The Highlights of William James towards Spiritual Recovery from Addictions Taken from the "Varieties of Religious Experience"
A most ideal reading for those experiencing difficulty with the Spiritual Aspect of the 12 step program to the Recovery of Happiness
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
“Summing up in the broadest possible way the characteristics of the spiritual life, as we have found them, it includes the following beliefs: -
1. That the visible world is part of a more spiritual universe from which it draws its chief significance;
2. That union or harmonious relation with that higher universe is our true end;
3. That prayer or inner communion with the spirit there of – be that spirit “God” or “law” – is a process wherein work is really done, and spiritual energy flows in and produces effects, psychological or material, within the phenomenal world.
“Religion includes also the following psychological characteristic: -
4. A new zest which adds itself like a gift to life, and takes the form either of lyrical enchantment or of appeal to earnestness and heroism.
5. An assurance of safety and a temper of peace, and, in relation to others a preponderance of loving affections.”
“We who have pursued such (investigation of Religion and Spirituality) may now be sure that we know its secrets as authentically as anyone can know them.”
“The pivot round which the religious life, as we have traced it, revolves, is the interest of the individual in his private personal destiny. Religion, in short, is a monumental chapter in the history of human egotism. The gods believed in – whether by crude savages or by men disciplined intellectually – agree with one another in recognizing personal calls. Religious thought is carried on in terms of personality, this being, in the world of religion, the one fundamental fact. Today, quite as much as at any previous age, the religious individual tells you that the divine meets him on the basis of his personal concerns.” William James 480-481
“The further limits of our being plunge into an altogether other dimension of existence from the sensible and merely “understandable” world; and so far as our ideal impulses originate in this region, we belong to it in a more intimate sense than that in which we belong to the visible world, for we belong in the most intimate sense wherever our ideals belong.
“Yet the unseen region in question is not merely ideal, for it produces effects in the world. When we commune with it, work is actually done upon our finite personality, for we become new men, and consequences in the way of conduct, follow in the natural world upon our regenerative change. But that which produces effects within another reality must be termed a reality itself, so I feel we have no philosophic excuse for calling the unseen or mystical world unreal.
“God is the natural appellation, so I will call this higher part of the universe by the name of God. God and us have business with each other; and in opening ourselves to his influence our deepest destiny is fulfilled. The universe, at whose part which our personal being constitutes, takes a turn genuinely for the worse or for the better in proportion as each one of us fulfills or evades God’s demands. As far as this goes I probably have you with me, for I only translate into schematic language what I may call the instinctive belief of mankind: God is real since he produces real effects.” William James p. 475-507
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
The "Varieties of Religious Experience" is the most profound series of lectures to inspire the founding fathers of what is commonly know as the 12 program towards spiritual revovery from alcohol and drugs; to include eating disorders and gambling. The highlights of the James Lectures are the key references extracted and compiled by Jim G. to assist the recovering addict towards identifying a higher power that is personal to his or her own understanding. Added to the highlights, Jim G. gives a more contemporary narration with updated referencces and a comparison to the steps of recovery and other religious and philosophical schools of reality. It also points out the personal nature of mysticism to include prayer and meditation. Included is Jims' personal theory of how our life needs to be changed from a narcissistic self-arrogance to the altruistic sacrifice in helping others achieve eternal happiness. In so doing, God's personal grace changes our fear and anxiety into the peace of serenity; whereby the tear drops leave our eyes and we can live the remainder of our journey with acceptance towards heaven on earth.
About the Author
Retired from the Army Medical Corp as a former Medical Records investigator for Congressional Inquires and the Senior Instructor to Nursing Education and Staff Development at Evans U.S. Army Hospital, Ft. Carson, CO.
Raised through a strict Roman Catholic environment to the age of 18 while living with what is now known as ADHD coupled with a congenital hearing loss.
Drafted into the Army in the height of the Vietnam War, but later to become a career combat medic and nurse addicted to Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex. Regardless of the various addiction therapies; Jim's dissorders progressed to contracting the Human Immunodeficiency Virus in 1992. Furthermore, diagnosed as Bi-Polar type II Disorder, he became a member of the Southern Colorado AIDs program, the Depression and Bi-Polar Support alliance, and Alcoholics Anonymous.
After many relapses with closer encounters of death, Jim G. moved to Sin City Las Vegas . It was thear where he had his last relapse and after treatment committed himself to a one year stay with the strictest recovery home of the city.
Through reading the various books pertaining to religion, spirituality, and the investigation of miricles, Jim went back to the religion of his choice and began to practise his faith on a more personal relationship with God.
He is now able to live peacefully within two miles of the Las Vegas strip without having to pick up a drink or drug; and is currently doing volunteer work for a well known psychiatric hospital specializing in behavior rehabilitation and substance abuse recovery.