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The Spiritual Principles1 consist of twelve steps to lead your life to success. They’re used to guide recovery problems, such as addiction to alcohol, narcotics, and gambling.
These principles are applied in programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous to carry this message to alcoholics to help them get over their addiction. Earlier powerless over alcohol, these people are empowered to end the addiction through spiritual awakening.
The 12 steps of spiritual principles mentioned below will eventually help personal betterment, spiritual awakening, and spiritual growth.
The 12 Spiritual Principles
The 12 steps of spiritual principles are considered to be the most important spiritual traditions for a decade. They are connected to the mind and heart profoundly and induce positive thoughts. Spiritual values include ethical and meaningful values, thus providing meaning to life and ensuring that our life is morally balanced.2
These principles can be considered the Big Book that guides humans to be better versions of themselves. They help us learn about common sense and understanding and impart the wisdom that no education can ingrain. These 12 spiritual principles are integral parts of our lives, and we shall look at them here.
Spiritual principles have a significant impact on our lives. The gradual practice of these principles helps us become better versions of ourselves. This is achieved by spreading positivity and focusing on the truth, thus improving the quality of life. 3
Using the 12 spiritual principles in all our affairs is a great help. They help you stay away from substance abuse and become a better person.
1. Honesty
“Honesty is the best policy.” Honesty is one of the 12 spiritual principles, a general principle that can be consistently applied in your life. The spiritual principle of honesty guides us through situations that could be the turning point in our lives.
Honesty is one of the most critical principles to help you become a trustworthy human being and a true friend.
Honesty is not about being honest with others but being honest with yourself too. When you have made some mistake, and accept it to be your mistake, you are giving your mind excuses about it. That is dishonesty with your own yourself. You have to be honest with yourself about everything and accept your actions and mistakes.
Like all other spiritual principles, honesty is also one that can be developed. There is no leaf that can’t turn anew, and we can gain honesty if we make it a habit to be truthful. Honesty is sure to pay off, and one day, we will find ourselves loved and respected due to our honesty.
By becoming open-minded, optimistic people through honesty, we can learn more truths about ourselves, our goals, and our values. Therefore, honesty helps everyone increase, gain, and expand individual freedom.
2. Hope
Hope is another one of the 12 spiritual principles which binds and holds our spirit together and can be given away. Therefore, hope can be considered a recovery medicine too. Hope is also transmitted through the interaction of spiritual activities.4
When hope is described to an addict, they catch up with this spiritual principle, and the seeds of hope are sowed. This helps them believe in a better life and future. Thus, hope is a spiritual direction that can help remove the negativity in your life.
With hope, you get the power to face complicated problems in a particular situation. Life seems brighter as you learn to look out for the best and gain a sense of security.
3. Faith
Faith is one of the 12 spiritual principles that is an internal quality, a belief in a higher power. Our actions, choices, and gratitude are signs of faith or are deeply influenced by faith. Faith and hope are factors that help us push forward even when all is grim.
Faith has become one of the most significant subjects of discussion over time. Faith is best observed as a part of your daily schedule, reinforcing belief and security.
We all reminisce about the past, look forward to the future, and often get depressed about the present and its shortcomings. Once we start farming the spiritual principle of faith, we will gain a better perspective on life.
4. Courage
We will talk about willingness ahead in this article, but one thing is that you cannot achieve anything without having the courage to do what it takes and the willingness to do that thing. There is nothing in this world that can be 0% risky. Everything has risks. But you have to have the courage to take that risk.
Let’s say you want to move out of the country, and you have every factor figured out, but you are afraid of the risk of uncertainty. And that is stopping you from having an incredible experience. It can be horrifying, but you will never find out because you never went.
Courage is one of the 12 spiritual principles that help us face difficulties. It is an antidote to fear and allows us to stay brave during tough times. Courage is considered one of the keys to success, as there is no success without facing your fears.
Courage helps us compete, be the best, and attain progress. If you cannot gather courage, figure out your misconceptions about yourself and disprove them. This is the best method to find true courage.
5. Integrity
Integrity means the power of honesty, ethics, morals, values, and principles. Having integrity means staying firm in all the conditions of your life.
A small story. A dying man is told to eat fish oil which probably can save his life. But the man’s moral values don’t allow him to eat or use any animal product. So he turned down the idea even when he was on his deathbed. So that is what we call integrity, which means staying firm on your principles and morals.
Honesty and integrity are two of the 12 spiritual principles that are similar to each other. Integrity is the person’s integral matter.
One must find and think of the primary term in personal inventory to practice integrity. This will lead to support, deep interactions, love, and even the development of friendships.
A person with solid integrity stands up for their judgments and stays true to their feelings. A fearless moral inventory follows strong integrity as you stand by your opinions with nothing to fear.
6. Willingness
Willingness signifies how willing you are to undertake a particular action. It has an important place among the 12 spiritual principles. Without willingness, all the other spiritual principle is meaningless. It springs the other spiritual principles into action, as the willingness to learn them is the defining point in your journey.
“Are you willing to do it, no matter what it takes” You have to ask this question to yourself. This question is about achieving the highest state of happiness. And to do it, you must be willing to work upon the given principles. Because if there is no willingness, there is no action, or if there is action, it will be emotionally forced action.
It is the hammer that breaks the wall between imagination and reality. The more willing you are to do something, the harsher the reality. Willingness is the consciousness of achieving something. If you have the willpower, you will be able to support yourself throughout your life.
7. Humility
Humility is defined as a modest or low view of one’s importance and humbleness. Humiliating others will bring the same to you while making you feel guilty and regretful over time. On the other hand, an unselfish tone and concern for others can help you lead a better life and give you inner peace.
