangha and the role relationships play in embodying the teachings and in creating kinder
human beings. Dalila is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders
Program and currently mentors with Ten Percent Happier and the Mindfulness
Meditation Teacher Certification Program. She has served with the Buddhist Peace
Fellowship, Insight Meditation Society, and Dharma communities throughout the US.