RECOVERY DHARMA

A Buddhist-inspired peer recovery program for any addictive behavior, including gambling.

118 meetings listed20 states covered

See the live meetings map

Real-time globe of every Recovery Dharma meeting happening now. Tap a glowing dot to join.

How Cope Compass fits

Recovery Dharma is the practice. Sangha, mindfulness, the eightfold path applied to addiction, held by people who treat suffering with attention instead of denial.

Cope Compass is the day-to-day infrastructure. Urge tools you can run mid-craving without leaving an app, financial recovery worksheets, a therapist who treats gambling disorder, the conversations with the people you live with. Some of it overlaps with mindfulness, some of it does not. None of it competes with sangha.

Find a Recovery Dharma meeting below. Come back here for the rest.

Recovery Dharma is a peer-led, donation-funded recovery program founded in 2019. Its framework draws on Buddhist teachings, especially the four noble truths and the eightfold path, and applies them to addictive behavior. Recovery Dharma split from Refuge Recovery in 2019 to operate without an organizational dependence on any single teacher. Today there are several hundred meetings worldwide, mostly online. Recovery Dharma is small but growing, and is especially popular with people who find both 12-step language and pure CBT framings incomplete. The program treats craving as a universal human experience to be examined with kindness, not a personal failing to be defeated. Most Recovery Dharma meetings welcome any addiction; some are gambling-specific.

The four noble truths, applied to addiction

Recovery Dharma reframes the Buddhist four noble truths as a working model of addiction and recovery. The exact framing varies by sangha (meeting community), but the four pillars below capture the program.

  1. 1

    Suffering is part of being human

    Acknowledge the suffering at the heart of addictive behavior, including the gambling itself and what it has cost.

  2. 2

    Craving causes the suffering

    Recognize that the urge to escape, repeat, or chase the win is the engine. The behavior is downstream.

  3. 3

    There is a way out

    Suffering is not permanent. Trained attention, ethical living, and community can lead to liberation from compulsive patterns.

  4. 4

    The path is the eightfold path

    Right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. The program studies and practices each.

Recovery Dharma is not a religion and does not require any prior Buddhist study. The teachings are presented as a working framework, not a faith requirement.

Find Recovery Dharma by state

We have editorial content for 20 states so far. Each state page links to active meetings, the state council, and the local helpline. More states are added weekly.

Other approaches to recovery

None of these programs is right or wrong. They are different tools. Many people in long-term recovery have used more than one.

GA

Gamblers Anonymous

Looking for a structured 12-step path? Gamblers Anonymous is the longest-running peer fellowship for compulsive gambling.

SMART

SMART Recovery

Want CBT tools instead of meditation? SMART Recovery offers science-based skill-building.

Gam-Anon

Gam-Anon

Affected by someone else’s gambling? Gam-Anon supports family members and partners.

Frequently asked

Do I have to be Buddhist to attend Recovery Dharma?
No. Many members come from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, agnostic, or atheist backgrounds. The program treats Buddhist teachings as a practical framework for working with craving. Members of any tradition or none are welcome.
Is Recovery Dharma the same as Refuge Recovery?
They share a common origin. Recovery Dharma split from Refuge Recovery in 2019 over governance concerns. The teachings overlap heavily. Both use the four noble truths and eightfold path; Recovery Dharma operates as a fully peer-governed organization with no central teacher figure.
How does Recovery Dharma compare to GA or SMART for gambling?
GA uses 12 steps and a higher power. SMART uses cognitive behavioral tools. Recovery Dharma uses mindfulness and Buddhist ethics. All three are free and can be attended in parallel. People with a meditation background or with trauma histories sometimes find the mindfulness framework more accessible than the other two.
Are Recovery Dharma meetings online?
Most are. The program is small (a few hundred meetings worldwide), so in-person availability varies a lot by location. Online meetings happen daily and any state can attend any of them.
Where do I start?
Use the state grid below to see where in-person Recovery Dharma is available, or visit recoverydharma.org for the full meeting directory and the free Recovery Dharma book PDF. The book is the program’s core text and is recommended reading before your first meeting.