The reading at my meeting tonight was page 567 of Big Book....Spiritaul Experience. Great one to read in reply to this :)

For me it is about knowing it is not my will, it is about my HP. About letting go.

Hi Ashley; In my case this helped me more than anything else with my AA adventure, maybe a lifesaver.

Spiritual Experience
The terms "spiritual experience" and "spiritual awakening" are used many times in this book which, upon careful reading, shows that the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism has manifested itself among us in many different forms.

Yet it is true that our first printing gave many readers the impression that these personality changes, or religious experiences, must be in the nature of sudden and spectacular upheavals. Happily for everyone, this conclusion is erroneous.

In the first few chapters a number of sudden revolutionary changes are described. Though it was not our intention to create such an impression, many alcoholics have nevertheless concluded that in order to recover they must acquire an immediate and overwhelming "God-consciousness" followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook.

Among our rapidly growing membership of thousands of alcoholics such transformations, though frequent, are by no means the rule. Most of our experiences are what psychologist William James calls the "educational variety" because they develop slowly over a period of time. Quite often friends of the newcomer are aware of the difference long before he is himself. He finally realizes that he has undergone a profound alteration in his reaction to life; that such a change could hardly have been brought about by himself alone. What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been accomplished by years of self discipline. With few exceptions our members find they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves.

Most of us think this awareness of a Power greater than ourselves is the essence of spiritual experience. Our more religious members call it "God-consciousness."

Most emphatically we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial.

We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable.

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation.

- Herbert Spencer"

Hello Ashley,

Some people see the flashing lights etc. and this is called a spiritual experience but I believe that it is a rare occurrence. Much more common is a spiritual awakening that comes about as the result of doing the Steps. I have seen it described as a complete readjustment and change in attitudes, values, opinions and outlooks.

As alcoholics we erect barriers between ourselves and the spirit and the purpose of the programme is to break down those barriers. Somewhere along the way as a person goes through the Steps, that change in thinking begins to occur, very often unknown to the person involved but obvious to other people. This can begin with Step 3, although in reality Step 3 is only a decision to take the necessary action. The change becomes much stronger after doing a good Step 5, followed by 6 and 7. It is then that character defects that have caused us trouble in the past have been clearly identified and we become willing to have God remove them all.

Having identified the things that are wrong within ourselves, and humbly asking God to put them right, we then look at our relationship with other people and the world around us. We make amends for past wrongs to the best of our ability.

Having put the past right as best we can, we can then draw a line under it and have no right to carry guilt, fear and remorse into the future, something that would limit our usefulness to ourselves and to other people. We ask for guidance in the morning and at the end of the day, take a look back and access what we have done in the past 24 hours, vowing to put right any wrongs. Through prayer and meditation, we maintain a closer contact with God.

Put simply, we learn to tell the difference between right and wrong and vow to do the right thing at all times. 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.

my spiritual experiences are different from others...I connected to my HP on LSD and it drove me crazy....where I learned that change was what I needed and started a journey of recovery over the last 33yrs...I have been sober just over 15 of them...I also think that a part of my spiritual experiences is in seeing current and past prayers answered. I can attest to answered prayers..directly answered. Ideally I want all of them answered including me winning the Lotto but I really know that I pray and he answers with either Yes No or Not right now....

The day I finally gave up and surrendered and asked for God's help, the obsession was lifted. That was a miracle to me and my spiritual experience.

You put one foot in front of the other and do the next right thing... next thing you know you're looking back and you see how change is occurring in your life.

I was just talking to someone about Appendix II earlier this evening. Funny that Timmy posted it here. It's all about having that psychic change that is talked about so often. Seeing things differently. The right action we take pays off handsomely.

Proud of you. :-)

~Chris

Funny...my step brother met God on orange sunshine in a liquor store on the Haight in San Fran prob about 1970

To the best of my knowledge he is still very active with the Jehovah's Witnesses.Last time I saw him he was very active...and I was a Mormon. Kool conversations ROFL

I was with him ....but alas I did not see God. Angry shop owner, yes....God, no

If you werent looking for a higher power of some sort you would never know the difference but because you are you'll notice your actions are changing hence the mind changes.Learning to retrain our brain to the will of God generally does not include bright lights. Sounds like you're getting it!!! thanks for sharing

You know for Me I just listened , got acquainted with tons of people . And the desire to get better on all levels were always there for me to take. I just had to either ask for Help or follow someones lead ( the same) and then decide from there. I know sounds easy ... but :)
Good for you,
Billy

i have had 3..........i think. not counting my prayer for winning the lottery.....which i won $4......i should have been more specific.


the other 3 i will keep to myself.

It happened for me when I was able to take Step one for real. This was the one vital spiritual expereince that I never had before. It was the realization that I can never drink succesfully, and that alcohol had beat me. My life had become unmanagable because of my drinking -- I am powerless over alcohol.

I can never control my drinking

IMO - when you wake up and you have breath in your body - that is a spiritual experience - you either appreciate it or you don't -

spiritual experiences don't need to be all glitz and glam, they just need to be personal.

Peace!

I really DID have a spiritual experience. In fact I've had 2 so far. When I was about to call AA - I had decided against it -- I was NOT going to call -- but some 'thing" bodily took me and MADE me call - I could NOT put the phone down. I tried and couldn't. I could NOT keep from dialing the phone -- I tried and couldn't. When someone answered, I didn't want to say anything -- "someone" MADE me. *I* was NOT doing these things - someone else was. I wasn't drunk either. This was the strangest feeling/experience in my life. Afterwards, I sat in disbelief - - but I HAD to believe it causse it happened -- and I met a woman the next night at an AA meeting that we'd arranged the night before. Wow.