“When we first
begin to practice
these principles, they
may seem very unnatural
to us.” “Even though we are
admitting our addiction,
we may still wonder if
this program will real-
ly work.” (It Works,
How & Why, p. 7)
What honest admission have you felt the need to make, lately?
The Milkman and the River –
A milkman became very wealthy through dishonest means. He had to cross a river daily to reach the city where his customers lived. He mixed the water of the river generously with the milk that he sold for a good profit. One day he went around collecting the dues in order to celebrate the wedding of his son. With the large amount thus collected he purchased plenty of rich clothes and glittering gold ornaments. But while crossing the river the boat capsized and all his costly purchases were swallowed by the river. The milk vendor was speechless with grief. At that time he heard a voice that came from the river, “Do not weep. What you have lost is only the illicit gains you earned through cheating your customers. (http://www.english-for-students.com/Honesty-is-The-Best-Policy.html)
How have you had success lately using your own pain or fear as the motivation for what you really want?
FEAR AS A DISTANT FRIEND AND MOTIVATION FOR LIVING –
“The achieve-
ment of freedom
from fear is a life-
time undertaking, one
that can never be wholly
completed.” “Only the
self-deceived will claim
perfect freedom from
fear.” (As Bill Sees
It, p. 263)
“We fear vio-
lence less than
our own feelings.
Personal, private, sol-
itary pain is more ter-
rifying than what
anyone else can
inflict.”
– Jim Morrison (1943 – 1971) U.S. musician / lead singer of The Doors
Vikram was a brave king. Once, he had to fight against a large army with just a few soldiers, he was defeated. He had to run for his life.
Vikram took shelter in a forest cave. He was very depressed. His courage had left him. He was blankly gazing at the ceiling of the cave. An interesting scene captured his attention.
A small spider was trying to weave a web across the cave ceiling. As the spider crawled up, a thread of the web broke and the spider fell down. But the spider did not give up. He tried to climb again and again. Finally, the spider successfully climbed up and completed the web.
Vikram began to think, “If a small spider can face failure so bravely, why should I give up? I will try with all might till I win”. This thought gave strength to the defeated king.
Vikram got out of the jungle and collected his brave soldiers. He fought against the large army. He was defeated again. But now, he would not give up his fight.
Vikram again and again fought against the large army and finally, after many attempts defeated the large army and regained his kingdom. He had learnt a lesson from the spider. (http://www.english-for-students.com/The-King-and-The-Spider.html)
“Change, even wonderful, positive change, almost always involves some grief for the old ways of life we are letting go, even if that way of life kept us miserable.” (Al Anon Works, How & Why, p. 88) “If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place,Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make The Change.
Where have you demonstrated the willingness for change in your life, lately?
As Parmigianino did it, the right hand
Bigger than the head, thrust at the viewer
And swerving easily away, as though to protect
What it advertises.
A few leaded panes, old beams,
Fur, pleated muslin, a coral ring run together
In a movement supporting the face, which swims
Toward and away like the hand
Except that it is in repose.
It is what is
Sequestered.
Vasari says, “Francesco one day set himself
To take his own portrait, looking at himself from that purpose
In a convex mirror, such as is used by barbers.
….
He accordingly caused a ball of wood to be made
By a turner, and having divided it in half and
Brought it to the size of the mirror, he set himself
With great art to copy all that he saw in the glass,”
Chiefly his reflection, of which the portrait
Is the reflection, of which the portrait
Is the reflection once removed.
The glass chose to reflect only what he saw
Which was enough for his purpose: his image
Glazed, embalmed, projected at a 180-degree angle.
The time of day or the density of the light
Adhering to the face keeps it
Lively and intact in a recurring wave
Of arrival.
The soul establishes itself.
But how far can it swim out through the eyes
And still return safely to its nest? The surface
Of the mirror being convex, the distance increases
Significantly; that is, enough to make the point
That the soul is a captive, treated humanely, kept
In suspension, unable to advance much farther
Than your look as it intercepts the picture.
Pope Clement and his court were “stupefied”
By it, according to Vasari, and promised a commission
That never materialized.
The soul has to stay where it is,
Even though restless, hearing raindrops at the pane,
The sighing of autumn leaves thrashed by the wind,
Longing to be free, outside, but it must stay
Posing in this place.
It must move
As little as possible.
This is what the portrait says.
“But does trust require that we be blind to other people’s motives or, indeed, to our own? Not at all; this would be folly. Most certainly, we should assess the capacity for harm as well as the capability for good in every person that we would trust.” (12 & 12, p. 52) “Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.” – William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616), English “All’s Well That Ends Well”, Act 1 Scene 1
How have you dealt with issues of lost trust, lately?
