Resolutions!

New Year’s Resolutions!

Welcome – or welcome back! – to this entry of the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery.  Several weeks have passed since the last installment of this project was published as I have been working through some changes of my own, both personally and professionally.  As I have written in previous entries, I am a substance abuse counselor.  As part of that work, I recently taught a group of recovering people about “resolutions” as a sort of “New Years” seasonal follow-up to earlier work on “problem resolution.”

“Resolution” is listed as “Principle 4” of the 9P’s.  Its definition is to make a determination upon a course of action. The principle statement associated with it is:

“I AM responsible for living my life in a positive way

to create and maintain good health and happiness.”

As I have written previously, the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery are not a series of steps to be worked, but rather a collection of principles for realizing spiritual recovery to be used as one sees fit at any given time.  I offer this new material recognizing that I went from writing about Principle #1 (Reconnection) to Principle #4 without addressing Principles #2 (Reformation) and #3 (Reauthorization).  For those of you who have a more linear approach to the 9P’s, well, fear not!  Trust me - it’ll be OK… In reality, the principle of Resolution relates to both Reformation and Reauthorization as all of the 9P’s are connected…

For those of us who are more linear in our thinking, the calendar tells us that one year is coming to an end and another is beginning.  But without the clock or the calendar to remind us, we would probably attach little importance to the passing of time or to the change in the number of the year.  But we do attach importance to the passing of days into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years.  As we get older, it seems we attach more and more importance to the passing of time – probably because we are conscious of the finite amount we have as humans.

What is “time”?  Who really knows?  Great scientists and philosophers have attempted to define “time.”  Most of us can’t even begin to understand these definitions.  What we can grasp are the concepts of past, present, and future, which some might say are all the same, with past, present, and future having no particular meaning or differences.

We usually categorize our experiences as being part of our past or present.  The things we have seen or done occurred at some point in time prior to the present moment or are occurring at the moment.  Since the future is not yet experienced, we really only have the past and the present to work with.  Since the past has already happened and we can describe the events that have happened, we tend to see the past as something fixed that cannot be changed.  For most of us, the present is all that can be changed, and by definition, it must be changed as we go along, mindfully, in the moment.

At this time of the year, our thoughts are sometimes drawn to thinking about changes we would like to make in and for the future.  We may think of goals we want to achieve.  So we often make “New Year’s resolutions.” If we make resolutions, we most likely believe we have problems that need solving.  “Resolution” is both a noun and a verb – a thing and an action – and generally defined as the “solution to a problem; the solving of a problem.”  If we break down the word “resolution” we might see it as “re-solution.”  “Re” denotes the repetition of some act – a doing again.  Therefore, “re-solution” can be seen as “solving again.”  In most situations, this “re-solution” would be a new answer to an old problem.  Making a “resolution” involves at least two actions: First, setting out the desired solution to a problem, and second, developing a course of action to achieve that solution.

An old edition of U.S. News & World Report had a cover story about “50 Ways To Improve Your Life In 2005.”  It might just as well have been titled “50 Solutions to Your Life’s Problems”.  Some of their suggestions, or resolutions, were to quit smoking (#28), eat better (#29), and get more exercise (#26).  Spiritually-minded people may have taken the advice to meditate more regularly (#2), or practice forgiveness (#50).  A common resolution is to lose weight, which would be the logical result of #29 and #26 (eating better and getting more exercise). This time of year, especially, the multi-billion dollar dieting industry in the United States inundates the airwaves with advertising for weight-loss plans.  All of these resolutions are positive changes because each logically leads to healing the mind, body, and soul.

If we have attempted solutions in the past, but continue to have the same issue or problem, then we may attempt “re-solutions” to “re-solve” those problems of our past.   Why do we so often fail to see real progress, to see any improvement in our lives?  Could it be that we are mistaken about our past experiences?  Or could it be that fear of experiencing pain and hurt, as we have in the past, keeps us from moving forward into the future?

We hear that “time heals all wounds.”  The passing of time does nothing on its own to help us heal.  Re-examining our perceptions of the past, with new perspectives being formulated, can help us understand our experiences and problems, heal us, and help us move forward to lead more positive, productive, healthier, and invariably happier lives.

Can we change our pasts?  If we can, how do we go about making that change?  

How do we conduct this re-examination?

The “scientific method,” creatively employed, may offer some guidance and assistance. 

The first step is to identify the experience (or problem) that we want to re-examine.  What happened in our lives that we think we might need to take a fresh look at? 

Then we have to formulate a hypothesis to test.  What is it that we believe now to be true about that experience then? 

Then we must conduct an experiment.  This requires us to re-examine the past experience in detail.  We need to identify any people involved, and other factors or influences, and clarify the issue or problem involved.   We have to re-create the experience as best we can.

Then we gather information.  We describe the interactions between the people, factors, and influences, and then describe the outcome of the experience, or resolution of the problem.  What did each person involved in the situation actually do or say?  What can we say actually happened at the time?  Is it possible to gather information from the people involved at the time?  Have their thoughts and feelings changed over time?

Next, we have to analyze the information.  What does the information suggest?  What may be different, factually, from what we originally believed to be true?

Then we can draw new conclusions.  Has our view of the past experience changed in any way?  How?  What is it that we now believe?  Do we have a new perspective or perception?  How might a new interpretation of the past change life now?

While we conduct our re-examination, we must be mindful of certain things.  We have to be sure our memory of an experience is honest and fair to everyone involved, including ourselves.  Delusional thinking or employment of ego defense mechanisms such as justification, denial of truth, rationalization, projection, transference, or minimization will produce inaccurate analyses, and a faulty basis for making a new resolution for the problem.  We must be sure that the things we believe occurred did occur.  We cannot fabricate events that did not happen and convince ourselves they did.  We cannot have selective memory and omit our own contributions to experiences we have had.  To quote Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

We must be able, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, to face the experiences of our lives.  We have to set aside or rise above emotional responses to people and events from our pasts.  We have to be able, as best we can, to perceive the reality of experiences without our personal biases clouding that perception.  We have to become what some call an “observer” of the events of our lives.  We must be open to the possibility that our perceptions and perspectives are, or have been, flawed, and can be changed.

To produce new resolutions – to find new answers to old problems – we must develop an intentional (thoughtful) plan for achieving our goals through personal change.  The process can be straight-forward.  From the information and conclusions drawn from the prior analysis, we can prepare a synthesis – a plan – for realizing resolutions.

First, identify the old problem to be resolved.

Second, develop the desired resolution to the problem.  What is the change that you want to see happen?

Third, create objectives that must be accomplished to make the resolution possible.  Make sure these objectives are action statements that are specific, measurable, and have a timeframe for accomplishment.  Ex:  “I will not eat any sugary desserts for two weeks.”

