Big Book Myths
name “Big Book” is actually a nickname.
1) why was it nick named that ?
2) is this nick name mentioned in the book? Yes or No
1)It was used to describe the book (it the first printing) because of the thickness of the paper used.
2)The name “Big Book” is referenced only once in the “forward to the second edition” but it acknowledged only as a nick name.
“This program is caught not taught”
Is this correct saying we hear in AA meetings ?
Page xiii Paragraph 1: “To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book.”
I’m a recovering alcoholic. Is this correct to say “recovering”
Title Page: “ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS. The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism”
Page 20, paragraph 2: “Doubtless you are curious to discover how and why, in face of expert opinion to the contrary, we have recovered from a hopeless condition of mind and body.
Foreword to the First Edition: “We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.”
Page 29, paragraph 2: “Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered.”
Page 132, paragraph 3: “We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others.”
You don’t need a shrink. You have an alcoholic personality. All you will ever need is in the first 164 pages of the Big Book.”
Page 133, 2nd paragraph: “But this does not mean that we disregard human health measures. God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitate to take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and bodies. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterward.”
“I haven’t had a drink today”
can I call myself successful ?
Page 19, paragraph 1: “The elimination of drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs.”
how much $$ was the Big Book when first came out ? Guess
what would it be the equivalent to $$ today? Guess
In April 1939, 4,730 copies of the 1st edition of “Alcoholics Anonymous” were published.
The price was $3.50. It was a very expensive book for its time.
The equivalent to $58 a copy today.
In meetings we hear get an “Easy does it!” attitude
is direction to “Easy does it!” in the Big Book ?
Page 59 Paragraph 2: “Half measures availed us nothing.”
Page 84 Paragraph 3: “We vigorously commenced this way of living, as we cleaned up the past.”
Page 58 Paragraph 1: “…a manner of living which requires rigorous honesty.”
Page 58 Paragraph 2: “If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it–then you are ready to take certain steps.”
Page 58 Paragraph 3: “We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start.”
is this meeting saying true ?
“We are all just an arms length away from a drink”
Page 84, paragraph 4, “And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone – even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality – safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us”
“Take what you want and leave the rest”
Page 17, paragraph 3: “The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism.”
What is the full title of the original "Big Book"?
Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism
are there any “musts” in the Big Book or only “suggestions” ?
If Yes - how many MUSTS or SUGGESTIONS are there ? (guess)
There is a myth that there are no “musts” in AA, only “suggestions”. Glance at pages 14, 44, 73, 74, 79 and 85. These pages are littered with “musts”
Actually there are 123 incidences of the word “must” in total.
We hear “The gift of sobriety”
Is sobriety truly a gift ? or is smth we earn?
Page 14, Paragraph 2: “Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant the destruction of self-centeredness.”
“I’m feeling pretty crappy. I need a meeting.”
Is this correct saying ?
Page 15, Paragraph 2: “I was not too well at the time, and was plagued with waves of self-pity and resentment. This sometimes nearly drove me back to drink, but I soon found that when all other measures failed, working with another alcoholic would save the day. Many times I have gone to my old hospital in despair. On talking to a man there, I would be amazingly lifted up and set on my feet. It is a design for living that works in rough going.”
“Don’t make any major decisions for the first year” Is this correct ?
If No - Give examples of Major Decisions book mentions
Page 60, paragraph 4: “(a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives. (b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. (c) That God could and would if He were sought. Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is that we decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we understood Him.”
Page 76, paragraph 2: “When ready, we say something like this: “My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.” We have then completed Step Seven.”
“We need to give up planning, it doesn’t work.” Is this correct ?
Page 86, paragraphs 3-4: “On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives. In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.”
is it true that the first 164 pages have not been changed since written?
The first 164 pages have been changed. The wording of the twelfth step was changed in 1941. The term “spiritual experience” was changed to “spiritual awakening.
In 1947, in the 11th printing of the 1st edition, the term “ex-alcoholic” was replaced by the terms “ex-problem drinker” or “non-drinker”.
is it correct to say : “I choose not to drink today”?
Page 24 Paragraph 2: “The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink.”
“This is a selfish program” is this correct meeting saying ?
describe place(s) in Big Book to support your answer
Page 20, paragraph 1: “Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs.”
Page 97, paragraph 2: “Helping others is the foundation stone of your recovery. A kindly act once in a while isn’t enough. You have to act the Good Samaritan every day, if need be. It may mean the loss of many nights’ sleep, great interference with your pleasures, interruptions to your business. It may mean sharing your money and your home, counseling frantic wives and relatives, innumerable trips to police courts, sanitariums, hospitals, jails and asylums. Your telephone may jangle at any time of the day or night. ”
Page 14-15: “For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead.”
Page 62, paragraph 2: “Selfishness, self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles”
Page 62, paragraph 3: “So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kill us!”
How did the Serenity Prayer come to be used in 12 Step programs?
It was seen in an obituary and brought to Bill W's attention by a member named Jack.
What is “people pleaser” caller in our book ?
Page 61, paragraph 2: “Is he not really a self-seeker even when trying to be kind?”
1) Who was asked to write the chapter To Wives “portraying the wife of an alcoholic”?
2) Who wrote it ?
Dr. Bob’s wife Anne was asked to write the chapter “portraying the wife of an alcoholic” but she declined. Bill W. ended up writing the chapter “To Wife’s” himself. I read “this was much to the dismay of his wife Lois”.
“Think through the drink” “Remember your last drunk” - does that work ?
Is it in the book?
Page 43, paragraph 4: “Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power.”
Page 24, paragraph 2: “We are unable at certain times to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago.”
“We must change playmates, playgrounds, and playthings” — “Avoid people, places and things that you associate with alcohol or drugs”. Is this correct ?
Page 100-101: “Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not supposed to do. People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn’t think or be reminded about alcohol at all. Our experience shows that this is not necessarily so. We meet these conditions every day. An alcoholic who cannot meet them, still has an alcoholic mind; there is something the matter with his spiritual status. His only chance for sobriety would be some place like the Greenland Ice Cap, and even there an Eskimo might turn up with a bottle of scotch and ruin everything!”
The 12 Steps are for the alcoholic, the 12 Traditions are for the group and the 12 _______ are for the fellowship as a whole.
Concepts.
The Twelve Concepts of AA
Concept I: Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.
Concept II: The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective conscience of our whole Society in its world affairs.
Concept III: To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A. —the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives—with a traditional "Right of Decision."
Concept IV: At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional "Right of Participation," allowing a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.
Concept V: Throughout our structure, a traditional "Right of Appeal" ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be heard and personal grievances receive careful consideration.
Concept Vl: The Conference recognizes that the chief initiative and active responsibility in most world service matters should be exercised by the trustee members of the Conference acting as the General Service Board.
Concept Vll: The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.
Concept VIII: The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities.
Concept IX: Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world service leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed by the trustees.
Concept X: Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority, with the scope of such authority well defined.
Concept Xl: The trustees should always have the best possible committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs, and consultants. Composition, qualifications, induction procedures, and rights and duties will always be matters of serious concern.
Concept Xll: The Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. tradition, taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote, and, whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government, and that, like the Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action.
What are the 2 paradoxes of AA?
First Paradox: We Surrender to Win.
Second Paradox: We Give Away to Keep.