If you have a 4th edition Big Book, it will be Roman numeral 27, which will be XXVII.
If it is a 3rd edition Big Book it will be Roman numeral 25, which is XXV.
So we are on page Roman numeral 25 last line of the page, and here Dr Silkworth say’s:
Of course an alcoholic ought to be freed from his physical craving for liquor,
Physical.
So you see, craving is not mental, it is physical
What happens between my ears is called mental obsession
I find it interesting that the Big Book authors have done an excellent job of segmenting the physical aspect of my alcoholism and the mental aspect which is mental obsession.
In other words, they spend pages 1 to 23 on the physical condition of alcoholism.
And page 23 to 43 on mental obsession.
Now if you jump over here to Roman numeral 27 which will be Roman numeral 29 in 4th edition, 3rd line from the bottom of the page.
So I’m on Roman numeral XXVII
Doctor Silkworth say’s,
They took a drink a day or so prior to the date,
Now notice what he’s saying, he’s not saying the person had a craving and drank, he’s saying they took a drink…,
and then the phenomenon of craving at once became paramount to all other interests.
So in other words in these 2 short lines, Dr Silkworth is letting us know what craving is. It’s physical, it’s not mental. It’s impossible for me to experience craving unless I put alcohol in my body.
So let’s go back to the page we were on before which is Roman numeral 26 XXVI
4th edition would be 28,( XXVIII) paragraph 1.
He say’s: We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy. Well I need to know what an allergy is. He’s saying that the alcoholic has an abnormal reaction to alcohol. That’s what allergy means, I looked it up in the dictionary, it means “abnormal reaction”.
(MP3 Time @ 29.05s)s-1
So what I’m going to be doing in the next 4 weeks in these sessions is, I’m not going to assume that you are an alcoholic, that would be arrogant to do so. I’m going to give you the dignity of discovering the truth about your own experience. Notice I didn’t say I’m going to give you the dignity of discovering your truth.
Because if your truth is anything like mine, it’s pretty distorted. 
So that’s what were gonna do, were gonna be given the dignity of discovering the truth about our drinking experiences.
Let’s find out first if we are an alcoholic.
Let me to you explain why it’s essential that we do that.
You see, if I’m CLEAR about MY experience, with drinking, then I can transmit that.
Then I can help another person gain clarity with their experience with their drinking.
Now, let’s assume that I haven’t been given the opportunity of being taken through the book in this manner, and my sponsor just assumes that I’m an alcoholic, he’s probably going to assume that because he wasn’t given the clarity either, so you can’t blame your sponsor. That’s why it’s absolutely essential that I be clear about my own experience.
Because I can’t help you gain clarity if I don’t have clarity about my own experiences.
So I found it essential for me to find out what is a craving?
This is what my sponsor taught me as a result of going through this book.
Ok, let’s look at, “having a manifestation of an allergy” That’s an abnormal reaction.
So what he’s taught me to do is take the statements in the book and turn them into questions. So I stop and ask my self a question.
Did I have an abnormal reaction to alcohol?
Well, what’s “abnormal”?
Have you ever noticed, how orgasmic alcoholics are when they find their car! 
“I found my carrrr”  It was such an orgasmic experience.  I was constantly losing my car.
And then the following day, I would drink again! That does not sound like a normal reaction.
Most people who lose their car, it would scare the daylights out of them and say, Oh my goodness I can’t do that again, I gotta stop drinking. I was regularly running my car into parked cars! I would get out and say; Who parked that car there? 
And then drink again. That’s an abnormal reaction. Or, my mother was having a gathering at her house and I swore I wouldn’t drink, I swore I wouldn’t. And I meant it at the time. I swear I’m not gonna drink. I swear I’ll be a good boy, not gonna cause some trouble, no the police are not gonna be coming to the house, again.
And I would get there and I would drink again. What would I do the following day?
I would drink again. That’s a abnormal reaction.