Fourth, determine what resources, if any, will be needed to realize the desired resolution.  Are these resources human, material, technological, skills and knowledge?  Something else?

Fifth, set a timeframe or date for determining your level of resolution of the problem.  If the problem is not resolved, review your plan and adjust to address any changes needed.

Does this sound easy?  Probably not.  Does it sound possible?  Absolutely!  But it will not happen unless we have the courage to reexamine our pasts, the objectivity to look at our pasts with new eyes, and the good sense to form new perceptions based on the analysis we conduct.

One thing is certain:  We can hasten the healing process by honestly and courageously looking at our pasts and entertaining all the possibilities that re-examining the past can present to us.  By planning for resolution of problems, we may be able to solve some of our past problems, and move on to healthier, more positive and productive lives, and ultimately, happiness.

“I AM responsible for living my life in a positive way

to create and maintain good health and happiness.”

Here is a New Year’s “re-solution”: 

Face the past. 

Heal the present. 

Free the future.

May you have a very Happy New Year!

Ken

Veterans Day: RECONNECTION

On Veterans Day: RECONNECTION

As we commemorate the service of our veterans on this day, my thoughts go to my grandfathers, both of whom served in the military during World War II and beyond.  I am immensely proud of my ancestors and relatives, many of whom fought in our nation’s wars.  The earliest known American veteran in our family is Sgt. Moses Sanborn of Raymond, New Hampshire, who fought in the American War for Independence, or what we call the Revolutionary War.  He served in the Continental Army, fought at the Battle of Saratoga, and died in 1778, somewhere in New England, possibly at the Battle of Rhode Island. 

I am also proud to carry some of the same names as my grandfathers – Kenneth R. Dorey, Sr. and Charles E. Sanborn, Sr.    

 

My mother’s father, Kenneth Ronald Dorey, Sr., was born in 1921 in Livermore Falls, Maine, in central Maine’s Androscoggin River Valley, and was known both as “Ronald” and by his nickname “Hunky” (hunky-dory, get it?).  Livermore Falls was then a mill town, with the main sources of employment being a paper mill and a shoe factory.  His father was a native of Nova Scotia, had been a professional cigar-maker, and had apparently been drafted into the Canadian Army for World War I.  Grampa’s mother was a strong-willed Scotch-Indian woman who became an alcoholic later in life.

“Hunky” was drafted into the U.S. Army for the D-Day Invasion in early 1944 at about the same time that he had lost a younger brother, Robert Clayton Dorey, U.S. Navy, in the invasion of Italy at Anzio.  He was married and had two young children at the time he left for his basic training.  He returned home and joined the National Guard and later the Army Reserve, serving a total of about 40 years in uniform.  He was given full military honors after passing away March 18, 1993, and he was buried next to my grandmother (who passed in 1990) in a small cemetery in Peru, Maine that I drive by every day now when I go to work.  Every time I pass by and see their headstone, I sense them and feel the same spiritual connection I had with them when they were here with us. 

I think my first name comes from my grandfather, but if you ask my Uncle Ken, a veteran of the U.S. Navy with two tours of Vietnam in the mid-60’s, he’ll tell you I was named after him, he being my mother’s oldest brother.  My mother still refers to him as “Brother.”  When my Uncle Ken was born in December, 1942, about ten months after my mother was born (in February, 1942) – I guess they’re what’s known as “Irish Twins” – my grandmother named him “Kenneth Ronald,” because she didn’t want him to be a “Junior” and she thought my grandfather’s name was “Ronald Kenneth”.  Well, Grampa’s birth certificate said his given name was “Kenneth Ronald,” so Uncle Ken was, in fact, a “Junior.”  Even so, my grandfather’s headstone reads “Dorey, Ronald K.”  I’m not sure how that happened.  It’s funny:  My mother called her father “Daddy”; my Uncle Ken called him “The Old Man”; my Uncle Rick called him “Hunk”; and my Uncle Den called him “Dad.”  My sister and brother and I called him “Grampa” and my daughters called him “Grampy-pa.”

My Grandfather Dorey was my favorite relative ever.  Well, at least until my daughters Abbey and Kate were born (typical children, each thinks the other is my favorite…).  Grampa was always around when I was growing up and right up until he passed to Spirit, it seemed.  He was a piece of work.  He had a wicked sense of humor and loved to laugh but he was tough-minded and strict.  People, especially young people, loved being around him and few people dared to ever cross him.  As I wrote in an earlier entry, he loved watching professional wrestling during the days of Gorilla Monsoon, George “The Animal” Steel, Fred Blassie, Chief Jay Strongbow, and Professor Toru Tanaka (my grandfather, being a WWII veteran, had an ethno-racist nickname for the “Japanese” professor).  He had a spiritual side that he didn’t show to many people, but I used to watch the Sunday TV preachers with him – guys like Jimmy Swaggert, Jim and Tammy Fay Baker, Oral Roberts, and Billy Graham.  He taught me how to use a hammer and build things out of wood.  He taught me about humility, self-confidence, how to treat other people, and how to show others how I wanted to be treated myself. 

Grampa and my grandmother, Evelyn (Robinson), who we called “Nanny,” and who was herself a character, lived very near us most of my life.  The first place I remember living was in a second floor apartment in a soon to be run-down four-unit wooden tenement building in Livermore Falls.  The building actually had six units but the third floor was unsafe for anyone to live in or to even walk up to – us kids were ordered not to go up there, which we did once but were scared to death and never went back up.  My grandparents lived on the first floor.  A few years later, we moved into a trailer park in a rural part of town, and my grandparents bought a trailer and moved in a couple lots away.  When my parents bought a small piece of land at the edge of town, they set it up so my grandparents could move their trailer in next to us there, too.  My grandmother was a self-trained folk-painter, an independent scholar (who never finished high school), a great knitter, a crocheter, and a champion crab (she was a Cancer, after all).  She may have had a major depression condition related to motherhood issues, especially losing two children in childbirth.  The general view within our small tribe was that Nanny was a much better grandmother than mother.  I loved her.  She taught me how to paint, crochet, and play Canasta.  I never did figure out how to knit.  I think that one skips a generation as my younger daughter, Kate, is a wonderful knitter.  The craft gene also seems to run through my older daughter, Abbey, who makes incredible designer greeting cards. 

My maternal grandparents were able to live long enough to be part of my daughters’ lives, and I am grateful for that.  Both have to come to me through mediums’ readings and through meditation since their passings, and I am grateful for that, as well.

