Click the link above to read the 2nd Edition of the Recovery Dharma book, including updates to the text and 14 personal stories of recovery from members of the community!

Dear Sangha,

Welcome Sangha to our newsletter arm of the practice. We are reminded each moment is an opportunity to practice. An opportunity to practice more openness and more of what connects us to the path. And, we can say that always. Life has a way of dinging us; of making us want to close up. Our path is a counter-weight to just that.

This is a program that welcomes us to understand the phases through time. We can't pick up the weight of the world all at once. Even the flow of this newsletter takes on it’s own path regardless of the authors intent. Soon there will be a new auther behind what floats into your inbox each month. We don’t start out accustomed to change, just the same way a baby isn’t accustomed to spicy foods. Certain cultures introduce them in time. We are always on a path, if not our own always. Let it breathe, and it will let you as well. We don’t have to worry about where we are along the way.

Peace & Harmony,
RD Denver

Spotlight

Peter

1. How did you find Recovery Dharma?
Kind of randomly. I had already been sober for two years (initiated by a wonderful book called Allen Carr's Easy Way to Control Alcohol), and I was living in LA, lonely, and looking for community. I started going to live music with a guy I'd become buddies with, and he told me about Refuge Recovery (where Recovery Dharma originally branched out from), and I started going to meetings and was immediately hooked, and had found one of my most important communities. I did a fair amount of traveling after that, and found that Recovery Dharma was very prevalent nationally and internationally, so I've remained a part of different Dharma Sanghas since.
2. Had you been introduced to the Buddha's teachings before?
Not in any substantial way. My dad was an atheist and my mom is a non-religious spiritual thinker, and I was raised without any focus on religion. The little bits about buddhism that I'd crossed paths with made it sound like the spiritual philosophy I most identified with. Besides some basic philosophy and quotes, I hadn't dug into Buddhism until I joined Refuge/Dharma.
3. Do you mix in any other practices with your recovery?
I wouldn't say active practices necessarily, but I attribute the teachings I learned in the book I read to get sober as a major force in my comfortable, long-term continued sobriety. The book opened my eyes to the nature of addiction. It explained how addiction was a psychological and physiological trap that I'd become stuck in, and how the benefits I perceived from the substances I was taking were illusory, and that I had a massive amount of life improvement and joy waiting for me when I would free myself from these substances. Having this stern but optimistic viewpoint when getting sober made it stick, and gave me the ability to celebrate my departure from alcohol & cigarettes rather than longing for them.
4. Is there anything in particular from the Dharma (teachings), the Sangha (community), meditations or any other aspect that resonates with you in your day to day life?
Detachment and forgiveness (of self and others) have been huge for me. I think I used to spend a lot more time being angry about things in the world outside of my control that felt unfair, malicious, reckless, etc. I think Dharma has really helped me learn to let those things be and sit with more of a sense of acceptance and gratitude. Like, of course I still experience resentment, confusion, shame, and the other hard emotions, but I think Dharma helps give me the ability to sit with those feelings and let them do their thing rather than hold onto them and fight with them.
5. Is there anything you would want to share with someone new to recovery or new to the Dharma?
It's hard for me to imagine what to say to someone new in recovery for me when I'm not talking to them in person, but I think something that resonates the most for me is: making the choice, understanding that this is something you need, showing up to a meeting is the biggest step. That's what makes me feel confident that someone is going to get the monkey off their back - is when they've admitted to themselves that they need to, and they are showing up to do it.

Buddhist Celebrations

this month

(*celestial events are added as particularly in Theravadan Bhuddism, the lunar cycles are part of the cyclical nature of existence. These days may be incorporated within your own personal practice.)

November 1, 2026 — Lhabab Düchen (Buddha's Descent from Heaven): A major Tibetan Buddhist festival (düchen) commemorating the historical Buddha's return to Earth from the Tushita heaven after teaching his mother, Maya Devi. Devotees make pilgrimages, burn incense, and hang prayer flags. [1, 2]
November 8, 2026 — New Moon (Uposatha Observance Day): A traditional lunar observance day for meditation, lay precepts, and reflection in many Buddhist traditions. [1]
November 21, 2026 — Elephant Festival: Observed on the third Saturday of November, this day honors the Buddha's teaching comparing the training of a new mind to a wild elephant harnessed to a tame one. [1]
November 24, 2026 — Full Moon (Uposatha Observance Day): A major lunar holy/observance day marked by temple visits and chanting.

Upcoming Events

To have your Dharma and/or recovery events added to the newsletter, please email recoverydharmametrodenver@gmail.comPhoenix?

Inquiries Group at the Phoenix Gym (2221 Champa St., Denver, CO 80205)

Sundays, 6:45PM (except first Sunday of each Month reserved for business meeting).
Come and do your Inquiries with us! Whether just Starting on the first, picking up where you've left off or if you've done them before to understand how responses may have changed in time. We may be on different ones. What matters is that we come together for ourselves and to support others on the jouney.
Each meeting is facilitated by somebody new. Maybe yourself?

