Kevin Griffin: Dharma and Recovery

What We Resist Persists

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:54:46 +0000

March 3, 2026 Learning to be with the difficult without reactivity.

Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:45:03 +0000

Feb 17, 2026 The developmental process from the five hindrances, to the Seven Factors of Awakening, to the Four Noble Truths.

Precepts and Boundaries in Recovery

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:34:50 +0000

Feb 10, 2026, Reading from Ajahn Amaro on the protection of sila and sobriety.

Dharma and the World

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:29:40 +0000

Feb 3, 2026, Balancing engagement with the world with spiritual practice and recovery.

Understanding Mindfulness

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:19:14 +0000

January 20, 2026 Exploring misconceptions about mindfulness meditation.

Jan 13, 2026 Death and the Deathless

Kevin Griffin — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:43:33 +0000

Connecting Dharma with death and the deathless.

Jan 6, 2026 The Terror of Undefined Being

Kevin Griffin — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:38:56 +0000

Drawing from Ajahn Amaro’s teaching on watching the arising of self and the suffering that comes with it.

Concentration

Kevin Griffin — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:29:48 +0000

Reflections on the role of concentration in meditation. Exploring different challenges and subtleties of practice. How we get stuck in striving or judgment when the mind doesn’t get quiet.

Watching the Wheels

Kevin Griffin — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 15:17:31 +0000

Reflections on my early practice. Anecdotes from that time, including hearing John Lennon during a meditation retreats.

12/16/25 It's Like This

Kevin Griffin — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 22:59:44 +0000

The non-verbal reality of experience. Referencing Ajahn Sumedho’s famous phrase.

12/9/25 Thinking vs. Feeling

Kevin Griffin — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 22:47:21 +0000

Meditation focusing on feeling rather than thoughts. Connecting to the nervous system as a source of intelligence.

12/2/25 Feeling Tone in the Foundations of Mindfulness

Kevin Griffin — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 22:38:52 +0000

Beginning with background on the mindfulness and Insight Meditation movement, then moving to “vedana,” the feeling tone of each experience.

11/25/25 The Inner Experience

Kevin Griffin — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 21:45:22 +0000

Exploring the term “interoception,” the internal sense perception.

11/18/2025 Thoughts and Feelings in Practice

Kevin Griffin — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 21:40:45 +0000

Discovering our habitual emotional states by exploring thoughts.

11/11/25 Mindfulness and Addiction

Kevin Griffin — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 21:32:52 +0000

Reflecting on the the feelings that drive addiction and how mindfulness can help.

11/4/25 Forms of Concentration

Kevin Griffin — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 21:21:54 +0000

Reading from Joseph Goldstein’s “Mindfulness” and Bhikkhu Analayo’s “Mindfulness of Breathing” to understand what meditative concentration is and how to approach it.

Diligent, Ardent and Resolute

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 19:09:02 +0000

October 28, 2025 Exploring three qualities the Buddha recommends for our meditation and spiritual practice.

Trauma and Mindfulness (cont.)

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 18:54:07 +0000

Continuing to explore trauma, addiction, and mindfulness meditation.

Mindfulness and Trauma

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 18:45:03 +0000

Exploring trauma in addiction and meditation. Discriminating between ordinary suffering and severe trauma. This moves on to discussing depression, feeling, and naming uncomfortable states, making them more real.

Intimacy

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 18:36:20 +0000

October 7, 2025 Exploring the underlying desire that triggers addiction.

Feeling and Perception

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:31:24 +0000

9/23/2025 Exploring how naming experiences, feelings, and objects reifies them.

Mindfulness and Not-Self

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:27:29 +0000

9/16/2025 Connecting Buddhist mindfulness practices with understanding not-self.

Working with Energy in the Body

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:25:40 +0000

Tips for mindful meditation to reduce stress and manage emotions.

Form and Formlessness

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 20:44:18 +0000

Discussing styles of meditation, then talking about how to hold past regrets.

