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The Spiritual Experience

Updated: Feb 20

Everyone is talking about spirituality. When I visited my local book shop recently 24 out of the top 25 non-fiction books were about the spiritual experience. It is non-fiction. The spiritual experience is a fact. It is a superpower. But what is it?


Everyone is on a spiritual journey, they just don't always realise it yet. The spiritual experience is sometimes called a 'sacred experience' or a 'peak experience.' The concept originated in the 19th century, as a defence against the growing obsessive rationalism of Western society.




Carl Gustav Jung, the psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and founder of analytical psychology, who was also a spiritual Master, described the spiritual experience as being an essential part of healing that everyone must undertake.


The spiritual experience is not a hippy, New Age concept. It's one of the most important fundamental experiences that you must have to gain any sort of personal power. It is required for anyone if you want to live a happy, joyous, free, and abundant life. It is required if you want to achieve Real Personal Power in your personal life, and also in leadership circles: In fact it is the one fundamental experience that will revolutionise every aspect of your life. So let's dive in shall we?


How to have a spiritual experience


What is a spiritual experience?

The spiritual experience is an experience of wonder and awe about the Universe that is associated with a profound change in the character of an individual, an expanded consciousness, and feels like bliss, but it may also be defined as when you can suddenly miraculously do what you couldn’t do alone. It has been shown that over 70 percent of people in the Western World feel this deep sense of wonder. It involves transcendance and the divine aspects of the unseen Spirit of the Universe.


Deepak Chopra wrote "If I may take the risk of defining what a spiritual experience is, it is one in which pure awareness reveals itself to you as the maker of reality - where you suddenly discover through insight or meditation or a freak accident that your essential nature is spiritual, non-material."


For the majority of human history, altered states of consciousness and the belief in the sacredness of life were not only commonplace, they were the cornerstones of social structures and collective wisdom. It is, in fact, only a very recent development that humans consider spirituality to be illegitimate or made-up. Like falling in love, no one seems to be quite sure what causes a spiritual experience, how to define it, or what makes it so special, but once you’ve felt it, you know. You see everything differently. You’d been following one trajectory, one set of expectations and desires, then all of the sudden you’re experiencing something new. It’s so profound and intoxicating that your life must shift and expand to include nurturing and tending this new experience. Spiritual experiences are a whole new kind of feeling. They change you. It's a visceral feeling. They give your life a different dimension it did not have before. Once you’ve touched that light, that source, even for an instant, even just looked at it squarely, you cannot see anything the same way again. You cannot continue with the same patterns and priorities you had before - or, you can try, until you end up so conflicted and miserable that you ultimately give in and start taking your spirituality seriously.


The spiritual experience is a subtle, bodily feeling. It is the heart of Faith, and by that I don't mean religion. The spiritual experience is a deep sense of peace and well-being.


Seeing the beauty of Nature can be a spiritual experience, such as walking in the woods, seeing the panorama of a sunset over the sea, or seeing the stars. Some people have said these moments are like an 'oceanic feeling' because the experience feels as big as an ocean. Henryk Skolimowski wrote that "The first act of awe, when man was struck with the beauty or wonder of Nature, was the first spiritual experience." Neil deGrasse Tyson wrote "Some claim evolution is just a theory. As if it were merely an opinion. The theory of evolution, like the theory of gravity, is a scientific fact. Evolution really happened. Accepting our kinship with all life on Earth is not only solid science. In my view, it’s also a soaring spiritual experience." Father Richard Rohr wrote that "People who’ve had any genuine spiritual experience always know that they don’t know. They are utterly humbled before mystery. They are in awe before the abyss of it all, in wonder at eternity and depth, and a love, which is incomprehensible to the mind." Jamling Tenzing Norgay wrote that "In the mountains, worldly attachments are left behind, and in the absence of material distractions, we are opened up to spiritual thought. We should be attempting to carry the spiritual experience of the mountains with us everywhere." Albert Einstein wrote that "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."


