Sobriety and Beyond

by John Doe, Ralph Pfau

Father Doe traces the spiritual roots of Alcoholics Anonymous and explains the fundamental and enduring truths contained in the Twelve Steps. This is a wonderful resource for discovering the spiritual contentment, mental peace, and everyday joys to be found in the Twelve Steps.

388 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 1997

About the author

Father Ralph S. Pfau, also known as Father John Doe (10 November 1904 - 19 February 1967) was the author of Sobriety Without End, Sobriety and Beyond and the Golden Book series. He is believed to have been the first Roman Catholic priest to enter Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

Reviews

[Tadeo Sánchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

La vasta mayoría de la raza humana está compuesta de pecadores. Nadie es perfecto. Dios no exige la perfección objetiva - sólo buena voluntad. "Paz en la tierra a los hombres de buena voluntad".

La serenidad no está libre de defectos y problemas; la serenidad en la vida y la adaptación a la vida se logran aceptando e ignorando todos los pequeños problemas y cambiando o aceptando todos los grandes problemas de la vida.

La virtud se encuentra en el término medio, cualquier cosa que se haga en exceso se destruirá. Es un extraño enigma de la vida que sólo aquellos que de verdad llegan a conocer la tragedia se vuelven grandes.

Cada vez que permitimos a nuestras emociones que abiertamente reaccionen ante los factores exteriores de la vida, estamos formando el hábito de los "nervios". Por otra parte, sólo con la práctica consciente podemos eventualmente alcanzar el estado en el que nos sea posible ignorar las irritaciones. Respecto a este asunto de las irritaciones, es también importante saber que "las irritaciones crecen con la reacción; disminuyen con la falta de atención". Hay una ley de la psicología que indica: "Todas las cosas negativas de la vida se retiran ante la negligencia". Es uno de los axiomas más importantes de la higiene mental y del equilibrio emocional.

En las palabras del Dr. Shindler, en su libro sobre condiciones Nerviosas: "Mande al diablo a las irritaciones".

"Sano Juicio ~ Padre Ralph Pfau"

[Damien · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some good concepts in this book and a few things that were insightful and added to my journey. Despite that, I feel it was mainly a waste of time for myself. To find the quality content this book had to offer I had to endure the regurgitation of many AA sayings without much substance behind those sayings along with things I mostly already knew or could at least figure out with common sense. There were plenty of times when the author would go on for pages about death etc. to only change the subject without coming to a conclusion of why they went on those tangents in the first place. In my opinion, there are better books out there on spirituality/sobriety that have many great concepts that directly add(ed) to my life in some way shape or form. Lastly, I felt the author had a very limited view on sobriety and I found little relation to my journey. That being said everyone's journey is different so I am curious, what did you get out of this book?

[Dougie W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. Game changer.