"Understanding and Practicing Principles"

Principles can easiest be defined as causes

This is also the quickest way to put principles to work in ones life. Principles are universal, which means they work the same for every person. They work for the tyrant and the peace maker. This is a simplistic description and it's an accurate description. Remember Occam's Razor: "one should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything". If we accept the idea that principles are cause we need look no further. We, would be, problem solvers have found all we'll ever need. We can put them to work immediately.

I want to say something about the approach that I'm suggesting. First if we're working on anything but the source of our problems we're working to hard. Second it's a waste of time and energy. Freud had it figured. But one thing I noticed when I was studying psychology is that most of these guys were mystics. What I mean by this is they were looking for ways of getting to the bottom of something that was mysteriously a part of us. They didn't know what caused it. When they looked in to the nature of man they seemed to think that they were looking at a fixed aspect of human beings. Something innate in our make up. Then they looked for ways to reshape, dampen or modify it. This is why although they had part of the equation nailed they were unable, are still unable, to find the universal solution. Real solutions are universal. They always work and they work for everyone. I would like for us to all look for these aspects in the brand new humans we encounter. See any new humans with a jealous streak? Ever see a baby that looked like he just wanted to bounce up and stick a knife in you? Do we suppose that these dysfunctional tendencies grow as we mature? Like whiskers? I have found no reason to think that we're dealing with any form of precondition. Genetics are simply blueprints. Nothing is done by a blueprint. Through out history man has attributed names to conditions. Thunder is a condition that was to man unexplainable. He attributed the condition to the thunder god Thor. The same thing happened all over the planet. It's happening all over the planet today. When we can't explain something, we make something up. There is no need for Thor today. We know that air has mass and is electrically charged and warm air masses and cool air masses coming together make noise. I know, I liked Thor too. Preconditioned nature? Genetic predisposition? We don't need anything that complicated. Genetics has it's place. We know this from breeding peas and horses. Mainly it's a physical inheritor. When it comes to kooky, calm, lazy and skittish, there are just to many factors one would have to control to get anything like an absolute result. We'd have to raise people in vacuums. That really wouldn't work because there would still be the womb. It's just not going to be experimentally feasible and so it isn't good science. There are explanations for the formation of our nature. As easily understood as the cause of thunder. Why do we persist in making things difficult. Babies are born. They've been in an environment already so the process of individualization has already begun. If they make it through that and arrive with a commonly perceived normal brain, the process of personality development continues. We give them data and they grow up to be what we programmed them to be. Do we do all the programming from this dimension? Not likely. Is that sci-fi stuff?

Not really. Where do electrons go when they're gone? Where is the inverse property of gravity? Every thing we've ever observed has an inverse property. It's there. Somewhere. It will all turn out just like everything else has over the course of history. We thought it was this way, now we know it wasn't. Our brains receive data and chemicals: nutrients and toxins; that's all. I think if we can take this much with us through this chapter on principles it will be helpful. Later we can really dissect the thinking in it's entirety.

All twelve step programs, whether they deal with Cocaine or shopping, are copied from the original program that the founders of A.A. realized they had been following. They didn't have a official program when they took charge of their own treatment. When it came time to write the Big Book they had to look back and go over what they had done. Then they wrote it down as they recalled it had happened. That list of progressive action taken gave form to the steps we have today. They didn't invent the practices they followed. They didn't invent a magical cure. What they did was follow a set of principles. It was the adherence to these practices that brought an end to their destructive patterns. In continuing to practice certain principles they continued to make progress. AA is not a mystery. People don't get better by being a certain way, or being a certain type, or because they deserve it more. People will change according to what they do. That's the long and short of it. That means that there isn't any sense in analyzing it further. On the other hand there are no short cuts. Living life is not the great mystery that some would have us believe. Certainly there is a lot to discover, but that's just fun. What kid doesn't like to look at things? No it is all really very simple but our brains have been filled with arguments to the contrary.

A co-founder states," We didn't have the steps then, we had them, but we didn't know we had them". The writers state that the program is a set of principles, that when put into practice, will lead a person to being happy and usefully whole. In a nutshell, that's the whole point of any twelve step program: to introduce a life based on the intentional practice of certain principles. I'm going to make a statement here that may seem a little to absolute. To all inclusive, like I haven't examined a the variables. Before writing it I called a man I know who has about a hundred and seventy years of sobriety and he said write it. So here it is: It's impossible to be unhappy when practicing the principles of happiness. Here is a following observation: It's impossible to relapse when one is sane and happy. The principles of honesty, open mindedness and willingness can be practiced to achieve happiness and sanity. Think about it all you like. I know I would. Would a sane happy person harm himself?

No one invented principles. Principles aren't to be confused with morals or values or anything else that has been devised by men. That's why they work so well. You can call them spiritual principles, universal principles or life principles, the principles don't care. A good way to think about principles is the way we think about gravity. Its nothing personal. We know what it does even if we don't know the how and why. Gravity doesn't care what you call it. It effects everything the same regardless. It doesn't depend on your believing in it.

