Welcome to the RAFT to Recovery: Building and Navigating Your Vessel to Freedom

Introduction to the Workbook and the RAFT Framework

Welcome & Setting the Scene

Welcome. Taking this step, opening this workbook, signifies courage and a deep longing for change. If you are struggling with addiction, harmful compulsions, or patterns that cause suffering, know that you are not alone, and that a path towards freedom and genuine well-being exists. This workbook, the RAFT to Recovery, is designed to be your practical guide and companion on that journey. It draws upon the profound wisdom of early Buddhist teachings – particularly the Buddha’s core insights into suffering and its end – enhanced and supported by perspectives from contemporary neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, offering a comprehensive approach to healing and transformation.

The Four True Realities

In the Buddha’s first talk after he awakened to life as it really is, he presented four important

True Realities.

He proposed that the basic pattern of life is difficult, disappointing and painful. You don’t get much of what you want, but an awful lot of what you don’t want. He suggested that we investigate, recognise and understand the experience of pain.
He goes on to point out that much of the pain of life comes as a result of our natural human cravings, compulsions, preferences and aversions, which he says, can be overcome and abandoned.
He then says that it is possible for anyone to personally experience and to personally verify the absence of these harmful cravings.
Lastly, the Buddha suggests that we actively engage in a programme that supports the

abandonment of harmful cravings, and minimises unnecessary and avoidable pain.

The RAFT to Recovery is one such programme.

The Dangerous Shore, the Safe Shore, and the Crossing

The Buddha often spoke of our conditioned existence, entangled in craving and confusion, as a “dangerous shore,” fraught with risk and suffering. This may resonate with your experience of addiction – the feeling of being caught in currents of craving, tossed by waves of difficult emotions, stranded far from genuine peace.

But he also spoke with certainty of a “safe shore” – the possibility of liberation, a state of freedom from the grip of craving, characterized by peace, clarity, and profound well-being. The R.A.F.T. of Recovery is about navigating the vast expanse between these two shores.

Introducing the RAFT Framework: Our Map to Navigate the Journey

How do we make this crossing from danger to safety? The Buddha suggested we must build a raft – a vessel constructed skillfully from the materials available to us.

This workbook uses the acronym RAFT as a blueprint, guiding us through four essential stages based on the Buddha’s Four True Realities:

R – Recognise: The journey begins with honestly Recognising the situation. This involves understanding the nature of suffering – both the inherent difficulties of life and the specific suffering caused by addiction. We survey the dangerous shore and gather the raw materials of our experience through mindful awareness.
A – Abandon: Next, we learn to Abandon the primary cause of our self-inflicted suffering: craving. This involves understanding how craving fuels addiction and developing the inner strengths (Five Defenders) and heart qualities (Self-compassion, Self-love, Self-appreciation and Self-balance) needed to skillfully let go of harmful compulsions and their roots.
F – Freedom: Then, we turn towards our destination, actively familiarising ourselves with the possibility and direct experience of freedom. We learn to notice, appreciate, and stabilize moments of peace, non-craving, and clarity, cultivating the Seven Navigational Tools (or Factors of Awakening) that are the signs of a mind moving towards liberation.
T – Train: Finally, we commit to Training our body, heart, and mind using The Middle Way that leads reliably to the safe shore. This involves engaging diligently with the instructions of the Eightfold Path which is both our instruction manual and navigational map (or a comparable structured recovery programme), integrating Wisdom, Ethical Conduct, and Mental Discipline into our lives.

Building Our Raft: Integrating the Components

Our RAFT is not just an abstract concept; it’s something we actively construct and learn to operate. Throughout this workbook, we gather and integrate the necessary components:

The Foundational Planks: Our commitment to ethical conduct beginning with the Five Gifts – ensuring our vessel is built on a solid ground of harmlessness.
The Binding Rope: The Four Brahma Viharas (Compassion, Kindness, Joy, Equanimity) – applied inwardly as self-compassion, self-kindness, self-appreciation, and self-balance – holding the raft together with resilience and heart.
The Sails: Our Four Goals (Recognise, Abandon, Familiarise, Train) – catching the winds of wholesome desire and guiding our direction.
The Compass Points: The Four Intentions (Prevent, Abandon, Cultivate and Maintain) that direct our effort to build and navigate our vessel.
The Power Source & Engine: The Four Superpowers (Noble Desire, Courageous Effort, The Heart’s Compass, and Fearless Investigation) – providing the motivation, energy, focus, and intelligence for the journey.
The Tools & Reinforcements: The Five Defenders (Confidence, Courage, Mindfulness ,A Gathered Mind, Discernment) – the faculties and strengths needed to navigate challenges and abandon obstacles.
The Operating Manual & Navigational Map: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness culminating in principles and practices to be kept in mind – providing the detailed understanding of hazards, construction, operating principles, and the overall route.
The Operator: You – as the Captain, Navigator, and Crew, learning to skillfully manage all aspects of the vessel and the voyage.

