ThaiAsiaToday.com's Steve Thompson speaks to Mike, a 'sober alcoholic' for 14 years, and learns how his interest and respect for Buddhist concepts, along with Alcoholics Anonymous' (AA) 12 Steps helped him conquer his dependence on alcohol and then help others to 'battle the bottle'. It should be pointed out that AA is happy to work with persons suffering from alcohol dependence, no matter what their faith.

For those who missed the first part of this story, you can access the article here.

Steve Thompson (ST): Hi Mike. Thanks very much for telling our readers recently about your inspiring story, and how you battled a dependency on alcohol.

Today, I believe you're going to go into greater depth about Alcoholics Anonymous' '12 Steps' and how your interest in Buddhist beliefs helped you to align these points and supported your quest to be free from alcohol, is that right?

Mike C (MC): Yes, I'll discuss the 12 Steps and some of the teachings of Buddha that helped me to follow the Steps and continue to guide my daily spiritual growth.

The 12 Steps help me to be a better lay follower of Buddhism. They join together perfectly (1000%) in my opinion. I'm not saying that this is the only way, or THE way, I'm just saying this way worked for me, one day at a time, over a period of 14 years.

ST: Thanks for the clarification Mike – our readers should take note of that important point. So, now tells us what Step 1 refers to please?

MC: In Step 1, we admitted that we were 'powerless over alcohol' – 'that our lives had become unmanageable'. Buddha has so many teachings referring to powerlessness with reference to the ego. The first Noble Truth from the Buddha and the 'Right View' from the Eightfold Path gets right to the heart of Step 1.

More information on 'Right View' right here.

In Step 2, we 'come to believe a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity'.

Alcoholism is a very selfish disease and the steps all work on that selfishness we alcoholics all have in common. The teachings of Buddha also address selfishness as part of seeking enlightenment. Something outside of ourselves can help us recover, we need help. We need to accept and believe this point.

One great saying in Thai we farang enjoy using is laew tae khun ('it's up to you'). Step 2 is very much 'up to you' in the AA sense. Who or what exactly the 'higher power' is depends on the person seeking to restore their own sanity. AA does not endorse any religion. It is not a Christian organization – it is a spiritual program without a designated religion. I'm not a member of any religious group.

ST: I see, so it's a non-sectarian group that nevertheless wishes persons seeking to recover to tap into their only spirituality as part of that quest. Thanks for making that important point. From this point on, readers can note that the word 'God' refers to all denominations or understandings of a higher force, no matter what faith the subject happens to follow.

We've now come to the third step.

MC: Yes. Step 3 refers to our 'decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand him'.

Here, the Eightfold Path taught by the Buddha comes to the assistance of the alcoholic 100% - 'Right Thought, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness'.

My own personal 'higher power' is a combination of all the spiritual experiences and teachings, particularly from Buddhism and from those within my AA group that I meet every day. I go to an AA meeting, or sometimes more than one every single day. I say a Third Step Prayer every single morning, and I have never missed that for more than 5,000 consecutive days!

ST: The next step refers to a form of 'personal audit', is that right?

MC: Yes, Step 4 – 'make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves' – requires action! The first three steps can be done mentally and don't require the person to actually do anything. Now you have to put down on paper an inventory of resentments, fears, or harm committed throughout your life. You can also put down the good things, but it's the bad things, of course, that we need to address.

In Buddhism there are different types of inventory involved with the Precepts, the Hindrances and the Eightfold Path. The AA way and the Buddhist way seem perfectly complimentary in this regard and honesty is required with both approaches. Most alcoholics lie a lot, particularly to themselves. Getting things out of your heart and head and onto paper can represent a giant step in the recovery process.

For many people, Step 5 – 'Admit to God, to ourselves, and to other human beings the exact nature of our wrongs' – is the most difficult step. Nobody particularly wants to tell someone else all the deep, dark secrets of their lives, but we have found it a necessary step (on the road to recovery). Most AA members find the weight of the world lifted from their shoulders when they complete Step 5. Very rarely do members fall into a relapse if the honestly complete steps 4 and 5.

When performing this important step, Right Behavior – in the form of a confession of your wrongdoings – it is exactly in concert with Buddhist teachings. In our meetings, we share our wrongs and our character defects. It's all part of the road to enlightenment, or as the AA describes it a 'spiritual awakening'.

ST: The next step involves 'letting go', is that right?

MC: Yes, in Step 6 – 'we're entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character – the AA's recommendations also seem harmonious with Buddhist teachings.

Buddha tells us to 'let go of attachments of all kinds' in order to obtain Enlightenment. In AA we are asking help from a higher power to help us to let go of our defects. A Buddha nature will assist us in completing Step 6.

Similarly, in Step 7, we are also 'letting go' – this time of our shortcomings. Humility is a key theme of the Buddha. The Eightfold Path – seeking the Middle Way – will over time remove these character defects. In the 12 Steps, we also pray that any defects that prevent us from helping others also be removed.

ST: Steps 8, 9 and 10 refer to making amends, don't they?

MC: That's right.
Step 8 is basically 'make a list of all persons we have harmed, and become willing to make amends to them all'.

If we study the Buddhist concept of Right Intention, we're examining the person or persons who we've harmed. Alcoholics tend to harm the people who love them the most - their families. The disease can make the whole family sick. We put ourselves on this list, too.

Step 9 suggests 'making direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others'. Again, some folks find this step the most difficult of all. We are effectively revisiting the folks listed under Step 8 and so we must directly face up to those we have caused harm to. We need to pay back any money we have stolen or debts that we owe.

I have learned from the Buddha that Noble Friends and Noble Conservation are at the heart of Holy life. We need to be free of guilt, remorse, and fear. It doesn't matter whether or not the person you are trying to make amends with accepts of rejects your efforts towards restitution because you are ultimately carrying this out for yourself.

The Buddhist concepts of Right View, Right Behavior, Right Speech & Right Thought all are useful in completing Step 9

Step 10 – 'continue to make a personal inventory and when we are wrong, promptly admit it' – is really a continuation of steps 8 and 9. Once we have dealt with the past, we need to maintain the Noble Path by means of a daily review of our actions, both positive and negative. We don't want to have to build up an inventory that requires us to start over again at Step 4.

In terms of the Buddha's teachings, the five faculties of power are in use during Step 10 – faith, the will to endeavor, alertness, the ability to concentrate, and the maintenance of clear wisdom – are all necessary in order to attain Enlightenment. The path of endurance requires a 'one day at a time' approach.