Dr. Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John MA is a TEDx speaker, author of 8 books including Detox Your Heart, Meditations for Emotional Trauma, and her award-winning books Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction and her novel Borrowed Body. She is a senior teacher in the Triratna Buddhist Order, practicing for 27 years, chair of Vancouver Buddhist Centre, President of the Buddhist Recovery Network and one of the organizers of the GENX Buddhist Teacher’s gathering in 2019. She curated the Tricycle series Teachings for Uncertain Times 2018, and was the recipient of a European Diversity Awards 2018, for her past work in the LGBTQ communities in the UK. She is a co-founder of Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery MBAR and trained as a telephone counselor for Night Line UK. She lives in Canada and tours internationally as a public speaker and is one of the new leading African Descent voices in the field of Mindfulness Approaches for Addictive Behaviors.
Events with Vimalasara Mason-John
Entering the Silence of RecoveryMay 22 - 25, 2025
This in-person retreat is open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. All recovery paths are welcome, whether Twelve Step, Recovery Dharma, Eight Step Recovery, substance, process, or relationship-oriented. Join us for this unique meditation retreat combining traditional Buddhist practices with recovery and healing. Primarily conducted in silence, the retreat focuses on insight/mindfulness meditation, with additional interactive exercises, lectures, and meetings exploring ways that Buddhism and a recovery program can complement each other. The emphasis will be on bringing mindfulness to all our activities, whether in formal meditation, movement, speaking, listening, or eating. Participants will practice Noble Silence outside of the…