Step 12 – Spiritual Growth Is by Subtraction – Part 3 of 4 – 2021 – Local AA Speakers

About This Speaker Tape

Spiritual Growth is by Subtraction - 2021

A morning routine becomes a battlefield of the mind where a few missed minutes of sleep spiral into a day of 473 unsolvable problems. The speaker dissects the 'stained glass' window of perception arguing that we don't see the world as it is but as we are—colored by childhood trauma ego and a desperate need for instant fixes. He challenges the listener to stop chasing the 'creamy center of the Oreo' and instead do the gritty work of value replacement. Through a lens of ego deflation he maps out how the 12 Steps act as a process of cleaning the 'wheel of karma' and moving from a state of spiritual sleep to one of active watching. He doesn't promise a mountaintop existence but a regenerated life found in the valley where the most valuable asset is a past once thought to be wreckage.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Contrast between the healthy morning routine and the 'unhealthy guy' who wakes up in a panic.
• 4:15 Discussion on the Big Book's instruction to pray and meditate 'upon awakening'.
• 7:30 The 'stained glass' window of perception and how babies develop a sense of separateness.
• 12:45 The 'elixir of the gods' and the desire to change reality instantly through alcohol.
• 16:20 The necessity of changing values to change perception; mention of Abraham M.
• 20:10 The transformational process: how the past becomes the most valuable asset.
• 24:30 Step 12 and the concept of a spiritual awakening as a massive shift in values.
• 28:15 Detailed breakdown of Steps 4-9 as a process of ego deflation and cleaning the wheel of karma.
• 33:40 Comparison between the original manuscript of the Big Book and the final 'we' version.
• 37:10 The 10th Step as a process of 'watching' and moving from self-hate to self-love.
• 41:00 Laughter: Discussion on 'vultures' (self-put-downs) and the 'Regenerated Person' tape library.