The Thirteenth Step: The Secret of Becoming a Co-worker with the Higher Power of GOD
By Michael R Basso
Smashwords eBook Edition
eVersion 1.0 – 2010
Printing 1st
Copyright © 2010 by Michael R. Basso
Preface
This little book is comprised of three parts. In part one the thirteen steps of spiritual wellbeing are introduced as a guide rather than a book of inflexible rules. These guiding steps were designed to help us to align our own lower physical selves with our higher emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual selves, in concert with a higher power much greater than us.
Parts two and three are in workbook format. Part two consists of a planning and implementing journal designed to help us improve our creations. Part three consists of a series of contemplations designed to remove some of our limitations in becoming a co-worker with the higher power.
Note that this book may be used as a stand alone book or as a companion to the book, Spiritual Medicine: A guide for clinicians, educators and researchers, by the same author.
Contents
The 13 Step Program for Spiritual Well Being
21 Day Spiritual Alignment Plan and Diary
13 Step program for spiritual well being
Educate ourselves about ourselves, our world and the world of spirit.
Practice proper nutrition first and foremost.
Integrate proper exercise and rest into our lives.
Live effectively in the present, including meditation and contemplation in our daily lives.
Take responsibility for our actions and inactions and take action in a timely fashion.
Seek the help of others carefully if and when we really need it.
Communicate relevant ideas clearly, concisely and appropriately & respect the awesome power of prayer and use it appropriately.
Learn to listen carefully to relevant others.
Live ethically within the laws of our society and avoid and ignore those who ignore them.
Plan strategically for the future with due consideration for past history
Be considerate of others and do unto them ethically but without being taken advantage of.
Listen carefully to the voice of the higher power through intuition, serendipity, coincidence, laughter, fun & dreams.
If you choose and you are asked in some way, consider becoming a coworker with the higher power of God under the direction of spirit and have fun doing so.
Introduction
This little book is powerful indeed because it is meant to be a flexible guide for you to help you help yourself co-create and re-create your universe as you see fit, yet in alignment with the guidelines of the master creator.
There are also things that you may find along the way which may help you to go beyond creation and into the great silence and even beyond that.
~On the next pages there is an opportunity for you to change or create your own step or steps that you may better resonate with at this point in time. In this eVersion,you may find it convenient to use a separate piece of paper for all such exercises.
At the end of the book, you will find a similar page, for your enjoyment and fun, to play with again.
I am hopeful that you will learn a few things as your read, but more importantly, that these words will prompt you to pay attention to the things you know and the things you don’t.
Happy Reading
Happy Listening
Happy Creating
BTW, I realize that the number 13 has some scary connotations for some of you. However, it is not until we overcome or go beyond some of our fears, traumas, and superstitions, that our designs will be flawless; soooo I left the number of steps at 13 on purpose.
But you don’t have to. For example, if you feel that an eleven step program -of your creation- is more efficient or if a 14 step program is necessary to be more comprehensive, then go for it.
Re-created/Co-created Steps
(If You Want)
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
Step 9
Step 10
Step 11
Step 12
Step 13
Step One
Educate ourselves about ourselves, our world and the world of spirit.
The more informed we are about our lives and the world around us, the more capable we can become of making our lives better, reforming our destinies to be more fun and making the world a better place to live.
There are certain core things that we as humans best know about.
By knowing about the past, we can better understand how to make our future world a better place to live in.
Lets start out by understanding our own past and how our past has turned out to become our present.
Take a moment to think about how our eating and exercise habits have shaped our bodies, how our educational choices have shaped our minds and how our ability to follow through on things have shaped our relationships, our careers, and our destiny.
Now take a few minutes to reflect upon those things you might have changed if you knew what you know now or even more than you know now. Think about subjects that you may want to:
Know a Little about
Become Proficient in
Master as an Expert
How might a better understanding of anatomy, physiology, nutrition, psychology and health sciences have made us more capable in the past and will make us happier the future?