 

My middle and last names come from my paternal grandfather, but they were also my father’s names.  My father’s father, Charles Everett Sanborn, Sr., enlisted in the U.S. Marines during WWII but contracted rheumatic fever during boot-camp at Parris Island, South Carolina.  He was assigned to the U.S. Naval Reserve and was kept stateside during the war, which didn’t suit his temperament very well, I am sure (his service record includes at least one fine for fighting at his station in Texas).  “Chuck” was active in veterans’ services in his post-war home community of Oakland, California, until his death from complications of heart disease related to the rheumatic fever on November 17, 1956 at the age of 43.  He was buried in the colossal Golden Gate Veterans Cemetery in San Bruno, California.  Though I never met my Grandfather Sanborn (I was born in Maine in 1960), visiting his gravesite for the first (and to date, only) time in 2008 was an inspirational and deep spiritual connection experience. 

My Grandfather Sanborn was born, as was my Grandfather Dorey, in Livermore Falls, Maine.  My father was named after him – Charles Everett Sanborn – but never referred to himself as a “Junior” and went by his middle name Everett and by his nickname “Sonny” growing up.  My father, who grew up in foster care in Canton, Maine, from the age of about 10 months till he was 21 years old, had no memory of ever meeting his father.  As a note here, my father, who passed away in 2008, once told me later in his life that he had run away from his foster home when he was 15, in 1953 (during the Korean War), and enlisted in the Marines by forging his father’s name (which was, after all, his name, too, so he didn’t get in much trouble for it).  Dad said he made it through boot-camp but was soon tracked down and returned, unceremoniously, to his home.  Anyway, here’s a salute to my Dad for his brief stint in the U.S. Marine Corps!

“Charlie” as I came to refer to my grandfather, was born July 9, 1913, the first of three children.  He later had two sisters, Daisy and Bessie.  His father, Lester, worked for the railroad as an engineer. His mother, Leona (Oakes) was more than ten years younger than her husband.  A few months after the birth of her third child, Bessie, in late 1916, Leona died suddenly, probably from the flu or some other virus in early 1917, at the age of 24. (Bessie, who I met a year or so ago, is the only surviving member the three children at age 95 or 96, and lives in a nursing home in Connecticut).  My great-grandfather, then twice-widowed, never remarried and lived a fairly lonely life until his death in his early 50’s.  He was apparently rarely home to see his children, who grew up on a farm with Lester’s sister, Daisy Savage, and her husband in Canton, Maine.

“Charlie” – as he was called in his 1931 Canton High School yearbook – was popular in his small school, and considered a good-looking and charming young man.  He went on to Farmington State Normal School (a teacher preparation college, and now the University of Maine at Farmington – my college alma mater) in the early 1930’s and earned a two-year degree in Teaching.  When I was at UMF in the mid-90’s earning my teaching degree, the registrar’s office came across a letter my grandfather had hand-written from Oakland, California, after the war, asking for a copy of his transcript, and they gave me a copy of the letter.  That was my first tangible connection to my grandfather. 

Charlie taught for a while at Livermore Falls High School (my high school alma mater) but was apparently fired for smoking cigarettes in the boiler room in the basement of the school (he has come to me many times over the years in mediums’ readings, and once mentioned just how wonderful it was to “take in that first cigarette of the day”).  He then went to work in the Farmington area at a “corn store” (whatever that might have been) and met and married my paternal grandmother, Dorothy Gordon, who was born in Vienna, Maine, and raised in the Phillips and Farmington areas.  My grandmother had been married before and divorced by her first husband (for cruelty and neglect), and had a son who she had named after his father and placed in foster care.  My grandparents’ marriage in 1935 didn’t last either, and they divorced shortly after my father was born in December, 1937.   My grandfather then apparently stayed in the area and eventually married a woman from Livermore, Maine prior to entering the military.  That marriage was amicably ended by divorce sometime during or after the war.  My grandfather was married for a third time in California in the mid 1940’s to another woman named Dorothy, who I met in the Sacramento area in 2008, and who passed to Spirit in March, 2009.  It was obvious to me that, over 50 years later, she still wasn’t over his death.

I did spend time with my grandmother many times in my childhood.  She was a very petite dark-haired woman who I thought my father looked very much like.  As it turns out, from pictures of my grandfather we have since discovered, my father was his spitting image.  Grammie Dot, as we called her, was not close to my father, but she seemed to love her grandchildren.  She used to kiss us all on the lips whenever we arrived or left her apartments.  Dad must have hated her at some level for giving him up to foster care, which he despised.  Dad loved his foster grandparents but didn’t care much for his foster mother or the man she married when Dad was a teenager.  Dad said he first met his mother when he was in his early adolescence and had to ask his foster grandfather (also named Charlie) who she was.  The only reason I ever met my grandmother was because my mother insisted on it.  I was at my grandmother’s bedside as she was dying from emphysema in 1991, and I remember her looking at me, unable to speak, with plaintive eyes that seemed to ask me to end her suffering, which I couldn’t do.  My grandmother knew suffering her whole life.  Her twin sister died at 10 months of age, and her older sister and father died when she was 18 years old.  She was twice married and divorced, and lost custody of her two sons to foster care.  She did have a long relationship with a woman named Lois – they lived together for over 30 years.  The nature of their relationship isn’t really certain, but they were committed to one another till their deaths.  Grammie Dot did eventually pass away and is buried alone in a Farmington cemetery.  Her family’s plot is on the opposite side of the road in the same cemetery, but was unable to accommodate her as there was an extra unknown coffin in the plot. 

My father didn’t know until a few years before his death, from information provided by Charlie’s third wife, Dorothy, who called him “Chuck” and who was still alive in the Sacramento, California area, that his father had actually come back to Maine from California after the war to get his son but that my father’s foster mother, who had grown up with Charlie and was a best friend of his sister Daisy, wouldn’t allow it – not unless my grandfather married her.  He refused since he intended to marry his Dorothy in California.  He never saw his son and his son never saw his father.  But thanks to some detective work by my brother and me, and some messages that came through psychics and mediums, my father had a peace of mind about his life he would not otherwise have had.  My father was able to talk with his step-mother, Dot, and to talk with his half-brothers, Randy, who lives in California (who I met in 2008 and who looks a lot like me), and Rick, who lives in Washington.

This entry could go on to describe some of the messages, coincidences, and just flat-out strange things that have happened over the past eight or nine years that brought me the information that I needed to write some of this material.  But it is already longer than I expected or planned, and I will end here and simply restate my pride in my ancestors and the privilege of carrying on their names.

