The Way of Powerlessness: Advaita and the 12 Steps of Recovery

by Wayne Liquorman, Salva Dawn (Editor)

POWERLESSNESS = STRENGTH We suffer from the most insidious kind of addiction - one we don't even realize we have. It is the addiction to power itself. Both the Twelve Steps of recovery and the ancient teaching of Advaita reveal that powerlessness is the secret to genuine strength. The proposition that lasting peace in life can come through the recognition of complete personal powerlessness may seem counterintuitive and ultimately ridiculous. Yet, lasting peace is the miracle The Way of Powerlessness makes possible.

Genres: Spirituality

142 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

Reviews

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was also presented as an audio talk given by the author. I don't recall the book/talk actually living up to the title of delivering 'the way of powerlessness', but rather it presented some ideas about why giving up one's 'will' or egoic intent had benefits, and how this aspect of letting go could fit in with both Advaita (as taught by his teacher Ramesh Balsekar) and the 12 Steps (of which the author had experience due to his personal history). There wasn't a lot to take away from this book, apart from the idea of letting go more in life and giving oneself over to the universe etc.- ideas which can be found in any umpteen number of other books. Some further practical advice would have been helpful in actually guiding readers on how 'the way of powerlessness' operates etc., but this probably isn't WL's style, as he's pretty much a free-flow, nothing needs to be done, nobody to do it, type Advaita teacher. Might be of interest to a few on the 12 Step path.