Long Enduring Mind

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 20:35:07 +0000

Talking about how Ajahn Pasanno responds to questions about high states and enlightenment. Keeping it simple and down to earth.

Forty Years Sober

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 20:15:23 +0000

Reflecting on the stages and lessons of forty years of sobriety.

What Is Mindfulness?

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 20:09:56 +0000

Reflecting on separating mindfulness from the larger Dharma. The importance of an integrated practice, including morality, wisdom, and mind training. Viewing the practice as a long term training rather than a fix.

Craving, Addiction, and Letting Go

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 19:51:59 +0000

April 29, 2025. Reading from my own work in progress, “Let It Go,”, referencing Judson Brewer’s “Craving Mind”, and Christina Grof’s” Thirst for Wholeness.”

April 15, 2025 Working with Thoughts

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:56:00 +0000

Strategies for sustaining focus in meditation.

April 8, 2025 Factors of Concentration

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:45:10 +0000

Right Concentration and the five factors of absorption.

April 1, 2025 Getting Started with Meditation

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:40:40 +0000

Exploring the challenges of learning meditation.

March 25, 2025 Right Effort

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:30:12 +0000

Two teachings on effort: the Four Great Efforts and the simile of tuning the lute.

3/18/2025 Our Constructed Reality

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 22:57:44 +0000

The moments that remind us that our memories and view of the world are a construction. At times we discover an alternative version of events.

3/4/2025 Letting Go

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 22:30:11 +0000

Exploring the life and journey of the Buddha as a series of choices to let go.

2/25/2025 Self-Retreat and the Signless Element

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 22:19:54 +0000

In the midst of a self-retreat, I talk about my practice.

2/18/2025 Sitting with Discomfort

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 22:16:04 +0000

Group Discussion.

2/11/2025 Still Flowing Water

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 21:51:48 +0000

Reflecting on finding stillness in the mind without efforting.

Feb. 4 2025 Powerless

Kevin Griffin — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 21:30:26 +0000

Making the connections between the 12 Step idea of Powerlessness and Buddhist teachings on impermanence and agency.

Jan 28, 2025 Compassion in a Troubled World

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:33:25 +0000

Compassion and Loving Kindness as an antidote to current world affairs. Referencing my book “Living Kindness.”

Jan 21, 2025 Stages of Mindfulness

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:29:23 +0000

Drawing from Ajahn Pasanno’s “Nourishing the Roots.”

Jan 14, 2025 One Breath at a Time

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:23:52 +0000

I tell the story of how I came to write my first book.

Jan 7, 2025, Varieties of Karma

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:20:03 +0000

Not all karma is personal. The weather, biology, physics and more are impersonal. And we are not responsible for other people’s karma.

Dec 31, 2024 Sila, the Wholesome

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 20:28:05 +0000

Reflecting on Hiri and Ottappa, the inner guides for ethical living. Drawing from Ajahn Pasanno’s “Nourishing the Roots.”

Craving and the Holidays

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 20:21:02 +0000

The holidays are a time of high-risk for addicts to relapse. This is an important time to stay close to your recovery community and committed to your recovery program.

Our Relationship to Thoughts

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 20:17:59 +0000

“Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” – let the thoughts come and let them go. Don’t get into a conflict with thoughts, don’t analyze, don’t try to figure out. Let them be.

Working with Feelings

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 20:13:04 +0000

Reading from “Why We Meditate” by Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Daniel Goleman

Step Twelve: Spiritual Awakening

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 02:17:42 +0000

From a Buddhism and the Twelve Steps class series at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Spring 2011. Many of the ideas in these classes can be found in my books, especially Budddhism & the Twelve Steps Workbook, and Higher Power: Buddhism & the Twelve Steps.

Steps 10&11: Conscious Contact

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 02:12:43 +0000

From the Buddhism and the Twelve Steps class series at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Spring of 2011. Many of the ideas in these classes can be found in my books, especially Budddhism & the Twelve Steps Workbook, and Higher Power: Buddhism & the Twelve Steps.