Among the 12 spiritual principles, humility is the one that establishes a down-to-earth behaviour. You can win the world with arrogance, but you cannot rule that world with it. Simple as that. If you keep being arrogant in front of everyone else, no one will be on your side for long enough.
On the opposite side, if you stay humble, treat everyone with humility, and respect everyone even if he is not as great as you. Having a good term even with your rivals shows the world that you deserve to win or you deserve what you have achieved.
8. Love
Love is another among the 12 spiritual principles that emphasize the importance of loving ourselves and loving others. Self-love always precedes spreading out love, as you can not truly love someone else until you love yourself. By loving ourselves, we also get the freedom to love others without any conditions.
When you are in love with someone, but you keep criticizing yourself for things, always thinking less of yourself, always thinking yourself unworthy, your feeling for that person is not to love, but just attraction. When you can love yourself, only then can you love others. And to love yourself, you have to accept yourself as you are. And you have to stop underestimating yourself. Having self-love makes you accept yourself as you are, and it teaches you to accept others as they are. So that is love.
Love is something that relieves our minds of the perils of the day. Love and kindness are related to each other, as there is kindness only when there is love. For example, giving a lift and giving out presents are random acts of kindness with love.
The absence of discrimination based on age, sex, religion, or race makes love unique because love always prevails. Sometimes, we get caught up in things that take our focus away from what matters, and where love lies. Love is in our family and friends, which is not often recognized by those involved in substance abuse.
9. Discipline
All 12 spiritual principles are interlinked with each other through self-discipline. Self-discipline is a habit that people develop as they grow. Some of the spiritual disciplines include prayer and meditation. In implementing the 12 spiritual principles, self-discipline plays an integral role and is indeed the key to success.
Having discipline in your life is incredibly important to be successful and happy. Discipline means a set of rules for yourself made by you only. These rules are to be carved out, keeping in mind your goals and your happiness. Suppose you have no self-discipline or no rules about how you are going to live your life, You are way far from the eternal state of happiness. You will be living on to the small doses of eternal happiness, but without discipline, it is hard to achieve happiness from the inside. When you are following your own rules and self-discipline, you get the special satisfaction that you are in control of your life.
For example, when you go for an interview, the interviewer will observe your style of talking, posture, and etiquette, which are indicators of your self-discipline. Bringing discipline to your life has the power to open the doors of success for you.
10. Patience or Perseverance
Having patience is the key to a happy life. Not having patience leads to bad decision-making and eventually kills your happiness. A person who does not have patience can not achieve spiritual happiness, nor can he preserve the happiness that he has. Not having patience is a sign of having a chaotic mind.
Perseverance means “Keep Doing.” You have grown old, you have seen a lot of things, you have experienced a lot of things, you have learned a lot of things and gained knowledge of a lot of things. Now that you have all that knowledge, you must have many goals. And if you are giving up on your goals and not going to keep trying. You are a lot far from spiritual happiness and spiritual awakening.
Patience or perseverance is a virtue where patience determines the amount of joy in your life, and perseverance is your determination to push forward. Patience is a long process, good moments may be far away, but they will certainly reach you sooner or later.
The key here is to be patient towards the good moments of your life and work towards your goals with perseverance. This is a critical determinant in your journey to success.
11. Awareness
Awareness is a self-explanatory word. But how is it connected to spirituality? In spirituality, we meditate; in it, we are told to close our eyes and listen to our surroundings. Focus on all the sounds you can hear, even if it is the tiniest. It teaches us to have self-awareness of what’s going on around us.
The same thing is being explained here. You have to be aware of what is going on in your life. About all the situations, about all the problems. If you have self-awareness of it, you will be longing to solve it, But you will not be able to solve it if you are not aware. And when that problem gets slammed on your face, it disrupts your happy-going life.
Awareness is the sense we know about what is going on in our lives. Awareness is linked with other spiritual principles and can be a reminder of fear. When there is awareness, you will realize the need to make changes in your life.
This principle is used in AA programs as participants are made aware of their situation and its implications. This helps them realize their responsibilities, decisions, and need for improvement.
12. Service
One of the best things you can do for humanity is to serve the humans in need without expecting anything in return. This will give you immense joy and peace of your mind. You will feel good. Seeing the smile on the person’s face who was in trouble gives you more calmness in your mind. In return, serving others without expectation of anything shows your compassion for others and humanity.
Service is the spiritual principle linked to humanity. Service is the spiritual principle of human nature; people are born to serve themselves and others in need. People tend to serve others out of love and affection. One can practice service simply by talking to a person in need.
A service is an act of kindness that brings you respect and self-satisfaction, which is the most important.
Key Takeaways
These 12 spiritual principles are the best guidelines that can help you lead a happy life. Principles such as discipline and love are key to a respectful living, with no harm to yourself or others. As a result of these steps, there is a huge positive impact on life, bringing peace and self-gratification.
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FAQs
1. What is the secret of eternal happiness?
Ans. The secret of eternal happiness is ‘Self-love’.
2. What is the secret of divine prosperity?
Ans. The secret of divine prosperity is ‘giving’.
3. What is the secret of a happy life?
Ans. ‘Feeling contentedness’ is the secret of a happy life.
- Bein, Andrew. The Zen of helping: Spiritual principles for mindful and open-hearted practice. John Wiley & Sons, 2008. ↩︎
- Harvey, D. J. R., and D. Gardiner. “‘MORAL balance’decision-making in critical care.” BJA education 19.3 (2019): 68. ↩︎
- Flanagan, John C. “A research approach to improving our quality of life.” American psychologist 33.2 (1978): 138. ↩︎
- Kucinskas, Jaime, et al. “States of spiritual awareness by time, activity, and social interaction.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 56.2 (2017): 418-437. ↩︎
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