Integrating Wisdom: Ancient Path, Modern Understanding

While the core framework is rooted in timeless Buddhist principles, we enhance our understanding by weaving in supportive insights from:

Neuroscience: Understanding how addiction impacts the brain and how practices like mindfulness promote neuroplasticity and rewire pathways towards health.
Psychology (incl. Evolutionary Psychology): Gaining insights into behaviour change, emotional regulation, trauma healing, motivation, and the roots of our drives.
Philosophy: Exploring questions of ethics, meaning, purpose, and the nature of a well-lived life.

This integrated approach aims to make the path practical, relatable, and deeply empowering.

How to Use The Workbook

This workbook is structured around the Four Goals of RAFT. Each goal contains chapters exploring key concepts and practices. Most chapters include:

Global Explanation: Introducing the topic and its relevance.
RAFT Metaphor: Connecting the topic to our core metaphor.
Self-Reflections: Questions for immediate contemplation.
Journaling Prompts: Suggestions for deeper written exploration.
Supporting Material: Brief insights from Neuroscience, Psychology, and Philosophy.
Closing Remarks: Summarising the key takeaways.
Sutta References: Pointers to original Buddhist texts for further study (optional).

Engage with the material actively. Use a journal. Be honest and kind with yourself. This is your journey, your raft.

How to Use This Workbook in Community

Follow the above guidance on how to use this workbook, we suggest meeting regularly with others within your recovery community, online or in person, to explore the contents of this workbook (see suggested meeting format and a directory of online meetings at www.Raftrecovery.org)

Self-Reflections

Before embarking on Goal One, take a few moments to reflect quietly:

Looking back on your recovery journey so far, what tools, insights, or practices have been most helpful — and how might these now become part of your personal raft?
Revisiting the “dangerous shore,” what specific risks or suffering related to addiction/compulsion motivate you most strongly to seek change?
What qualities does the “safe shore” of recovery and freedom represent for you personally?
Considering the RAFT components mentioned above (planks, rope, sails, compass, engine, tools, map, operator), where do you feel you already have some strength or resources?
Where do you anticipate needing the most support or development on this journey of recovery?
What is your core intention, your deepest ‘why’, for undertaking this RAFT voyage?

Journaling Prompts – Charting Your Course

Take some time with your journal:

Describe the “Dangerous Shore”: Write freely about your experience of being caught in addiction or harmful compulsions. (Be honest but self-compassionate).
Envision the “Safe Shore”: Describe the life you are moving towards. What qualities define it? How would you feel, act, relate?
Initial Materials Inventory: Brainstorm potential “raft-building materials” you already possess or can access (inner qualities, external supports, helpful practices, knowledge).
Setting Your Intention: Write down your core intention for working through this RAFT program. What do you sincerely hope to achieve for yourself? Keep this intention in mind as you proceed.

Closing Encouragement

Embarking on the path of recovery is a profound act of courage and self-care. The RAFT framework offers a reliable structure, integrating ancient wisdom and modern understanding to guide your way. Trust in your capacity to learn, grow, and heal. Be patient and persistent. The journey begins now, with the first crucial step: Recognising the landscape of our shared human experience. Let’s begin gathering the materials for our first goal of Recognising what it is to be human.

Sutta References

Alagaddupama Sutta (MN 22 – The Simile of the Snake / Raft): Provides the central metaphor for this workbook.
- Summary: Teaches that the Dhamma (teachings/practices) is like a raft, built for crossing the flood of suffering. Once the far shore (liberation) is reached, one leaves the raft behind, not carrying it as a burden.
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11 – Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion): The Buddha’s first discourse, laying out the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path that structure the R.A.F.T. program.
- Summary: Introduces the Middle Way, defines Suffering (Dukkha), its Origin (Samudāya – Craving), its Cessation (Nirodha), and the Path (Magga – Eightfold Path), outlining the task associated with each truth.