HOPE & DESIRE

The purpose of all AA group meetings is to “share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. Hope is the belief and desire the motive, both are necessary for a reasonable chance of fulfillment. One may covet, crave or lust for it.  It may not be easy to gratify the feeling or passion one may have developed for it.  In an unsatisfied state, one is not able to enjoy and be contented but can loose faith in a selfish supplication. But desire is also the key to motivation. It demands an unrelenting determination and commitment in the pursuit of one’s goal.  They not only lead to success in one’s pursuit but excellence as well. Desire is a longing for contentment of something. The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking. Hope is a desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment. Both can go beyond a mere wish, request or petition for an object. Hope is meaningless if it is not with respect to a desire. Desire would be a dormant wish if there is no hope at all. Word Hope appears 42 times in BB & 12 &12.

12&12 Step Eleven, p.99. "Lord, make me a channel of thy peace -- that where there is hatred, I may bring love -- that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness -- that where there is discord, I may bring harmony -- that where there is error, I may bring truth -- that where there is doubt, I may bring faith -- that where there is despair, I may bring hope -- that where there are shadows, I may bring light -- that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

BB Preface, p.xii. If you have a drinking problem, we hope that you may pause in reading one of the forty-two personal stories and think: "Yes that happened to me"; or, more important, "Yes, I've felt like that"; or, most important, "Yes, I believe this program can work for me too."

BB The Doctor's Opinion, p.xxxi. His alcoholic problem was so complex, and his depression so great, that we felt his only hope would be through what we then called "moral psychology," and we doubted if even that would have any effect.

A desire can set off a chain reaction in the thought process -- as soon one desire is fulfilled another emerges. There may be complete calm in the mind in between two of them. At that moment one may be free from all thought, neither love nor hate.  Between the two mental waves of thought there is the possibility of complete serenity.  Animal desires of man cannot be suspended for long.  Nor can they be fulfilled except temporarily.

                     

A person who desires material things rather than virtues is always poor.

Mind reflects the collective conscious and unconscious processes in an organism.  They are manifested in thought. Its intellectual or rational faculty understands, remembers, conceives and thinks.  Mind also causes us to feel, judge and desire.  It also determines the state of one’s spirituality.  Without consciousness and mind, thoughts do not exist.  Without thoughts, mind cannot exist.  Mind is the tool of consciousness and depends for its existence on our experiences. Experiences are registered by consciousness.  And without consciousness there is no experience. Mind forms thoughts.  Hence it is often said that mind and thoughts are the same.  They are interdependent.  By controlling them, one can achieve the loftiness of life spiritual or otherwise. It requires an active effort on the part of the seeker to be blessed by God’s grace so he or she can control the mind, and succeed in concentration and focus on It.

Mortal does not die.  Only his biological body with all its earthly desires dies.  A desire for spirituality may awaken in a person. This desire is not of this world, it belongs to the Creator. If a man develops it he starts feeling not only the attributes of his body, but those of the Conscious as well, which is a part of the Creator's Attributes within Higher Self. Unfortunately mind is like a wild elephant that does not stop running after useless material desires.

One cannot get every thing one wants but one can learn to control the mind.  He can step outside the endless cycle of desires and aversions. One can learn not to want all that comes to mind.  He can recognize his desires but not be controlled by them. Man can control his mind so that the spiritual desires suppress the desires of the body.  Mind can then completely associate itself with the Consciousness.  This requires subjugation of the lower instincts of lust, anger, attachment, pride, and greed.  One can then let God in one’s life.  He can begin to develop Godly instincts of truth, contentment, compassion, faith and fortitude.  With the eradication of duality, peace of mind and serenity can be sustained and enjoyed. The body becomes only a means for the spiritual advancement in this exciting experience.  Compared to this great spiritual delight, small transitory physical pleasures are of little value.

    CONCLUSION:                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Conclusion: 

                                                                                                                                                                 Only by acknowledging and accepting what is at his core, one becomes self-contented.  One can learn to be satisfied even when one is not perfect in all areas of one’s life. Through such understanding one can better appreciate and even love oneself just as one is.  Then one begins to exude a quiet confidence that can open new doors in life.  One becomes free of unnecessary desires, hopes and disappointments.