So stop and ask yourself. Did you have an abnormal reaction to alcohol?
Then he goes on to say;
That the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class
What “class”? The person who has an abnormal reaction to alcohol!
And never occurs in the average temperate drinker.
So what’s a craving? It’s a longing for.
I remember the first time I was asked, Did you experience craving for alcohol when you drank alcohol? No I just wanted more! 
(MP3 Time @ 32m.45s)s-1
Well that’s exactly what a craving is. I would put alcohol in my body and I would want more alcohol. Now through the years I’ve sponsored guys who would respond to that question in this manner,
Did you have a craving when you drank alcohol?
Oh sure, I would drink then I would crave Cocaine.
See, I need to be real clear about something, this book was written for Alcohol.
It was not written for other drugs. Now, if it applies to your situation then that’s wonderful, but keep in mind it was written for alcohol. So when Dr Silkworth is talking about the Phenomenon of Craving occurring after we put alcohol in our body, he’s talking about alcohol. It has been my experience that is the case with Cocaine. That is not the case with Heroin. It’s the exact opposite.
Having used a lot of heroin when I was drinking, the drug would wear off, I would get sick, I would use more heroin and the craving would go away!
I would put alcohol in my body, I wanted more alcohol. So once again turn that into a question.
Did you crave alcohol when you put alcohol in your body?
And what’s really important in this statement, he says; And never, never means, not one time, occurs in the average temperate drinker.
In one sentence Dr Silkworth tells me how to determine if I’m an alcoholic.
It has nothing to do with the drama of my drinking, it has nothing to do with how many cars I wreaked, how many times I was married, how many divorces I had, how many times I filed bankruptcy. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with, what was my inner experience? You see, when Bill Wilson carried the message of Hope to Dr Bob, that’s what he talked about, he didn’t talked about the drama of his drinking.
You know what he talked about? He talked about his inner experience. He talked about the phenomenon of craving of putting alcohol in his body and wanting more. Being in a situation where he had just dried up because they didn’t have treatment centers at that time, they had drying out hospitals where he would go in and detox. And he would get out and he was so glad he was sober and the thing he wanted more than anything else was another drink. He talked about the remorse, the guilt, the shame, the regret, the hopelessness.
Being full of fear, full of anxiety, not having any purpose or meaningful life,
the futility of his existence. That’s what he talked about. So you see, discovering weather or not I’m a alcoholic has nothing to do with the drama. As a matter of fact I recall going to meetings in that 12 year period and hearing a lot of drama in meetings and not being able to relate.
So let’s say I’m brand new, I’m sitting in the back of the room, and this guy is going on and on and on about all the drama, he talks about being in prison, he talks about having 3 divorces, he’s wrecked 6 cars and filed bankruptcy. So I’m a newcomer back there and this is what I’m hearing.
Let’s see, I’ve never been to prison, I’ve never been married, never wrecked a car, I never filed bankruptcy. Maybe I’m really not an alcoholic.
And he walks out the door, youv’e just lost him. I find that drama creates a lot of distantness, it does not create relatedness.
That’s the stuff we talk about over coffee, to amuse each other. 
(MP3 Time @ 36m.32s)s-1
But that’s not what I do in a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.
I’m there to carry a vision of Hope, and to share my inner experience.
So keep that in mind as your are going through these steps.
So, let’s turn that into a question. Did you experience a craving for alcohol when you put alcohol in your body?
Now notice he says, and never occurs in the average temperate drinker.
So let’s say, out of 10 times that I drink I do not experience craving 8 times.
Am I an alcoholic? According to Dr Silkworth, I am.
You know why? Because he says it never.
He doesn’t say rarely.
He doesn’t say seldom.
He says, never occurs in the average temperate drinker.
You see what seperates me from the non-alcoholic.
It has nothing to do with how many times I been to jail. It has nothing to do with that.
It has to do with one thing and only one thing.
It’s called the “phenomenon of craving”.