aa Spoken Here Community Group
Fellowship Where you can share your thoughts, feelings, stories and get support to gain and continue sobriety.
The common thread between the teachings of the Native Elders and Alcoholics Anonymous are absolutely
amazing. To me it enforces the belief that the spiritual journey of all people is the same path. We just call it
different things because we learn to communicate in different cultures.
Sometimes the teachings become clouded by the tellers, sometimes by translation, and sometimes by the
followers. Sometimes it is by accident, sometimes by misunderstanding and sometimes for personal gain.
We must walk the path we feel is right. This is taught by the elders of AA, not always followed to closely by
individuals i n the program.
So it is my responsibility to walk my path and teach others to find their own path in recovery. Many people
read "How It Works" and insert the idea that there is only one path. And there is only one path for each of
us. Sometimes we just manage to stumble upon others on a common path.
Below is an example, though I have found many versions of this story, it always carries that âcommon
threadâ and it is exactly what AA teaches us about our emotions and actions. In fact, the first time I found
this story it was in an AA newsletter!!
Anonymous
âAn Old Indian Taleâ
A Cherokee elder is teaching his grandson about life. âA fight is going on
inside me,â he said to the boy. âIt is a terrible fight and it is between two
wolves.â
âOne is evil â he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity,
guilt, resent, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good â he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness,
benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.â
âThis same fight is going on inside you â and inside every other person, too.â
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather
which wolf would win.
The Cherokee elder simply replied, âThe one you feed.â
amazing. To me it enforces the belief that the spiritual journey of all people is the same path. We just call it
different things because we learn to communicate in different cultures.
Sometimes the teachings become clouded by the tellers, sometimes by translation, and sometimes by the
followers. Sometimes it is by accident, sometimes by misunderstanding and sometimes for personal gain.
We must walk the path we feel is right. This is taught by the elders of AA, not always followed to closely by
individuals i n the program.
So it is my responsibility to walk my path and teach others to find their own path in recovery. Many people
read "How It Works" and insert the idea that there is only one path. And there is only one path for each of
us. Sometimes we just manage to stumble upon others on a common path.
Below is an example, though I have found many versions of this story, it always carries that âcommon
threadâ and it is exactly what AA teaches us about our emotions and actions. In fact, the first time I found
this story it was in an AA newsletter!!
Anonymous
âAn Old Indian Taleâ
A Cherokee elder is teaching his grandson about life. âA fight is going on
inside me,â he said to the boy. âIt is a terrible fight and it is between two
wolves.â
âOne is evil â he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity,
guilt, resent, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good â he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness,
benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.â
âThis same fight is going on inside you â and inside every other person, too.â
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather
which wolf would win.
The Cherokee elder simply replied, âThe one you feed.â
Billy .
My sponsor then shows me how he did the step I am working on and we discuss the way he did it and how i feel it should be done according to how I understand the texts.
Usually we meet halfway ,that is not to say that we compromise (my sponsor has the deciding vote),but that the steps are personalised for me.
Time and again I hear in meetings about how so and so step MUST be done a certain way because that's how they did it and it worked for them.
For an individual to think that he knows the ONLY way that a step must be worked is ego extreme.The big book offers only suggestions and it was written a long time ago,it's a spiritual program not a sacred text
and the world evolves as do the people in it.