One of my grandfathers was close to me most of my life and I was solidly connected to him.  My other grandfather was an unknown entity to me most of my life.  But through spirit communication, meditation, research and some legwork, I feel connected to him very strongly as well.  Through both of these connections, I realize that I am indeed connected to the All of Creation, and have real relationships with those who have come and gone before me.  As are we All…

On this Veterans Day, I wish for all of us, and especially our Veterans, peace in our hearts and minds.

Kenneth Charles Sanborn

Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery - At Work in My Life

Welcome once again and thank you for coming back!  

The last entry in this series was published back in August.  I've taken some time to reflect on the work done to this point, and to allow Spirit to continue Its work with me on my own spiritual recovery.  I've experienced changes in my career path, in my spiritual work, and in my personal relationships with people I hadn't yet met and with people who I've known for many years.  I've made some connections and reconnections, and  I've done some serious thinking about my life and how I've lived it in the past and how I'm living it now.  That's been something of an uncomfortably enlightening experience!  But "it is what it is" and to quote Popeye the Sailor Man, "I am what I am!"  As a result, I decided to make this entry a personal account of how each of the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery has worked in my life over the past ten years or so, even though I wasn't aware of it. 

 Some of you know that I work in the drug addiction counseling field and work with the process of “recovery” within that context in helping people manage their addiction conditions.  The concept of “recovery” is widely used in the fields of mental health and substance abuse and addiction.  In terms of health, “recovery” simply means a return to a state of normal being and function.  In general terms, “recovery” is the process of getting something back that has been lost or taken away.  I believe that “recovery” from addiction, or abuse, or trauma, or any major life challenge must begin with a true spiritual awakening – a spiritual recovery.  As I've written before, “Spirit” Itself can never be broken, or lost, or taken from us, though we can be unaware of Its presence and workings – what we know as grace – in our lives.  In that regard, “spiritual recovery” may sound a bit misleading – again, I believe that the Spirit within us can never be broken, taken away, or lost because It is the essence of Life – the only thing that is permanent, real, and eternal – but It can be trapped under layers of physical and mental-emotional health problems.  To consciously “recover” our connection to that Spirit that gives us life and guides us to and through a healthy life experience, we sometimes have to treat those other problem conditions.  The starting point for that healing is Spirit – and gaining an awareness of what Spirit is and means for us, and how It works with us, is essential to our healing ourselves.

Socrates said “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  As I “examine” my life, I can see now that over the past ten years I have been “recovering” from several life challenges including long-term drug addiction, physical health problems, mental illness, divorce and related family problems, and loss of the life I had worked hard to build over the course of the previous 20 years. (Damn… guess it’s like the old Paul Simon song says, “everything looks worse in black and white”…) Anyway, these principles have been at work without my explicit awareness of that work, even though I’ve known something of a spiritual nature was at work within my life, helping me both with the processes of recovering from major challenges, and with making changes that have been slowly and steadily improving the quality of my life experience and helping me to be of some service to others.  I know that “service to others” is my path toward living to my fullest potential as a spiritually-minded human being in this lifetime. 

I will address these principles in the order in which they appear in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery, even though my experience with them has not been a linear, discrete process.  My experience has been that all the principles were at work all at the same time, with some taking precedence at particular times and others being more in effect at other times.  During the first nine years of my own recovery I was not cognizant of these principles in the form I presently recognize, so I didn’t know to separate them, one from another.  Maybe it was better that way, so that I wouldn’t try to make their application a linear “step” process, which they are not intended to be.  However, for our purposes here, I will talk about each principle in the order in which the information was made known to me.

The first principle described in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is Reconnection.  According to the 9Ps, Reconnection means to unite, join or bind together again; to rebuild relationships and is expressed through the statement: Despite my imperfections, I AM a spiritual person with real relationships and connections to all of Life.   As part of my recovery, I have had to work to repair, as best I could, damaged relationships with my children, my family members, friends, Spirit (from my end), and even my former spouse, with whom I had completely severed all ties.  This work included making connections with some of my ancestors who had passed to Spirit before my time here, and reconnecting (in a new and different way) with those who passed during my lifetime.  Those have been amazing experiences and have brought me a great deal of peace of mind in terms of who I am and who I come from, and also about the “continuity of life” from one form of existence to another.  I have also worked to establish relationships to everything in Creation, and now try to think well beyond myself and my own existence.  Jesus taught the Great Lesson about the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man – about love of God and love of neighbor, in addition to love of self.  I’ve learned through Yogi philosophy that Everything is One, All is in Union and related, physically and spiritually, to every other thing, and that All is perfect in its spiritual essence – it can’t be otherwise. 

The second principle described in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is Reformation.  According to the 9Ps, Reformation means to improve or change to a better state and is expressed through the statement:  The Spirit of Life within me is whole and unbreakable and has the power and intention to work with me to help me heal, change, and grow - physically, mentally, and emotionally.  The work I’ve done over the past decade has led me, I think, to become a better person – more compassionate, more patient more of the time, more thoughtful about how my actions impact on others, and more conscious of how I am approaching living my life – my thoughts, feelings, attitude and intention – to produce the behaviors and outcomes I want.  This extends to every aspect of my life experience and I think has made me a better parent, son, brother, friend, and human being.  As Gandhi told us, we must “be the change (we) wish to see in the world.”

 

The third principle described in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is Reauthorization.  According to the 9Ps, Reauthorization means to again be given the power over a situation (i.e., to be answerable and accountable for one’s words and deeds) and is expressed through the statement:  I AM responsible and accountable for my feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and actions, and their effects on myself and others.  In recovering my spirituality, I have had to come to the realization that I have had to reclaim the power over how my life unfolds, and how my choices impact on my own life and the lives of others.  The Spirit within me is a small part of the Great One Spirit, and that “self” that is within me is answerable and accountable to the One – the All of Creation.  I cannot ask the Great Spirit to relieve me of either my responsibility to make my own path and decisions, or to have to answer and account to myself, others, and Spirit for them.  “Vicarious atonement” through the intervention of the Divine sounds attractive, but essentially, I am my own savior, and as Buddha counseled us, I have to “work out (my) own salvation with diligence.”

The fourth principle described in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is Resolution.  According to the 9Ps, Resolution means to make a determination upon a course of action and is expressed through the statement:  I AM responsible for living my life in a positive way to create and maintain good health and happiness.  This principle is related to the idea of intention, or the thoughtful planning for the execution of a particular strategy to realize a particular desired outcome.  Sometimes life seems to just “happen” to us – but if we look closely, we can usually see how our failure to thoughtfully plan the course of our lives has led us to a failure to realize our desired outcomes and to situations where “life happens.”  This is natural law, namely, the Law of Cause and Effect, at work.  Some philosophers refer to this as the Law of Karma.  If we put out an energetically positive and thoughtful plan for living our lives, positive results will be realized – simply put, what we send out comes back to us in kind.  As the Dalai Lama has said, “Happiness is not something ready-made.  It comes from your own actions.”  In my recovery, I have done my best to put forward my overall intentions about the kind of life I want to live.  I developed a “personal spiritual mission statement” that addressed issues related to healthy relationships, personal freedom and independence, and purposeful living through learning and teaching practical spirituality.  I continue to see that “spiritual mission” unfold as my life moves on toward greater happiness and personal fulfillment. 