Many people have found that a study of math, once we become good at it, can give us more confidence in the study of everything else.
Would learning a foreign language have helped us to better understand our grandparents, our friends and our co-workers? How may this study help us today?
What about music? How much more confident would learning to play an instrument or singing a song well make us?
Now pick a subject that you are thinking about and think how that subject might have made your life better today.
Now please remember that for a variety of very important reasons our parents have shaped our lives, as their parents have shaped theirs, and your great grandparent’s lives have shaped the lives of your grandparents.
How have your ancestors shaped your lives for better or worse?
Now take a moment to reflect on how you can fix the not so good things and continuously improve upon the good things that our parents and ancestors have created for us.
~Let’s step back for a moment and think about how thought manifests into things. A car designer will first think about a new design, purely in her/his mind. Next, the design will be put on paper or computer memory. Lots of details from lots of minds will help the designer; pick the right metals, the right paints, the right radio, the right seats, tires, steering wheels and so forth. Lot and lots and lots of physics, chemistry, biology and business things were thought about along the way, and lots and lots and lots of math went into a making safe and cost effective car. Why should we care about math and science? That’s why? And then some!
Now please think about something that you created that was not so good and something that you created that made you very happy and that you are still proud of today.
Let us continue or take a break if you want to.
~Study philosophy and religion from an international, multicultural perspective, as though you were one of God’s many helpers; learning how to make future designs better, safer, less painful, and think about:
The thread through all religion, philosophy & science; the common ground.
What are the significant differences between the different systems that you want to explore. Are the systems based upon morals and ethics, saviors, saints, sants, or spiritual masters, scriptures, nature, processing traumatic memories, or something else entirely?
As we learn more about sub atomic particles, galaxies and universes, will the religions of the future be very different? How so? Hey, who created those things anyway? God or it’s helpers? Is there a real elemental part of life, complete with fairies, elves, sun gods, galaxy creators, etc? What do angels have to do with all this? Are there really many planes of existence? If so, what are they about, why were they created, and how would you as a co- creator improve the design? What the heck is that word of God all about? Can we as spirit travel beyond the physical world? Is there a great silence and something beyond that?
Why do some religions practice prayer, meditation and/or contemplation?
Take your own pulse for a minute if you want to, then take a few deep breaths and pick a common meditation word, like HU or OM and repeat that word for 5 minutes. Then retake your pulse and note any differences and think about what you think may have occurred.
Take a few moments to jot down a few ideas that you have learned from this chapter and how you might improve it to better suit you and your quest to co-create a better universe, starting with your own.
You might want to revisit this chapter many times as you read this book and after you’ve completed it.
How might you improve this chapter?
Improvement ideas:
Step Two
Practice proper nutrition first and foremost.
God will use us, regardless of state of health, in ways that the ‘father.mother.it’ deems useful to its creation or perhaps in ways that may even teach others to move beyond creation itself into areas of pure consciousness.
However, if we want to live productively for ourselves and our groups, including family, and not be a burden to others, good nutrition is key.
Balance is critically important to human survival. Humans need the proper amounts of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and even water to survive in the here and now world and to help co-create it effectively.
When our nervous systems are in good shape, our spiritual essence may use us more effectively than if we are sick or in pain.
For instance, we need carbohydrates and protein in proper balance to create the neurotransmitters that allows our bodies - especially our nervous systems - to become intact vehicles for the higher power.
In order for the ‘carbs’ and proteins to effectively create brain chemicals, proper amounts of vitamins, like the B complex (in balance) and vitamin C are essential.
Fatty acids, such as omega 3 (including vegetarian sources) are essential to providing a sense of peace and well being.
And then there is water. We must be hydrated for these bodies to work effectively. Water also helps to remove toxins and waste from our bodies including our brains, so we may become better co-workers.
Throughout the world’s scriptures there are passages about avoiding gluttony. We now know that obesity is the cause of many of the diseases prevalent in modern society.