Thankful for Recovery - Westminster, CO

Saturday, Nov 14th, 2026
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
November is a time to pause, reflect, and recognize the things we’re grateful for. Whether you’re in a place of feeling overwhelming thanks and gratitude, or if you’re in a season where finding something to be thankful for feels really hard—we want you to come hang out with us!
Join us for an afternoon of music, snacks, games, gratitude activities, and good company as we explore what recovery means to us and celebrate the people, moments, and opportunities that can make life worth showing up for.
For more events with AFR click here.

Colorado Artists in Recovery (CAiR) hosts several workshops throughout the month, and welcomes all in recovery to participate for free. Whether you are new in recovery or wanting to try something new well into your journey, these workshops offer wonderful opportunities to explore new talents and meet others within positive/safe spaces.
To Sign Up for a monthly newsletter of events click here.

Sewing & Connection

Phoenix Gym 2239 Champa St. Denver CO
Nov 17, 3:00 - 4:00 PM
Hello! This is a weekly meeting where we join together to connect over sewing! There’s no lesson, it’s more of an open space to experiment and create! You don’t need to bring anything, we provide sewing supplies and fabric, but if you’d like to bring a project, feel free!! I specialize in making stuffed animals and I do not know how to make clothes, so I can’t be much help if you need tips on clothes making! Please come and have fun with us! :-)
For a full listing of events at the Phoenix Gym, click here.

Meetings

Join us at one of our weekly meetings. We have in-person meetings nearly every day of the week across the Front Range as well as online meetings you can join from anywhere. We practice meditation together and then read from the Recovery Dharma book or another Buddhist text. The second half of the meeting is dedicated to providing space to talk about the topic or anything you need to share related to recovery.

Sundays 5:30 The Phoenix (In-Person) 2233 Champa St. Denver, CO 80205‍ ‍
Tuesdays 6:45 The Phoenix (In-Person)2233 Champa St. Denver, CO 80205(in Baby Champa, the door to the left of the gym entrance).
Thursday 6:30 pm MT Lakewood (In-Person) @ Shepherd of the Hills Church - 11500 W 20th Ave, Lakewood, CO 80215
Thursday 7:00 pm MT Denver (In-Person) @ FREE Spiritual Community Center - 2122 S. Lafayette St, Denver, CO 80210

For a complete list of meetings in the area, visit our website. To have your Dharma group added to our list, please reach out at RecoveryDharmaMetroDenver@gmail.com.

From the Book

WISE mindfulness

Mindfulness — being present to what’s going on in our minds, bodies, hearts, and world — is central to the practice of the Eightfold Path. We learn to be present for the way things are with compassion, without judging them or ourselves. Mindfulness is being aware of whatever is present, noticing it, and letting it pass. It’s also remembering that we’re on a path leading to our freedom and long-lasting happiness.

Mindfulness asks us to be aware and to investigate, without the reactivity and grasping for control that leads to suffering. We learn to stay attentive to what’s happening without having to either react to or deny what’s happening. For many of us, our addictions prevented us from being mindful. In fact, that was often the whole point: we used our substances and behaviors to avoid feeling, to avoid being aware, because being aware was painful. But by trying to avoid pain, we often created more suffering. We’re now making a different choice — to sit with the discomfort rather than pushing it away or trying to numb it. We can learn to sit with the discomfort in different ways, either by bringing 35 awareness to the physical sensations that affect our bodies or in a more distant, non-attached way, such as naming the emotions while allowing them to arise and cease. We’re choosing to respond to it with mindful investigation and compassion, and to trust that it will pass if we let it. We’re remembering that there’s another way to respond to the difficulties of life

Read this and the rest of the book here. This starts on page 34.

Community Resources

Recovery Dharma supports a holistic path to recovery. There is no one right way to recover and it's always a good idea to add more tools to your toolbox to facilitate your healing.

Here are some other community resources to check out:

Advocates for Recovery - recovery meetings, events, coaching
The Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) - the state administration responsible for ensuring all people in Colorado have access to quality mental health and substance use disorder services, regardless of where they live, or ability to pay.
The Second Chance Center (SCC) - Dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated individuals transition to success, we provide the guidance and resources needed to create a fulfilling, successful future.
CHOW(Culinary Hospitality Outreach and Wellness)
CAIR(Colorado Artists in Recovery) - artists workshops and events
Rooted303 - personal development classes, recovery coaching, support groups
The Phoenix - A Sober Active Community offering free exercise classes
Hard Beauty - recovery coaching and workshops
Meditation Resources - Insight Timer App, Sounds True One, Waking Up, Headspace, Plum Village App, Recovery Dharma Meditations.