Twelve Steps to a Spiritual Awakening: Phase One

In writing a version of the Twelve Steps for non-alcoholic/addicts, a dilemma arises. They can be reduced to fewer than Twelve. Twelve is the perfect number for someone climbing out of the hole that serious addiction creates. But for someone not driven to this method like the drowning grabbing a life preserver, walking this path is more of a choice, a decision, to find or improve conscious contact, a personal relationship, with God.

But if my non alcoholic/addict friends will indulge me, there is magic in the layout of the Steps, and there is magic in numbers. Each idea related by each Step is important, each principle contained within is an island unto itself. As I go through this guide for the non addicted I will group the ideas into seven stages. Please keep in mind that each stage has multiple layers. So on to stage one, which contains Steps One, Two and Three.

Step One is admission, and acceptance, of personal powerlessness. The admission is key to begin, acceptance can develop through the experience of Real power.

When ethereal spirit projects into dense matter a “fracturing” occurs. Awareness splits from super-conscious into conscious, subconscious and unconscious. As a microcosm this represents Prime Creator's expansion into form, where each of our individual sparks become manifest. The ego is the product of this separation. The “problem” arises when the ego forgets its identity beyond form. It is the trap of illusion.

The ego is a fear-based thought system. Its mechanisms are based on avoidance of pain or the experience of pleasure. It is a learned system based on trial and error, and therefore is what keeps our awareness trapped by the past. It is of this world, it is the dualistic mind.

Its true purpose is to be a tool of awareness, a catalog of experience. It will never find fulfillment, never be complete, until it reconnects with true Self.

The degree to which I find Power is directly related to the degree to which I admit and accept personal powerlessness. Its a God paradox.

Steps One and Two are the flip sides of the same coin. In AA circles it is said that One is “I can't” and Two is “God can”. One is “I can't do it on my own”, Two is “with God's help anything is possible.”

For alcoholics, this Step reads “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” I have said before that I believe alcoholics to be blessed by our affliction, and here is one of the reasons why. We got to see our insanity up close. For me that translates into the idea that a life run on (little s) self will was the proper to way function. Not only have I been blessed to see Step One in action, but also equally blessed to see Step Two develop.

So Step Two is an ongoing step, and for me grows as I witness my Higher Power restoring me and my life to proper function. I come to believe more each day that God has got the whole world, literally all of creation, in His hand.

Step One - “I can't”, Step Two - “God can”, Step Three - “I think I'll let Him”. When taken properly, this is the Step through which your life will change forever. AA's Step Three is “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him.” The decision in Step Three is followed by a prayer in which I offer myself to God, to build with me, and do with me as He will.

When taken properly, this is the point at which I abandon myself to God. From this point on, I am the property of God, and all that transpires in my life is at His behest and direction. From this point on I can release my opinions, my preferences, and my striving for some particular outcome. My existence is an extension of the will of God (which, in effect, it always has been, but now I am a conscious participant in the unfolding). The source of my life becomes the Source of all power and all wisdom. Little me becomes the connected me, the agent of God. Liberation from limitation.

Here, at the end of the third Step, we take our first action along the pathway. Step Three follows the decision we've made with a prayer, spoken aloud (something to do with the vocal vibration). I say a version of this prayer every morning. It starts my day in the right direction. The AA version is as follows: “God, I offer myself to Thee--to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!” And so it is.

I would like to mention here again that for non alcoholics I recommend reading pages 44 to 88 of the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, and “Breathing Underwater” by Richard Rohr. The big book outlines the program of recovery, and the latter gives a spiritual perspective on the Steps from a non-alcoholic Franciscan monk.

And so there is outlined the first phase of the journey to a spiritual awakening. Any questions on the process can be directed to pilgrimswaymag@outlook.com. The next phase will include Steps Four and Five, and will answer Apollo's call from his temple at Delphi to “Know Thyself.” Happy Stepping!