Comments on: The Tao of Sobriety: Helping You to Recover from Alcohol and Drug Addiction

By: C. H. Godwin

C. H. Godwin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:36:31 +0000

Reading this book was a key turning point in my recovery. It really put everything into perspective for me and strengthened my commitment to remaining sober and living a live of commitment to love and well-being for all. I gave it to my mom as a gift as well, and she’s not in recovery.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: jpw

jpw — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:49:15 +0000

More psycho-clinical than spiritual. Not what I expected given the Title of the book. Also could be confusing to someone new in sobriety.
Rating: 2 / 5

By: Addict in recovery

Addict in recovery — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:00:41 +0000

This book was alright because it did have some useful advice on living “the middle way”, but I was expecting more guidance on recovery and sobriety specifically. They only mentioned addiction twice that I can remember, and the rest of the time it’s about ways of living. That can be useful too, but there are plenty of other books out there on that topic and I was hoping to find one that combined mindful living with recovery from addiction. This book is not it. Plus, the exercises were stupid.
Rating: 1 / 5

By: Umpqua Bank

Umpqua Bank — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 07:58:34 +0000

excellent suggestions for getting hold of the reins of loving sobriety…a wee lack of understanding of AA’s philosophy as the authors mention the ‘disease’ is looked at as biological and physiological by AA and not dealt with as a disease of the ‘mind’ yet it’s clearly written in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous on page 23 that alcoholism is a ‘disease of the mind primarily’ (2nd sentence of 1st paragraph) … the authors also say ‘alcohol and drugs’ when alcohol is one of the major drugs…nicotine and alcohol are the worst of the bunch… whereas booze is more dramatic and devestating ruining many lives of loved ones,nicotine slaughters many more slowly chipping away at lives until it’s too late and many a drunk has dumped the habit left not able to get off nicotine…the authors use the wrong minded terms ‘clean and sober’…you’ll see that term in NA literature and it’s big among the rehabilitation centers but there’s no ‘clean’…it’s the big rehabilitation center and counselor type ‘lie’…no where in AA literature will you find the term ‘clean’…’clean with caffeine and nicotine’ you will hear in AA but even that’s dwindling as the rehabilitation business detrimentially effects AA…one must alter ones mood chemically everyday of their lives…the only question is ‘what chemical’ do they use or abuse ?…sugar, anger, caffeine, workaholism (the biggest and most rewarded addiction of all…addiction is doing what i want to do repeadedly because i want to do it and i do it to the exclusion of ‘wholeness’), judgementalness, nicotine, cocaine, booze, weed, heroine, aspirin, submissiveness, shyness, self-righteousness…all physical, psychological, mental, emotional, spiritual, emotional, social ’states’ have their attending ‘chemicals’ shooting through the body…there’s no way anyone can’t alter their mood with chemicals daily…many of the non-external chemicals are worse than the external chemicals taken into the body…i dare say the authors were probably ‘jacked up’, worn out, anticipatory and struggling with pride and work all during the making of this book…no such things as ‘clean and sober’…there’s only ’sober’ as first proposed by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob…they’d probably be appalled at the term ‘clean’ and even more shocked by the corruption of AA and long term sobriety by the authors and rehabilitation centers cashing in on a human phenomena…good techniques in this book but a fundamental ignorance of the dynamics of sobriety…it’s striking the lack of understanding among psychologists/counselor types/addiction experts towards their own ‘field’…could be because most of them haven’t lived the addicts life or hit bottom themselves…especially the ’self talk’ therapists…good book though…i trust ‘take what you need and leave the rest’is practiced by all who read this lovely book…jsmith@fastmail.com
Rating: 4 / 5

By: Wu Li Heron

Wu Li Heron — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:48:51 +0000

The title of this book is misleading, it is not about Taoism and Sobriety, it is about Buddhism and Sobriety. The first hundred pages or so are extremely well written, but as a Taoist myself I was disappointed to find yet another book in which Buddhists attempted to proselytize their beliefs in the name of Taoism. There is a difference whether Buddhists are willing to admit it or not. At the very least they should have noted the central Buddhist theme of the book on the cover somewhere. That experienced councilors and PHDs wrote such a misleading title only strengthens my suspicions that PHD stands for “Piled Higher and Deeper.”
Rating: 4 / 5