BKWSU exploring prayer and God with Alcoholics Anonymous

From BKWSU Peace Village. in the USA Now, there is an ethical question here I would ask. They always used to say that BK Raja Yoga is not for people suffering from mental illnesses. Is alcoholism a mental or physical illness? I am not sure if it is right to target vulnerable and perhaps desperate people like this.

There are also still hawking the bogus "Raja Yoga ... an ancient spiritual discipline" number, on top of which they add, "Introduction to the 8 Spiritual Master Powers". Master Powers is a new one on me, must be "new and improved". There is going to be some disappointment when folks discover they are not the same as Patanjali's.

Journey into the 11th Step - Exploring Prayer and Meditation

From: Friday, April 27, 2007 to: Sunday, April 29, 2007

This retreat is specifically designed for those wanting to explore the '11th Step' of prayer and meditation and those who are participating in Alcoholics Anonymous. There is an Alcoholics Anonymous closed meeting on Saturday. This is an experiential retreat to explore the realm of prayer and meditation in a focused way at a place created for meditation and silence.

Learn the easy steps to meditation to connect with your Higher Power ... bring strength and peace to your life, clarity to your thinking and attain self control. It's the fourth retreat of its kind at Peace Village which has been held for friends of Bill W. A few comments from previous retreat participants: "Every morning of my entire life I hit the floor with my knees; this morning was a different experience -- I made the connection." And another "I never knew it was possible to sit in the lap of God."

Not one for forum member di then? Also from the Peace Village is ;

SINDHI 'SNEH MILAN' (Family Gathering): To celebrate the Sindhi New Year

REKINDLE the spirit of the ancient land & culture of Sindh
REFLECT on our common values as they apply to the community we live in
RECONNECT with our true selves so as to bring focus & balance in our lives
RECREATE an experience of the humble beginnings of the Brahma Kumaris' movement

Well, I suppose we could always go, through rocks at the building and then try to set fire to it as the Anti-Party ... really add to the authenticity of the experience! But our this case, the rocks are stones of truth and the fire is spreading all over the internet.

Just as a reminder, and out of respect, I quote this from the AA's own website about its traditions. They talk about surrender to God, "one's God". The BKs will be tapping into that with their god. I think it is dangerous. Damn, I think we ought to have a 12 Step plan for Brahmakumari sister-in-charges and the model for a group is a lot better than the rules of a BK center. Anyone care to attempt to re-write them for BK/ex-BKs?

Here is the text of the Twelve Steps, which first appeared in Alcoholics Anonymous, the A.A. book of experience:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our short-comings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

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.

What are the 'Twelve Traditions'?

The "Twelve Traditions" of A.A. are suggested principles to insure the survival and growth of the thousands of groups that make up the Fellowship. They are based on the experience of the groups themselves during the critical early years of the movement. The Traditions are important to both oldtimers and newcomers as reminders of the true foundations of A.A. as a society of men and women whose primary concern is to maintain their own sobriety and help others to achieve sobriety:

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.

2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.

5. Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.

6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.

12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Hi, I have experience in the Al Anon groups, the organisational part of AA dedicated to relatives and friends of alcoholists. I would highly recommended it to anyome who is in the position of wanting to survive with or help an alcoholist/addict; or anyone who comes from a disfunctional family (including the BK one!). The practise includes shifting our focus on the self, helping the self first, understanding our behaviour and feelings rather than on the other person, constantly falling prey of their games, climbing, unknowingly on their "merry go round". It helped me greatly, going to those meetings, Much more than Raja Yoga that in some cases, with all the tolerance and seeing only good in a soul, with the promise that we can transform the other person through our elevated drishti - Pigmalion effect - when this doesn't occur we are in for more pain and frustration.

There is much humility in the AA/Al-Anon groups. The elder "Sponsor", gives out to participants his private phone number and is therefore available all the time for comforting you. I purposely did not say "counselling", because the idea is that of sharing one's experience, reminding each other of the principles, but never advising. You have to see for yourself. Nobody pressures you in any way at any level.

AA founders and followers "discovered", at the time of American prohibitionism, that alcholism is, indeed, a sort of built-in illness or dysfunction, a pre-disposition, and as such is deserves to be dealt with. Behind it is the idea of firmness but compassion with the "patient". This removes the concept of sin and vices, by which addicts are usually reprimanded. So, there is good cooperation between AA and BK! Unfortunately I don't think the latter will have the right posture to learn anything, except for using it for its own advertism and propaganda.

Take some points and mix it up in the ever growing cauldron.

Nobody pressures you in any way at any level.

True. The way I was told was that there are no "shoulds" and no "musts" in the 12 step programme.

So, there is good cooperation between AA and BK! Unfortunately I don't think the latter will have the right posture to learn anything, except for using it for its own advertism and propaganda.

Exactly. If you read the book that ex-l has quoted from in full, ( it is called, "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions". ISBN 0-916856-29-1. ) then you will see how well this group is run. Its ethical basis is far and away beyond anything I have ever seen in the BKWSU. Well done for highlighting this abuse of such a well intentioned system by the BKWSU. I am appalled at the way they seem to be using it for their own purposes. The 12 step program works for any character defect or any addiction, including addiction to the BKs. To suggest that an alcoholic should leave the 12 step programme and join the BKs instead is to do that person a great disservice. The 12 step programme is the one that is set up to help the alcoholic. Alcoholism is indeed a medical condition, some people just can not drink in a controlled way.

I have seen similar ignorance in the BKs first hand. Alcoholics, people with mental illness, people addicted to sleeping pills - all seen with my own eyes attending BK centres and being told that so called "Raj Yoga" and "Baba" will cure them. Absolute irresponsible nonsense. Most of these people should consult with their family doctor before giving up taking their prescription drugs. I am sorry if I express myself rather strongly here, but I am just so disgusted that the BKs want to "piggy-back" on the success of such a well meaning organisation as the AA. One of my dearest friends is an AA Sponsor, and I know that what Alladin says is completely correct. He often gets calls from alcoholics on his mobile while I am with him. These people never give up on anyone, they are the epitome of care and responsibility.

I don't see how this liason with the BKWSU can come from the AA side. I quote Tradition Six in full.

"An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose." Experience proved that we could not endorse any related enterprise, no matter how good. We could not be all things to all men. We saw that we could not lend the A.A. name to any outside activity.

There is a whole chapter on this in the book, with illustrative stories of how they learned from experience, "That we could not lend the AA name to any cause other than our own."

Additionally, the type of meditation taught by the BKs involves a link with psychic entities, and that is not the type of meditation that would be approved by the AA. They have their own books for daily meditation. I do not have these to hand now, but I will contact my friend to get the titles of them. They are a kind of day book, or meditation for the day. It is a special programme. Not something to be bolted on to so called "Raj Yoga".

Here are the meditation books recommended for the AA 12 step programme, that I referred to above. If you want to do the 12 step programme, then use these, not "Raj Yoga".

"Twenty-Four Hours a Day" is ISBN 0-89486-012-7

and

"Daily Reflections" is ISBN 0-916856-37-2

The two books above refer to 12+12 (12 steps and 12 Traditions) all the time.

"Courage to Change" is ISBN 0-910034-79-6

This is for Alanon. The person or people related to the alcoholic. I am sure you know this, but people living close to or with an alcoholic also get ill. With dependence! That is often worse than the "main actor" him or herself.