The fifth principle described in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is Reconciliation.  According to the 9Ps, Reconciliation means to bring into harmony or agreement again; to make compatible again and is expressed through the statement:  I AM sorry for any pain and suffering I have brought to others, and I ask them for their forgiveness.   Recovering one’s spirituality requires a person to accept responsibility for pain and suffering he or she has caused to others.  This process can include apology, either direct or indirect, depending on the appropriateness of such an interaction.  Some of the people we may have hurt in the past may not want to hear it from us, and that is their right to be left in peace.  Mindfulness – or being present in the moment and being aware of the appropriate thinking and action related to a situation – and keeping in mind the intention not to hurt others, leads to ethical behaviors, and ethical behaviors do not generally require apologies. Jesus is said to have taught: "Forgive and you will be forgiven."  That advice applies to us as well as to others.  Through self-forgiveness we can bring our personality into harmony, integrity, and wholeness.  When we have forgiven ourselves for our own transgressions, we are then in a better place to forgive others for theirs.  As one part of my recovery, I worked to forgive myself for hurting my ex-wife, and though it took several years, I eventually apologized to her, in person, for the pain and suffering I had brought to her.  She was visibly moved by my apology and accepted it as sincere.  I believe my apology helped improve things between the two of us and that has been healing for my children as well.

The sixth principle described in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is Redemption.  According to the 9Ps, Redemption means to atone for (harmful past actions) or make good or whole again and is expressed through the statement:  I AM grateful to the Spirit of Life for the chance to serve others, and know that through service I may atone and make amends for harm I have done to others.  Political dissident and activist Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar wrote: “It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute.”  Through the principle of redemption, I have tried to make myself useful and of service to others who have experienced pain and suffering in their lives.  By doing so, I believe I have partially atoned for harm done to others, and become more “at one” with the All of Creation.  Again, “vicarious atonement” through the intervention of the Divine sounds nice, but it is not God’s responsibility to set things right that I have made wrong.  I see my connection to other people more clearly now and that influences my behaviors towards others.  In particular, I have moved in my professional life from education to social services and now to the counseling field where I work with people who suffer from substance dependence conditions to help them manage and overcome their addictions to drugs.  I can use the totality of my personal experience and professional training to help others who want to change to help themselves to live healthier lives.  I have also tried to provide some spiritual awareness for the people I meet who seem to be interested and ask for it.  In this way, I am sending my intentional healing energies into the world, and I believe I am atoning and making amends in a broad way for some of the pain and suffering I may have brought to people in the past.

The seventh principle described in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is Reciprocation.  According to the 9Ps, Reciprocation means to give and receive in a mutually beneficial way and is expressed through the statement:  My intention is to do for others as I want them to do for me and not to bring pain and suffering to anyone.  Through this principle, which we find in every spiritual belief system, from the Golden Rule to Confucius’s “reciprocity,” to the Native American wisdom of “walk(ing) a mile in another man’s shoes” before judging him, I have made my intention to create and maintain healthy, mutually loving and supportive relationships with people who want to have them with me.  My practice in this area has been a sometimes painful source of great learning.  I think sometimes to know what we do want, we have to be shown what we don’t want by experiencing it firsthand.  When things are good, I sometimes take them for granted and lose the opportunity to appreciate their value and be grateful.  Like the child who is told not to touch something hot but does it anyway and learns the hard way, some of us, like me, seem to learn more effectively through discomfort.  Occasionally, by experiencing pain and suffering myself, I can recognize it and how bad it feels to experience it, and, because I develop greater empathy, I may be less likely to bring unnecessary pain and suffering to others.  Additionally, by treating myself well, through what I call “The Ruby Rule” (treat myself as I would have others treat me), I can model for others how I want to be treated – with respect, kindness, compassion, understanding, forgiveness, and patience…or more simply, with love.  I also learn what I truly want – or need – from life and can then better set my intention to manifest it.

The eighth principle described in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is Rededication.  According to the 9Ps, Rededication means to devote oneself again wholly and earnestly, as to some person or purpose and is expressed through the statement:  Through service to the Spirit of Life, and all of Life, I will do my best to live to my fullest potential as a spiritual human being.  Albert Einstein wrote: "Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion towards men and towards objective things." Part of my spiritual recovery process has been identifying just exactly what I believe my purpose in living to be.  For many years, I was dedicated to being the best father I could be to my two daughters.  I think I did a pretty good job as a father, though I know now that I could have done some things differently, and maybe been a more helpful guide to them.  My daughters and I have close relationships based in unconditional love for each other so I guess we didn’t do too badly.  Since my girls have grown into the incredibly competent young women they are, my focus has changed somewhat.  My purpose from here on seems to be an ongoing rededication to helping my fellow humans in any way that I can that uses my particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to strengthen spiritual connections within and among people.  In so doing, I again may develop “to my fullest potential as a spiritual human being.” 

The ninth principle described in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is Restoration.  According to the 9Ps, Restoration means to return something to a former, original, normal, or unimpaired condition and is expressed through the statement:  I accept that I will make mistakes and that I will learn from them, and I will constantly work with the Spirit of Life to restore my good health and happiness.   I used to live in an impaired state of mind much of the time.  I wasn’t always clear-minded and I made errors in judgment.  I still make errors in judgment but they are no longer due to any self-inflicted state of mental impairment.  My “mistakes” have come in the form of words, actions, choices, decisions, thoughts, and beliefs.  I’ve made some “mistakes” that have made me feel badly – guilty, regretful, and ashamed – because they have had an adverse impact on other people’s lives.  Confucius is said to have advised us “Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.”  As Master Confucius points out, when we feel shame for our mistakes, we “make them crimes” – we turn them into sins and we punish ourselves for them.  My “spiritual recovery” is my own, and though I’ve made many perceived mistakes and errors, they have brought me here, now.  When I’ve failed to look at my life and see my mistakes for what they are – opportunities to learn – I’ve limited myself and my ability to grow spiritually.  I’ve brought needless fear into my life, become anxious and worried, avoided taking risks, missed opportunities, and hesitated to make choices and decisions, sometimes failing to live life to the fullest.  When I choose to let Spirit’s Light shine on my life’s choices to help me understand what I’ve done and who I am because of it, I allow myself to grow spiritually, I get closer to reaching my full potential, and I tend to live a happier, healthier life.  I return to that original – unimpaired – state in which I came into this world.

