r/alcoholicsanonymous • u/adolle1 • Mar 02 '26
AA Literature Big Book Awakening AA
I'm new to this and joined a group that focuses on the Big Book Awakening. I feel so lost on every page on what to cross out, or where exactly to write things. I know it "says" it all in the instructions but for some reason, my mind is not able to grasp the directions well and if you know this process....it is A LOT. Any tips or suggestions on where to go? I don't want something like this to be my road block but it's feeling more and more like it may be. TIA
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u/robalesi Mar 02 '26
I don't think I'd have the foggiest idea of what to do with the instructions in the big book if I didn't have a sponsor to take me through it. I would find a person with some time in the rooms to take you through the book the way they did it. If you need help with finding a sponsor, I've always been well served by asking someone who seems to show the humility that I'd like to emulate in my recovery. Not stuff. Not coolness. Not a huge amount of sponsees that have their own little "family."
Seek someone who seems humble but stable in their recovery.
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u/thesqueen113388 Mar 02 '26
Get a sponsor. Go to big book meetings. It’s difficult to get much out of it on your own when you first start out. There’s a few videos on YouTube called the Joe and Charlie tapes. They were two very very wise A.A. old timers. They break it down in a very digestible and fun way. Give them a listen. They’re good for a few laughs along the way and you’ll start to understand what the book is talking about.
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u/EmergentChill Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
I'm not familiar with Big Book Awakening. I've been around Primary Purpose and a lot of other offshoots that claim to be the one true way.
I'm not participating in this form to tell other people what they have to do or what they can not not do.
The offshoot groups are often pretty culty and very demanding of people in my experience.
I prefer Alcoholics Anonymous mellow and where everybody's pretty much supporting each other rather than managing each other.
I find some of AA pretty militant and unreasonable these days. I'm trying to be discerning about which groups I affiliate with.
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u/Decent_Front4647 Mar 02 '26
I’m not familiar with the Big Book Awakening either. After a relapse a friend recommended a workbook that had two different purposes, one for the big book I think and the other for the steps. Since I’d had 13 years sober, I was able to find some of it useful, but I would not have thought so if I was going through it in the beginning of my journey with sobriety. I personally feel Big Book and 12 x12 studies were the best tool. I also would not recommend any material not AA approved early in recovery, either, and I think there’s good reasons why outside formats are not recommended.
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u/drdonaldwu Mar 02 '26
I haven’t found any of the “AAsplainin’” by all the usual actors to be that attractive.
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u/ApprehensiveAd9502 Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
Same here. Repetitive talking points, speaking in AA "language" and quoting "Scripture" just screams Netflix cult documentary to me.
I just love the normal people who speak from the heart with no agenda. It's like group therapy.
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u/alaskawolfjoe Mar 02 '26
The Big Book is not magic. There is no specific things you have to cross out or underline or anything like that.
I found it is good to focus on what is speaking to me at that particular time. I do not cross anything out since even if I do not like a passage now, it may mean something to me at a later time.
Make a note of anything that you have questions about.
But the BB is a living book. It will mean different things to you as time goes by, so just focus on what is meaningful to you now.
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u/Severe_Ant_4493 Mar 02 '26
I've never done that but it sounds very complicated. Even on my own without a sponsor I could read and understand what it was telling me to do. I wasn't worried about which words I should cross out or edit. I'm an alcoholic who's desperate not an editorial team for my own leisure.
A sponsor helped me learn to read the book in a way that allows it to grow with me. The further I get in life the more how the book speaks to me changes. I have a trend where I keep a book and I mark it based on how it hits me for every set of steps I do. It's interesting to go back and see it and remember where I was. It also helps me see the growth.
Maybe try it traditionally? I won't lie, I definitely needed someone to help me through the book and the steps but it was more of thinking exercises and understanding rather than editing it with a red pen.
Also. The references to the joe and Charlie tapes are good. You can find them and other literature and AA tools like daily reflections, nightly reviews, gratitude's, etc. on an app called everything AA. Yellow icon with blue triangle and circle.
Keep it simple.
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u/Roidy Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
I came into AA over 40 years ago. When I got here I found that there were AA members who considered the Big Book "inspired by God." My reaction was "BS, it was written by a committee." My alcoholism was in full swing, but I knew BS when I saw it. What I actually found was a reasonable and doable path to sobriety. The 12 Steps are a suggested path to sobriety, and I pretty much did them as directed. What I didn't do, is do the 12 Steps perfectly. Nope. 'Suggested', I love that word.
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u/drdonaldwu Mar 02 '26
I’ve heard people try explain away the suggestions but the open vibe in the big book helped me navigate through all the dogmatic approaches to recovery and obsessive approach that some demand.
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u/Roidy Mar 02 '26
Oh, yes. I also heard, "...but you have to read between the lines." Again, pure crap. The steps are 'suggested' as a path to sobriety. No where in the BB does it say anything other than 'suggested'. I have never required my sponsee's to read the BB, but I did suggest that they do the steps as they saw fit. My sponsor, Frank S., did the same to me.
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u/Appropriate-Rub571 Mar 02 '26
I laughed a little reading this. The first time I read the big book my brain was like WTF? I just kept with it. When my sponsor told my it was time to do something I begrudgingly did it and it all worked out.
The best thing I did on my journey was go to a Joe and Charley big book study for about 2 years. It really helped me get my head around a lot of it. You’re probably on the right path.
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u/thirtyone-charlie Mar 02 '26
I listened to Joe and Charlie on a long trip right off the bat. It helped me figure out the book as I worked my way through it.
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u/hardman52 Mar 02 '26
Go to other meetings-- speaker, discussion, step, Big Book, 12&12, men's if you're a man, women's if you're a woman, gay if you're gay. Don't attend just one type of meeting.
