Dear corse123:

I don’t know of books on Buddhism for alcoholics. I know of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) big book, of course. AA is the first 12 step program after which all other 12 step programs were formed, from Narcotics Anonymous to Codependent Anonymous. So joining AA if you are in the US is one option. Do you have any experience with AA?

Addiction is very powerful, it is a very strong habit, with or without certain physical withdrawal symptoms, it’s powerful nonetheless: the compulsion or impulse to do a certain thing, again and again, even though it’s bad for you and even though you want to stop and decide to stop and then before you know it, here you are doing it again.

Buddhist principles that can help you are meditation, mindfulness, insight into the real, bare nature of reality. Buddhism and Booze are both B words, I just noticed. Anyway, you drink and do drugs to feel good. Isn’t it so?

Isn’t your motivation when drinking and taking drugs to feel good? Because you feel so badly otherwise, and you are sick and tired of feeling bad?

If this is your motivation, to feel good, then let’s keep this motivation: to feel good, respect this understandable motivation and see to it that you do achieve it.

Drinking/ drugging don’t achieve feeling good for long, so let’s find another way that will last and will not bring about the misery: the consequences.

Your mother, saying she is ashamed of you and wishes she didn’t have you: tell me more about her… love for you?

anita