From Compulsion to Freedom

Changing the direction of your life

Welcome, courageous voyager! As you read this page, you’ve already taken a powerful step, demonstrating a deep longing for change and a courageous spirit. If you’re navigating the turbulent waters of addiction, harmful compulsions, or simply patterns that bring suffering, know this: you are not alone, and a path towards genuine well-being and freedom is within our reach. Here, we extend a warm invitation to explore the RAFT to Freedom workbook, designed as your practical companion on this transformative journey.

Our program draws on profound ancient wisdom, particularly the core insights of Gotama, the man we know as the Buddha, who deeply explored life’s pain and disappointments. We seamlessly blend these timeless teachings with supporting perspectives from contemporary neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, offering a comprehensive and accessible approach to healing and transformation.

The RAFT acronym serves as our blueprint, guiding us through four essential stages on our journey to the safety of the far shore:

• R is for Recognise: Our journey begins by honestly Recognising the situation we find ourselves in. This means understanding that life is naturally painful, difficult, and often disappointing—a fundamental reality Gotama explored. We survey the “dangerous shore” of our current experience and begin to gather the raw materials needed for our voyage. This stage involves grounding ourselves in ethical commitment, cultivating compassion, exploring our embodied experience, and understanding the dynamics of skillful effort and our innate inner potential.
  
• A is for Abandon: Next, we learn to Abandon harmful cravings and compulsions. This crucial stage illuminates how our habitual cravings, aversions, and confusions amplify suffering, trapping us in cycles of addiction and compulsive behaviors. We focus on developing inner strengths and heart qualities like loving-kindness to skillfully let go of these patterns and remove their roots, patching the leaks in our vessel.
  
• F is for Freedom: Then, we turn towards our destination, actively familiarising ourselves with the possibility and direct experience of Freedom from craving and aversion. This stage is about noticing, appreciating, and stabilising moments of peace and clarity that are entirely independent of external “fixes.” We cultivate the “Seven Supports for Recovery”—qualities like joy and tranquility—that signify a mind moving towards liberation.
  
• T is for Train: Finally, we Train our body and mind within an established program. This involves diligently engaging with practices, such as the Noble Eightfold Path, that lead reliably to a safe shore. It’s about integrating wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental discipline into our lives, ensuring we not only reach the safe shore but can skillfully navigate life’s waters thereafter.
  

We strongly emphasise that you don’t need to identify with addictions or compulsions, nor do you need to be, or become, a Buddhist to benefit from this program. We believe that we are all, in a sense, in recovery—recovering from greed, hatred, and delusion; from craving, aversion, and confusion. This workbook offers the same principles and practices to help everyone on their path to a life free from suffering.

This workbook is structured to be both instructive and engaging, making complex principles understandable and accessible without ever being patronising. Each chapter offers global explanations, connects to our core RAFT metaphor, and provides opportunities for self-reflection and journaling, along with supporting insights from science and philosophy.

Are you ready to gather your materials, hoist your sails, and embark on this insightful voyage? We invite you to explore the chapters and begin building and navigating your route to freedom.