Questions and Answers
____________________________________________
Major Areas of the Twelve Foundations
You mentioned that this program brings together, or integrates, four major areas—could you tell us what these are?
The four major areas covered in this program are:
1) Involvement with a supportive, caring group of like-minded individuals, all of whom have the same intention to support each other and develop their human and spiritual natures. Quite simply, in this day and age of so many diverse and discordant energies, true growth and transformation is very difficult to bring about on one’s own, or through one’s own effort—we need a supportive group.
2) Understanding and cultivating one’s own creative power (i.e., the creative power of one’s own consciousness) and entertaining positive thoughts and emotions. This whole area is based upon the teachings and practice of New Thought and the “power of positive thinking.”
3) Understanding and cultivating one’s own human potential, which means reaching a state of mental and physical well-being, developing a positive, empowered human identity, and working to remove, deep-seated subconscious blocks and negative tendencies. This is about the cultivation and mastery of one’s human dimension—which is of fundamental importance in trying to reach the higher spiritual states. As Stephen Jourdain once said, it is very important to “dream well” before a person has any chance of truly waking up.
Part of cultivation, mastery, and living joyously through this human form, involves the alignment of our human life (thoughts, feelings, and actions) with Spirit, and its divine qualities (which express themselves as love, goodness, righteousness, kindness, etc).
4) Realizing one’s spiritual essence (and true nature) through meditation and the practice of presence.
The Power of Positive Thinking
Could you talk more about the difference between the "positive" approach of the Twelve Foundations and the "negative" approach of the traditional Twelve Step program?
“Positive,” in this regard, means aligning ourselves with Life itself, which is always positive; it’s about focusing on what we want, using our power to create what we want. It’s about expanding our positive qualities and the spiritual center of our being. “Negative,” in this regard, does not refer to something bad but to an approach which focuses on the negative, on faults and shortcomings—and then on various ways to try and overcome or “get rid of” those defects. The two approaches have a much different feel or “vibration” though both are intended to bring about positive gains in a person’s life.
In this day and age of positive thinking and the ‘law of attraction,’ most people are coming to understand the direct connection between what they think about and feel, what they believe to be true, and what shows up in their lives. We are not merely subject to some greater force around us, which doles out some kind of destiny; we are actually the co-creators of our lives. If we call ourselves “alcoholics” or “overeaters,” if we say that we are powerless than—through the very power of our own thoughts and words—we help create that condition for ourselves. In such a situation we are unwittingly using the creative power of our own consciousness to create negative conditions for ourselves. Now why would we want to do that? If we are true co-creators, why not use our wisdom and understanding to create positive conditions? Why not create joy, love, abundance, and beauty?—or, at least, move in a positive direction toward that end?
One drawback of a negative approach (where we are struggling to overcome our problems) is that in order to fight against what we don’t want we must first accept it, we must believe it. Thus, we must accept and believe ourselves as being powerless (and full of faults) before we can then try to get rid of that powerlessness and those faults. In the positive approach, we never accept or affirm those negative conditions—not even enough to then get rid of them.
So is the Twelve Foundations a truly “positive” approach?
Yes—but a positive approach to what? To overcoming problems and addictions? No. It is a positive approach to becoming a whole, fully alive person. There is no focus on problems or addictions. We don’t “work with” problems or focus on what you are trying to overcome. The focus is on your spiritual center, your creative power]. This is not a program for overcoming addictions, per se, it is a program for those who want to know the full glory of themselves—and, by the way, when you touch your power, your true qualities as a person, you arrive at a place where problems and addictions no longer have so much power over you. You finally come to a place in yourself where you can say “yes” to life—and in that very “yes” the “no” of problems, confusion, and low self-esteem begins to fade away.
"A Higher Recovery"
Are the Twelve Foundations designed to help a person with recovery or are they designed for something more?