Try to understand why dietary passages (i.e. blessed food, vegetarianism, mixing meat with milk…) were written and by whom? Were they divinely inspired?
Note that cleanliness is truly next to Godliness and that the proper amount of the right kinds of fiber can help keep our bodies clean from the inside.
Probiotics can also be important to our digestive and immune system health, especially if we have taken antibiotics over the last year, since they kill the good germs in our guts too.
~You might want to take the opportunity to write down your diet over the next week, including what you eat or drink, how these habits assure that the essential nutrients are being maintained and so forth. Think some thoughts about food pertaining to a religion that interests you.
Day One:
B
L
D
Other
Day Two:
B
L
D
Other
Day Three:
B
L
D
Other
Day Four
B
L
D
Other
Day Five
B
L
D
Other
Day Six
B
L
D
Other
Day Seven
B
L
D
Other
Now jot down a few notes about how you can improve your diet and repeat the exercise on a separate piece of paper if you care to. Once you do, then repeat it again in 21 days – the time it usually takes to make a permanent change to our habits via our nervous systems.
Notes: Use a separate piece of paper for all such exercises
Step Three
Integrate proper exercise and rest into our lives.
Many spiritual scriptures make reference to the importance of exercise and rest.
The modern scriptures of science tells us that proper amounts of exercise help us to maintain a healthy posture with strong bones, healthy digestion and intact cardiovascular systems.
Aerobic exercise helps us to raise our metabolism and therefore burn fat, help nutrients be used properly and it also helps us to create important ‘feel good brain chemicals,’ such as serotonin.
Exercise that makes us more flexible also helps our nerves to work properly without impingement.
Yoga and related systems have been suggested in many eastern scriptures for many millennia and have also been associated with the release of anti stress chemicals, such as DHEA.
~Write down your weekly exercise habits and ways that you are going to improve them.
Current exercise habits:
Planned exercise habits:
New habits after 21 days:
Future improvements:
Step Four
Live effectively in the present, including meditation and contemplation in our daily lives.
Since many of us were children, we have been told to live in the present & that the past is only a memory and the future is uncertain.
Of course they were right and as the title of an older book tells us to - BE HERE NOW - so then why not listen?
Please listen is a much better approach as the subconscious does not understand negatives like ‘not' - nor does it pay attention to syntax and grammar in the same way as our conscious processes do.
So 'why not listen?' could very well be interpreted as 'don’t listen!'
Anyway, many people use meditation or contemplation to help them stay focused in the present.
~Try paying attention to your ever present breathing or heartbeat for five minutes without paying attention at all.
Try this exercise every day for a week and note how many times you were able to keep it up for at least five minutes.
Notes:
Common Meditation Mantras
HU
HOO
Ra Ma Da Sa Sa Say So Hung
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Nama Shivia
Om
Aum
Amen
One
The following exercise may be useful to the patient, clinician, researcher or educator alike and is easy to do, is done by oneself and can be very effective.
First choose one of the meditation mantras in this book
Take ones own pulse for one minute and record that number.
Sit in a comfortable position, with back straight and feet on the ground, or in a lotus position.
Take a few deep breaths and close ones eyes
Gently repeat the mantra to oneself for about 5 minutes, gradually increasing the time to 20 minutes over several weeks.
Gently open the eyes and retake pulse and compare change in heart rate.
The pulse taking part of this exercise is optional and may be used initially and occasionally to get an idea about changes associated with meditation.
Note that it is important to gently ignore any intrusive thoughts or other distractions that may arise during meditation.
Gently observing that breathing may be helpful to help one stay focused on the mantra.
Note that some folks may prefer a longer mantra because paying attention to the mantra helps them to not pay attention to distractions.
Step Five
Take responsibility for our actions and inactions and take action in a timely fashion.
Many people think that things go wrong because they are sick and indeed they do. However, it is quite true that some people are mentally and physically sick because they are irresponsible more than the other way around. You may find this important fact throughout the literature, but the concept really needs to be applied to be effective.