To supplement this month’s online retreat, “Making Friends with Your Demons and Hungry Ghosts: Buddhist Tools for Recovery,” we have a special video teaching on addiction by Venerable Metteyya (you might recognize him from Tricycle’s previous interview with him or the PBS documentary The Buddha). In order to discuss addiction from a Buddhist perspective, Metteyya says, we must first understand what the Buddha taught about the human condition. When we are addicted to something, whether it’s a cup of coffee or a cigarette, who is in control? How can we begin to have some influence on our impulses? Is it possible to become aware of what we are craving at a subconscious level? Watch the video to find out.

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