Recovery’ is a term that can be applied to people who have overcome an addiction and who are now in the process of recovering the ‘manageability’ of their former lives. Such a person might say, "I am in recovery." However, this notion of being "in recovery" can also apply, quite aptly, to the spiritual path: in this path of “higher recovery” we do not intend to recover the human life we once knew—a life which was beset by difficulties and limitations even before it was derailed by addiction—but our true, spiritual self. For a person in "higher recovery" it is not enough to remove addictions and overcome some of life's problems—we want to recover the fullness of life, we want to recover the wholeness and glory of who we truly are, we want to recover our unity with Infinite Spirit and our innate qualities of love, joy, aliveness, and beauty.
The Twelve Foundations can be used by people who want to overcome various addictions and life-challenges (in a positive and transforming way) and also by people who want to “recover from recovery,” meaning they want to continue developing as human beings into a fuller and more joyous life.
Doing God’s Will
Many spiritual seekers strive to know and follow God’s Will. This notion is also central to the Twelve Steps. How does the notion of “doing God’s Will” factor in with the teachings of the Twelve Foundations?
In order to align our will with Spirit, or “do God’s will,” we must be clear about the nature of God (or Spirit), and who we are in relationship to God (or Spirit). How can we surrender ourselves to God if we do not know who we are or to what we are surrendering? There may be some outer action of surrender, or some hope of surrender (with the idea that this surrender is going to be helpful to us) but no true surrender. A person who feels weak, who identifies with some state of powerlessness, who just wants to give up, cannot do God’s will or surrender to God. God is not able to accept that kind of surrender because such a state of powerlessness is alien to God’s nature. This surrender requires inner resolve and strength; we must come into full possession of ourselves before we can give ourselves away. How can we give what we do not possess?
What is God’s Will? What moves God to act? The simple answer—consistent with the philosophy of New Thought—is that God’s Will is to experience more and more of His own nature, which means His Will is to be ever-more joyous, alive, conscious, abundant, free, and beautiful. We, as human beings, as centers of God’s Glory, have been created to allow God to experience more and more of His own nature. And we do this by experiencing that self-same joy, aliveness, abundance, creativity, freedom, and beauty in and through our own lives. God’s Will is that we experience more and more of our own nature, our own love, joy, abundance, creativity, and beauty. This is the will that God has for Himself (to experience more and more of his own qualities) and this is the only will that God can have for us.
As mentioned, God is not will-less or weak—why then would a human being, made in the image and likeness of God, created to express the glory of God, think that having a crippled will, or no will at all, has anything to do with surrender to God or doing God’s will? The only way to do God’s Will is to be one with God’s nature, which means to be fully alive and truly yourself. There is no other way than this.
Food
Can you talk about food and Overeaters Anonymous? How does the message of the Twelve Foundations relate to this issue?
As you know, a major Twelve Step program relating to food addictions is “Overeaters Anonymous.” (And notice that, right from the start, this program requires us to adopt the negative title of being an “overeater.”) People who habitually overeat are often besieged by a sense of dissatisfaction, emptiness, lack of meaning, lack of power, or low self-esteem—and this applies especially to women. And the vast amount of awareness placed upon food, eating, dieting, one’s overweight body, thoughts of low self-worth, thoughts that no one will love me if I am fat, etc., only perpetuates the problem by lowering one’s “life-vibration” and keeping one’s consciousness riveted to negativity. By dwelling on the negative we keep on creating more of the same negativity in our life.
The best approach for people who want to overcome eating problems is to expand the center, bring about positive feelings of self worth and self love—and focus more on life (and the positive side of life) than on food, food issues, and the constant sense of struggle and failure. Most people who are dealing with a food “addiction” would be benefited by a purely positive, empowering approach. Bringing a further sense of weakness and powerlessness to a person whose power and esteem is already diminished—in an attempt to overcome their “addiction”—can be especially problematic and counter-productive. Again, most of this talk applies to women because, in this society, they have been negatively conditioned and have not had the same opportunity as men to come into their innate sense of power. This sense of disempowerment and emptiness (and a general sense of lack in the solar plexus energy center) often leads to food-related problems.