You may have noticed that I use the pronoun “I” a great deal in my “spiritual recovery” work.  That is in keeping with the “personal responsibility” principle of my personal philosophy for living.  I make my own choices and I am responsible for the outcomes related to them.  I decide what course my life will take, and what situations I place myself.  I determine the course of my life and the quality of that life.  Spirit can guide me, but It cannot do for me without violating my Spirit-given “free will.”  Even though I have people – and Spirit – both ahead of me and behind me, my path through life is only shoulder-width wide.

Spiritual recovery is, to me, a sort of soul cleansing, a casting off of the collected debris of a lifetime of damage done to one’s spiritual essence, which is more often than not, self-inflicted.  It is a rebirth of self.  When we stop ignoring, avoiding, and abusing the Spirit within ourselves, we “recover” our true “self” and we can then move on through life “whole” – in one piece and at One in peace – and more confident, healthier, and unquestionably happier with ourselves and with everyone and everything in Creation.

Until next time, may Spirit bless you with that which you most desire to manifest in your life!

K.C. Sanborn

Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery

To those of you who have been following the progress of this project, welcome back!  For those of you who may be joining us for the first time, welcome!  

In beginning this entry, I want to first say that anything I write could (or should) be prefaced with the phrase “I believe that” since, as I have written previously, I am not certain that I “know” anything for certain.  If that phrase does not expressly begin most of the statements I make, it is certainly inferred.  I also want to reiterate what I believe The Source of the information about the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery to be.  I believe that Spirit Itself, known by any number of names, including Infinite Intelligence, The Creative Principal, The Universal Life Force, The One Absolute Reality, God, THAT, The Collective Consciousness, etc., is The Source, and that Its information often comes in the form of intuition.  By “intuition” I am talking about the means by which The Source communicates the information to any one of us as a human being, who is by her or his nature limited in terms of sensory perception.  For me, intuition is an impression held in the human mind of some sort of awareness or understanding that has been gained without the employment of conscious perception, conception, or reasoning.  Intuition comes quickly, without warning or notice, and seemingly effortlessly, and brings with it an almost immediate enlightenment.  Indeed, I believe the purpose for intuition is to facilitate enlightenment – a lessening of the heaviness that accompanies so much of our experiences as human beings.  I believe that intuition is a gift to us, and, like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs, intuition leads us “home” to our Essence – the Love, Spirit, and Wisdom of Creation.  When we can come to understand that Love, Spirit, and Wisdom maybe we can then claim some level of Knowledge of the Truth of Life.

I had originally thought to present these Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery one at a time.  In each presentation I would state, describe, and explain each Principle, and then provide an opportunity, through guided practice (meditation), to work with the Principle to affect a measure of spiritual recovery.  I still plan to do so.  However, I’ve decided to offer the entire list of Principles with brief descriptions, now, for several reasons.  First, I would like anyone following this project to have a sense of where it is headed and an idea what is coming in future posts.  In addition, I want to present these Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery as a holistic approach to the recovery of spirituality – the sense of connection to the Creative Life Force and to one’s place and purpose in the All of Creation/Life.  

Further, I want to avoid the perception of these Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery as a “step” program.  They do not comprise a “step” program in the sense of the now ubiquitous “12-step self-help” approach being used by those seeking recovery from any number of mental health conditions, substance dependence conditions, or problem behavior conditions.  Currently, one can find “12-step programs” for anything from addictions to alcohol, illicit and prescribed drugs, food, and sex, to those aimed at helping compulsive gamblers, over-spenders, child-abusing parents, and “workaholics.”  As a professional drug abuse counselor I understand that these programs may, and often do, help people deal with their addictions and problem behaviors; however, my belief is that the essence of any major self-improvement effort must be the recovery of one’s spirituality.  Once a person who suffers from a mental health condition, substance dependence condition, or problem behavior condition finds an awareness of her or his own spirituality, participation in a “12-step program” may actually help that person to be more successful in maintaining behavioral change. 

One must be aware of her or his spiritual nature in order to feel too valuable to continue to suffer or to self-abuse, and to feel worthy of healing and recovery.  Spiritual recovery – the recovery of one’s spirituality – is the essence of any recovery effort.  My belief is that only through an intentional thoughtful plan for recovery of spiritual awareness can anyone realistically have confidence in her or his chances for recovery from any mental health condition, substance dependence condition, or problem behavior condition.  I also believe that spiritual awareness cannot be recovered in “steps” – it has to be recovered through every means possible at any time that it is possible.  Rather than this effort being a by-product, or even culmination, of any self-help process, I believe the primary focus of “recovery” must be spiritual recovery.  To that end, this set of Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is presented as a holistic approach to helping people recover their hidden – but never lost – spirituality.  And even though these Principles are numbered for presentation, each can be worked with at any time, and in no particular order.  In truth, all will likely have to be worked on, at least to some degree, simultaneously.

 

NINE PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUAL RECOVERY

1.  RECONNECTION – to unite, join or bind together again; to rebuild

     relationships

“Despite my imperfections, I AM a spiritual person with real relationships

and connections to all of Life.”

2.  REFORMATION – to improve or change to a better state

“The Spirit of Life within me is whole and unbreakable and has the power

and intention to work with me to help me heal, change, and grow –

physically, mentally, and emotionally.”

3.  REAUTHORIZATION – to again be given the power over a situation (i.e., to

     be answerable and accountable for one’s words and deeds)

“I AM responsible and accountable for my feelings, thoughts, beliefs,

and actions, and their effects on myself and others.”

4.  RESOLUTION – to make a determination upon a course of action

“I AM responsible for living my life in a positive way to create and maintain good health and happiness.”

5.  RECONCILIATION – to bring into harmony or agreement again; to make

     compatible again

“I AM sorry for any pain and suffering I have brought to others,

and I ask them for their forgiveness.”

6.  REDEMPTION – to atone for or make good or whole again

“I AM grateful to the Spirit of Life for the chance to serve others, and know that through service I may atone and make amends for harm I have done to others.”

7.  RECIPROCATION – to give and receive in a mutually beneficial way

“My intention is to do for others as I want them to do for me and

not to bring pain and suffering to anyone.”

8.  REDEDICATION – to devote oneself again wholly and earnestly, as to some

     person or purpose

“Through service to the Spirit of Life, and all of Life, I will do my best

to live to my fullest potential as a spiritual human being.”

9.  RESTORATION – to return something to a former, original, normal, or

     unimpaired condition

“I accept that I will make mistakes and that I will learn from them,

and I will constantly work with the Spirit of Life

to restore my good health and happiness.”

