HARM DOES NOT HAPPEN IN A VACUUM – ” … Step Eight isn’t simply a restatement of our inventory. We are now looking for the people, places, and institutions we harmed, not just the types of harm we inflicted. [We] didn’t just lie; we lied to someone. [We] didn’t just steal; we stole from various people.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 56 to cause harm)
“OUR REAL PURPOSE” – “Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us.” (The Big Book, p. 77)
“The principle of service … is not a passive principle. To be of maximum service to the still-suffering addict, we must energetically seek to carry our message throughout our cities, towns, and villages. (It Works, How & Why, p. 152)
“Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”
– Buddha (563 B.C. – 483 B.C.) ancient Indian spiritual teacher
How have you been of maximum service, lately?
by Leo Tolstoy
“There is a story about a cobbler written by Leo Tolstoy. The cobbler was living alone as his last son died when he was just 12 years old. He was a very pious person and whenever he got tired he was reading about god. One day he had a dream in which god came to him and said that he will visit the cobbler the next day. The cobbler started looking through his door next day morning when he saw an old man walking in the snow with great difficulty. He took the old man inside and gave him hot soup to keep him warm.
Then he saw an old lady selling apples and a small lad tried to steal the apples. He called the young lad and advised him not to steal and gave him the message and paid the old lady for the stolen apples. Then helped a soldier’s wife who was carrying a child. He gave the child some clothes and gave the young woman some food. Thus throughout the day he was busy helping someone or other. He soon felt tired and fell asleep and in his dream he saw god. He asked god I was expecting and you didn’t turn up why? God immediately replied….I came in many forms as the old man, as the old lady, the young lad, as the Child and its mother. You helped me by helping them all.” (http://www.english-for-students.com/the-hands-that-serve-are-holier-than-the-lips-that-pray.html)
LETTING GO OF SELF-OBSESSION – “Most of us owe amends to at least one person who has also harmed us. Perhaps we haven’t truly forgiven that person yet. We must let go of resentments and focus on our part in the conflicts in our lives. We won’t get better…if we are still in the grip of self-obsession.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 55 on self-delusion)
FREES US FROM SELF-DELUSION’S PRISON – “Some of us, though, tripped over a very different snag. We clung to the claim that when drinking we never hurt anybody but ourselves.” (12 & 12, p, 79)
(Quote no longer sent in emails – “It would be difficult to dispel ignorance unless there is freedom to pursue the truth unfettered by fear.” Aung San Suu Kyi (1945 – ) discredited Prime Minister of Burma & freed 11/13/2010)
Limp Bizkit – Break Stuff (2:47)
Myanmar, Burma: The Three Jewels Meditation (14:56)
by Thomas Hardy
Here is the ancient floor,
Footworn and hollowed and thin,
Here was the former door
Where the dead feet walked in.
She sat here in her chair,
Smiling into the fire;
He who played stood there,
Bowing it higher and higher.
Childlike, I danced in a dream;
Blessings emblazoned that day;
Everything glowed with a gleam;
Yet we were looking away!
Havel was the son of a wealthy restaurateur whose property was confiscated by the communist government of Czechoslovakia in 1948. As the son of bourgeois parents, Havel was denied easy access to education. But managed to finish high school and study on the university level. He found work as a stagehand in a Prague theatrical company in 1959 and soon began writing plays with Ivan Vyskočil.
By 1968 Havel had progressed to the position of resident playwright of the Theatre of the Balustrade company. He was a prominent participant in the liberal reforms of 1968 (known as the Prague Spring), and, after the Soviet clampdown on Czechoslovakia that year, his plays were banned and his passport was confiscated. During the 1970s and ’80s he was repeatedly arrested and served four years in prison (1979–83) for his activities on behalf of human rights in Czechoslovakia. After his release from prison Havel remained in his homeland. (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vaclav-Havel)
OUR PAST MAY INSPIRE PERSONAL CHANGE – “Even though we can’t undo the past, our experience has shown that we still need to look at what we’ve done and acknowledge the damage we’ve caused. Despite the impossibility of changing what happened, we can start to make amends by not repeating the same behavior.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 58)
LESSONS FROM THE DEBRIS – ” … having had cleaned away the debris of the past, we consider how, with our new found knowledge of ourselves, we may develop the best possible relations with every human being we know.” (12 & 12, p. 77)
“The Past: Our cradle, not our prison; there is danger as well as appeal in its glamour. The past is for inspiration, not imitation, for continuation, not repetition.”
– Israel Zangwill (1864 – 1926) Jewish UK, playwright and coined the phrase, “The Melting Pot”
A View of the Heavens Om Meditation (6:31)
by Langston Hughes
I went down to the river,
[I] set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn’t,
So I jumped in and sank.
I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn’t a-been so cold
I might’ve sunk and died.
But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!
I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.
I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn’t a-been so high
I might’ve jumped and died.
But it was High up there! It was high!
So since I’m still here livin’,
I guess I will live on.
I could’ve died for love–
But for livin’ I was born
Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry–
I’ll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.
Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!