The purpose of Step 4, “made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves”, is to determine the root cause of our drinking, identify any personal issues (character defects) that may have contributed to our alcoholism, and understand ourselves completely. We uncover what we call our “defects of character”, those issues that have built up in our psyche and subconscious that cause us to drink. Once we uncover what has driven our behavior, we are able to give these defects to our Higher Power (Step 6). With these spiritual tools, we are better prepared so when they arise again (they will) we are equipped to deal with them.
So why is it important? We need to uncover the causes and conditions of our alcoholic minds, as the Buddhist and Hindu religions both explain. The causes and conditions and corresponding effects are associated with our previous actions and how we interpreted the world around us as we grew up. We have a distorted sense of self, so we need to find our AUTHENTIC SELF. Step 4 lights the way. We are uncovering the causes and conditions of what? OUR ALCOHOLISM! What is my alcoholism? When I drink I don’t know what will happen. How do I feel and what do I think about when I drink?
Hinduism clearly holds that everything in existence has a cause. Causes and effects follow a predictable pattern, which ensures the order and regularity of things or the reality that manifests. Nothing can come out of nothing. There must be a cause for something to manifest. The manifestations of our subconscious are the character defects we are uncovering as part of this process. These defects reveal themselves in times of anger, fear, and conflict (our resentments).
In Buddhism, the common thread for all Dharma (existence) is the law of cause and condition. This is true regardless of the Buddhist school, or whether the Dharma is being viewed on the level of appearance or essence, or whether it is viewed in a worldly or transcendent fashion. All phenomena are products of the proper mix of causes and conditions. In other words, our alcoholism is caused by something, Step 4 is the process of uncovering these issues.
We need to break the patterns that caused us to drink….
So, the alcoholic mind is born that way, as Lady Gaga likes to say. Aso for me, I acted alcoholically at a very young age. I had a lot of resentments, felt isolated and different from other kids my age, and started fires at age 5 as just one of my “random acts”! I had a mom and dad under one roof, siblings who I got along with for the most part, dogs, cats, fish, musical instruments, toys, friends, sports, and on and on. I had NO REASON to feel the way I did at such a young age but something was causing me to behave irrationally. What were we so angry about?
The next important step is understanding the EFFECT of our feelings and resentments. In other words:
What was my part in it?
When we understand that, we see the effects of our distorted feelings towards others. That’s why I started fires at age 5. That was my part in the resentments I had (the cause). I acted out irrationally. As alcoholics, we have MISDIRECTED INSTINCTS. We do not know how to handle situations so we do crazy things.
When we do Step 4 we become ENLIGHTENED, and this is part of the PSYCHIC CHANGE that is described throughout AA literature. We understand what happened to us and why, and what we did as a result. We can then clear away the wreckage of our past and begin to reconcile ourselves to living on a higher plane of existence. We also use this experience to help other alcoholics. As a result, when the issues (resentments) pop up again in the future we will know how to handle them. We won’t act the way we used to act.
Isn’t that Promise 11?
We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
Podcast: David G from AA in Frisco, TX knows step 4. I used some of his phrasing because I love the way he communicates it. I encourage you to listen to it.