partly on a total failure to understand the statistics in the A.A. Triennial
Membership Surveys for 1977 through 1989. But his backers and supporters
From: Baileygc23@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/28/2009 2:02:00 PM
(elg3_79 at yahoo.com)
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age p.81 has a
reference to a Thai Buddhist abbot approving
the Twelve Steps, quoted in As Bill Sees It
p.223.
Y'all's in service,
Ted G.
- - - -
From: Baileygc23@aol.com (Baileygc23 at aol.com)
Interest in Buddhism went back of AA into the
Oxford Group period. In his historical novel
Wide is the Gate (1943), Upton Sinclair described
Oxford Groupers holding séances in London with
a self-proclaimed medium who claimed to channel
the spirits of the Indian chief Tecumseh and a
long-dead Ceylonese Buddhist monk.
This account (from AA Literature) is also worth
reading: an excerpt from the author of the
"Physician, Heal Thyself!", interview with the
Grapevine (GV). October 1995 edition.
GV: Have you had periods in sobriety that were
emotionally difficult?
Dr. Earle: Oh my, yes. So did Bill -- you know
that Bill had a long depression. Let me tell
you how I got at some emotional rest. Years
ago, a medical college in the South asked me
to go to Saigon as a visiting professor to
help the Vietnamese set up a new department
in gynecology and obstetrics.
Before I left, I went back to see Bill and Lois
and Marty M. and some others, and I spent about
eight or nine days back in New York before I
went to Asia. Bill took me to the airport and
on the way there he said, "You know, Earle,
I've been sober longer than anyone else in our
organization. After all I was sober six months
when I met Bob. But," he said, "I don't have
too much peace of mind." He said, "I feel down
in the dumps a hell of a lot."
So I said, "So do I, Bill. I don't have much
serenity either." I was sober by this time
maybe sixteen, seventeen years. He said,
"Do me a favor. When you get over to Asia,
see if you can investigate firsthand, the
various religions in Asia. That means Hinduism,
Buddhism, and Taoism, and Confucianism and
ancestral worship and the whole shebang."
And I said, "All right, I'll do it." And he
said, "Stay in contact with me and maybe we
can find something in those religions. After
all, we've taken from William James, we've
taken from all the Christian religions. Let's
see what these others have."
So I hugged Bill and got on the plane and went
to Asia. I had three or four rest and relaxation
periods a year but I didn't rest and relax. I
was determined to find something that would
bring peace and serenity to me. I spent a lot
of time in Nepal and in Indonesia. I spent time
in India.
I went into these places looking, looking,
looking for serenity. I spent two or three
years just driving to find out something. I
tried meditation, I read the Bhagavad Gita,
the Vedas -- everything. I went to an ashram on
the southeast coast of India, run by a very
famous guru and saint. There were about a hundred
and fifty East Indians there. I was the only
Westerner and they welcomed me. I wore a dhoti
-- that's a white skirt that men wear --
and I wore one like the rest of them did. We
all ate on the ground on great big banana
leaves over a yard long. There would be food
on the banana leaves and you'd make it into a
ball with your right hand and throw it into
your mouth. There were no knives or forks at
all, so I did what they did. I didn't like the
taste very much but I did it.
I happened to be there at the time of the Feast of Dewali. Dewali is like
our
time of Easter; it's the time of renewal. We were awakened on the early
morning
of Dewali around two o'clock. This ashram was located at the base of a
mountain
known as Arunachal. Now Arunachal in Hindi means sun, and the myth goes that
one
of the gods, Rama, lives inside of this mountain.
We were told we had to walk around the base of this mountain-which was a ten
mile walk-and as we walked, we were yelling to Rama. If you do it in a very
firm
and believing way, it's said that Rama will come up and wave at you and
bless
you. I was there, and I did it. We walked around and we were yelling "Rama,
Rama, Rama" hoping that Rama would come up and bless us all. They all walked
in
their bare feet. I didn't, I wore my shoes. Gosh, I was tired. But I walked
all
night long, the whole distance.
After that event, I came back to my little apartment in Saigon, ready to
return
to my medical work. I was so beaten because I'd been driving and searching
and
clenching my fists for almost three years (and I kept writing to Bill about
all
this, you know). And I came into my apartment and I suddenly collapsed down
onto
the floor. I lay there breathing kind of heavily and I said to myself, "Oh
to
hell with serenity, I don't care if it ever comes."
And I meant it. And do you know what happened? All of a sudden the craving
to
find serenity utterly evaporated-and there it was. Serenity. The trouble was
the
search . . . looking out there for what was right here.
You know, we only have this given second. There's always now. Once I
realized
that, serenity became mine. Now -- I'm speaking about emotions -- I haven't
sought one single thing since that day because it's all right here. I often
say
to people at meetings. "You're trying to find peace of mind out there. I
don't
blame you, but it isn't out there. It's here. Right here."
Now do I think there is a supreme being, a God? Sure I do. Of course. But do
I
have any religious beliefs? No. Religion demands that you do certain things
and
my life in AA isn't like that. AA is a very loose-Jointed organization.