You may also have a spiritual experience during creating from the heart, as it approximates you to your Higher Power. Writing is when I feel my spiritual experience so vividly. Edvard Munch wrote that "The notes I have made are not a diary in the ordinary sense, but partly lengthy records of my spiritual experiences, and partly poems in prose." John H. Groberg wrote "Nothing spiritual to write? Then have spiritual experiences." The writer Ottessa Moshfegh wrote "For me writing isn't a mental exercise, it's barely even a literary exercise, it feels like a spiritual experience." Wassily Kandinsky wrote that "The sensations of colours on the palette can be spiritual experiences." Madhuri Dixit wrote that "For me dancing is not just moving your arms and legs but basically it's a very spiritual experience. It's part of me and a second nature to me. You can say it is in my blood." Sue Monk Kidd wrote "For me, creativity is essentially a spiritual experience, a conversation between my soul and me." Kate Arrington wrote that "To me, theatre is a spiritual experience. Probably the reason I do theatre is it, I guess, comes the closest to feeling like God, or to feeling a spiritual experience that people can have together."


One can also feel this experience when holding a newborn child, as they effectively invite us in to total presence and spiritual bliss.


One may also have a spiritual experience when looking at art or listening to music. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote "Art thaws even the frozen, darkened soul, opening it to lofty spiritual experience." Malvina Hoffman wrote that "Sculpture is a parable in three dimensions, a symbol of a spiritual experience, and a means of conveying Truth by concentrating its essence into visible form... It must be the reflection of the artist who creates it and of the era in which he lives, not an echo or a memory of other days and other ways." Dave Brubeck wrote that "The use of rock, folk, or pop music serves a purpose. It gets people into the church. But an inexperienced guitar player who doesn't have much to say, for example, can make me wish to leave the church immediately, whereas one great jazz or classical guitarist can confirm that I will have a spiritual experience in the church."


This is also true of watching great sporting events. Tom Brady wrote that "As an athlete, when you are on that field and the fans get really engaged and you can feel their energy and passion and true love of the game, it is absolutely a spiritual experience." Gael Garcia Bernal wrote that "When it's good, cinema can be one of the most important things in a person's life. A film can be a catalyst for change. You witness this and it is an incredibly spiritual experience that I'd never lived before; well, maybe only in a football match."


A spiritual experience is described as an incident that goes beyond human understanding in how this experience could have happened in the first place. Almost half of U.S. adults report having had a sudden feeling of connection with something from beyond this world.


We don't need established religion to have a spiritual experience. Sam Harris wrote "A kernel of truth lurks at the heart of religion, because spiritual experience, ethical behaviour, and strong communities are essential for human happiness. And yet our religious traditions are intellectually defunct and politically ruinous. While spiritual experience is clearly a natural propensity of the human mind, we need not believe anything on insufficient evidence to actualise it."


Paulo Coelho wrote that "We must never forget that spiritual experience is above all a practical experience of love. And with love, there are no rules." He continued "In love lies the seed of our growth. The more we love, the closer we are to the spiritual experience."  I love his quote about living from the heart “You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it is better to listen to what it has to say.” 


Marianne Williamson said that "The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love."


Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote that "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." He also wrote that "Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire." He also wrote that "Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves."


A spiritual experience is a personality change and transformation sufficient to bring about healing and recovery. It involves a feeling of 'God-consciousness.' It may be sudden or gradual (it is then called a spiritual awakening). It results in a profound alteration in our reaction to life. We respond instead of reacting. It cannot be brought about by ourselves alone. We need a guide, a sponsor, or an Enlightened Witness.


We must accept our powerlessness in order to access this power. It involves true connection with others, and surrendering to a Higher Power. Spiritual experience is an inner resource, which individuals identify with connection to a Higher Power: This is the essence of a spiritual experience.


Prayer and meditation are essentials to increasing our conscious contact with our Higher Power. and may lead to spiritual experiences. Frederick Lenz wrote "From the point of view of meditation, there is nothing that is not God. When we meditate, we are participating in a spiritual experience. We are seeing life is not perhaps as we thought, but a little bit different, vastly different."


Yoga can also be a powerful way to have a spiritual experience. Faith Hunter wrote that "My yoga practice was and will always be a spiritual experience. I can honestly say, "Yoga delivered me back to GOD!""


A spiritual experience involves ego collapse at depth.


M. Scott Peck wrote that "The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece. The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning. The experience of spiritual power is basically a joyful one."


Bernard of Clairvaux wrote that "Spiritual life is like living water that springs up from the very depths of our own spiritual experience. In spiritual life everyone has to drink from his or her own well."


