THE SPIRITUALITY OF RECOVERY

“Sought through prayer and meditation to

improve our conscious contact with God.”

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

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On Sunday, I attended the Step Eleven Sound Bowl Meditation Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous at the Village Group in Oceano where we live. Although I have become a regular at the Thursday evening meeting, this was the first time I have attended this particular meeting on Sunday. I am glad I did.

  After opening the meeting with a couple of standard readings from the Big Book of A.A., we then shifted to a sound bowl meditation, allowing the gentle wave of sounds from various bowls to drift through the space and into our collective consciousness as we sat in silence.

 Then, the meeting was open for individual sharing. People spoke about their experience of the meditation practice as well as their recovery - the struggles, disappointments, hope, and all things related to the journey from the darkness of addiction into the sunlight of the spirit of recovery. It was real, and messy, and beautiful. Such is often true of A.A. meetings, but this felt particularly deep and authentic. I am convinced it is because we began with meditation, and the resonance of the sound bowls offered interior grounding.

  Meditation can do this. It can open our innermost selves to something much larger than ourselves and at the same time, touch the tender places within us that are yearning for healing. It can be both transcendent and intimate. The awareness that arose from the meditation was shared in the  sacred space of the A.A. meeting where people felt safe to talk of the real stuff of their lives.

  I feel there is a real shortage of such places where people can feel free and safe to share openly about the challenges they face in their lives. But I do find it every time I walk into an A.A. meeting, find my seat, and say: “My name is Dennis, I’m an alcoholic and I haven’t had a drink today.” Those words are like sound bowls ringing within me  of the truth of who I am.

  I hope we can all find such a place of freedom, safety, and truth. Such a place can touch the hurt and heal those tender places. This is the Spirituality of Recovery.

Brother Dennis