People
say there is only one way to work the program. That's crazy. We talk about
the
"suggested" Steps, which are guides to recovery, not absolutes. Chapter five
of
the Big Book says "no one among us has been able to maintain anything like
perfect adherence to these principles." If we had all the members of AA
standing
here, everyone would have a different idea what AA is all about. Bill's idea
was
different from Dr. Bob's, yours will bedifferent from mine. And yet they're
all
based on one thing and that is: don't drink, and use the Twelve Steps in
your
own way.
- - - -
SEE ALSO HIS BIOGRAPHY IN THE WEB SITE ON
THE AUTHORS OF THE STORIES IN THE BIG BOOK:
http://www.a-1associates.com/westbalto/HISTORY_PAGE/Authors.htm
Dr. Earl M. San Francisco Bay area, California
"Physician Heal Thyself"
2nd edition p. 393, 3rd edition p. 345, 4th edition p. 301
Earle had his last day of drinking and using drugs on June 15, 1953. An A.A.
friend, Harry, took him to his first meeting the following week, the Tuesday
Night Mill Valley A.A. group, which met in Wesley Hall at the Methodist
Church.
There were only five people there, all men: a butcher, a carpenter, a baker,
and
his friend Harry H, a mechanic/inventor. He loved A.A. from the start, and
though he has been critical of the program at times, his devotion has
remained
constant.
Described in his story heading as a psychiatrist and surgeon, he was
qualified
in many fields. During his long career, he has been a prominent professor of
obstetrics and gynecology, and an outstanding clinician at the University of
California at San Francisco. He was a fellow of the American College of
Surgeons
and of the International College of Surgeons, a diplomat of the American
Board
of Obstetrics and Gynecology, board-certified psychiatrist, vice-president
of
the American Association of Marital and Family Therapists, and a lecturer on
human sexuality.
He was raised in San Francisco, but was born on August 3, 1911, in Omaha,
Nebraska, and lived there until he was ten. His parents were alcoholics. In
Omaha they lived on the wrong side of the tracks, and he wore hand-me-down
clothes from relatives. He was ashamed of this, and could not begin to
accept it
until years later. He revealed none of this in his story. Instead he talked
about how successful he had been in virtually everything he had done. He
said he
lost nothing that most alcoholics lose, and described his skid row as the
skid
row of success.
But in 1989 he wrote an autobiography by the same title, which reveals much
more
of his story.
During his first year in A.A. he went to New York and met Bill Wilson. They
became very close and talked frequently both on the phone and in person. He
frequently visited Bill at his home, Stepping Stones. He called Bill one of
his
sponsors, and said there was hardly a topic they did not discuss in detail.
He
took a Fifth Step with Bill. And Bill often talked over his depressions with
Earle.
In a search for serenity Earle studied and practiced many forms of religion:
Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and ancestor worship.
He has long been a strong advocate for the cross-addiction theory, and
predicted
that over time we would see the evolution of Addictions Anonymous.
When he was sober about ten years, Earle developed resentments against
newcomers
and began a group in San Francisco for oldtimers. It was called The Forum.
He
wrote a credo for it designed of ten steps for chemically dependent people.
He
felt that addiction represents a single disease with many open doors leading
to
it: alcohol, opiates, amphetamines, cocaine, etc. Most of the Forum members
were
also devoted A.A. members.
He also established a new kind of A.A. group, which used confrontational
techniques. Some A.A. members disliked it intensely, while others seemed to
gain
a great deal from it.
Many alcoholics make geographic changes when they are drinking. But Earle
seems
to have made his after achieving sobriety. He has lived in many places, both
in
this country and abroad, traveled around the world three times, and attended
A.A. everywhere he went. He also married several times.
In 1968 he divorced his first wife, Mary, whom he had married in 1940. She
once
told him she had great respect for him as a doctor, but none as a human
being.
He admitted that he'd had affairs during the marriage, even after joining
A.A.
His relationship with their only child, Jane, who was a very successful
opera
singer, was strained, but he gave her an opportunity to air her feelings in
his
book. She wrote that when she received the gold medallion at the
International
Tchaikovsky Voice Competition in Moscow in 1966, a high honor, her father
did
not attend. Some people told her that it was not easy for him to see her
become
such a success -- to be so in the public eye. She added that their paths
were
still separate, but she did not ever totally close a door because he WAS her
father.
In the 1960s he was experimenting with encounter and sensitivity awareness
groups, which were then in vogue. At one of the encounter marathons he met
his
second wife, Katie, and within a year they were married and soon moved to
Lake
Tahoe. They lived separately except for two brief periods, and after a few
years
were divorced.
Later he accepted a job with the U.S. State Department at the University of
Saigon Medical School, in Korea. He spent five years there, after which he
returned to San Francisco, hoping to rekindle his marriage to Katie.
In September 1975 he moved to Hazard, Kentucky, to work at the Hazard
Appalachian Regional Hospital. There he met his third wife, Freda, thirty
years
younger than he was. Freda came from a truly humble background. She was the
daughter of a miner who had died of black lung disease. She and her six
brothers
were raised in a typical two-room coal miner's house in Hazard. During his
relationship with her and her family he was able to put to rest some ghosts
concerning his Nebraska background. This wonderful family helped him to
re-evaluate his memories of Omaha.
