Originally Posted by
AVRT 
I
...when I read your statement that "sobriety is a by-product of staying spiritually fit," I automatically and reflexively translated that to mean that if someone didn't stay spiritually fit for some reason, then their sobriety would be shot. That is, by definition, suggesting the possible future use of alcohol under certain conditions; in this case, not being spiritually fit. I could interpret that as "well, maybe I'm not spiritually fit, and according to Boleo, if one isn't spiritually fit, one can drink...hmm... when's the last time I prayed? I can't remember... maybe he's on to something, here and I should go straight to the liquor store."
"Sought after virtue is not true virtue".
- Lao Tzu
When I say sobriety is a by-product of being spiritually fit, I am saying that sobriety is an ancillary virtue. When I sought after it directly, I felt like I was walking a tightrope one-arduous-day-at-a-time. Which in fact, was exactly what it turned out to be - dangerous and unreliable.
The only virtue I need to stay spiritually fit, the only principle I need to follow on a daily basis, the only target I need to aim at today is
Detachment (as described by Eckhart Tolle & Meister Eckhart).
Think about it, when you say "I recognize that for what it is - a suggestion of possible drinking,
and immediately dissociate from that idea", are you not talking about the same thing -
Detachment?