Ultimately, the only way to fully resolve a food addiction, or the need to fill yourself with food, is to feel your own sense of wholeness, to be centered in your own power and love. Any program which fosters a sense of weakness, and dependency on something outside your true self, will only take you so far. To further develop as a person, and a spiritual being, you will need to abandon that approach and find one which is more attuned to your true nature, and your true glory as a human being.
Loving Oneself
The big formula for Oprah, in terms of weight loss, is that we have to feel good about ourselves. Does this approach fit in with the Twelve Foundations?
Yes. The better you feel about yourself, the more value you find in life, the more in touch you are with your own qualities of love, aliveness, creative power, and beauty, the less sway food will have over you. However, when Oprah says that we have to love ourselves, or feel good about ourselves, which self is she talking about? I think most of her viewers believe she is talking about our personal self, our self image (i.e., who we believe ourselves to be). However, Oprah may also be talking about getting in touch with our true self. This is a much deeper part of our being; it is something much more profound and powerful than having a positive self-image. It is who we truly are. Once we are in touch with our true self our innate sense of love, joy, power, freedom, and beauty naturally emerges. We don’t have to “do” anything, or love ourselves, because we discover that our very nature is love.
All things considered, feeling good about yourself, as this person, finding joy and purpose and satisfaction in life is always supportive and beneficial—and a major part of the Twelve Foundations is devoted to this end. However there is a much greater part of ourselves we always want to be foremost in our lives; we want to live well, and feel good about ourselves, but ultimately we want to discover the true wonder of our being, who we really are.
You say that Oprah’s formula about loving yourself and feeling good about yourself is sound. So how does one do this?
It’s about developing as a human being, cultivating positive qualities, finding things in life which support you and bring you joy, being part of a caring group or community. This is the first part, the human part. On another level, in order to feel good about yourself you must be yourself; you must allow your own truth, who you really are, to be integral to your own life. It is your true self which embodies every quality you seek; once your true self becomes a living presence in your own life it draws unto you all the qualities of itself, qualities such as love, joy, abundance, freedom, beauty, etc. It illumines and brings joy to every part of your life. Without access to your true self, life always seems like a struggle; it is somewhat dead, and there is always the sense that something is missing. For indeed, the most important thing of all is missing--you are missing from your own life.
Our Souls’ Longing
To feel good about ourselves (as this person)—is that good enough? Will this lead us to satisfaction and fulfillment in life?
It’s a start, a solid foundation upon which we can base our spiritual development—but there is something more. So long as we completely believe ourselves to be this person (and exclusively identify with this limited part of our being)—even if we feel good about this limited part—our soul will long for more. Our soul knows that there is something much more profound about who we are, and so it is never satisfied with this limited identity we have adopted, this limited person we believe ourselves to be. It simply cannot feel its fullness and joy when locked into this person-based identity. So, no matter what, no matter how much we love or enjoy ourselves as this person, our soul will always want more. Our soul wants the fullness of itself.
The obsession with food (and every other obsession) is an attempt to appease our soul’s longing; it is an attempt to fill that sense of emptiness, that sense that something deep in our core is missing. And, indeed, the deepest part of ourselves is missing from our own lives. How then can our soul ever be satisfied?
So long as our soul is confined and imprisoned in this mental version of self, this personal identity—which we believe ourselves to be—she is going to suffer, and we are going to feel that suffering as the fundamental pain of our being. The soul will suffer because she is totally displaced from her true abode, which is the Heart. Experiencing that pain (and not really understanding what it is) we try to run from it (or cover it up) through various pursuits, goals, activities, obsessions, etc. But what are we running from?—the call of our own soul! That pain or longing, when properly understood and acted upon, is the very thing which can take us beyond the pain altogether into the radiant wonder of our own being. The Sufi poet, Rumi, writes:
”It is the burn of the heart that I want. That burn is everything; it is more precious than a worldly empire because that is what calls the Beloved secretly in the night."