In 1978 his feet began again to itch again. He accepted short-term job in
Napal.
When he was offered a long-term assignment Freda and his stepsons did not
want
to leave Kentucky. Disappointed, he returned to Kentucky, and obtained work
as a
gynecologist in a family planning clinic, and also lectured to medical
students
on human sexuality at the University of Louisville Medical School. When he
moved
again, this time to Kirkland, Washington, Freda again refused to leave
Kentucky.
They were divorced soon after. They remained friendly and talked to one
another
on the phone about twice a year.
From all his travels, he always seemed to return to the San Francisco Bay
Area.
In 1980 he accepted a position as medical director of the Institute for
Advanced
Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. There he met his fourth wife,
Mickey.
She was a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute. He described her as a vibrant,
open,
honest, direct woman without pretense, non-threatening, sexually on fire,
lacking in prejudice, and tolerant about all aspects of life -- including
human
sexuality. She was already an Al-Anon member when they met, having been
married
to an alcoholic. She also made contributions in the field of alcoholism and
recovery at Merritt Peralta Chemical Dependence Recovery Hospital in
Oakland,
California. They married and remained together until her death in 2000. His
book
is dedicated to her.
I talked to Earle on July 27, 2001. He told me he still gets to an A.A.
meeting
almost every day. His eyesight is not too good, but otherwise he is full of
vim
and vigor. Form his voice, I would have taken him for a man of 40. He missed
the
A.A. International Convention last year because of Mickey's ill health, but
he
hopes to attend the one in 2005.
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++++Message 6189. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Swedenborgianism and the Burnham
family''s religious beliefs
From: Arthur S . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/28/2009 7:07:00 PM
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An omission on my part - Lois' grandfather
Nathan Clark Burnham, a Swedenborgian minister,
performed the wedding ceremony.
Arthur
- - - -
From: Arthur S
Subject: Re: Swedenborgianism and the Burnham
family's religious beliefs
A small Swedenborgian factoid:
On January 24, 1918, spurred by rumor that
Bill W might soon go overseas, he and Lois
were married at the Swedenborgian Church of
the New Jerusalem in Brooklyn, NY. The wedding
date was originally scheduled for February 1.
Lois' brother Rogers Burnham was best man (he
was also reputed to be good friends with Bill).
Cheers
Arthur
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++++Message 6190. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Huxley on Bill W. as social
architect
From: Arthur S . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/28/2009 8:13:00 PM
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Big Book (pg 125): "We alcoholics are sensitive people"
Baileygc23, message 6169 was not a criticism
of you -- it was a criticism of the way many AA
members seem to take broad-brush and back-handed
swipes at religion.
Bill W's statements to the American Psychiatric Association 105th Annual
Meeting in Montreal (May 1949) noted that:
"Alcoholics Anonymous is not a religious organization; there is no dogma.
The one theological proposition is a "Power greater than one's self." Even
this concept is forced on no one. The newcomer merely immerses himself in
our society and tries the program as best he can. Left alone, he will surely
report the gradual onset of a transforming experience, call it what he may.
Observers once thought A.A. could appeal only to the religiously
susceptible. Yet our membership includes a former member of the American
Atheist Society and about 20,000 others almost as tough. The dying can
become remarkably open minded. Of course we speak little of conversion
nowadays because so many people really dread being God-bitten. But
conversion, as broadly described by James, does seem to be our basic
process; all other devices are but the foundation. When one alcoholic works
with another, he but consolidates and sustains that essential experience.
... We like to think Alcoholics Anonymous a middle ground between medicine
and religion, the missing catalyst of a new synthesis. This to the end that
the millions who still suffer may presently issue from their darkness into
the light of day! ..."
[==THIS IS THE INTERESTING PART==]
"I am sure that
none attending this great Hall of Medicine will feel it untoward if I leave
the last word to our silent partner, Religion: God grant us the serenity to
accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and
wisdom to know the difference."
This is a bit of a different context than you originally cited. Bill W did
not distance himself from religion - he wished only to avoid the perception
or action of affiliation. The closest individual friendship Bill had (in
terms of a genuine sponsor) was Father Edward Dowling, a Jesuit priest. Dr
Bob had the same type of friendship with Sister Ignatia, a Catholic Nun.
Bill W and Dr Bob treated them both with respect and affection and did not
consider them pariahs. Bill W also underwent 2 years of personal instruction
with Bishop Fulton J Sheen with the intention of converting to Roman
Catholicism. He later declined to convert reputedly because he did not want
to give the impression of affiliation.
Happy holidays (a contraction of "holy days")
Arthur
- - - -
Original message from: Baileygc23@aol.com
(Baileygc23 at aol.com)
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Subject: Re: Re: Huxley on Bill W. as social architect
Message #6169 from "Arthur S" was an extremely
lengthy criticism of me for saying, in Message 6165
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/6165
"AA is not a Religious organization; there is
no dogma. The one theological proposition is
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