Deepak Chopra wrote that "Each of us is here to discover our true Selves; that essentially we are spiritual beings who have taken manifestation in physical form; that we're not human beings that have occasional spiritual experiences, that we're spiritual beings that have occasional human experiences."


The spiritual experience invokes peace. Oswald Chambers wrote that "The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience."


Wayne Dyer wrote that "Finally, if you still are growing, you reach the highest archetype, the archetype of the spirit. This is the time when you finally realise what Jesus meant when he said, "You are in this world, but you are not of this world." You are not here as a human being having a spiritual experience, but the reverse is true: All of us here are spiritual beings having a human experience."


Carl Jung wrote about the spiritual experience that "The only right and legitimate way to such an experience is, that it happens to you in reality and it can only happen to you when you walk on a path, which leads you to a higher understanding. You might be led to that goal by an act of Grace or through a personal and honest contact with friends, or through a higher education of the mind beyond the confines of mere rationalism." 


Abraham Heschel wrote that “Then comes the insight that All is God. One still realises that the world is as it was, but it does not matter, it does not affect one’s Faith.” God is not an object to be possessed. As practicing addicts, we tried to possess people and change reality through sex or substance addiction. We needed the illusions of power and control to sustain us. There was no God except ourselves, and secretly we feared there was no one inside of us, only blackness, a void. Step Three of the 12 step programme replaces the need to possess, the fear, and the void, with Faith. When we turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand God, we experience God. We let go of our self-will, no matter how haltingly, and trust that God will remake us according to spiritual principles. Step Three deepens our commitment to recovery. We put willingness, openness, and honesty in our lives because we need them and because others have said they work. It’s another act of Faith. How do we find God? We don’t. When we stop playing God and turn ourselves over to God, God finds us. Reading from the Big Book - it is clear that we made our own misery. I think we create our own fears too. If trouble comes, cheerfully use it to demonstrate his power.


For my full article about 'Spirituality' please click on the link:



Spirituality is looking within one's true Self. That's it. It's the journey from the overactive mind (the ego) into the open heart (the integrated, courageous, authentic, vulnerable, Higher Self). Lisa S. wrote that "Spirituality is the awareness that survival is a savage fight between you and yourself (the ego)."


The Buddha said that “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, man cannot live without a spiritual life.” Maxime Lagacé wrote “Spirituality: The art of keeping your internal fire alive.”


Lisa Miller wrote that “Spirituality is an inner sense of relationship to a Higher Power that is loving and guiding. The word we give to this Higher Power might be God, nature, spirit, the Universe, the creator, or other words that represent a divine presence. But the important point is that spirituality encompasses our relationship and dialogue with this Higher Presence.” Above all, spirituality points to connection, awe, purpose, and meaning.


As Marianne Williamson says in her book 'Tears to Triumph' "Everyone is on a spiritual journey: Most people just don’t know it." She continued “Spirituality isn't some quaint stepchild of an intelligent worldview, or the only option for those of us not smart enough to understand the facts of the real world. Spirituality reflects the most sophisticated mindset, and the most powerful force available for the transformation of human suffering.” 


Spirituality's aim is the process of re-formation, which "Aims to recover the original shape of man." It is concerned with the deepest values and meanings by which people live. It is the source of all your Superpowers.


The term spirit means "Animating or vital principle in human beings." It is derived from the Old French espirit, which comes from the Latin word spiritus (soul, courage, and vigour) and is related to spirare (to breathe). The reason that there is no agreed consensus on what it is, is that it is such a personal experience, and it is a Truth, a knowing, that is felt and not possible to put it into words.


The academic author Brené Brown says; "Spirituality is recognising and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning and purpose to our lives."


In Luke 17:20–21, Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the Kingdom of God is within YOU”. Carl Gustav Jung, psychiatrist, psychologist, philosopher and spiritual Master, put it beautifully and succinctly "Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." Looking inside is the path to Enlightenment and the cure for despair.


Spirituality involves the deepest core values by which people live. This is something that we explore at the beginning of our Transformative Life Coaching (TLC) sessions.


Spirituality is the description of the personal growth and transformation that will change your life more powerfully than any 'leadership' workshops; management training, 'masterclasses' or 'life-hacks', which actually hack away at your Real Personal Power. These limit you because they extol the virtues of the ego, which truly restricts you to lower levels of BEing and achievement that do not bring joy. The ego is your terrified 7-year old that is unconsciously running your life. Spirituality is when the adult, assertive, highest version of you wakes up and takes over.


