By Paula M
Subtext
Bill and Bob introduced an awareness of body-mind connection insofar as the phenomenon of craving and the mental obsession. In the 83 years since the Big Book’s first publication, in a time typified by vast scientific achievement, little headway has been made in the quest to understand the disease of alcoholism. The founders uncovered the taboos of alcoholism, delineated its expression and provided a design for living for the recovered alcoholic.
On the heels of the Great Depression and in precursor to World War II, the founders, guided by faith and physics, envisioned the creation of a worldwide fellowship of recovered alcoholics. As dawn rose in the field of atomic energy resources and weaponry and as Europe unraveled into chaos, the founders of our Program set forth their collective efforts to save humanity, starting with alcoholics with the desire not to drink.
All the work they did was in preparation for this moment in time, would you believe? As we stand at the precipice of nuclear war and thick in credence divides, our worldwide fellowship is obliged to stand. For what is the benefit of a new life, gifted to us through this Program if life is extinguished all together?
Reflection
When a baby first looks in a mirror he becomes happy and excited to perhaps meet a new playmate. There comes a point where he understands that his reflection is him yet not himself.
At this point a gradual transformation in a blend of his subconscious and consciousness forms his belief that he can exist outside of his body and furthermore is in control of his body. With or without an actual mirror in hand, we see ourselves in third-party fashion.
For the alcoholic, the allergy of the body- the phenomenon of craving triggers expression due to a prior selection of false presumptions and selecting non-choices. In other words, before the active alcoholic is in the physical presence of liquor, he/she doesn’t have the ability to not drink. Drinking was a non-choice many steps back and furthermore, the ‘he’ who exists outside the body, the self who stands as third party, has the disease of perception.
Alcoholism is defined through a pattern of thinking. Whatever image an alcoholic does or does not want to portray in the present time, the obsessive thoughts which drive one to the act of taking a drink sets crave in motion.
The phenomenon of craving preempts reflection, thoughts, feelings and emotions as outlined in ‘Modernity.’ The automatic, immediate and direct link from basic instincts gone awry to mental obsession is another abnormality beyond the phenomenon of craving.
As if a refined, ubiquitous spade, the spiritual awakening delves back into the unconscious/conscious and restructures the mental form of existence. A true spiritual awakening begins on our outer physical core and bypasses the web of choices and options. When the compulsion to drink has been lifted, it is as if the detrimental thoughts, emotions and mind pattern have been surgically removed and the alcoholic is recovered
Just as the disease embodies a direct, forged path from character defection to the consumption of alcohol, a spiritual awakening exploits this direct path, taking it in a spherically reverse direction. This deconstruction explains why alcoholics are so grateful to be alcoholics, for they may never find a path from physical action to intuition without the forged path already in place.
Just as Gollum (Lord of the Rings) played a part in the salvation of all, the deformation of our perception allows a fast track to connect with a source of power intent on our well-being.
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy must be viewed as a series of binary choices rather than an end-state of existence.
The deconstruction of juxtaposed thought, emotion and feeling are backed into, going in the reverse direction of the path the disease forged.
Hypocrisy does not necessarily have as urgent a need for removal as does the antics of an active alcoholic. In other words, the lack of perceived desperation may prevent one from having the humility required to change.
