As a society we must never become so vain as to suppose that we are authors and inventors of a new religion. We will humbly reflect that every one of A.A.'s principles has been borrowed from ancient sources.
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A minister in Thailand wrote, "We took A.A.'s Twelve Steps to the largest Buddhist monastery in this province, and the head priest said, 'Why, these Steps are fine! For us as Buddhists, it might be slightly more acceptable if you had inserted the word 'good' in your Steps instead of 'God'. Nevertheless, you say that it is God as you understand Him, and that must certainly include the good. Yes, A.A.'s Twelve Steps will surely be accepted by the Buddhists around here.' "
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St. Louis oldtimers recall how Father Edward Dowling helped start their group; it turned out to be largely Protestant, but this fazed him not a bit.
I have several books that interpret the Twelve Steps through a Buddhist lens. I find that the Twelve Steps mesh very nicely with the Eightfold Path, and those books have formed a nice "adjunct" to my AA literature. I know a few people who are "devout" atheists (including one who was already a Buddhist) who found such readings the breakthrough, the to accepting AA as a spiritual program. The found a way to reconcile their non-theistic beliefs with the Steps.