Kamand Kojouri wrote; “We seek the fire of the spark that is already within us.” When you live from your soul, you feel a relentless surge of energy, that replaces the pressure of being driven by external validation from our parents, the world and our invented 'Gods'.


Spirituality is in a context separate from organised religious institutions. These are man-made and come from the ego. Spirituality can be defined generally as an individual's search for ultimate or sacred meaning, and purpose in life. It draws upon, and makes sense of, our 'inner life', of who we truly are. The ego is who we think we are. The soul is who we really are.


Spirituality has become increasingly associated with philosophy, positive psychology and timeless Truths: This is the basis of Transformative Life Coaching (TLC).


Spirituality is the short but life-long journey from the overactive mind to the heart. As Carl Jung said "Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart... The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are... People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls."


The Hindu Sage Ramana Maharshi said “Your own Self-realisation is the greatest service you can render the world.” How do we change the world? Khalil Gibran, philosopher, poet, and author, asks in 'The Prophet' "Is not civilisation, in all its tragic forms, a supreme motive for spiritual awakening?"


Eckhart Tolle wrote in 'The Power of Now, A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment' "Being spiritual has nothing to do with what you believe and everything to do with your state of consciousness."


Spirituality, according to Anthony De Mello, priest, psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and writer, (in his book 'Awareness') simply means; "'All is well', awareness, waking up, and finding your Self."


Spirituality is an individual intimate journey with a Higher Power (our Highest Self) that satisfies one's souls's calling to its purpose.


Jim Carrey wrote “I wondered: ‘Who is it that is aware that I am thinking?’ “And suddenly I was thrown into this expansive, amazing feeling of freedom - from myself, from my problems. I saw that I was bigger than what I do; I was bigger than my body.”


Danah Zohar, management thought leader, physicist, philosopher and author said “Most transformation programs satisfy themselves with shifting the same old furniture about in the same old room. But real transformation requires that we redesign the room itself. Perhaps even blow up the old room. It requires that we change the thinking behind our thinking.” This is why Transformational Life Coaching (TLC) is also known as 'Deep Coaching' or "Super-coaching.'


Spirituality breaks free from the restrictions and rigid structure sometimes associated with traditional religion. The spiritual aspirant recognises that he or she is on a “Pathless path” of Self-discovery. They are following not a set of external rules, but their own inner call to spirit. In this way, spirituality can sometimes feel like a rebellious act of going solo and leaving the tribe, very much in the spirit of American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said, “To be your Self in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Brené Brown wrote “I’ll leave you with this. There will be times when standing alone feels too hard, too scary, and we’ll doubt our ability to make our way through the uncertainty. Someone, somewhere, will say, “Don’t do it. You don’t have what it takes to survive the wilderness.” This is when you reach deep into your wild heart and remind yourself, “I am the wilderness.”


Spirituality embraces change, transformation and the evolution of expanded consciousness. With spiritual practice, ideas and interpretations change as individuals, societies, and the world move forward.


Emmet Fox, the author of the book 'The Sermon on the Mount', wrote “As you grow in true spiritual power and understanding you will actually find that many outer rules and regulations will become unnecessary; but this will be because you have really risen above them; never, never, because you have fallen below them. This point in your development, where your understanding of Truth enables you to dispense with certain outer props and regulations, is the Spiritual Coming of Age. When you really are no longer spiritually a minor, you will cease to need some of the outer observances that formerly seemed indispensable; but your resulting life will be purer, truer, freer, and less selfish than it was before; and that is the test.”


Pain is the touchstone of spiritual progress. Pema Chodron wrote "Most spiritual experiences begin with suffering. They begin with groundlessness. They begin when the rug has been pulled out from under us." Elizabeth Kübler-Ross wrote “Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from.”


Recovery and the spiritual experience

The spiritual experience is defined in Appendix II of the 'Big Book':



I have highlighted the most important sections in bold below:


Appendix II. SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE:

The terms "spiritual experience" and "spiritual awakening" are used many times in this book which, upon careful reading, shows that the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism has manifested itself among us in many different forms.

Yet it is true that our first printing gave many readers the impression that these personality changes, or religious experiences, must be in the nature of sudden and spectacular upheavals. Happily for everyone, this conclusion is erroneous.