May you find this information of value.

K.C. Sanborn

Next  Entry:  "RECONNECTION"

Genesis of Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery

In my previous offerings, I’ve talked about my experiences in the “science, philosophy, and religion” of Spiritualism, combined with my study of other sciences, philosophies, and religions, as the basis for much of what I believe about matters related to spirituality.  At this point in my spiritual development, I am more a “little ‘s’ spiritualist” than a “big ‘S’ Spiritualist.”  It isn’t that I don’t value Spiritualism as much as I once did; it is that my experiences have led me to consider other possibilities besides those in the Spiritualist belief system.  Some of the principles of Spiritualism still make perfect sense to me, as they derive from ancient traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judeo-Christian teachings, and I believe them whole-heartedly.  Other principles don’t make as much sense to me anymore, namely some of the more metaphysical beliefs related to spiritual phenomena which are really matters of faith and, as yet, not of provable science; however, it is not the purpose of this writing to go into that discussion (although I am happy to answer any questions anyone might have through a private correspondence).   As I have stated before, I don’t really know anything other than my own human experience, and that knowledge is subjective and, since I’m still presumably human, probably a bit suspect.  The principles of Spiritualism may be the Definitive Truth of the Universe – I don’t know.  These principles – and as importantly some of the principals I have worked with in Spiritualism – have helped me to experience things I would likely have never experienced had I not been fortunate enough to have been exposed to them.  That being said, my disclaimer here is that though I am still a member of an NSAC-chartered Spiritualist church, my work here is not sanctioned in any way by the governing bodies of Spiritualism in any of the United States or any other country.

As I think I’ve said before, I am by nature a skeptic and generally have to have things proven to me before I will have any confidence in their validity.  This has been true throughout the course of my spiritual unfoldment.  I’ve seen and heard some fairly ridiculous things done and said in “spiritual” activities I’ve witnessed.  In particular, I remember one medium bringing a message to a woman during a church service in which he told her, with great effort, I might say, that he was getting “Tupperware.”  That was it – “Tupperware.”  Then after summoning the source of that profundity once more, he uttered that he was seeing “peaches.”  After another summoning, he summarized – “Yes, I’m getting Tupperware and peaches.  And I leave you with the blessings of Spirit.”  And he let out a great sigh of relief, and the woman grew a zombie smile and nodded her head like she had just been given the Holy Grail of spirit messages.  I almost fell out of my chair laughing!  Now, it’s possible this message had great meaning for this woman and maybe I shouldn’t have judged back then.  But I did judge – or rather used my sense of discernment to assess what I had observed in order to make an evaluation of what I had witnessed.  I think the reason for Spirit allowing this sort of thing to happen is to help us practice our discernment skills.  I tend not to take things at face value, and I tend to place my confidence, trust, and faith in very few messages and messengers, and often test even the information I get directly in meditation or as inspiration.  Now, there definitely exists the possibility that someone reading what I am offering will themselves fall out of their chairs laughing, but I am confident that the information found in the Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery is valid, and I trust it and have faith in its source, which I believe, in the end, is Spirit Itself.

And now we move on…

This blog is about Spiritual Recovery.  Near the beginning of last year (2010), I received three “messages from Spirit” – the first from an unidentified source I believed to be in Spirit, and the other two identified by respected mediums as coming from two women who were involved in Modern Spiritualism in Maine – neither of whom I ever met, and both of whom had passed to Spirit several years ago. (NOTE: Even though the “messages” that possibly identified the sources of the information I am sharing were given in public settings, I am going to refrain from using the names of the people involved in this process for the sake of their privacy.  Again, I will gladly share as much as I can with anyone who asks through a private conversation.) 

The first message came directly to me, while I was making the 25-mile drive from home to a Sunday service at the Augusta Spiritualist Church on February 28, 2010.  On the way to church, I thought I heard a voice (no, not one of those kinds of “voices”) tell me to “get a pen” and start writing, which I did, even as I continued driving to church (I know – “distracted driving”…mea culpa).  I began to write on the back of an envelope, watching the road as best I could, and as I wrote – or dictated or transcribed – I began to see what was coming to me.  When the words stopped flowing, nine statements had been brought to me under the simple title “Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery.”  I think my eyebrows rose up a ways into my forehead, my head rocked back on shoulders a bit, and I felt a full-torso shudder.  So I went to church and received no further messages there during the service.  I then went back home and typed the statements out.  I very slightly edited them to make them flow a bit better, and recorded the date.  The tone of the statements sounded like something I might write, but the content wasn’t anything I had ever considered writing.  I had heard about the phenomena of “automatic writing” and knew mediums who had done it, but I had never experienced it personally.  However, the speed and ease in which the statements came suggested to me that they were not forming within my own mind.  I suspected they were inspired, though I had no idea as to the source, though I generally ascribe all “inspired” thought to Spirit Itself.

Later that afternoon, I decided to go to the Sunday evening service at the Portland Spiritualist Church, which was about 75 miles from home (I am a true addict).  I wanted to hear something about the source of the information I had received.  A respected and well-known medium from the Augusta church, and someone I trust and consider a friend, was doing the message work that evening.  During the service she brought me a second message which she said was coming from one of her guides, another well-known medium who had served Spiritualism from the Augusta church for many years.  The medium told me that her guide wanted to work with me on something, and that her guide had never come through to say she wanted to work with anyone other than the medium herself.  I figured my two “messages” that day were connected, and that this medium’s guide was probably, or at least possibly, connected to the “Nine Principles” message.  Well, I talked briefly with my friend after the service about the message she had passed on to me, and I told her about what had happened earlier – the “inspired” words I received while I was driving to my first church service that day – and we laughed a little bit about it all, and then I went home, set it all aside for a while as I got busy with “real life” – that is, working on getting my substance abuse counseling certification so I could begin my practice.       

The third “message” came four weeks later through another well-respected medium, again, someone who I trust and consider a friend.  That message came on March 28, 2010, and again at the Portland Spiritualist Church.  The medium said he was getting a message for me from yet another medium who had served many years from the Augusta church, saying she wanted to work with me as well.  The medium, who had known this woman before she passed to Spirit, wished me luck because she was known for being a bit of a crank, and he sort of joked about how in her later life she had continued to constantly smoke cigarettes even though she had an oxygen tank on her wheelchair because her breathing had become so labored – due to her smoking.  According to him, it seems she used to scare the hell out her son (who I did know prior to his own passing a few years ago), who thought she was going to blow them all to Kingdom Come!  It occurred to me that this lady was truly an addicted person – smoking while “hooked” to a highly flammable oxygen tank!  I figured that she – and the other lady brought through in the earlier message – wanted to work with me helping people recover from their addictions.  For me, part of that work includes further developing the “Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery” and sharing it with other people.

