The Twelve Steps as a Path to Enlightenment

Enlightened Steps

PDF version of Steps for Printing.
  1. We admitted we were powerless over what we hoped we could control – that our lives had become unmanageable.

  2. Came to believe that we could know peace.

  3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over.

  4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

  5. Admitted to all that is, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our actions.

  6. Were entirely ready to release all obstacles to peace.

  7. Humbly dedicated ourselves to the path.

  8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

  9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible except when to do so would injure them or others.

  10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

  11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our awareness of ultimate reality and connection to our intuitive center, praying only for knowledge of right action and the power to carry that out.

  12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all areas of our lives.
PDF version of Steps for Printing.

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are reprinted and adapted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (“AAWS”) Permission to adapt the Twelve Steps does not mean that AAWS has reviewed or approved the contents of this publication, or that AAWS necessarily agrees with the views expressed herein. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism only - use of the Twelve Steps in connection with programs and activities which are patterned after A.A., but which address other problems, or in any other non-A.A. context, does not imply otherwise.