More on OA and AA >>
<< Step 12 HOME Groups >>
____________________________________________
Major Areas of the Twelve Foundations
You mentioned that this program brings together, or integrates, four major areas—could you tell us what these are?
The four major areas covered in this program are:
1) Involvement with a supportive, caring group of like-minded individuals, all of whom have the same intention to support each other and develop their human and spiritual natures. Quite simply, in this day and age of so many diverse and discordant energies, true growth and transformation is very difficult to bring about on one’s own, or through one’s own effort—we need a supportive group.
2) Understanding and cultivating one’s own creative power (i.e., the creative power of one’s own consciousness) and entertaining positive thoughts and emotions. This whole area is based upon the teachings and practice of New Thought and the “power of positive thinking.”
3) Understanding and cultivating one’s own human potential, which means reaching a state of mental and physical well-being, developing a positive, empowered human identity, and working to remove, deep-seated subconscious blocks and negative tendencies. This is about the cultivation and mastery of one’s human dimension—which is of fundamental importance in trying to reach the higher spiritual states. As Stephen Jourdain once said, it is very important to “dream well” before a person has any chance of truly waking up.
Part of cultivation, mastery, and living joyously through this human form, involves the alignment of our human life (thoughts, feelings, and actions) with Spirit, and its divine qualities (which express themselves as love, goodness, righteousness, kindness, etc).
4) Realizing one’s spiritual essence (and true nature) through meditation and the practice of presence.
The Power of Positive Thinking
Could you talk more about the difference between the "positive" approach of the Twelve Foundations and the "negative" approach of the traditional Twelve Step program?
“Positive,” in this regard, means aligning ourselves with Life itself, which is always positive; it’s about focusing on what we want, using our power to create what we want. It’s about expanding our positive qualities and the spiritual center of our being. “Negative,” in this regard, does not refer to something bad but to an approach which focuses on the negative, on faults and shortcomings—and then on various ways to try and overcome or “get rid of” those defects. The two approaches have a much different feel or “vibration” though both are intended to bring about positive gains in a person’s life.
In this day and age of positive thinking and the ‘law of attraction,’ most people are coming to understand the direct connection between what they think about and feel, what they believe to be true, and what shows up in their lives. We are not merely subject to some greater force around us, which doles out some kind of destiny; we are actually the co-creators of our lives. If we call ourselves “alcoholics” or “overeaters,” if we say that we are powerless than—through the very power of our own thoughts and words—we help create that condition for ourselves. In such a situation we are unwittingly using the creative power of our own consciousness to create negative conditions for ourselves. Now why would we want to do that? If we are true co-creators, why not use our wisdom and understanding to create positive conditions? Why not create joy, love, abundance, and beauty?—or, at least, move in a positive direction toward that end?
One drawback of a negative approach (where we are struggling to overcome our problems) is that in order to fight against what we don’t want we must first accept it, we must believe it. Thus, we must accept and believe ourselves as being powerless (and full of faults) before we can then try to get rid of that powerlessness and those faults. In the positive approach, we never accept or affirm those negative conditions—not even enough to then get rid of them.
So is the Twelve Foundations a truly “positive” approach?
Yes—but a positive approach to what? To overcoming problems and addictions? No. It is a positive approach to becoming a whole, fully alive person. There is no focus on problems or addictions. We don’t “work with” problems or focus on what you are trying to overcome. The focus is on your spiritual center, your creative power]. This is not a program for overcoming addictions, per se, it is a program for those who want to know the full glory of themselves—and, by the way, when you touch your power, your true qualities as a person, you arrive at a place where problems and addictions no longer have so much power over you. You finally come to a place in yourself where you can say “yes” to life—and in that very “yes” the “no” of problems, confusion, and low self-esteem begins to fade away.
"A Higher Recovery"
Are the Twelve Foundations designed to help a person with recovery or are they designed for something more?
