I like the way David R. Hawkins describes the thing.
He said that he started out as a devout religionist, then became a devout atheist... not a cocktail lounge atheist... but a devout atheist
.
He claims that the states of consciousness that we experience from low to high;
Here Is The Map of Consciousness :
Level Log/Calibration Emotion
Enlightenment 700 - 1,000 Pure Consciousness
Peace 600 Illumination
Joy 540 Serenity
Love 500 Reverence
Reason 400 Understanding
Acceptance 350 Forgiveness
Willingness 310 Optimism
Neutrality 250 Trust
Courage 200 Affirmation
The above are levels of Truth
The below are levels of falsehood
Pride 175 Scorn
Antagonistic 150 Hate
Desire 125 Lust
Fear 100 Anxiety
Grief 75 Regret
Apathy/Hatred 50 Despair
Guilt 30 Blame
Shame 20 Humiliation
... and according to David, A.A. calibrates at about 540... right up there with the bible or Big Big Book. So, of course, many hate him and are out to debunk him. He must be some kind of a spook. I think he is.
Anyways, we are achieving this feeling of bliss which is at about 600. We can do it falsely, or we can do it the right way... by transversing all the states in between.
By drinking booze or taking certain drugs, that's like merely removing the clouds that are in the way of us achieving a state of consciousness which is always there... or our "true Self" or what some may call "God" or Truth.
Now... he said that some... under very careful settings, induced this feeling just to affirm that which they seek is there and they can get there immediately by inducing it, but then they agreed to never do it again... or cheat.
The problem with drugs and alcohol is that we can get there... to 600 from the lower negative states of 50, 100, 200, etc., and immediately go to mellow and even bliss, but then that's a one time shot... so to speak. It's not the drug or the booze that we're "addicted" to, it's that state of consciousness. But we cheated to get there. We cheated the actual states of consciousness that we should have traversed to get there; shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, pride, etc. ... and that's a lie. when we came from the state of fear or grief or whatever, a lie on top of that is nothing drastic. It's like a drop in the bucket. But when we shoot up to bliss or 600 and it's a lie, the lie is much more drastic to us and we pay all the consequences of those states we cheated to get there.
But isn't that what the drunk or the addict does? Suffer much for a long time just to get that few seconds of bliss. Or as Boleo mentioned, the preempting of them due to the blackouts. I blacked out too and seemingly missed a lot. But I think I reached bliss just the split second prior to the blackout. There was a moment there where I felt mellow... and anything but irritable and discontented.
Now the trick is to do it the right way... via the steps. Hawkins says that once we take step 1 or admission of powerlessness, aka admission of the Truth... we change the energy field from - to + because that's truth. Step 2, something greater than myself, small (s)elf, ego is needed to turn this energy around, something with a great enough power to overcome that attraction to the energy field of 600...
Step 2 return me to sanity... where insanity is those destructive energy states. Something outside of the "box" needs to do this... our intuitive awareness.
3rd step, the willingness to surrender to something greater than the self, opens the space for "the Grace of God", or something outside of the ego... if you will. For David, the "arrogance of the intellect" broke down... as he didn't think there was anything bigger than the intellect. He worshipped the intellect. It got him to thoughts of suicide... which is -50... hell. Grace, he says, can take the place of that which we were. How do we get it? It is only by asking for it that we create the space (to possibilities) to receive it.
A.A. is the language of the heart (chakra)... which is much higher than can be achieved by the self, even one with all the material wealth at his disposal (about an energy of 200).
4th step says we look "in the box"... and the 5th step or admitting it to ourself, God, and another human being, enables us to let it be healed. That which is "held" has the power to corrode. But now it's been shared, healed, and removed. Now our self-hatred, is but a mild regret. Now look back to the person who was drinking or drugging, with that energy pointed the way it was, they were seeking thier own destruction because that was the only way they knew to go... willingly.
Now the 6th through 9th steps, we've asked God's forgiveness and help with it, and we try to mend the fences and repair the damaged we caused... pay back debts, give our employer a good day's work, put the best we can into our relationships...
10th Step, we make a habit of this. Self-purification or a "way of life" as we became aware or conscience.
11th step, sought through prayer and meditation to improve... or increase that which has already happened. You reconnect with that which is Rock-like, that which is Love, that which is Divine... So our sobriety is something we would guard with our life... that which we would go to any length to get. Step 11 says there is a desire and that brings us to the 12 step.
Step 12, having had a spiritual awakening... addiction is a one way street. We have choosed addiction to get there, our path, and on our path, there is no backing up. We are now committed to a one way street. So we must become more conscious in order to live.
So for us, there is a price to life. We either become more conscience or we die... go out the bottom of the box. Once you become addicted, you cannot remove that experience from you memory.
What it is we sought we don't have to be ashamed of. It's the same stuff that all the saints sought. The presence within.
The problem with drugs/alcohol is that they do not work. But to seek this enlightenment to our true Self, we don't have to change our direction, we only have to change our means of getting there.
Does that make sense to you, Mark?