this seems to be a heated topic.
God as we understand him, Higher Power, is a principle that is dependent on
what is outside of you. that is the trouble for most people.
They say that you must use Honesty, Open-Mindedness, and Willingness. But is "Open-Mindedness" a clever hidden-agenda word for "Believeing in What We Tell You" ???
you see, these are the same problems I have.
Krisha Consciousness teaches that You are the Supreme Godhead, and there is no need to meditate on anything outside of you in order to transcend Samasara (the karmic wheel, death/rebirth). This divinity that which is God, is within you.
My take is this, however:
The Higher Power, or "God as we understand Him" can simply, within the guidelines of a 12 step program, be that form of yourself that is yet to become known to the world. It can be the Higher You; as long as you know that your using self is a lower evolution than the divine spark within you.
And, is BPSGirls's point, you kind of have to keep this silent.. and with vigiliance. I tried speaking of these principles at a 12-step meeting and I got attacked by the NA Nazis. NA Nazis usually dont work a good program, because they forgot about the Open-Mindedness part.
And, as I pointed out in a differnt reply, the followers of a religion or spiritual program such as the fellowship of NA/AA, are not the program itself. The program is in the literature. The meeting is not the program. The program is mostly found in the book and through work that we do ourselves.
I strongly encourage people who can't stand a 12 step program to try Rational Recovery
website here because it is the most popular alternative recovery program.
I also think that people who blankly state "Go to a meeting" are just trying to help, and don't know how else to. You should TRY to attend a meetings, it won't hurt. But if it's not for you, you have to AT LEAST find something healthy to replace the unhealthy things you have habitually done. Many people find this is meetings-- but
we don't have to to be clean, attain pure happiness, and live a fulfilling life! That's the whole point. IF you don't believe this, you have lost all of your open-mindeness to a CULT, which is run by the brainswashed fools, and you are one of them. The program, however, is not a cult.
Its run by the idea that "One addict can best help another addict" -- and that is why it is still alive and well as an accepted organization in society.