Recovery’ is a term that can be applied to people who have overcome an addiction and who are now in the process of recovering the ‘manageability’ of their former lives. Such a person might say, "I am in recovery." However, this notion of being "in recovery" can also apply, quite aptly, to the spiritual path: in this path of “higher recovery” we do not intend to recover the human life we once knew—a life which was beset by difficulties and limitations even before it was derailed by addiction—but our true, spiritual self. For a person in "higher recovery" it is not enough to remove addictions and overcome some of life's problems—we want to recover the fullness of life, we want to recover the wholeness and glory of who we truly are, we want to recover our unity with Infinite Spirit and our innate qualities of love, joy, aliveness, and beauty.
The Twelve Foundations can be used by people who want to overcome various addictions and life-challenges (in a positive and transforming way) and also by people who want to “recover from recovery,” meaning they want to continue developing as human beings into a fuller and more joyous life.
Doing God’s Will
Many spiritual seekers strive to know and follow God’s Will. This notion is also central to the Twelve Steps. How does the notion of “doing God’s Will” factor in with the teachings of the Twelve Foundations?
In order to align our will with Spirit, or “do God’s will,” we must be clear about the nature of God (or Spirit), and who we are in relationship to God (or Spirit). How can we surrender ourselves to God if we do not know who we are or to what we are surrendering? There may be some outer action of surrender, or some hope of surrender (with the idea that this surrender is going to be helpful to us) but no true surrender. A person who feels weak, who identifies with some state of powerlessness, who just wants to give up, cannot do God’s will or surrender to God. God is not able to accept that kind of surrender because such a state of powerlessness is alien to God’s nature. This surrender requires inner resolve and strength; we must come into full possession of ourselves before we can give ourselves away. How can we give what we do not possess?
What is God’s Will? What moves God to act? The simple answer—consistent with the philosophy of New Thought—is that God’s Will is to experience more and more of His own nature, which means His Will is to be ever-more joyous, alive, conscious, abundant, free, and beautiful. We, as human beings, as centers of God’s Glory, have been created to allow God to experience more and more of His own nature. And we do this by experiencing that self-same joy, aliveness, abundance, creativity, freedom, and beauty in and through our own lives. God’s Will is that we experience more and more of our own nature, our own love, joy, abundance, creativity, and beauty. This is the will that God has for Himself (to experience more and more of his own qualities) and this is the only will that God can have for us.
As mentioned, God is not will-less or weak—why then would a human being, made in the image and likeness of God, created to express the glory of God, think that having a crippled will, or no will at all, has anything to do with surrender to God or doing God’s will? The only way to do God’s Will is to be one with God’s nature, which means to be fully alive and truly yourself. There is no other way than this.
Food
Can you talk about food and Overeaters Anonymous? How does the message of the Twelve Foundations relate to this issue?
As you know, a major Twelve Step program relating to food addictions is “Overeaters Anonymous.” (And notice that, right from the start, this program requires us to adopt the negative title of being an “overeater.”) People who habitually overeat are often besieged by a sense of dissatisfaction, emptiness, lack of meaning, lack of power, or low self-esteem—and this applies especially to women. And the vast amount of awareness placed upon food, eating, dieting, one’s overweight body, thoughts of low self-worth, thoughts that no one will love me if I am fat, etc., only perpetuates the problem by lowering one’s “life-vibration” and keeping one’s consciousness riveted to negativity. By dwelling on the negative we keep on creating more of the same negativity in our life.
The best approach for people who want to overcome eating problems is to expand the center, bring about positive feelings of self worth and self love—and focus more on life (and the positive side of life) than on food, food issues, and the constant sense of struggle and failure. Most people who are dealing with a food “addiction” would be benefited by a purely positive, empowering approach. Bringing a further sense of weakness and powerlessness to a person whose power and esteem is already diminished—in an attempt to overcome their “addiction”—can be especially problematic and counter-productive. Again, most of this talk applies to women because, in this society, they have been negatively conditioned and have not had the same opportunity as men to come into their innate sense of power. This sense of disempowerment and emptiness (and a general sense of lack in the solar plexus energy center) often leads to food-related problems.