You don't need to understand gravity for it to work, or even be aware of it. You don't need to understand principles for them to work. Understanding is great, I seek it constantly, its just not a requirement for getting results from practicing principles. The only requirement for change is action. As is always the case, there is nothing new here. We all live our lives practicing principles. We practice them constantly: consciously or unconsciously. Knowing this we are faced, not with whether we'll practice principles, but which principles we'll practice. The first principle we deal with is honesty. Honesty

He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own.
Aesop

Be thou (or you) incapable of change in that which is right, and men will rely upon thee. Establish unto thyself principles of action; and see that thou ever act according to them. First know that thy principles are just, and then be thou.
Akhenaton

Ours is the age of substitutes: instead of language, we have jargon: instead of principles, slogans: and, instead of genuine ideas, bright ideas.
Eric Bentley

There are three constants in life... change, choice and principles.
Stephen Covey

Whatever I pay attention to will grow: I will take inventory of how I'm using my attention. I will keep a log of how much time I spend with television, video games, the computer, hobbies, gossip, work I don't care about, work I am passionate about, activities that fascinate me, and fantasies of escape or fulfillment. In this way I will find out what aspects of my life are going to grow. Then I will ask, "What do I want to grow in my life?" This will tell me where my attention needs to shift.

At any given moment, the universe is giving me the best results possible: I will concentrate today on the gifts in my life. I will focus on what is working instead of what is not isn't. I will appreciate this world of light and shadow. I will receive with grace the remarkable gift of awareness. I will notice how my own level of awareness makes me perceive the world I am co-creating.
Adapted from The Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2004).

A Framework For Universal Principles of Ethics

by Larry Colero, Crossroads Programs Inc.

If there was a set of universal ethical principles that applied to all cultures, philosophies, faiths and professions, it would provide an invaluable framework for dialogue.

Since 1997, the following framework of principles has been used by six instructors to facilitate learning and spark dialogue with a wide variety of students, business people and professionals in Africa, China, Czechoslovakia and across North America. In each case, participants were encouraged to suggest changes, additions or deletions. Only one minor change has ever been suggested.

What Good is a Set of Principles?

There are many tools for decision making, but few (secular) guides to indicate when situations might have an ethical implication. Yet this awareness is a crucial first step before decisions are made. Recognizing the moral context of a situation must precede any attempt to resolve it. Otherwise, what's to resolve?

Ethical dilemmas rarely present themselves as such. They usually pass us by before we know it or develop so gradually that we can only recognize them in hindsight - a little like noticing the snake after you've been bitten. But what are the signs that a snake might be present? An ethical framework is like a "snake detector".

I offer the following principles as landmarks - generic indicators to be used as compelling guides for an active conscience. They are NOT absolute rules or values. They are more like a rough measurement where an exact one is not possible. They often conflict with each other in practice, and some will trump others under certain circumstances. But as principles that need to be considered, they appear constant.

These principles are compatible with the argument that we should simply follow our intuition and rely on the "inner voice". However, that voice is not always audible, and today's society presents a wide range of complex circumstances that require more guidance than simply "concern for others" or "does it feel right?" And so these principles are offered effectively as a more detailed reference.

In a sense, the principles are outcomes of the mother of all principles - unconditional love and compassion - which appears in virtually all faiths, and is expressed here as "concern for the well-being of others". (This principle is at the heart of the stakeholder model of ethics, i.e. what is my impact on others?) At first glance, they will appear obvious and perhaps trite or simplistic. Keep in mind that they are meant to be practical rather than groundbreaking, and that many people have found them useful in the absence of other guides.

The principles have been organized into three categories for ease of use: Read more at www.ethics.ubc.ca, personal, professional and global ethics.

About the 12 Step Program

Twelve Step programs are well known for use in recovery from addictive or dysfunctional behaviors. The first 12 step program began with Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in the 1930s.

The 12 Step approach has since grown to be the most widely used approach in dealing with not only alcoholism, but also drug abuse and various other addictive or dysfunctional behaviors.

The first book written to cover the 12 step program was titled "Alcoholics Anonymous", affectionately known as the Big Book by program members. Following the subsequent extensive growth of twelve step programs, numerous books and other media were created to cover the steps in more detail and for different addictive and dysfunctional behaviors. An extensive chronology and background about the history of A.A. has been put together at Dick B.'s website.

The twelve steps of the program are listed above in generic form. Other groups who have adopted the 12 steps to address their own particular addictive or dysfunctional behavior have similar ideas with some variations.

These steps are meant to be worked sequentially as a process of getting rid of addictive behaviors and growing in freedom and happiness, as laid out in the Twelve Promises. The general governing approach for A.A. groups was originally laid out in the Twelve Traditions, which remain the guiding principles still in use today.

There is a wealth of further information about 12 Step programs in the Wikipedia, including a list of 12 step groups.