In the first few chapters a number of sudden revolutionary changes are described. Though it was not our intention to create such an impression, many alcoholics have nevertheless concluded that in order to recover they must acquire an immediate and overwhelming "God-consciousness" followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook.

Among our rapidly growing membership of thousands of alcoholics such transformations, though frequent, are by no means the rule. Most of our experiences are what the psychologist William James calls the "educational variety" because they develop slowly over a period of time. Quite often friends of the newcomer are aware of the difference long before he is himself. He finally realises that he has undergone a profound alteration in his reaction to life; that such a change could hardly have been brought about by himself alone. What often takes place in a few months could hardly be accomplished by years of self-discipline. With few exceptions our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves.

Most of us think this awareness of a Power greater than ourselves is the essence of spiritual experience. Our more religious members call it "God-consciousness."

Most emphatically we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual principles. He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial.

We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. WILLINGNESS, HONESTY AND OPEN MINDEDNESS ARE THE ESSENTIALS OF RECOVERY. BUT THESE ARE INDISPENSABLE.

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance--that principle is contempt prior to investigation." HERBERT SPENCER


Bill Wilson's letter to Carl Jung

 

I have highlighted in bold the most important elements of the letter.


My dear Dr. Jung:

      This letter of great appreciation has been very long overdue. May I first introduce myself as Bill W., a co-founder of the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous. Though you have surely heard of us, I doubt if you are aware that a certain conversation you once had with one of your patients, a Mr. Rowland H., back in the early 1930’s, did play a critical role in the founding of our Fellowship.

      Though Rowland H. has long since passed away, the recollections of his remarkable experience while under treatment by you has definitely become part of AA history. Our remembrance of Rowland H.’s statements about his experience with you is as follows:

      Having exhausted other means of recovery from his alcoholism, it was about 1931 that he became your patient. I believe he remained under your care for perhaps a year. His admiration for you was boundless, and he left you with a feeling of much confidence.

      To his great consternation, he soon relapsed into intoxication. Certain that you were his “court of last resort,” he again returned to your care. Then followed the conversation between you that was to become the first link in the chain of events that led to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.

      My recollection of his account of that conversation is this: First of all, you frankly told him of his hopelessness, so far as any further medical or psychiatric treatment might be concerned. This candid and humble statement of yours was beyond doubt the first foundation stone upon which our Society has since been built.

      Coming from you, one he so trusted and admired, the impact upon him was immense. When he then asked you if there was any other hope, you told him that there might be, provided he could become the subject of a spiritual or religious experience – in short, a genuine conversion. You pointed out how such an experience, if brought about, might remotivate him when nothing else could. But you did caution, though, that while such experiences had sometimes brought recovery to alcoholics, they were, nevertheless, comparatively rare. You recommended that he place himself in a religious atmosphere and hope for the best. This I believe was the substance of your advice.

      Shortly thereafter, Mr. Rowland H. joined the Oxford Groups, an evangelical movement then at the height of its success in Europe, and one with which you are doubtless familiar. You will remember their large emphasis upon the principles of self-survey, confession, restitution, and the giving of oneself in service to others. They strongly stressed meditation and prayer. In these surroundings, Rowland H. did find a conversion experience that released him for the time being from his compulsion to drink.

      Returning to New York, he became very active with the “O.G.” here, then led by an Episcopal clergyman, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker. Dr. Shoemaker had been one of the founders of that movement, and his was a powerful personality that carried immense sincerity and conviction.

      At this time (1932-34) the Oxford Groups had already sobered a number of alcoholics, and Rowland, feeling that he could especially identify with these sufferers, addressed himself to the help of still others. One of these chanced to be an old schoolmate of mine, Edwin T. (“Ebby”). He had been threatened with commitment to an institution, but Mr. H. and another ex-alcoholic “O.G.” member procured his parole and helped to bring about his sobriety.

      Meanwhile, I had run the course of alcoholism and was threatened with commitment myself. Fortunately I had fallen under the care of a physician – a Dr. William D. Silkworth – who was wonderfully capable of understanding alcoholics. But just as you had given up on Rowland, so had he given me up. It was his theory that alcoholism had two components – an obsession that compelled the sufferer to drink against his will and interest, and some sort of metabolism difficulty which he then called an allergy. The alcoholic’s compulsion guaranteed that the alcoholic’s drinking would go on, and the allergy made sure that the sufferer would finally deteriorate, go insane, or die. Though I had been one of the few he had thought it possible to help, he was finally obliged to tell me of my hopelessness; I, too, would have to be locked up. To me, this was a shattering blow. Just as Rowland had been made ready for his conversion experience by you, so had my wonderful friend, Dr. Silkworth, prepared me.