For wet-nosed welcomes and four-pawed hugs, none
Can match the dog. Fur-bound coat, eyes so wide
And velvety melt our heart and, ‘will’ gone
We most willingly succumb. Keen to hide
Our love affair, we fake a careless style
And tone our voice to suit, but when tail wags
As if to break while greeting us, we smile,
Even when there’s muddy floor, bedraggled
Dog just glances at us wistfully. More
Than that, a quiet whine, defined as
An apology is all we need. As for
Two-way trust it grows, and if by chance passed
Over for a newer canine pal, our
First love pines, two-way trust declines, then dies.
A dog’s love is of moment and of now.
That’s all the canine heart can feel applies.
Thus, well or sick, lonely or in pain, fairly
Constant, man’s best friends let us know they care.
Three Simple Rules
Once there was a rich man in Thailand. His name was Chulong. He was a very rich man. Yet he wanted more riches, more money.
One day he was walking in his garden. He saw a strange bird in a bush. It was very small. But it had very beautiful and colorful features. Its voice was also very sweet. Chulong had never seen such a bird in his life. He slowly went near the bush unseen. He caught the bird. Now the bird began to speak.
“Why have you caught me?” the bird asked.
“I want to make money. I can sell you for a big amount,” replied Chulong.
“But you are already rich. Why do you want more?” asked the bird.
“Because I want to become richer and richer,” replied Chulong.
“But do not dream of making money through me!” said the bird. It further added, “You can not sell me. Nobody will buy me, because, in imprisonment, I lose my beauty and my sweet voice.” Then it slowly turned into a black bird.
The beautiful features were now looking like the feathers of a crow.
Chulong hopes of making money were shattered. He said angrily,
“I will kill you, and I will eat your meat.”
“Eat me! I am so small. You will not get any meat out of me,” replied the bird.
Chulong could not answer. The bird then suggested, “Well set me free. In return I shall teach you three simple but useful rules.”
“What is the use of the rules? I want only money,” said Chulong. He was irritated.
“But these rules can profit you greatly,” added the bird.
“Profit me! Really? Then I shall set you free. But how can I trust you? You may fly away,” said Chulong.
“I give you my word. And I always keep my word,” said the bird.
Chulong wanted to take a chance. He released the bird. It flew up at once. Then it sat on the branch of a tree. Its color started changing. It became beautiful again.
Chulong asked, “Now teach me the rules.”
“Certainly,” said the bird.
Then it added, “The first rule is Never Believe everything others say. The second rule is Never be sad about something you do not have. The third rule is Never throw away what you have in your hand.”
“You silly bird,” shouted Chulong. And he added, “These three rules are known to every one. You have cheated me.”
But the bird said, “Chulong, just sit down for a while. Think about all your actions of today. You had me in your hands, but you threw me away (released me). You believed all that I said. And you are sad about not having me. The rules are simple. But you never followed them. Now do you see the value of the rules?” so saying the bird flew away and disappeared from his sight.” (http://www.english-for-students.com/Three-Simple-Rules.html)
“We found the Great Reality deep down within us.” “… search diligently within yourself … .” “With this attitude, you cannot fail. The consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you.” (The Big Book, p.55)
What alterations to your “inner motivations” have you noticed, lately?
“Our minds and bodies
seem tired of it all, yet the
dynamic forces of change or
true conversion, deep within,
may be working to give us the
answers that alter our inner
motivations and change
our lives.” (The Basic
Text, p. 78)
FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL TRUTH “DEEP DOWN WITHIN” –
“We found the
Great Reality deep
down within us.” “…
search diligently within
yourself … .” “With this at-
titude you cannot fail. The
consciousness of your
belief is sure to come
to you.” (The Big
Book, p.55)
“It requires greater
courage to preserve in-
ner freedom, to move on in
one’s inward journey into new
realms, than to stand defiantly
for outer freedom. It is often
easier to play the martyr,
as it is to be rash
in battle.”
– Rollo May (1909 – 1994) U.S. existential psychologist
“Addiction is a family disease, but we could only change ourselves.” (IP No. 13, Youth and Recovery)With Twins “It’s easier to put on slippers than to carpet the whole world.”– Al Franken (1951 – ) U.S. Senator / satirist
What type of self-care have you practiced lately, when the going gets tough?
A long time ago at the village of Serki, a woman gave birth to twins – both boys. They were very nice children. One of the twins, Eiba by name, had a white spot on his right hand. The other one – they called him Saiba – had two white spots on his left hand. Father and mother were very happy and very sad at the same time. You will ask – why? Because there was a very bad custom in Serki to kill twins. And the chief of Serki said, “Those twins must die, too.” But their father and mother did not want to kill the twins.
“What?” said the chief angrily? “You don’t want to kill them? Go away from the village and never come back or I shall kill you together with your children.”