Steps 8&9: Amends for Ourselves

Kevin Griffin — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 19:33:03 +0000

From the Buddhism and the Twelve Steps class series at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in March, 2011. Many of the ideas in these classes can be found in my books, especially Budddhism & the Twelve Steps Workbook, and Higher Power: Buddhism & the Twelve Steps.

Steps 6&7: How Do We Change?

Kevin Griffin — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 19:24:13 +0000

From the Buddhism and the Twelve Steps class series at Spirit Rock in March 2011. Many of the ideas in these classes can be found in my books, especially Budddhism & the Twelve Steps Workbook, and Higher Power: Buddhism & the Twelve Steps.

Steps 4&5: Searching and Fearless

Kevin Griffin — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 19:16:48 +0000

From the Spirit Rock Buddhism and the Twelve Steps class, March of 2011. Many of the ideas in these classes can be found in my books, especially Budddhism & the Twelve Steps Workbook, and Higher Power: Buddhism & the Twelve Steps.

Step Three: Turning It Over

Kevin Griffin — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:42:15 +0000

From an eight-week Buddhism & the Twelve Steps class at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, March, 2011. This class addresses the “God question.” Many of the ideas in these classes can be found in my books, especially Budddhism & the Twelve Steps Workbook, and Higher Power: Buddhism & the Twelve Steps.

Step Two

Kevin Griffin — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 22:01:49 +0000

From a Buddhism and the Twelve Steps class series in 2011 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Many of the ideas in these classes can be found in my books, especially Budddhism & the Twelve Steps Workbook, and Higher Power: Buddhism & the Twelve Steps.

Step One and My Story

Kevin Griffin — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:04:53 +0000

In this talk from 2011, I tell some of my drunkalogue, then start to talk about powerlessness and Step 1. Topics include, karma, triggers, craving, the Four Noble Truths, Mindfulness, and the Middle Way. Connecting Buddhism and the Twelve Steps. Many of the ideas in these classes can be found in my books, especially Budddhism & the Twelve Steps Workbook, and Higher Power: Buddhism & the Twelve Steps.

Structure versus Flow

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 01:08:08 +0000

Reflecting on the benefits of meditation systems and recovery systems, versus more organic, intuitive ways of working.

Mindfulness of Breathing

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 01:00:06 +0000

Reflection on mindful breathing with a focus on the duality of the personal experience versus the impersonal Dharma.

Simile of the Saw

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 00:45:59 +0000

After some reflections on working with pain after surgery, I talk about a passage in the Simile of the Saw sutta that challenges us to let go of anger.

Refuge

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 00:31:22 +0000

On election day, I discuss spiritual values that transcend politics.

Quality of Mind

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 14:11:18 +0000

Intro talks about using the breath in working with pain recovering from surgery. Main talk addresses “citta,” mind or mind states from Anapanasati Sutta. This goes into different ways of defining the mind.

Peripheral Awareness

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 13:51:21 +0000

Drawing from Bhikkhu Analayo’s teachings on Anapanasati (Mindfulness of Breathing). Exploring the difference between close attention to a meditative object and a more open awareness. This is preceded by a very personal reflection on the evolution of my own practice. What I’ve learned: "Just don’t stop."

Taking Refuge in the Buddha

Kevin Griffin — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 13:31:58 +0000

Reflections on crisis in our country, and further the struggles that all nations face. Looking at all of that through the lens of “greed, hatred, and delusion.” If we don’t look at this through the lens of dharma, we can be crushed by all this.

Easeful Meditation

Kevin Griffin — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 19:09:50 +0000

People often struggle to meditate “right.” The belief that meditation involves stopping thoughts ignites a struggle to control the mind. When we let go of t his view and this […]

Letting Go vs. Persistence

Kevin Griffin — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 00:05:05 +0000

Oct. 1, 2024. This is a critical balance we seek to achieve in meditation practice, in recovery, and in life. Clinging causes suffering, so letting go is the logical response. […]

Ajahn Succito on Mindful Breathing

Kevin Griffin — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 23:57:46 +0000

This Buddhist monk has a special way of working with mindful breathing