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This is a 4x6 inch card using text from the Lotus Sutra sent to a friend in the UK who struggles with addiction and who emailed me to let me know he was in a difficult patch and had begun using again. I work with people in detox in the hospital where I am a chaplain. One of the facts of life for many with addictions is the disappointments they must live with; their own and those of others. It is common that what doesn't get celebrated is the victories in their lives; the days they survive, the days they make new determinations, the days they try one more time. Rahula was the son of the Buddha. He lived in the shadows of his father; little attention or mention is made of him. His practice was considered a secret practice because in that silence and in that shadow, and in that quiet unheralded space he attained enlightenment few knew of.