A QUESTION OF SPIRITUALITY-Mystery and Recovery

My name is Lee and I'm a ...human being. My being human comes with a lot of information, coding, traits, definitions, stories and most of all Mystery. Working and creating within the paradigm of what is called the "recovery" world is a great format for witnessing how being human interacts with all the constructs that surround us as life and culture in this world.

"Recovery" as we refer to it was born of the experiences of Bill W. and the subsequent evolution of the 12 steps as, first, a fellowship, and then a format for conducting the business of recovery known as "treatment". In my personal experience I found a great deal of mystery in the BIG BOOK of A.A., mystery that seemed to be lost to the literal translations of those that I connected with during my time of attending meetings and seeking support as I "recovered" my life. When I read "and we do recover" I believed it and so I have.
You see what I have learned over the years is that our human mind seeks the validation to support what that mind has come to believe the truth to be. The mind believes itself. When we live our lives following the peculiarities of our mind we will seek to associate with people that support or agree with what we have accepted as "truth". Truth in this instance is merely what we have chosen to believe. Believing our self or anyone else does not truth make.Belief is belief, truth exists whether we believe in it or not.

Truth is the presence of Mystery that fills in all the spaces between what we think we know and all the rest of creation.Our mind demands to "know". Our mind has no real concept of that Mystery that surrounds all of us, all the time. We attempt to live as though we have life all figured out and all the answers are contained in our vast wealth of information and knowledge.I was not taught as a child to live a relationship with the Mystery as well as the world. My awareness has grown from my restless natural tendency to not accept what should be good enough as an answer. I became my own guinea pig in search of a true, authentic Spiritual connection.The rest is my experience and has led me to the freedom I was seeking all those years of living unhappy, scared and crazy.

In our culture we are taught that we are only as "good" or valuable as is our contribution to society. We must fit in and be a part of the system to have real value. From how much money we make to how "good" we look, to the number of initials we attach to the end of our name, Americans are taught that self worth is a measurable commodity and by following the rules set for us we can and should achieve happiness. If we don't choose to follow the rules, well, then your on your own.If you follow the rules and don't make it to happy and satisfied then either you are ungrateful or you just need to keep chasing the shadow of success. These same rules have been attached to spirituality as organized religion. Play by the rules of your chosen religion or? Even in "recovery" we are taught that we should follow the "program" or go it alone with some associated label like non-compliant or seeking an easier softer way. There is not much room for our unique Spiritual nature in these structures. Comply or be an outcast.

Addressing that Mystery as the greatest aspect of our true nature is not usually acknowledged in the process of healing and Recovery. Spirituality has become reduced down to a definition or lesser aspect of a process that gives greater importance to how we measure up in the eyes of our therapists, if your a client or our colleagues, if a professional, whichever fits.We have given such power to the medical aspects of Recovery, medications and diagnosis, that symptom management has taken the place of getting to the source of the dis-ease, our disconnect from the Mystery within.Certainly Medicine is an important aspect of Recovery and it is just an aspect. As long as we live with fear of the unknown, Mystery,we will never "know" the truth that can only be found within.Connecting to the Truth within opens us up to all that life holds as possibility and frees us from our addiction to need and judgment as a measure of happiness and success.

There is nothing new about my point of view. You can read it in Eckharts Tolle's work or A COURSE IN MIRACLES or the teachings of don Miguel Ruiz or the Kaballah or any one of the many mystery schools that have been sources of expansive consciousness for thousands of years.

Those mystery schools were the living of what we call spirituality and have survived by requiring their participants to live their own unique creative relationship with the cause and effect of the respective schools practices and teachings. The mystery school is not a literal, tells you what to think or do process.
A mystery school is alive, spontaneous, creative and demanding that to participate you must let go of what you think you know or your experience will be limited by your attachment to that knowing.

As one who lives a relationship with the mystery and also with the world of recovery I believe it is time we examined all these things that we say we believe or know and hold sacred as though to question them would somehow be disrespectful.What are we afraid of , really? We certainly have not achieved a level of success with what we offer our clients that would allow us the privilege of being beyond question. We're just not that good.

There can be no happy, joyous and free without the integration of Spirit and mystery, with knowledge, science, belief and faith.

This is an amazing time in the history of this world. There are no aspects of what we humans have accepted as truth or fact that are not going to be challenged. This is the time to let go and let that God within merge with our having lived for what the world would offer us as good enough. Maybe, as many of the ancient prophecies have proclaimed, Heaven is returning to Earth...maybe Hell...For me the less I hang onto the easier it is to rise to the surface.

How about you, what are you hanging onto that may be in need of questioning? How much of an awareness do you live with the Mystery? Have you recovered? Will we allow Heaven or demand hell? It's all a matter of courage and choice, just like we tell our clients...