Hi All,
Here is a link to the recordings from the meeting for week 5:
Before Breakout:
#^https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/XWpgxhAUwSEgzgmLBM5gzuIqbB-Bf3-7nicTNFdRpinOF3IM7cIe0MzaWG4cUEcF.VEdsqrpLKAqJJS42?startTime=1638723700000 After Breakout:
#^https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/XWpgxhAUwSEgzgmLBM5gzuIqbB-Bf3-7nicTNFdRpinOF3IM7cIe0MzaWG4cUEcF.VEdsqrpLKAqJJS42?startTime=1638728009000 The speaker view video, a gallery view video (just one page of the gallery is available), and audio recording are all available (you might have to download the files to watch other views than the speaker view).
Prayer for This Week:
God, please enable me to set aside everything I think I know about More About Alcoholism and the bedevilments for an open mind, and a new experience.
Keep the two lists in mind while reading:
1. Things I am trying to stop doing, but can't stop.
2. Things I am trying to do that I cannot do.
Reading for this week:
Finish More About Alcoholism and Read Page 52 “the bedevilements,” 2nd new full paragraph.
Look for statements to turn into questions in the text. See if you find direction to what is important for you.
Assignments:
Make 2 appointments with someone from the workshop. Hopefully someone you have met in the workshop, and someone you don't know yet. This interaction is a major part of the work we do in this workshop. Discuss the experiences you are having.
Quote from Jung (I read this in the after meetings and people keep asking me for it, so here it is):
This confrontation is the first test of courage on the inner way, a test sufficient to frighten off most people, for the meeting with ourselves belongs to the more unpleasant things that can be avoided so long as we can project everything negative into the environment. But if we are able to see our own shadow and can bear knowing about it, then a small part of the problem has already been solved: we have at least brought up the personal unconscious. The shadow is a living part of the personality and therefore wants to live with it in some form. It cannot be argued out of existence or rationalized into harmlessness. This problem is exceedingly difficult, because it not only challenges the whole man, but reminds him at the same time of his helplessness and ineffectuality. Strong natures—or should one rather call them weak?—do not like to be reminded of this, but prefer to think of themselves as heroes who are beyond good and evil, and to cut the Gordian knot instead of untying it. Nevertheless, the account has to be settled sooner or later. In the end one has to admit that there are problems which one simply cannot solve on one’s own resources. Such an admission has the advantage of being honest, truthful, and in accord with reality, and this prepares the ground for a compensatory reaction from the collective unconscious: you are now more inclined to give heed to a helpful idea or intuition, or to notice thoughts which had not been allowed to voice themselves before. Perhaps you will pay attention to the dreams that visit you at such moments, or will reflect on certain inner and outer occurrences that take place just at this time. If you have an attitude of this kind, then the helpful powers slumbering in the deeper strata of man’s nature can come awake and intervene, for helplessness and weakness are the eternal experience and the eternal problem of mankind. To this problem there is also an eternal answer, otherwise it would have been all up with humanity long ago. When you have done everything that could possibly be done, the only thing that remains is what you could still do if only you knew it. But how much do we know of ourselves? Precious little, to judge by experience. Hence there is still a great deal of room left for the unconscious. Prayer, as we know, calls for a very similar attitude and therefore has much the same effect.
--The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (Collected Works of C. G. Jung) - C.G. Jung
Joey's 2020 Recordings Highlight List:
Everyone is invited to look at the recordings for the sections of the work we are working on (they are all available at
#^https://redmatrix.us/channel/stones), and I know not everyone has enough time or interest to watch those recordings, so I asked Joey if he would pick some helpful sections of the recordings to suggest for people who only want to watch a few minutes of them, here is what he sent me:
2020 Stones Meeting 9 Recording Link:
#^https://drive.google.com/open?id=1raZZkVU4EePh0pc7Zu8pXEjwBZUKsE7M Core beliefs and ideas about myself and the world I live in
And The two choices …
9:40
“I want to be incredibly clear that this is not the solution; understanding whats driving me into self-reliance and seeing my powerlessness and understanding the details about that powerlessness is not what makes me better.
It is part of the path but it’s not my solution”
That’s basically how you open up 9. Your meeting with Paul motivated it.
“If I got a girlfriend - blank - would be true
I can’t see the truth about what’s going on with me - due to self reliant behaviors and belief systems.
56:00
This chapter is called There is a solution and most of what’s talked about is not the solution until the part where it tells you what is the solution…..
The solution is I’m going to live a life where the central fact of my life is the absolute certainty that this Creator is living in me in a way where miraculous shit is happening around me- That’s it’s!
And when you do that….if you are living that way you find yourself bonded to people around you who been saved by the same ship and doing the same thing. That’s the Cement that binds us together
1:01.00
“I love this part. Right? I love when we get here …and to say this is what we are doing.”
Page 25 I.e. no middle of the road…..
Mike makes a big statement and says
“I’m going to ride this page right on to the whole rest of the steps. I. Never going to stop talking about this page ….
The problem is I ONLY HAVE TWO CHOICES.
1. Bitter end
2. Spiritual help
The reason the situation is intolerable is bc self reliance has failed me.
2020 Stones Meeting 10 recording link:
#^https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LX4gk3SLwnIeboKgnEMseVBS4sCzCGsL 34:50 - 45:00
“Once I start doing things that I don’t want to do, then I’m this thing that they are talking about” (beginning of MAA)
Once my mind isn’t a reliable method anymore to stop me from doing things then I’m in this boat. Doesn’t matter of it’s one thing or thirty things or fifty things.
One thing that’s going to kill me is that I can’t rely on my mind to run my life.
My powerlessness showing up in step 1 my desperation my hopelessness - Inability to make myself act the way I want myself to act.
45:00 - 1:06:00
“Any problem with any Step is always a 1st Step problem…” - Dan Sherman.
Now I internalize that. Any time I’m not doing any of the other stuff….it’s because I have forgotten the truth of my condition
The truth about my condition is about that thing I read at the beginning of this session where I was reading chapter 3 page 30
1:06:36 - 1:11:24
I can use what I know about alcoholism to lie to myself about the truth of my condition today. I can use the fact that I’m not drinking right now to tell myself that everything must be fine…..
1:21:30 - end
Gods never pushing me away…
Notes:
If you would like to set up a calendar link so people can make appointments with you, people are using Calendly and Calendar Hero (or use whatever service you like). If you send me a link to make appointments with you I will add it to the list.
Here is a link to a list of appointment calendars for people who are available to discuss the work:
#^https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17p9a6rcEOVnhD5n6vFvCMXUFAde8XGO3WBuLLSrsKqQ/edit?usp=sharing PDF Files Open to Be Marked Up:
Open PDF file of Chapter 3 (More About Alcoholism):
#^https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iHnBtxIWrCEfigeQiuG215nygRQtP8VQ/view?usp=sharing Open PDF file of Chapter 4 (We Agnostics)
#^https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ow821MYghdc7ALmww6xpSg7iqXxDuzRU/view?usp=sharing Reminder:
Everything about this workshop including the previous recordings from 2020 (scroll to the bottom) are posted at:
#^https://redmatrix.us/channel/stones The Monday Wednesday and Friday meetings are at 5pm Pacific Time at the same link as the workshop:
#^https://us04web.zoom.us/j/550885842 If you know people who are interested, please feel free to invite them to join us and catch up if you like. The link to sign up for the mailing list if you are not on it already is here:
#^https://bit.ly/3bwWLuZ Looking forward to seeing you all again next Sunday!