So the poor family went away from the village.
For many years the family lived in a forest. Life was not easy there. But the children grew up strong. When they grew up, they helped their father and mother with their work. They were good and handsome young men.
One day they found a man in the forest. He was dying. They tried to help him. But he said, “Don’t help me. I shall die soon. I came from Serki. There is a war on there now. We fought bravely. But the enemy is stronger than we are. Go and help my people if you can.”
With these words he died.
Eiba and Saiba wanted to go to Serki and help to fight. But their father and mother were against it and said, “The Chief does not want you there. He wanted to kill you when you were small children. That’s why we went away from Serki and came to live in the forest.”
But the twins wanted to go and help Serki. They said, “This is our country. We must help the people of our country.” So the boys came to Serki and fought against the enemies. They fought bravely. The people of that country won the fight and made the enemy run. So the war was over. Then a feast at the chief’s house began. Saiba and Eiba were at the feast, too. Then one of the men stood up and said, “There are two young men here, two brothers. I think they are very brave soldiers. But we don’t know who they are.”
The twins’ uncle was at the feast, too. He said to the chief, “Do you remember two little twins – one with a spot on his right hand and the other with two spots on his left hand? Eighteen years ago you told their father and mother to go away from our village as they did not want to kill the twins. These are the same twins.”
The chief stood up and asked the twins to forgive him. Then he sent the two young men back to their father and mother with many presents and a letter in which he asked them to come back.
From, that day on they stopped killing twins in Serki.
“We are only operating a spiritual kindergarten in which people are enabled to get over drinking and find the grace to go on living to better effect.” (As Bill Sees It, p. 95) “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” – Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014) U.S. poet laureate
Where have you felt at home, lately, and felt spiritually recharged, whether in a meeting or someplace else that warms your heart?
Once upon a time there lived a poor man, Abhilas by name. He was clever and often made jokes at rich people and even at the chief. So they did not like him and wanted to kill him. Once the chief sent for Abhilas and he came to the chief’s house.
“I hear that you are very clever, Abhilas! Can you build me a house in the sky in three days? You may have as many men as you need. If you can’t do that my soldiers will kill you.”
“I shall build it, my Chief,” said Abhilas and went home.
He began to think. Then he made a kite and tied a bell and a long sting to it. When the wind blew, the kite rose high up in the air.
But it did not fly far, because Abhilas tied the string to a tree. The next day all the people of the town heard the bell and saw a dark spot in the sky. The chief saw the spot, too. Abhilas came up to the chief and said” oh, my Chief, the house in the sky will soon be ready. Do you hear the bell? The workers are ringing the bell from the sky. They need some boards for the roof of the house. Please tell your soldiers to climb up to the sky with the boards.”
“But how will my soldiers climb up to the sky?” asked the chief.
“Oh, there is a way up,” said Abhilas.
,,,
So the chief ordered his soldiers to get some boards and to follow Abhilas. They came to the tree and saw the string there. “This is the way to the sky,” Abhilas said. “Climb up the string and you will come to the sky.”
The soldiers tried to climb up the string, but could not do that. “Try again, try again! Our Chief will be very angry if you don’t carry the boards up to his house in the sky!” said Abhilas.
Then the soldiers went to the chief and said, “Oh, Chief, no man can climb up to the sky!”
The chief thought a little and said, “That’s right. Nobody can do that.”
Then Abhilas said to the chief, “Oh, my Chief, if you know that, why do you ask me to build you a house in the sky?”
And the chief could give no answer to that. Abhilas went to the tree, cut the string and took away the kite.
“Before we admitted the truth about our addiction, we knew only the darkness of denial. But when we surrendered … a ray of light broke through the darkness, beginning our spiritual awakening.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 83)
Try and describe one of your own “ray of light” moments out of the darkness of your spiritual awakening?
We grow accustomed to the Dark –
When Light is put away –
As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her Goodbye –
A Moment – We Uncertain step
For newness of the night –
Then – fit our Vision to the Dark –
And meet the Road – erect –
And so of larger – Darknesses –
Those Evenings of the Brain –
When not a Moon disclose a sign –
Or Star – come out – within –
The Bravest – grope a little –
And sometimes hit a Tree
Directly in the Forehead –
But as they learn to see –
Either the Darkness alters –
Or something in the sight
Adjusts itself to Midnight –
And Life steps almost straight.
Every Cloud Had A Silver Lining. :
Thick and dark clouds sometimes obstruct the sun. When it happens, the surroundings darken. It is not a pleasant sight. But if we look at the clouds carefully we can see that their edges are tinted with a silvery glow. This glow tells us that the sun is somewhere there behind the clouds. As time passes, the clouds will move off and the sun will come out of it. This clever metaphor is used in the proverb to denote that sorrows and calamities are only momentary. Wherever there is sorrow, happiness will be somewhere nearby. Whenever there is shadow, light should be nearby. And whenever there is darkness, the bright light is near.
