Spirituality without Beliefs

[friend-of-bill-w]

In AA we may tell you: if you don’t accept these premises and do what
we tell you to do, you will get drunk. We use fear to get you to stay
sober long enough so then you can begin to do your own thinking. AA
never says God will be mad at you if your disobey. Mothers Against
Drunk Driving may be MADD at you, but not God. This is where AA
differs from religion.

In AA you get to make your own concept of God so that is an alive God
for you. Or no God. You do not have to accept anyone else’s notion of
God. In other words, the God of your parents is useless in these
rooms. You need to find your own God. It is whatever fills you with
awe, with mystery... it is a sense of something beyond what your
conscious mind can wrap itself around. You need a connection with this
sense but you do not need to believe in the existence of anything.

AA uses the word God because that is what many people relate to. But
it is really a three-letter word for something only you get to
decide. It is a “Higher Power” if you prefer that expression, but not
necessarily a Higher Power with intelligence and feelings and
desires. Not necessarily a Higher Power that pulls strings and makes
things happen in the universe—although that is a personal notion many
people in the program carry. If that notion works to keep them sober,
we do not grudge them their beliefs. But we do not have to take on
these beliefs.

Many people loudly proclaim their beliefs in these rooms. Do not get
confused. Also try and don’t get irritated. Tell yourself: “They
need to believe this!”

A person clinging to beliefs knows that his beliefs are shaky: he
dare not look too closely. That is why people with beliefs find
disagreement threatening. The true spiritual seeker who is always in
inquiry is the enemy of the person who is clinging to belief.

A set of beliefs is useful if you want to go through life in a
mindless way. The Western Woman who marries a traditional religious
man in some religion that keeps woman repressed: she is known to
say, “It is comforting because my behavior and my life is now decided
for me.” Sometimes mindlessness is useful in the early days of
recovery.

Inquiry and exploration implies responsibility. It can provoke
anxiety, the anxiety of growing up and needing to find yourself.
People can avoid this responsibility and anxiety by submitting to
someone’s control and accepting everything they say without
questioning. This is the path that many religious persons take,
mainly to reduce their anxiety. Many people ion AA take this path.
But the real brave person who is committed to being honest with
himslef or herself needs to walk the path of doubt and skepticism as
far as beliefs are concerned. You can live a deeply spiritual life
focusing on awareness in the moment without succumbing to outlandish
superstitions called beliefs.
Discussion group moderator