12-Step Zen: Pathways of Recovery

An unflinching and compassionate exploration of addiction, healing, and renewal through Zen practice and Twelve-Step recovery.

This deeply personal story of struggle, transformation, and spiritual awakening draws on author Peter Kuhn's decades of lived experience in recovery, the timeless wisdom of the Buddha, and the guiding principles of the Twelve-Step tradition. Engaging, brutally honest, and vividly told, Kuhn's stories leap off the page and show how addiction can be understood, navigated, and transformed with practical tools for living with integrity, presence, and an open heart. 

At the heart of this book are the Buddha’s Seven Factors of Awakening, presented as a living map for recovery and spiritual growth. Kuhn weaves these classical Buddhist teachings together with the experiential wisdom of Twelve-Step practice, offering an urgently relevant path for our time. Rooted in the healing power of community, 12-Step Zen speaks to those walking the recovery path, those engaged in Buddhist practice, and anyone seeking freedom from compulsive patterns of suffering.

Learn to:

• Recognize suffering and its causes, and transform it through awareness and compassion
• Apply the Seven Factors of Awakening as a practical framework for recovery and daily life
• Integrate the principles of the Twelve Steps with Buddhist practice to support lasting healing and renew understanding of both paths
• Discover freedom and deeper purpose through community, self-reflection, and mindful living.

Honest, inspiring, and practical, 12-Step Zen is a companion for anyone ready to transform life’s challenges into opportunities for awakening—and to walk a path toward liberation, one mindful step at a time.

Peter Kuhn is a longtime practitioner in the Plum Village Zen tradition and a passionate advocate for healing through recovery and Dharma. After entering his first treatment program at age 14, he spent two decades in active addiction before beginning a path of spiritual transformation in 1986. Ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2010 as "True Ocean of Joy," he cofounded True Freedom, a prison pen-pal program, and has led Twelve-Step Zen groups for over a decade.