|
Awakening to Principles.
click here another page about Pittman's Book
Reprint of Practice These Principles Bill Pittman AA historian, author, and publisher 1947 2007
Also in addition to these items I want to quote some material written by
I returned to the same meeting recently to present a sponsee with a sobriety medallion and a few people approached me with the same comment. "I've been looking all year, since your talk, in the literature for the principles and can't find them!" My answer was the same as I tell my sponsees, "The principles of Twelve Step recovery are the opposite of our character defects." In recovery, we try to take the opposite of our character defects/shortcomings and turn them into principles. For example, we work to change fear into faith, hate into love, egoism into humility, anxiety and worry into serenity, complacency into action, denial into acceptance, jealousy into trust, fantasizing into reality, selfishness into service, resentment into forgiveness, judgmentalism into tolerance, despair into hope, self-hate into self-respect, and loneliness into fellow- ship. Through this work we learn to understand the principles of our program. Such work may look like an overwhelming goal to an
Outsider, but those of us in AA know that our true goal is 11 progress, not perfection." As the Big Book,
Alcoholics Anonymous, tells us, we are not destined for sainthood and we should not be discouraged when we
cannot "Maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. The point is, that
we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles are guides to
progress."
Principles of the 12 Steps:
two list here see other list at bottom of page 1. Surrender. (Capitulation to hopelessness.) 2. Hope. (Step 2 is the mirror image or opposite of step 1. In step 1 we admit that alcohol is our higher power, and that our lives are unmanageable. In step 2, we find a different Higher Power who we hope will bring about a return to sanity in management of our lives.) 3. Commitment. (The key word in step 3 is decision.) 4. Honesty. (An inventory of self.) 5. Truth. (Candid confession to God and another human being.) 6. Willingness. (Choosing to abandon defects of character.) 7. Humility. (Standing naked before God, with nothing to hide, and asking that our flaws—in His eyes—be removed.) 8. Reflection. (Who have we harmed? Are we ready to amend?) 9. Amendment. (Making direct amends/restitution/correction, etc..) 10. Vigilance. (Exercising self-discovery, honesty, abandonment, humility, reflection and amendment on a momentary, daily, and periodic basis.) 11. Attunement. (Becoming as one with our Father.) 12. Service. (Awakening into sober usefulness.)
The origins of AA's principles, and of the AA program itself, can be traced back to the Oxford Group, a
nondenominational spiritual movement. The cofounders of AA, Bill Wilson What Is the Oxford Group? appears here in its entire original version, although the page numbers in this reprint do not correspond to the original. Practice These Principles is a revision of the original 1933 book with more up-to-date secular language. Studying these books can only add a greater perspective of the principles of Twelve Step recovery. That the Oxford Group influenced the structure of Alcoholics Anonymous is common knowledge within the program. What has not always been told or recognized are the details of the spiritual recovery material that Bill W and Dr. Bob heard, learned, and applied from the Oxford Group. Many of the ideas that formed the foundation of ANs suggested Steps of recovery came from (the then named) A First Century Christian Fellowship-founded in 1921 by a Lutheran minister, Dr. Frank Buchman, and led in New York by his chief American lieutenant, Rev. Samuel Shoemaker, rector
of
Awakening to Principles.
this document was first created by 12. Having had a spiritual
awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message
to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. [Big
Book, page 60, line 3]
The dictionary on PRINCIPLE
2. A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial; ultimate basis or cause.... 4. A fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrine from which others are derived, or on which others are founded; a general truth; an elementary proposition or fundamental assumption; a maxim; an axiom; a postulate. 5. A settled rule of action;
a governing law of conduct; an opinion, attitude or belief which exercises
a directing influence on the life and behavior; a rule (usually a right
rule) of conduct consistently directing one's actions...
One might distill these definitions
of principle down to basic rules of action. However, some of our members
are opposed to rules, so we adopted the following short definition:
a principle is a basic action
guideline:
22) The first principle of success is that you should never be angry. [Big Book, page 111, line 1] (Although we alcoholics are not saints, it seem the authors of the Big Book thought that our spouses should be. It is obvious that this principle is avoid anger.) 28) Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would approve. [Big Book, page 125, line 18] (This principle is that we respect the privacy of others, especially fellow members of AA.) 29) Giving, rather than getting, will become the guiding principle. [Big Book, page 128, line 2] (We practice service of others rather than self-service.) 35) & 36) "There is a principle
which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments
and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle
is contempt prior to investigation." —HERBERT SPENCER [Big Book, Appendix
II, page 570, lines 16 & 19] (The principle for us is open mindedness.) These are the five easy ones. Another of our 36 examples contains three principles: 25) Your new courage, good
nature and lack of self-consciousness will do wonders for you socially.
The same principle applies in dealing with the children. [Big Book, page
115, line 20] (Our relationships with others will be vastly improved when
we display courage and good nature, just as when we do not display self-consciousness.)
9) 12. Having had a spiritual
awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message
to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.. [Big
Book, page 60, line 3]
11) The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. [Big Book, page 60, line 9] The TRADITIONS of A.A. are
principles:
Thus far we may have uncovered
31 of A.A.s principles. Four were the easy uses of the word principle in
examples 22), 28), 29, and 36). Three more were found in 25), and there
are 12 steps and 12 traditions, each being a principle.