      Hearing of my plight, my friend Edwin T. came to see me at my home where I was drinking. By then, it was November 1934. I had long marked my friend Edwin for a hopeless case. Yet there he was in a very evident state of “release” which could by no means accounted for by his mere association for a very short time with the Oxford Groups. Yet this obvious state of release, as distinguished from the usual depression, was tremendously convincing. Because he was a kindred sufferer, he could unquestionably communicate with me at great depth. I knew at once I must find an experience like his, or die.

      Again I returned to Dr. Silkworth’s care where I could be once more sobered and so gain a clearer view of my friend’s experience of release, and of Rowland H.’s approach to him.

      Clear once more of alcohol, I found myself terribly depressed. This seemed to be caused by my inability to gain the slightest faith. Edwin T. again visited me and repeated the simple Oxford Groups’ formulas. Soon after he left me I became even more depressed. In utter despair I cried out, “If there be a God, will He show Himself.” There immediately came to me an illumination of enormous impact and dimension, something which I have since tried to describe in the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” and in “AA Comes of Age”, basic texts which I am sending you.

      My release from the alcohol obsession was immediate. At once I knew I was a free man. Shortly following my experience, my friend Edwin came to the hospital, bringing me a copy of William James’ “Varieties of Religious Experience”. This book gave me the realisation that most conversion experiences, whatever their variety, do have a common denominator of ego collapse at depth. The individual faces an impossible dilemma. In my case the dilemma had been created by my compulsive drinking and the deep feeling of hopelessness had been vastly deepened by my doctor. It was deepened still more by my alcoholic friend when he acquainted me with your verdict of hopelessness respecting Rowland H.

      In the wake of my spiritual experience there came a vision of a society of alcoholics, each identifying with and transmitting his experience to the next – chain style. If each sufferer were to carry the news of the scientific hopelessness of alcoholism to each new prospect, he might be able to lay every newcomer wide open to a transforming spiritual experience. This concept proved to be the foundation of such success as Alcoholics Anonymous has since achieved. This has made conversion experiences – nearly every variety reported by James – available on an almost wholesale basis. Our sustained recoveries over the last quarter century number about 300,000. In America and through the world there are today 8,000 AA groups.

      So to you, to Dr. Shoemaker of the Oxford Groups, to William James, and to my own physician, Dr. Silkworth, we of AA owe this tremendous benefaction. As you will now clearly see, This astonishing chain of events actually started long ago in your consulting room, and it was directly founded upon your own humility and deep perception.

      Very many thoughtful AAs are students of your writings. Because of your conviction that man is something more than intellect, emotion, and two dollars worth of chemicals, you have especially endeared yourself to us.

      How our Society grew, developed its Traditions for unity, and structured its functioning will be seen in the texts and pamphlet material that I am sending you.

      You will also be interested to learn that in addition to the “spiritual experience, “many AAs report a great variety of psychic phenomena, the cumulative weight of which is very considerable. Other members have – following their recovery in AA – been much helped by your practitioners. A few have been intrigued by the “I Ching” and your remarkable introduction to that work.

      Please be certain that your place in the affection, and in the history of the Fellowship, is like no other.


Gratefully yours,William G. W.

Co-founder Alcoholics Anonymous


Carl Jung's letter to Bill Wilson

The following link is to the correspondence between Bill Wilson and Dr Carl Jung:



Here is Dr Carl Jung's letter to Bill Wilson, again from Dr Silkworth's archives:


This extraordinary exchange of letter between Carl Jung and Bill Wilson reveals not only the direct historical ancestry of AA, but the bizarre situation wherein Jung, deeply involved with scientists and with a scientific reputation at stake, felt he had to be cautious about revealing his profound and lasting belief that the ultimate sources of recovery are spiritual sources.



Again, I have highlighted the most important sections in bold.


Dear Mr. Wilson,


Your letter has been very welcome indeed.

