Originally Posted by
Boleo 
"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.
Yes, I know what you meant, but I thought it was a good opportunity to illustrate how much of the wisdom in the rooms can be "twisted" by one's addictive voice to justify more drinking. For example, the old "meeting makers make it" can be interpreted (by one's addictive voice/"my alcoholic"/whatever) as "aha! so those who don't go to meetings DON'T make it - they drink again!" Next thing you know, "my alcoholic" is thinking "Wait a second, I haven't gone to meetings in a few weeks, time to drink!!! and before long it's running for touchdown at the local liquor store carryout."
Originally Posted by
Boleo 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?
Oh, I believe that you are probably correct, and I have long suspected that although our techniques are different, that at a fundamental level, the "old timers" in AA are using a very similar means towards the same end. They just don't tell the newcomers what is going on, possibly because unlike you, they don't recognize it for what it is, or they can't quite put it into words. Two sides of the same coin, so to speak.
To be honest, the end result is the same, as it does not feel like "white knuckling" to me when I dissociate from the Addictive Voice, since I don't debate, argue, or fight against it. I imagine the feeling is very similar to what you feel having "ceased fighting... alcohol" - it really does feel like "as though... placed in a position of neutrality."