Very nicely put, Tilt. Thanks.-dL

However, Tilt, are you saying anu-kampati is not a technique? I would say that it is not dependent upon technique, or a technique. I understand it literally means "cry out with the suffering of another." it literaly meansto move, not unlike the root meanings of sympathy, and compassion. I...

Thanks for elaborating, Tilt. I'll reflect on that.
Kindly,
dL

Hi m0rl0ck, With my alcoholism the cost benefit analysis was simple, stop drinking and live, continue and die. Which is, nonetheless, still a cost-benefit analysis. It's also one of the most important cost-benefit analyses, and, I think, a motivating factor behind the Buddha recommending meditation ...

Hi PeterB, ...The interventions will be as effective as the relationship is viable. This is the difference between any critique and actual daily experience. This appears to me to be another false dichotomy and another case of All-Or-Nothing Thinking and overgeneralizing (cf. David D. Burns' cognitiv...

Hi Tilt, However, Tilt, are you saying anu-kampati is not a technique? I would say that it is not dependent upon technique, or a technique. I understand it literally means "cry out with the suffering of another." If that's the case, it's not a technique any more than any emotional experien...

Hi m0rl0ck, chownah, Definition of Alcoholism -- published by the Journal of the American Medical Association "Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fata...

Hi m0rl0ck, How long has smart recovery been in existence? Where does the money from that "donate" link go? The first question was answered earlier in this thread, as the second. Regarding the second question: Just click on the "donate" link from this page: SMART Recovery If that...

Hi Peter, Tilt, May all those struggling with pernicious addictions find the warm hearted support that they need. It is what it really comes down to, far more than any technique, the human element of com-passion, sym-pathy, em-pathy, or in Pali, anu-kampati, to move with. I agree. Sadhu. I've experi...

Thanks Retro and robertk.

Yes, perhaps that would've been better. It alos would've have been better if I'd not used the word "criticize. I take it back. There's nothing wrong with critiquing. The Buddha did it all the time. Some critiques are valid, some are not. My critique is valid, but I'm open to persuasion. Kindly...

Hi PeterB Its a bit like reading a critique of lifebelts with a critical appraisal of materials and a neat cost anaylsis, in the middle of a storm while ships are foundering. Several people I know in SMART Recovery utilize cost-benefit analysis to great effect. Using the CBA (Cost-Benefit Analysis T...

Hi Justsit, You are absolutely right, it doesn't work for everyone. It obviously hasn't worked for you, you found something else, why now try to denigrate something that does work for many others ?? Different strokes, friend. All OK. I never said the 12 Steps didn't work for me. I said parts of them...

Hi PeterB Its not about systems, perfect or imperfect. Its not about stats or arms -length studies or the opining of the learned. Its all about warm, imperfect, inconsistent human beings giving support to other imperfect and inconsistent human beings in need. With all the messiness and variability a...

IMHO, there is one thing virtually all recovery methods have in common, including the solo route: The principles of acceptance, change and wisdom, despite the God language (Buddhist, secular, et al substitutions are easily made), as reflected in Reinhold Niebuhr's "Serenity Prayer." Kindly...