1. Surrender. (Capitulation to hopelessness.) 2. Hope. (Step 2 is the mirror image or opposite of step 1. In step 1 we admit that alcohol is our higher power, and that our lives are unmanageable. In step 2, we find a different Higher Power who we hope will bring about a return to sanity in management of our lives.) 3. Commitment. (The key word in step 3 is decision.) 4. Honesty. (An inventory of self.) 5. Truth. (Candid confession to God and another human being.) 6. Willingness. (Choosing to abandon defects of character.) 7. Humility. (Standing naked before God, with nothing to hide, and asking that our flaws—in His eyes—be removed.) 8. Reflection. (Who have we harmed? Are we ready to amend?) 9. Amendment. (Making direct amends/restitution/correction, etc..) 10. Vigilance. (Exercising self-discovery, honesty, abandonment, humility, reflection and amendment on a momentary, daily, and periodic basis.) 11. Attunement. (Becoming as one with our Father.) 12. Service. (Awakening into sober usefulness.)
You may have good reason to believe the above distillation could be improved upon. Do it! The purpose of this activity is to sharpen up our thinking about the nature of A.A. recovery. Honest inquiry and loving debate are essential to deep learning. Principles of the TRADITIONS; perhaps you should take a shot at these if you wish. Let us know what you come up with. And Down to Business. Now for the fun. We have uncovered 36 instances of the word principle in the Big Book. From these we have discovered 31 principles of A.A. recovery. You may have noticed that in eight instances we are talking specifically about "spiritual principles". But, the "principles" addressed thus far are but a few of the principles that should guide our lives. For example: Patience, tolerance, understanding and love are the watchwords. [Big Book, page 118 line 13] These are the four additional principles we once affectionately called PLUT (Patience, Love, Understanding, and Tolerance). However, as a consequence of alcoholic zeal, the four have grown to fifteen. Their acronym is easy to remember and pronounce . It is GSSSHHHPLUCKTTM! Please refer to our topic titled Virtue. You are going to have an exciting time identifying A.A.'s principles. It is suggested that you and some friends start with the first printed page in the Big Book, and that you each read a paragraph while the others ask themselves if the paragraph contains any basic action guidelines for recovery from alcoholism. If so, write them down. You may wish to use the following candidates (Appendix I) to get started:
Appendix I
* Indicates that the virtue is a member of the GSSSHHHPLUCKTTM Appendix II
3) Though none of these principles had the force of rules or laws, they had become so widely accepted by 1950 that they were confirmed by our first International Conference held at Cleveland. [Big Book, page xix, line 27] 4) The basic principles of the A.A. program, it appears, hold good for individuals with many different life-styles, just as the program has brought recovery to those of many different nationalities. [Big Book, page xxii, line 13] 5) My friend had emphasized the absolute necessity of demonstrating these principles in all my affairs. [Big Book, page 14, line 29] 6) We feel elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs. [Big Book, page 19, line 7] 7) "Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems. [Big Book, page 42, line 32] 8) That was great news to us, for we had assumed we could not make use of spiritual principles unless we accepted many things on faith which seemed difficult to believe. [Big Book, page 47, line 23] 9) 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.. [Big Book, page 60, line 3] 10) No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. [Big Book, page 60, line 8] 11) The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. [Big Book, page 60, line 9] 12) We listed people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry. We asked ourselves why we were angry. [Big Book, page 64, line 30] 13) Although these reparations take innumerable forms, there are some general principles which we find guiding. [Big Book, page 79, line 6] 14) Unless one's family expresses a desire to live upon spiritual principles we think we ought not to urge them. [Big Book, page 83, line 13] 15) If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing. [Big Book, page 87, line 26] 16) The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles. [Big Book, page 93, line 10] 17) When dealing with such a person, you had better use everyday language to describe spiritual principles. [Big Book, page 93, line 12] 18) We are dealing only with general principles common to most denominations. [Big Book, page 93, line 12] 19) Should they accept and practice spiritual principles, there is a much better chance that the head of the family will recover. [Big Book, page 97, line 29] 20 & 21) When your prospect has made such reparation as he can to his family, and has thoroughly explained to them the new principles by which he is living, he should proceed to put those principles into action at home.[Big Book, page 98, lines 26 & 28] 22) The first principle of success is that you should never be angry. [Big Book, page 111, line 1] 23) If you act upon these principles, your husband may stop or moderate. [Big Book, page 112, line 20] 24) The same principles which apply to husband number one should be practiced. [Big Book, page 112, line 22 25) Your new courage, good nature and lack of self-consciousness will do wonders for you socially. The same principle applies in dealing with the children. [Big Book, page 115, line 20] 26) Now we try to put spiritual principles to work in every department of our lives.. [Big Book, page 116, line 30] 27) Though it is entirely separate from Alcoholics Anonymous, it uses the general principles of the A.A. program as a guide for husbands, wives, relatives, friends, and others close to alcoholics. [Big Book, page 121, footnote line 3] 28) Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would approve. [Big Book, page 125, line 18] 29) Giving, rather than getting, will become the guiding principle. [Big Book, page 128, line 2] 30) Whether the family has spiritual convictions or not, they may do well to examine the principles by which the alcoholic member is trying to live. [Big Book, page 130, line 21] 31) They can hardly fail to approve these simple principles, though the head of the house still fails somewhat in practicing them. [Big Book, page 130, line 23] 32) Without much ado, he accepted the principles and procedure that had helped us. [Big Book, page 139, line 5] 33) The use of spiritual principles in such cases was not so well understood as it is now. [Big Book, page 156, line 33] 34) Twelve—Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." [Big Book, Appendix I, page 564, line 32] 35) & 36) "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance— that principle is contempt prior to investigation." —HERBERT SPENCER [Big Book, Appendix II, page 570, lines 16 & 19] see web page about Herbert Spencer click here
|
|
The Twelve Steps & Related Scripture
|