Practice 1 – A map to navigate our journey:
Introducing the RAFT framework
How do we cross the waters from danger to safety? Gotama Buddha suggested that we need to build a raft – a vessel we skilfully construct using whatever materials are available to us.
Welcome!
Taking this step, opening this workbook, shows you have 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 wellbeing exists.
This RAFT to Recovery workbook has been designed to be your practical guide and companion on that journey. It draws on the profound wisdom of early Buddhist teachings, in particular the core insights that Gotama – the man we now know as the Buddha – life’s, pain, difficulties and disappointments, as experienced by himself and for others.
In the next chapter, we will explore why Gotama intentionally became homeless, giving up a privileged status and lavish comforts, leaving behind his wife, newborn son and parents. After six years of exploration, Gotama realised something profoundly simple, so obvious and yet blindly overlooked: there is pain.
Let’s be very clear, Gotama did not say ‘life is suffering’, he simply stated that pain exists. In writing this workbook, we have aimed to enhance and support his perspectives with those from contemporary neuroscience, psychology and philosophy to offer a comprehensive approach to healing and transformation.
Gotama’s four realities
In the first talk he gave after he had awakened to life as it is, Gotama presented four important realities.
- Firstly, he proposed that life is painful, difficult and disappointing. We don’t get much of what we want, but we do get an awful lot of what we don’t want. He suggested that we investigate, recognise, and understand both the existence and experience of pain.
- Secondly, he goes on to point out that much of the pain, difficulties and disappointments of life comes as a direct result of natural human cravings, compulsions, preferences and aversions which, he says, can and should be overcome and abandoned.
- Thirdly, he then says that it is totally possible for anyone to personally experience and verify the absence of these harmful cravings and aversions.
- Lastly, Gotama suggested that we actively engage in a programme which supports the abandonment of harmful cravings and aversions, and which also minimises unnecessary and avoidable pain.
Raft to Recovery is one such programme.
The dangerous shore, the safe shore, and the crossing
Gotama often spoke of our conditioned existence – the way we are shaped by our past and by the world around us. And that we are entangled in craving and confusion – standing on 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, and stranded far from genuine peace.
However, he also spoke with certainty of a safe shore – the possibility of liberation – a state of freedom from the grip of craving and aversion, characterised by peace, clarity and profound wellbeing. RAFT to Recovery is intended to enable us to navigate the vast expanse between these two shores.
Introducing the RAFT framework
A map to navigate our journey
How do we cross the waters from danger to safety? Gotama suggested that we need to build a raft – a vessel we skilfully construct using whatever materials are available to us.
In this workbook we use the acronym RAFT as our blueprint, guiding us through four essential stages that are based on the Gotama’s four core realities.
- R – Recognise
The journey begins with honestly recognising the situation we find ourselves in. This involves understanding the nature of suffering – both the inherent difficulties of life and the specific suffering caused by addiction. We survey the dangerous shoreline and gather the raw materials we will need for the journey ahead. - A – Abandon
Next, we learn to abandon the primary cause of our self-inflicted suffering: craving. This involves understanding how craving fuels our addiction, and how we can develop the inner strengths (the five defenders) and the heart qualities (self-compassion, self-love, self-appreciation and self-balance) needed to skilfully let go of harmful compulsions, and remove 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 stabilise 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 the body, heart and mind using the middle way as the path that leads reliably to a safe shore. This involves engaging diligently with the instructions of the eightfold path which is both our instruction manual and navigational map (this is comparable to a structured recovery programme), integrating wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental discipline into our lives.
Building our RAFT and integrating its components
RAFT is no abstract concept – it’s something we actively construct, and we learn to navigate. Throughout this workbook, we will gather and integrate the necessary components.
- The foundational planks
Our commitment to ethical conduct begins with five gifts that ensure our vessel is built on a solid ground of harmlessness. - The binding rope
The four immeasurables of compassion, kindness, joy and equanimity – applied inwardly as self-compassion, self-kindness, self-appreciation, and self-balance – hold the raft together with resilience and heart. - The sails
Our four goals to recognise, abandon, familiarise, and train catch the winds of wholesome desire and guide our direction. - The compass points
The four intentions to prevent, abandon, cultivate and maintain direct our efforts to build and navigate our vessel. - The power source and engine
The four superpowers of noble desire, courageous effort, the heart’s compass, and fearless investigation provide the motivation, energy, focus, and intelligence we use on our journey. - The tools and reinforcements
The five defenders of confidence, courage, mindfulness, a gathered mind, and discernment are the faculties and strengths we will need as we navigate challenges and abandon obstacles. - The operating manual and navigational map
The four foundations of mindfulness culminate in principles and practices to be kept in mind, providing the detailed understanding of hazards, construction, operating principles, and the overall route. - The traveller
You, as captain, navigator and crew, will learn to skilfully manage all aspects of the vessel and the voyage.
Blending wisdom on an ancient path with a 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, rewiring 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.
Self-reflections
Before embarking on goal one, take a few moments to reflect quietly.
- Looking back on your recovery journey, 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 the RAFT voyage?
Journaling prompts – charting your course
Spend some time with your journal.
- Describe the dangerous shore
Write freely about your experience of being caught in addiction or harmful compulsions. Be honest, and 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 the potential raft-building materials you already possess or can access, such as inner qualities, external supports, helpful practices, and knowledge. - Setting your intention
Write down your core intention for working through the RAFT programme. 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. RAFT as a framework offers a reliable structure, integrating ancient wisdom with a 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 by gathering the material we need for our first goal, that of recognising what it is to be human.
Sutta references
- Alagaddupama Sutta (MN 22 – The simile of the snake / raft)
This sutta provides the central metaphor for this workbook.- Summary: It teaches that the dhamma (teachings or practices) is like a raft, built for crossing the flood of suffering. Once the far shore (or liberation) is reached, one leaves the raft behind, as carrying it would be an unnecessary burden.
- Summary: It teaches that the dhamma (teachings or practices) is like a raft, built for crossing the flood of suffering. Once the far shore (or liberation) is reached, one leaves the raft behind, as carrying it would be an unnecessary burden.
- Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11 – Setting the wheel of the dhamma in motion)
Gotoma’s first discourse, in which he sets out the four great tasks and the eightfold path that underpin the structure of RAFT.- Summary: It introduces the middle way, defines suffering (dukkha), its origin (samudāya – craving), its cessation (nirodha), and the path (magga – the eightfold path), outlining the task associated with each truth.
RAFT to Recovery © 2025 by Dr Cathryn Jacob and Vince Cullen
is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International