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Heart Sutra 4:350:00/4:35
What Are The 12 Steps?
The Traditional 12 Steps
Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable.
Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood it.
Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out.
Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
For more detailed explanations of the traditional 12 steps visit https://12step.org/
One Possible Buddhist Interpretation of the 12 Steps
Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction and cravings - that our lives had become unmanageable.
Step 2 - Came to believe that a power beyond self could restore us to wholeness.
Step 3 - Made a decision to go for refuge to this other power as we understood it.
Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Step 5 - Admitted to ourselves and another human being the exact moral nature of our past.
Step 6 - Became entirely ready to work at transforming ourselves.
Step 7 - With the assistance of others and our own firm resolve, we transformed unskillful parts of ourselves and cultivated skillful ones.
Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people where possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. In addition, made a conscientious effort to forgive all those who harmed us.
Step 10 - Continue to maintain awareness of our actions and motives, and when we acted unskillfully promptly admitted it.
Step 11 - Engaged in the practice of meditation to improve our conscious contact with our true selves, and seeking that beyond self. Also used prayer as a means to cultivate positive attitudes and states of mind.
Step 12 - Having gained spiritual insight as a result of these steps, we practice these principles in all areas of our lives, and make this message available to others in need of recovery.
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Spiritual Principles
Each of the 12 Steps has a spiritual principle associated with it which we learn as we work each step. In step 12 when it says "practice these principles in all of our affairs," these are the spiritual principles it is referring to:
Step 1: Honesty, Surrender, Acceptance
Step 2: Hope, Open Mindedness
Step 3: Faith/Conviction, Commitment
Step 4: Courage, Fearlessness
Step 5: Integrity, Truth, Forgiveness
Step 6: Willingness
Step 7: Humility
Step 8: Perseverance, Brotherly Love, Thoroughness, Reflection
Step 9: Love, Justice, Amendment, Sincerity, Good Judgement
Step 10: Discipline, Perseverance, Vigilance
Step 11: Awareness, Spirituality, Wisdom, Serenity
Step 12: Service
The 12 Promises
The 12 promises are from pg. 83-84 of the Big Book.
1. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
2. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
3. We will comprehend the word serenity.
4. We will know peace.
5. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
6. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
7. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
8. Self-seeking will slip away.
9. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
10. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
11. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
12. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.