Ultimately, the only way to fully resolve a food addiction, or the need to fill yourself with food, is to feel your own sense of wholeness, to be centered in your own power and love. Any program which fosters a sense of weakness, and dependency on something outside your true self, will only take you so far. To further develop as a person, and a spiritual being, you will need to abandon that approach and find one which is more attuned to your true nature, and your true glory as a human being.
Loving Oneself
The big formula for Oprah, in terms of weight loss, is that we have to feel good about ourselves. Does this approach fit in with the Twelve Foundations?
Yes. The better you feel about yourself, the more value you find in life, the more in touch you are with your own qualities of love, aliveness, creative power, and beauty, the less sway food will have over you. However, when Oprah says that we have to love ourselves, or feel good about ourselves, which self is she talking about? I think most of her viewers believe she is talking about our personal self, our self image (i.e., who we believe ourselves to be). However, Oprah may also be talking about getting in touch with our true self. This is a much deeper part of our being; it is something much more profound and powerful than having a positive self-image. It is who we truly are. Once we are in touch with our true self our innate sense of love, joy, power, freedom, and beauty naturally emerges. We don’t have to “do” anything, or love ourselves, because we discover that our very nature is love.
All things considered, feeling good about yourself, as this person, finding joy and purpose and satisfaction in life is always supportive and beneficial—and a major part of the Twelve Foundations is devoted to this end. However there is a much greater part of ourselves we always want to be foremost in our lives; we want to live well, and feel good about ourselves, but ultimately we want to discover the true wonder of our being, who we really are.
You say that Oprah’s formula about loving yourself and feeling good about yourself is sound. So how does one do this?
It’s about developing as a human being, cultivating positive qualities, finding things in life which support you and bring you joy, being part of a caring group or community. This is the first part, the human part. On another level, in order to feel good about yourself you must be yourself; you must allow your own truth, who you really are, to be integral to your own life. It is your true self which embodies every quality you seek; once your true self becomes a living presence in your own life it draws unto you all the qualities of itself, qualities such as love, joy, abundance, freedom, beauty, etc. It illumines and brings joy to every part of your life. Without access to your true self, life always seems like a struggle; it is somewhat dead, and there is always the sense that something is missing. For indeed, the most important thing of all is missing--you are missing from your own life.
Our Souls’ Longing
To feel good about ourselves (as this person)—is that good enough? Will this lead us to satisfaction and fulfillment in life?
It’s a start, a solid foundation upon which we can base our spiritual development—but there is something more. So long as we completely believe ourselves to be this person (and exclusively identify with this limited part of our being)—even if we feel good about this limited part—our soul will long for more. Our soul knows that there is something much more profound about who we are, and so it is never satisfied with this limited identity we have adopted, this limited person we believe ourselves to be. It simply cannot feel its fullness and joy when locked into this person-based identity. So, no matter what, no matter how much we love or enjoy ourselves as this person, our soul will always want more. Our soul wants the fullness of itself.
The obsession with food (and every other obsession) is an attempt to appease our soul’s longing; it is an attempt to fill that sense of emptiness, that sense that something deep in our core is missing. And, indeed, the deepest part of ourselves is missing from our own lives. How then can our soul ever be satisfied?
So long as our soul is confined and imprisoned in this mental version of self, this personal identity—which we believe ourselves to be—she is going to suffer, and we are going to feel that suffering as the fundamental pain of our being. The soul will suffer because she is totally displaced from her true abode, which is the Heart. Experiencing that pain (and not really understanding what it is) we try to run from it (or cover it up) through various pursuits, goals, activities, obsessions, etc. But what are we running from?—the call of our own soul! That pain or longing, when properly understood and acted upon, is the very thing which can take us beyond the pain altogether into the radiant wonder of our own being. The Sufi poet, Rumi, writes:
”It is the burn of the heart that I want. That burn is everything; it is more precious than a worldly empire because that is what calls the Beloved secretly in the night."
More on OA and AA >>
<< Step 12 HOME Groups >>