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Comment: Take it for what it is worth to you. It you do not have
any 'issues', just remember that if you wear your halo too tight
you can get a headache! ;->~
Venceremos Unidos! Education for Liberation!
Peter S. López, Jr. aka~Peta
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
HumanE-Liberation-Party~http://help-matrix.ning.com/
From: ~Peta-de-Aztlan~ <peter.lopez51@yahoo.com>
To: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
Sent: Sun, December 13, 2009 8:47:16 AM
Subject: [Progressive Recovery Today!] On Our Spiritual Liberation Program: via Peter ...
Post: Saturday, December 12, 2009
CASA is a progressive recovery group based upon the original 12-Steps spiritual program first made popular by Alcoholic Anonymous in order to help drunken alcoholics achieve long-term lasting sobriety. The two co-founders of A.A. were Bill Wilson (1895 –1971) and Dr. Bob Smith (1879–1950). The founding date of A.A. in June 1935 is based upon Dr. Bob's last drink of beer. He remained sober until his death in 1950 from colon cancer and was an avowed Christian man of God without reservations.
On the other hand, though Bill Wilson remained sober from alcohol, despite death bed requests for whiskey, he had other 'issues'. He saw a Jungian psychotherapist from 1945 to 1949 for severe bouts of depression; took LSD in a designed medical situation in 1956 and several times more up to 1959; had a female business associate who received a lifelong 10% of his book royalties with suspicions of infidelity to his wife Lois (founder of Al-Anon); and had a life long interest in esoteric spiritualism and the occult, including séances. He seemed to be in search of new alternative cures for alcoholism. In his own unique controversial way, Brother Bill was a genius as a social engineer, especially with the worldwide success of A.A. and its basic 12-Steps program.
As time went on more and more people saw the 12-Steps program as appropriate for the treatment of a variety of disorders: drug addiction, gambling, obesity, sexual promiscuity and other sufferings of the soul. Thus, there are now many groups who use the 12-Steps to address specific problems and various issues in question. The 12-Steps offer a set of spiritual principles and general guidelines for good character building, getting rid of major character defects and being aware of personal shortcomings. Plus, it helps improve our relationships and communications with others by using basic humane spiritual principles for all our social interactions; making appropriate amends to those we have wronged; and the on-going maintenance of conscious awareness as to how we work with people on a daily basis. Learn from past mistakes to prevent future ones. What comes around goes around; karma creates karma.
For progressive recovery, sobriety is the central starting gate for sober living but we need to continue to advance spiritual growth, not get strung out on recovery and think going to recovery meetings and sitting silent is enough. We need to clearly understand the deeper origins of addiction in order to root out its symptoms out of our lives for good. We must change our old evil ways into new ways of being genuine, honest and 'for real'. Create good order out of confused chaos. As a mature, functional and responsible adult, be centered in a good healthy balance with high level of self-esteem, self-love and self-respect.
We should strive to be liberated beings involved in a spiritual liberation program. Be liberated and free from all forms of oppression and self-oppression, including the affliction of drug addiction and the insane vicious circle that comes with it. There is no good addiction. The addict does not know when to stop and when enough is enough. All indulgence in addiction is being out of balance, self-destructive and harmful to our well-being. There are relative differences between use, abuse and addiction, but casual use easily develops into hard core addiction in a cunning, powerful and baffling way.
Addiction is an obvious sign of Obsessive Compulsion Disorder (OCD). The drug addict is obsessed about a drug to alter his consciousness. He has a mad compulsion to indulge in it when it is at hand that he cannot control. At times the addict will switch to another drug or suffer cross addiction. He can become addicted to medication that often takes him back to his original drug of choice. Hard core addiction is a manifestation of obvious mental illness and deeper spiritual sickness. The 'dope fiend' finds it impossible to really live a normal healthy life with its rewards and responsibilities. Live life on life's terms one day at a time and be prepared for its ups and downs. A good healthy life is lived in pursuit of the best in life, true spiritual liberty and inner happiness, not in paranoid fear.
As a recovering addict, continue to work in a three-stage spiritual healing process of daily sobriety, continued recovery and spiritual growth. Do not dwell on the past with all its guilt trips and sad shames. Do not forget key lessons learned from past experiences. Remember the past to clearly see today, but do not try to live in the past. Neither should we have endless anxiety about the future filled with worries that shows a lack of faith in the Creator and the dynamic healing process. The past is over, the future has not arrived. It is HOW we are really being HERE NOW that matters the most to us today.
Let your being be in a spiritual realm on a natural high, being happy with your progress and with you being you. Live in harmony with the Creator, your inner self and others you care about in your life. If you are without joy and never comfortable in your own skin, then there is something dreadfully wrong with the way you are being. A severe relapse or even a short slip is a sign of continued sickness and a weak phony program without a spiritual foundation. The spiritual foundation of our program should be an undying faith in the Creator, not traditional anonymity.
Ask the right questions, find your own answers, figure stuff out on your own and come to your own conclusions in your own mind. It is ultimately a spiritual journey that you must travel on your own. Others can walk along with you, but you alone must be brave and walk your own journey, no one else can walk it for you. If spiritual healing is to come true, it is up to you. We hold regular meetings together for group support, to listen and learn, to heal and help and to share our "experience, strength and hope". Nevertheless, you must develop your own spiritual liberation program in a way that works best for you. Work your own program for your own life, for your own self-interest and your personal survival. It is your program!
Ultimately, the addict is a creature divorced from his own best survival interests, from the workings of his own inner soul and from conscious communion with the Creator. His soul has lost its original soul intention for being on Mother Earth: spiritual liberty!
"The fastest spiritual growth will always be through following your inner guidance in the moment, not in following some external ideal. Spiritual unfoldment always has to develop from precisely as you are and where you are right now.
~ Deepak Chopra ~ http://www.intent.com/deepakchopra/profile
To know and love others is good; to know and love your true soul is enlightenment.
c/s
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● Progressive Recovery Today!
http://prorecovery.blogspot.com/
● CASA 12-Steps Program Blog
http://casa-12steps.blogspot.com/
● CASA 12-Steps Program Yahoo Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CASA-12-Steps-Program/
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Posted By ~Peta-de-Aztlan~ to Progressive Recovery Today! at 12/13/2009 08:47:00 AM
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