As I stated previously, I am a drug counselor working in southern Maine. I’ve been working professionally with people in various stages of “recovery” from drug and alcohol addiction for almost a year and a half now.  In that relatively short time, I have probably worked with nearly 1,000 different people with addiction conditions and related mental health issues.  I have my own long addiction experience and have known many people with similar experiences.  I’ve also known many people who have suffered from abuse, loss, or trauma of different types.  Most of my substance abuse clients have significant histories of abuse, loss, and trauma.  All of these people have undergone a personal “recovery” process of their own – some have realized a high level of recovery – as I believe I have – while others have yet to recover at all. Recovery is about getting something back that has been lost.  In the case of people who have suffered from abuse, loss, or trauma, what has been lost is well-being, or health – mental, emotional, physical, and social health.  In terms of health, “recovery” simply means a return to a state of normal being and function.  Essentially, “recovery” is the process of healing from abuse, loss, or trauma.  Healing comes in many ways but, for me, its Source is always the same – Spirit. 

In my life and work I have seen the pain and suffering caused by alcohol and other drug abuse, which is actually self-abuse, not drug abuse.  The drug itself has no being or feelings to be abused.  I have also become more aware of the spiritual needs of people who suffer from chemical addictions.  Most people who are addicted to substances – or unhealthy addictive behaviors which are called process addictions – seem to suffer from a lack of spiritual awareness.  One of my counseling professors in college, who is also a pastoral counselor, says that a person’s spirituality is “the first thing to go” when he or she becomes addicted.  I agree, and I believe, as do others in my field, that “recovery” from addiction must begin with a true spiritual awakening. 

Though we may think otherwise at times, I believe “Spirit” Itself can never be broken, or lost, or taken from us, because Spirit – sometimes referred to as the “Divine Spark” – is our essence.  We can be unaware of Its presence and workings – what we know as grace – in our lives.  People who are addicted to either substances or processes (acting-out behaviors such as excessive eating, sex, work, shopping, gambling, exercising, internet use or video gaming), and even those who have suffered loss or experienced trauma and crisis and have developed mental health problems as a result, often seem to lack a sense of their purpose, their place in the world, and the self-worth essential to understanding that they are material expressions of Spirit, which is eternal.  Only when they can see their addictive behaviors as self-abusive – and abusive of Spirit expressed in human form – can they awaken and make the choice to change.  In order for “recovery” to truly be established, any abuse or self-abuse must be stopped.  “Recovery” cannot be realized in an environment in which unhealthy, harmful, or damaging emotions, such as anger, frustration, resentment, anxiety, unhappiness, discontent, hatred (or self-hatred) and disappointment are dominant.  The person who has been abused, even if by himself or herself, or has experienced trauma or loss, must firmly and resolutely demand an end to the abuse and/or the suffering and begin to look ahead rather than continue to look behind.  Since we can only focus our attention in one direction at any given time, we may as well focus on what’s ahead of us.

To be sure, the concept of “spiritual recovery” may sound a bit misleading.  Again, I believe that the Spirit within us can never be broken, damaged, taken away, or lost because It – Love – is the essence of Life, and the only thing that is permanent, real, and eternal.  However, I think that the Spirit within can be trapped under layers of physical and mental-emotional health problems, and hidden by damage from wounds to our minds and bodies. Spirit Itself does not need to be “recovered” – our awareness of It does.  To consciously “recover” – or get back – our connection to that Spirit that gives us Life and Love, we sometimes have to begin to work to heal those other problem conditions that can trap our spirit, and remove them as barriers to the Spirit.  As the ancient Hindu rishis taught “something cannot come from nothing.”  Something like “recovery” can only come about as the result of the actions of other forces.  The starting point for that healing is Spirit – the Eternal, the One Absolute Reality.  Gaining an awareness of what Spirit is and of what It holds for us, and understanding that It is indeed within every one of us, is essential to starting to work to heal ourselves – to “recover.” 

As I wrote previously, my own recovery from substance dependence and some of life’s other difficulties came through a long period of spiritual unfoldment – spiritual awareness and spiritual development.  I had to work hard to begin to feel worth healing, to see myself as an expression of the Divine Spirit and, therefore, not a thing to be abused by anyone, including myself, and to then heal my mind and body from the effects of the damaging experiences of my life, especially those that were self-inflicted. 

For me, the basic components of spiritual unfoldment are:

1.  connection – wholeness, not separation; the concept of the One;

2.  self-awareness – gaining an understanding of one’s individuality within the One;

3.  mindfulness – appropriateness of one’s thoughts, words and deeds in the moment;

4.  purposefulness – intentionality of one’s words and deeds; and

5.  effort – doing the work to develop one’s spirituality.

Some of my spiritual unfoldment came through my study and practice of Spiritualism – in particular, spiritual healing, mediumship, and studying “natural law.”  Understanding the truth of “continuity of Life” helped me to understand that everything except Spirit – Loving Intelligence in Its many forms – is impermanent, and as such, not real or important. I came to lose my fear of death.  I now understand our passing from human form as a simple change or transformation – a “transition” from one state to another.  If I am not afraid of dying, why should I be afraid of living or of anything I might experience in living a human life?   The answer is obvious – I should not be afraid of anything in this life. In addition, as I have already stated, some of my “recovery” came through studying the truths of other spiritual systems such as Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism, Reiki, and Gnostic Christianity.  For me, truly, “there is nothing new under the sun” and, truly, the “New Age” is the “Old Age” recovered – or simply rediscovered. 

Enlightenment, in practical terms, is the lightening of one’s burden in life, through awareness and realization of Truth and Wisdom.  Again, as we may read in the Psalms, true knowledge comes only through an understanding of Wisdom – the Truth of Spirit.  Theories of how to change or make one’s life better are fine, but for any set of ideas to stand the test of time, they have to be practical and effective.  People have to be able to understand them and put them to use.  For me, the practicality of the teaching, healing and message work of Spiritualism, and the practicality of many other sciences, philosophies, and religions, is their single most attractive feature.  I have used what I’ve received in working with Spiritualism and Spiritualists – as well as other belief systems – to change and improve, or reform, my life.  I have “recovered” much of what I thought I had lost over the years, thanks to the workings of Spirit in my life.  For that I am truly grateful.  It is in that “spirit” of gratitude that I am privileged to offer the “Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery” for your consideration.

May we all remain open to studying and understanding the Wisdom of Spirit!

Next Entry:

Principle #1 of Nine Principles of Spiritual Recovery:  RECONNECTION