Looking East for the answers to addiction

By Ian Vertel
Sun contributor
Buddhism is a philosophical theory about the mind. It is a “precise science of the mind,” says David Hendricks — a science of nature, and of consciousness. With this understanding of the nature of the mind, locals Sharon and David Hendricks have applied their Buddhist teachings and philosophy toward healing individuals afflicted by addiction at their facility, Another Path, in Traverse City. But before opening the addiction treatment center, a journey of exploration and learning to Asia was necessary.
Photo courtesy of the Hendricks family
David, Sharon and Will Hendricks (seated in foreground) traveled to India and studied with Tibetan Buddhist Geshe Rinchin (background) on addiction treatment.

Originally, David practiced addiction medicine in Madison, Wisconsin. Coming to the realization that each individual possessed unique reasons for addiction, reasons that could not be broken by generic treatment, he turned to a more “intuitive, developed understanding,” to identify methods and means of treatment for these unique individuals. David saw the problem in a completely Western approach, and sought an alternative method. The solution he found was in Eastern philosophy. His wife Sharon recognized the same need to integrate an intuitive, Eastern understanding into the treatment of addicts. Sharon received a Master’s Degree in social work at the University of Wisconsin, and has been practicing psychotherapy for 20 years.
In 1989, David and Sharon met with the Dalai Lama, who suggested that they incorporate Buddhist teachings into addiction medicine to provide the dimension of intuitive mental evaluation they were seeking. Compelled by the request of His Holiness, David and Sharon began to pursue the development of such a practice.
Interested in learning the ancient Tibetan script necessary to translate sacred texts, David studied at Wisconsin in 1990, and “enrolled as a graduate in Buddhist studies.” He spent five years there, and later became Chairman of the Department of the Wisconsin medical school.
In 2000 the Hendricks family and their children built a home in Empire — retracing the steps to Sharon’s northern Michigan roots. David resigned as Chairman in 2003, and Sharon also resigned from her job in Madison.
Free of their occupations, David, Sharon and their 12-year-old son Will left for India in January, 2004. They had “no grants, no letters of recommendations; we were complete unknowns,” when they arrived in Katmandu, says David. Will had just finished sixth grade when the family began their journey to India. Initially, they toured Southeast Asia, as David had traveled there during the Vietnam War with an economic development organization. Arriving at Dharamsala on March 1, 2004, David, Sharon, Will rented a shepherd’s hut in the mountains. Living a short distance from the Tibetan library and archives, the family attended teachings, and learned from the highly respected Geshe Rinchin.
Sharing their mission about incorporating Eastern philosophy into addiction treatment medicine, Geshe Rinchin suggested that David and Sharon seek out a Tibetan text titled, Mind and That Arisen from Mind or Mind and its Mental Functions, “a core Buddhist text of mental functioning,” explains David, In developing this new methodology of treatment, it became Sharon and David’s duty to translate the sacred text.
Both Sharon and David worked to translate the text, but each took an individualized approach. David says, “Sharon and my minds don’t think alike.” She took a more “general” approach, while David intended to translate the text “precisely”. The information and knowledge it revealed would later have a powerful influence on the formation, structure and practice of the Traverse City addiction treatment center Another Path. But while the text was translated, a “translation is not the same as understanding,” emphasizes David, which meant that the material had to be taught to them. However, the Hendricks family would soon discover that the language barrier was strong, though not impossible to cross. Even if a teacher was found, a student would also need to find a translator.
The Hendricks family’s journey continued, as the Himalayan winds guided their steps. Due to a regulation that requires visitors to leave India every six months, the family arrived in Katmandu, Nepal, where they were delayed because of a “corrupt consulate,” which demanded preposterous monetary compensations. However, their stay at the Varaja Hotel in Katmandu had a hidden purpose unbeknownst to the family: the hotel had its own library for guests. Prevented from leaving for three weeks, the family studied the texts the library offered, accepting the knowledge that would also contribute to the vision of Another Path.
Still seeking a teacher for Mind and That Arisen from Mind, the Hendricks family sought out a Tibetan monk from the Institute of Buddhist Dialects, Gen Gatso. Sharon and David would listen to Gen Gatso, receive his teachings, and then transcribe the text. Once Sharon and David had a complete version of the text that satisfied their spiritual pursuits, translated into English, they each had a copy bound in India.
Traveling once again, Sharon and David journeyed through India and then visited Sri Lanka. While traveling and providing medical care to monks who heard of David’s medical background, David sought to “develop a technique used as a framework to devise a new way of understanding human psychology.”
Seven hundred thousand people die from addictions each year in the United States. If David could connect what he was learning to his work in addiction medicine, thereby improving addiction medicine and treatment, “it could result in the single biggest way to save lives,” he hopes.
One remarkable product of the Hendricks family’s journey was that Will entered manhood during their stay in Asia. He was tempered and hardened by sickness from unclean water and high-altitude exposure. Combined with the teachings he received when he attended sessions with his parents, Will was home schooled, and focused on writing, algebra and science. “Will would spend two or three hours a day playing guitar,” recalls David, as well as receiving an education. He began to “take responsibility for his education,” and learned by studying independently. Growing up in India, “Will is partly Indian.”
After fulfilling their spiritual missions of discovery, exploration, learning and personal healings, the Hendricks family found that the transition back into American life and culture required a large adjustment. However, the vision was clear as to how to integrate Buddhist philosophy into a center of addiction treatment and medicine. Both Sharon and David shared the thought that “if addicts can be made, they can be unmade.”
The product of their journey to Asia and their studies there were to develop “a unified concept about mental health, healing and addiction,” says Sharon. This unified concept would address the fact that addictions result from a severe trauma in adolescence, as “the mind influences the body,” says David. Events in the consciousness are transmitted to the physical brain that carries out order-like objectives. Because the “brain follows orders,” addiction results from such experiences. This is a central component in the approach Another Path undertakes to understand the reasons behind a person’s addiction and then address that addiction to promote healing.
While Sharon and David work to heal individuals with addictions, Another Path must be sought by the individual who has decided that he or she wants, or needs, treatment. The individual must realize that they are the lotus, emerging from the mud that is the chaos, negativity, obstacle and hindrance to healing and growth. But once free of the mud, the lotus blooms, revealing its true nature of spiritual beauty.