My
premise is that we have spiritual connections that are within ourselves and around
us. We find these at quiet times when we meditate or even when we're doing a walking
meditation and as we move through various parts of our lives and keep our minds
and hearts aware of our spiritual connections. These connections are also found
when we reach out to other persons and sense an understanding of what we were
seeking togethera better world and more understanding among peoples. We find
them in our religious communities. A much larger percentage of people are seekers.
Another
way of looking at this is to see the connections from the depths within each of
us with those of other persons. And that we have these connections with the universe
is revealed by strong evidence: We each see the same physical universe: the trees
and people around us; the distant views of where we are; the stars above us. Each
person could see and describe it in a completely different way. Yet you and I
will look at red sunset and we would be able to communicate that each of us is
indeed seeing a red sunset ..
Within our spiritual communities we become busy
with the procedures and activities of our group and begin to lose touch with why
we are really together. I invite you to follow along with me to help ourselves
to build those connections.
First let's sit back, close our eyes, relax our
feet, our legs, our middles, our hearts, our minds -and feel the wonderful presence
of our self. And now in this relaxed state let us
1. Listen to that still,
small voice within ourselves that is calling for high purposes and goals of sharing.
2.
Think of other persons you know who are following along the path that you are
following and that you want to join; for example the person who finds joy in artistic
expression to share a way of perceiving our spiritual journey seeing our
friend who is always there for us when we need a helping hand with building something
or making machines work better for us or preparing complicated paper work.
3.
As you start to think of persons near you, think of persons across the town, the
state, the nations who are also trying to contact with each other and a universal
force. Suddenly we can see the faces of starving children, of persons hit by the
ravages of war, of persons facing successfully great odds to build a better world
for themselves and for their loved ones and neighbors.
4. In this world view,
we start to think of something that brings us all together a universal force
that is always there no matter whether we are dealing with persons and thoughts
that are near or far away, with great literature, with theological writing, with
philosophical treatises. In our still relaxed position we find that we can still
listen and feel thoughts that are coming from that universal force that affect
our lives
Suddenly we have a perspective parallel to the one when we are at
a mountain top where we can look and not only see the slope below us where we
have climbed the mountain top but the ridges and the ridges beyond and clouds
in the distance far above usand even more valleys and ridges that we can
see. And we can sense a bit of that omni presence and we realize that that universal
force is not only around us and connecting people everywhere but is really a part
of us.
With this picture in mind and inour hearts and in our souls, we can
step ahead to do what I call Unitarian Universalist evangenalism. But sometimes
to cover up that word that is sometimes used for thrusts that we could not call
our own, we some times use the word outreach. By whatekver name we now seek to
spread the word to all so that we have some keys that will lift our hearts, help
us to embrace others, and to connect with the universal force that gives us the
inner strength to face each day with joy and beauty.
May our thoughts at this
time in whatever form and in whatever form and in any patterns we may have developed
in this time together (that's positive thoughts) may draw upon you for stepping
forth by opening your eyes and your hearts to building spiritual connections.
[insert here applications to each of the key words in the title.]
A Vision
for Me and Others*
This picture came to me:
In the act of running from one
place to another in a very busy life
It seemed as though everything stood still
one foot on the ground;
One up in the air ready to take another step.
But
no movement.
What is this, I cried. A warning of an end to come or a new beginning?
As
if to answer, I stepped down with the upraised foot and prepared for action.
Something
within me or around me led me away from the phrenetic pattern
I was in .
My
foot came down upon the ground. I tread lightly feeling the joy of relaxed movement;
Stepping
ahead to do the things that were truly important to me.
I saw as though for
the first time eyes of each person I met seeking a connection with
something
great within themselves and even greater around them.
I was able to be walking
with persons in my community into wider and wider circles
around the world
.
I was transported with a feeling of unison and of recognition of the caring
and
deep concern that exists within all hearts
Although sometimes
covered by fear and actions to conceal that fear.
My light steps brought me
up a mountain trail with sureness of foot and spirit,
And when I reached the
peak, I felt on my shoulder a spirit from deep within my being
that was like
a hand caring and showing understanding and appreciation
for the journey I
had taken.
I felt tremendous joy as I went on to share this deep experience
with others
as I do with you today.
Where are your feet? What action will
they take?
"Get the bloated nothingness out of the way and let the devine
circuits flow through." Emerson
*Dictated
Oct. 29, 20021 as I drove down to be a teaching assistant for Tiny Tots Nursery
in Sacramento for a chance to be with my grandson Christopher.
From: http://www.cellularmemory.net/cmr.htm
Each
cell has many rooms. And the total of a cell is mostly empty. And most of ourselves
is empty space. Within the cell there is much energy and rapid movement.
Paul
Pearsall, Ph.D., writes about cellular memory in his book entitled, The Heart's
Code: "If information is carried in the energy of the heart and circulates
within the cells, and if energy cannot be destroyed, whatever memories of a life
experience anyone has ever had may be able to become our own individual memories.
Cellular memories may be experienced as representations of universal, archetypal,
infinitely shared memories that represent the collective consciousness."
"FORM
is emptiness, and EMPTINESS is form" --Buddhists have known that for more
than 2,500 years. "The existence of all things is EMPTINESS" states
the Heart Sutra, one of the best known ancient Buddhist texts
How do we access
the Inner Healer within? When we use Cellular Memory Release (CMR) techniques,
we are using to access the Inner Healing wisdom that is natural to all of us.
The Inner Healer has been with us since the conception of time. It is a part of
us that knows exactly where the imbalance is, its roots and the way to correct
it. It also knows how many layers of the must be released to allow the natural
Life Energy or to flow freely through our system.
"Sooner or later we
all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not
the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The
real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced,
stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives
are measured by these."
~ Susan B. Anthony
March 30, 2003: I'm now
reading another book that is on the same wave length as my talk:
Jane Nelsen,
Ed. D., From here to Serenity, Four Principles for Understanding Who You Really
Are. Roseville: Prima Publishing, 2000. 214pp. www.primalifestyles.com . . Jane
and I studied writing under Bud Gardner. She is a highly successful author of
many books now. Her principles are: Free yourself from the filters of your thought
system; understand how feelings can act on a personal compass; improve relationships
by understanding and respecting differences; learn how to overcome depression,
anger, or any negative feeling.
She says on p. 22 "...when you take thoughts
from your thought system seriously, you block your spiritual source and lose access
to your inner wisdom and inspiration." [My take on this is that when I relax,
meditate, cut out the filters of judging and bias, and expect something (anything,
whatever comes to me in this relaxed state) that I will see things in a wonderful
light that guides me to positive actions in my life.]