I had no news from Roland H. anymore and often wondered what has been his fate. Our conversation which he had adequately reported to you had an aspect of which he did not know. The reason, that I could not tell him everything, was that those days I had to be exceedingly careful of what I said. I had found out that I was misunderstood in every possible way. Thus I was very careful when I talked to Roland H. But what I really thought about, was the result of many experiences with men of his kind.

His craving for alcohol was the equivalent on a low level of the spiritual thirst of our being for wholeness, expressed in medieval language: The union with God.

How could one formulate such an insight in a language that is not misunderstood in our days?

The only right and legitimate way to such an experience is, that it happens to you in reality and it can only happen to you when you walk on a path, which leads you to a higher understanding. You might be led to that goal by an act of grace or through a personal and honest contact with friends, or through a higher education of the mind beyond the confines of mere rationalism. I see from your letter that Roland H. has chosen the second way, which was, under the circumstances, obviously the best one.

I am strongly convinced that the evil principle prevailing in this world, leads the unrecognised spiritual need into perdition, if it is not counteracted either by a real religious insight or by the protective wall of human community. An ordinary man, not protected by an action from above and isolated in society cannot resist the power of evil, which is called very aptly the Devil. But the use of such words arouse so many mistakes that one can only keep aloof from them as much as possible.

These are the reasons why I could not give a full and sufficient explanation to Roland H. but I am risking it with you because I conclude from your very decent and honest letter, that you have acquired a point of view above the misleading platitudes, one usually hears about alcoholism.

You see, Alcohol in Latin is “spiritus” and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is: 'Spiritus contra spiritum.'

Thanking you again for your kind letter.

I remain yours sincerely,


Real Personal Power and the spiritual experience

If you want to be successful in any area of your life, including in business circles, you need to have a spiritual experience. This involves shedding your small self, your ego, and embracing your Higher Power.


For my article on Real Personal Power click on the following link:



I will finish with the beautiful words of Julia Loren who said that "Those who shine with the glory of God are destined to become walking spiritual experiences for others. Those who covet being in His presence, soak in His love, quiet their souls and allow the Lord to change them, become transformed and grow from glory to glory. They become the ones who step up during such a time as this."


Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you: Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you.


George Bernard Shaw wrote that “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” Are you ready to change your mind?


Namaste.


Sending you love, light, and blessings brothers.


Olly



Email me: 





Hello,

I am delighted and enchanted to meet you. I coach men with 'Deep Coaching', 'Supercoaching', and Transformative Life Coaching (TLC). Thank you for reading this far. I very much look forward to connecting with the highest version of you, to seeing your highest possibility, and to our conversations. Please do contact me via my email for a free connection call and a free experience of coaching on Zoom or in person. 


“Transformative life coaching uniquely creates and holds the space for you to see your self afresh, with clarity, and step into new ways of BEing, which will transform how you perceive and intuitively create your world. My work is to guide you to raise your own conscious awareness to the level that you want to achieve.”







Click here for the books that I know will help you along your journey of recovering your Self:









I have a Bachelor's degree in Natural Sciences from Trinity College, Cambridge; a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Trinity College, Cambridge; a PhD Doctorate in Scientific Research from University College London (UCL); a Medical Degree (MD/MBBS) from The Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London and have been a doctor and reconstructive trauma and cancer surgeon in London for 20 years. I have a number of other higher qualifications in science and surgery. I have published over 50 peer reviewed PubMed cited scientific journal articles, have been an associate editor and frequent scientific faculty member, and am the author of several scientific books. I have been awarded my Diploma in Transformative Life Coaching in London, which has International Coaching Federation (ICF) Accreditation, as well as the UK Association for Coaching (AC), and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). I have been on my own transformative journey full time for over five years and I am ready to be your guide to you finding out who you really are and how the world works.




Please let me know if you would like to join our 'VOICE for men' VIP community: 'Vulnerability & Openness Is a Choice Ensemble', 'Visibility Is Power', where men can find their strength, courage, and authenticity, by dropping their egocentric fears and instead communicate openly with vulnerability. We are co-creating this space. It will change your life. It will empower you. This community is a safe space for men to connect and discuss philosophy, spirituality, positive psychology, awakening to Self-realisation, wisdom and timeless Truths, to share our experience, strength and hope, and to find solutions to our pain and fears. Our meeting is free to join. There is no script, just sharing.

 
 
 

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