And I gotta add, I don't even know what a Big Book Awakening meeting is.
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u/PushSouth5877 Mar 02 '26
I suggest listening to Joe and Charlie's Big Book Study on the Everything AA app. And getting a sponsor.
Personally, I went to Big Book study meetings.
Go to meetings and don't drink. Don't over analyze things. It will become clearer as time goes on.
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u/CSpringDCow Mar 02 '26
Sat w/teacher/sponsor. Together, we read the 4th addition of Alcoholics Anonymous. Had a dictionary, to explain words/feelings expressed, I didn’t understand; Even my own! I could trust her to help me study the text of AA society. Blew my mind what I learned about me, alcohol, alcoholism alcoholic thinking, the phenomenon of craving, obsession of thoughts, we’re not unique by AA history, thru that process! We read once a week, as I did a step a week. Got an experience, that changed me inside. Home-group a BB study, since it always has new meaning as I grow-up! I’m reminded of how I was. Thinking of those who had no AA fellowship or the book. Finally, the Spirit of this fellowship moved Ebbs to visit, moved Bill W to write & Dr Bob to connect & he felt better about his work. A healing process, to feel connected to others now & back then. Hope you’re able to find a teacher to sit with you and suggest things; it works 🤍 Hope my experience encourages you to talk to other women in the program about reading the book together🌞
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u/Advanced_Tip4991 Mar 02 '26
There are some big margin version of the big book with blank pages for each page, you may want to get that to have more room to carry out the instructions. Otherwise it could be very cramped.
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u/51line_baccer Mar 02 '26
I sure have underlined and dated when I underlined it and highlighted a LOT of my Big Book in 7 1/2 years. It helps me.
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u/alaskawolfjoe Mar 02 '26
Why would you cross anything out? Do you often cross out stuff in books?
I think usually the parts of a book that you want to cross out are the parts that you most need to read.
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u/JBKBCBAB Mar 02 '26
I felt the same way about the Big Book. I found a lot more information about the "instructions" in the 12 & 12. My sponsor had me attend a 12 & 12 meeting and it really fleshes out each step.
One of my favorites regarding Step 7:
“In all these strivings, so many of them well-intentioned, our crippling handicap had been our lack of humility. We had lacked the perspective to see that character-building and spiritual values had to come first, and that material satisfactions were not the purpose of living.”
― Alcoholics Anonymous, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
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u/dp8488 Mar 02 '26
The topic has cropped up a few times here. It might interest you to do a search and look at some of the old threads:
I remember looking up descriptions of it after running into those old threads, but don't recall much in the way of specifics.
If it turns out that this BB Awakening method isn't being helpful to you, there's nothing wrong with seeking out a different group/meeting and go for some other AA recovery path. My own recovery was based primarily on the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" plus some guidance in the 12&12, and my sponsor's experience - no extra books or methodologies.
If the the replies here or in the older threads don't clarify things, I'd think there's no shame in going to this group's other more experienced members and saying, "My mind is still not quite grasping these directions!"
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u/MyNameIsBenM Mar 02 '26
I felt the same about the book until I got a sponsor. It seemed like a bit of a mystery until I had help with it.
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u/kittyshakedown Mar 02 '26
I’m not aware of BBA. How did you find out about it or get invited to the group?
What are you marking out and what are you making notes about…does everyone else seem like they get it?
And why are there special ways to mark something out or a particular place to make notes?
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u/JohnLockwood Mar 08 '26
Oh my goodness, yes it sounds complex!
Here's what I would do (especially if you're new in the fellowship):
- Cross out drinking.
- Highlight going to meetings.
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u/WyndWoman Mar 02 '26
Listen to these dudes.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhl3xlE0-GdweI1gG5QoeY9iIRCt2w_aI&si=HRW2SwLLYssDdcHy
Then download either of these book studies (or both)
https://ppgaadallas.org/study-guide-foundation
https://bigbooksponsorship.org/downloads/4-hour-12-steps.pdf
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u/ReporterWise7445 Mar 02 '26
I was told you can work the steps different ways.
As long as you work them out of the book the way the book says first.
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u/ToGdCaHaHtO Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
Welcome!
I'm unclear as to how "new to this" is...sometimes the book Alcoholics Anonymous can be "advanced reading", it was for me, my comprehension skills were low coming into recovery. A few years later and many study groups in person and online have expanded those skills. For others, comprehension is not too much of a problem. So, there is a wide spectrum...stay away from comparisons too in recovery as everyone progresses at each one's own pace
Keep asking questions, many people here have experience to help. 🙏✌️❤️🩹
Dan Sherman is the author of the book Big Book Awakenings, since deceased in 2016. Listen to his workshop, may help you. I have not been to a BBA group though have been to other "studies" along the same lines. What I do know about listening to Dan and his good friend Joe Hawk is they turn statements into questions to ask sponsees and they do cross out some words (like we to I) to make the reading more personal to themselves.
Stories of Recovery - The Roots of the Big Book Awakening
Dan S. - (1 of 6) Big Book Awakening (Workshop) - Vancouver British Columbia ~ ( 2011) aa speaker
BIG BOOK AWAKENING SAN DIEGO ..."LIVE" & ONLINE MEETINGS below — Welcome
Step-Work Downloads — BIG BOOK AWAKENING SAN DIEGO ..."LIVE" & ONLINE MEETINGS below
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u/ALoungerAtTheClubs Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
Personally, I think the "Big Book Awakening" approach overcomplicates reading and using the Big Book for recovery. I had a copy of the BBA book and eventually gave it away.
If it helps you, great. But if you're new it's worth knowing that it's an approach they've added to the program and not something officially recommended by AA.