What's in a name?

Exit 9 is both literal and a metaphor. In its physical aspect it is the highway exit closest to the rural town where I grew up. No highway goes through that town and there are no traffic lights -- but still, the closest exit.

Exit 9 is the way home.

But home isn't so much a place as a state of being. And that's where the second meaning comes in. I'm a Buddhist, practicing more than seventeen years, so a great deal many things come back to Buddhism for me.

Exit 9 also refers to the ninth consciousness. What's that? In the branch of Buddhism I practice it is defined in paraphrase as follows: The term is also amala-consciousness. (In Sanskrit it is amala-vijnāna. In Japanese, amara-shiki 阿摩羅識. (I practice a form of Buddhism that originated in Japan.)) This consciousness refers to the aspect of our existence that remains free of all karmic impurity and impediments. It is the basis of all life's functions. (You can read the formal definition here.)

Why this? To paraphrase a great number of Buddhist teachings into my own words and understanding: The ninth consciousness is the truth to which all Buddhas are awakened, the Middle Way. As ordinary people with ordinary people problems this might sound too far away to be of any practical use in daily life and in our struggles with substance (or any other struggles in life). But Buddhism's highest teachings are for us every day people. You and me and everyone. The ninth consciousness represents our truest selves, unhindered by suffering, pain, grief, shame, guilt, mistakes, failures, trauma, karma... It's always there, inside us, always available, but we can have trouble getting to it, awakening and engaging with it.

I named this coaching practice Exit 9 because I am using the powerful methodology of This Naked Mind and I ground it in Buddhist philosophy and teachings to help fellow everyday people open the way into their own unhindered selves. We'll exit a daily life defined by pain and darkness and see the new path of what lies ahead. Because there is a future worth having, and we make it with our own hands. Day by day.

What does 'open the way' mean?

You'll see this phrase all over -- from video games to Buddhism even! I'm primarily making reference to Buddhism here. Open the way can mean to make things easier, lower the required input energy, remove an obstacle or hindrance to allow progress. There's an idea in Buddhism that when any one person breaks through and transforms their karma in a specific situation that they do so too (at some level) for all others suffering in the same way. So when I decided that alcohol wasn't going to get to call the shots anymore, it changed/opened the way for all those I share a kindred struggle with. I benefitted from all those who opened the way for me and I hope to pass this benefit to those I can help open the way for too.