The proverb teaches us not to lose hope in the hours of darkness and sorrow. It reminds us to be optimistic and hopeful. It tells us not to lose heart because it might be just when we are about to quit that victory reveals itself. Like the silver tint on the edges of the dark cloud, happiness always lurks behind the darkest hour. ‘The famous poet Shelley has expressed the idea in one of his poems – ‘The ode to west wind’ in which asks, ‘if winter comes, can spring be far behind?’
DO IT IN A WAY THAT WORKS FOR YOU – “… we communicate with our Higher Power in a way that is very tangible to us. OAs have been known to deliver prayer letters to God … . We’ve mailed them to our sponsor, put them in a can we labeled our “God Can,” made burnt offerings of them, hung them on a tree branch, or dropped them in a river.” (Overeaters Anon 12 & 12, p. 95)
“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.”
What are some of the creative ways you’ve communicated with your HP, in the past?
A Prayer for My Daughter
W. B. Yeats, 1865 – 1939
Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Under this cradle-hood and coverlid
My child sleeps on. There is no obstacle
But Gregory’s wood and one bare hill
Whereby the haystack- and roof-levelling wind,
Bred on the Atlantic, can be stayed;
And for an hour I have walked and prayed
Because of the great gloom that is in my mind.
I have walked and prayed for this young child an hour
And heard the sea-wind scream upon the tower,
And under the arches of the bridge, and scream
In the elms above the flooded stream;
Imagining in excited reverie
That the future years had come,
Dancing to a frenzied drum,
Out of the murderous innocence of the sea.
May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger’s eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend.
Helen being chosen found life flat and dull
And later had much trouble from a fool,
While that great Queen, that rose out of the spray,
Being fatherless could have her way
Yet chose a bandy-leggèd smith for man.
It’s certain that fine women eat
A crazy salad with their meat
Whereby the Horn of Plenty is undone.
In courtesy I’d have her chiefly learned;
Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned
By those that are not entirely beautiful;
Yet many, that have played the fool
For beauty’s very self, has charm made wise,
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.
May she become a flourishing hidden tree
That all her thoughts may like the linnet be,
And have no business but dispensing round
Their magnanimities of sound,
Nor but in merriment begin a chase,
Nor but in merriment a quarrel.
O may she live like some green laurel
Rooted in one dear perpetual place.
My mind, because the minds that I have loved,
The sort of beauty that I have approved,
Prosper but little, has dried up of late,
Yet knows that to be choked with hate
May well be of all evil chances chief.
If there’s no hatred in a mind
Assault and battery of the wind
Can never tear the linnet from the leaf.
An intellectual hatred is the worst,
So let her think opinions are accursed.
Have I not seen the loveliest woman born
Out of the mouth of Plenty’s horn,
Because of her opinionated mind
Barter that horn and every good
By quiet natures understood
For an old bellows full of angry wind?
Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
And learns at last that it is self-delighting,
Self-appeasing, self-affrighting,
And that its own sweet will is Heaven’s will;
She can, though every face should scowl
And every windy quarter howl
Or every bellows burst, be happy still.
And may her bridegroom bring her to a house
Where all’s accustomed, ceremonious;
For arrogance and hatred are the wares
Peddled in the thoroughfares.
How but in custom and in ceremony
Are innocence and beauty born?
Ceremony’s a name for the rich horn,
And custom for the spreading laurel tree.
USEFUL WAYS TO BE – “We simply realize there is a force for spiritual growth that can help us become more tolerant, patient, and useful in helping others. Many of us have said, ‘Take my will and my life. Guide me in my recovery. Show me how to live.’ ” (The Basic Text, p. 26)
“You can use your life in a very useful and intelligent way. You can very well transform that negative energy into a positive energy that empowers you and makes life meaningful.”
What have you done to promote any one of the Kwanzaa spiritual principles of unity, self-determination, collective work, responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity or faith, lately?
The Peacock and The Crane.
T here was a peacock who often boasted about his beauty. Everyday he walked to the banks of a large lake and looked his own reflections and said “Oh! What a beautiful bird I am! Look at my colourful tail”.
Once the peacock saw a crane on the banks of the lake. He said with a sneer to the crane, “What a colourless bird you are! You have no beautiful and colourful feathers like mine”.
The crane replied, “Of course! I don’t have beautiful feathers. But, my feathers can make me fly across the lake. Can your feathers make you fly?” There was no reply from the peacock. (http://www.english-for-students.com/The-Peacock-and-The-Crane-1.html)
