12-Step Zen

"Written with a musician’s sensitivity and the inward clarity of one shaped by recovery, Peter Kuhn’s deeply felt book brings the wisdom of Twelve-Step practice into rich and searching dialogue with Buddhism’s Seven Factors of Awakening. This is a work shaped by lived experience—by loss and longing, by addiction and grace, and by the redemptive discipline of meditation. This is a book about recovery, yes—but beneath it all runs the deeper music of awakening."

Thérèse Jacobs-Stewart, author of Mindfulness and the 12 Steps

"Peter Kuhn uses the ancient and timeless teachings of the Buddha as well as modern Twelve-Step wisdom as wonderful guides for release from suffering. The most inspiring part of this book for me is the fearless, transparent sharing of his own journey. Kuhn makes what could be overwhelming topics easy to access, put in the context of his very interesting life."

Roshi Anne Seisen Saunders, Abbot Emeritus, Sweetwater Zen Center

"12-Step Zen is a deeply honest and compassionate exploration of recovery, awakening, and the freedom that becomes possible when mindfulness and the Twelve Steps truly come alive together. Peter Kuhn writes with the wisdom of lived experience, offering a path that transforms suffering into clarity, resilience, and an open-hearted way of being."

John Bruna, cofounder of the Mindfulness in Recovery ® Institute, spiritual director of the Way of Compassion Dharma Center, and author of The Essential Guidebook to Mindfulness in Recovery

"Two seemingly disparate wisdom traditions in this book have been woven together in a unique and enormously helpful way: the Twelve-Step tradition and the Buddhist teaching of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. Both paths start out with the acknowledgment of suffering and its causes and end with tools that, if followed rigorously and grounded in mindfulness, will not only reduce suffering greatly but also encourage compassion and joy. But what really animates this book is Peter Kuhn’s own personal path from addiction to non-attachment and his experiential interface with both traditions. 12-Step Zen is a major text for those seeking to understand what addiction and recovery truly look like."

Richard Avery, LCSW, Certified Compassion Cultivation Trainer, Vipassana teacher, psychotherapist, and assistant professor, UCSD Department of Psychiatry