Category: J Douglas Bottorff

Paul’s Natural Man

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The unspiritual (natural) man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

What Paul calls the unspiritual or natural man, is a person we would consider as having no interest in spiritual matters, a strict materialist. This would be one who accepts matter as the basis of reality and, therefore, the body as the basis of our identity. To be spiritually discerning is to be intuitively awakened to the reality of our spiritual essence.

Scientific materialism cannot conceive of the existence of the soul. Consciousness and life itself is dependent on the physical organism. The notion of consciousness surviving the death of the body is folly. It does not fit the materialistic model.

In truth, it matters not how many textbooks are written to support the materialistic model of reality. Even Einstein could see past this limited view:

“We are slowed down sound and light waves, a walking bundle of frequencies tuned into the cosmos. We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music.”

How do we come to know this? What is our faculty of spiritual discernment? We know it by its questioning nature. I know people who are religious mainstream thinkers. They never question their religious inheritance. Why do we? Because the larger Self, the soul, stands knocking at the door of our consciousness waiting for us to open. This knocking might be interpreted as an annoyance or a disturbance. But it only wants one thing. Open the door.

Spiritual Enlightenment

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This week someone asked me what I thought it meant to be spiritually enlightened. Is it a state we reach or is it an understanding that we are unlimited beings that will never reach a spiritual stopping place? Great question.

From what I have observed, many believe it is a state we reach. This seems to be a motivating factor behind much of our quest for further spiritual knowledge.

I think of how far we have come in our exploration of the world and the universe as a whole. Early adventurers explored the earth from wind-driven ships. If they could see the technology we use today, they would probably consider us an enlightened people. From our point of view, there doesn’t seem to be any signs of having reached a stopping place. I think most of us would agree that we’re just getting started.

Why would this be? Because we live in a universe of infinite possibility. There is no point of arrival, no stopping place. As Walt Whitman wrote,

“There is no stoppage and never can be stoppage,
If I, you, and the worlds, and all beneath or upon their surfaces, were this moment reduced back to a pallid float, it would not avail in the long run,
We should surely bring up again where we now stand,
And surely go as much farther, and then farther and farther.” Walt Whitman, Song to Myself 

Spiritual enlightenment, then, would be better described as the state of knowing there are no limits imposed on our being. As spiritual beings having a human experience, it is easy to forget that we are much more than the human side. Spiritual enlightenment is living from the awareness of this greater reality.   

My Truth?

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My truth. What does this mean? With 8 billion people on this planet, are we to assume there are 8 billion truths? I think not. There are 8 billion perceptions of Truth. If I am growing, my truth today will not be my truth tomorrow.

In my book on Meditation and Prayer, I suggest that the desire of God is unlimited expression. Perfection is not a state we reach; it is an attitude that allows for further growth. To be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect[1] is to be open to the Truth beyond my truth and your truth. By so doing, further expression is possible. God is not hindered by these walls we build but simply flows around them. It is we who are imprisoned.

The moment a person says, my truth, they are erecting a circular wall designed specifically to protect a weakness. And what is the weakness? Treating their current perception of truth as if it is sacred. To evolve a strength is to become willing to tear down this wall so the ongoing quest to know the freeing Truth may resume.

To honor another’s right to hold their truth is not the same as honoring their perception of truth. What if my truth does not align with your truth? Do we just ignore it, or do we discuss reasons why this alignment does not occur? If we are interested in growth, then we do not make an all-out effort to protect the wall, but rather to delve into the conflict, see what the sticking points are, and seek to understand why we have placed so much value on a perception that may change tomorrow. Truth, as one currently perceives it, should not be held as sacred. Only Truth beyond current perception is the sacred

For the one interested in spiritual growth, your truth today will not be your truth tomorrow. My truth and your truth are not sacred. These are only temporary views of eternal Reality. Only the Truth of this Reality is sacred. 

[1] Matthew 5:48

Birth From On High

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Unity uses the term Christ is the essence of God individualized in each of us. However, we have accepted as the basis of our identity ideas of lack and limitation. These have found expression in our minds, our bodies, and our circumstances. Our spiritual quest is about recovering the awareness of our spiritual core.

We re-establish our identity in the Word (soul) so that Word may become flesh, full of grace and truth, and dwell among us. Mary represents the spiritually receptive intuition. She is the higher Self that is open to the things of Spirit. She is our intuitive nature, that part of us that knows there is more to life than this human, physical existence.

Joseph represents the intellectual aspect of our spiritual awakening. We must reassess the function of our intellect. Before, it was the leader, the teacher, the presenter of new ideas. Now it becomes the observer, the student, the discerner of eternal truths. It beholds divine ideas that are untouched by the limitations of human thought, born out of the virgin regions of the soul.

The shepherds represent our ability to watch over our thoughts. They represent our innate ability to discern and judge from the spiritual perspective. In the same way the shepherd keeps watch over his flock by night, so we keep watch over the flock of our thoughts and feelings. In daily periods of quiet, we remember that we are spiritual beings, here to express the highest and best that is in us. We let go of all that is not constructive, so that we may focus this wonderful energy and power of our spirit on the good.

The wise men from the east represent the innate wisdom of the soul. Just as there is a wisdom that knows how to unfold a mighty oak tree from within a tiny, insignificant acorn, so there is a wisdom that knows how to unfold the full potential of the soul through the mind and heart of each one of us. Sometimes we are afraid to move out of current conditions of limitation because it doesn’t appear that we have the knowledge to successfully pull it off. When we commit ourselves to growth, to changes that will encourage the bringing forth new dimensions of the emerging soul, the wisdom we need is given, as we need it.

Let There Be Light

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Our fourth and final topic in the Advent series is intelligence, which manifests as order.

We’ve all seen patterns in nature such as the amazing design of the nautilus, the petals of a flower, or the colors of the rainbow. It is difficult to imagine there not being intelligence behind these orderly patterns.

Genesis opens with God saying, “Let there be light.” We know this is not a reference to the sun and moon because these come on the third day. The writer is affirming the presence of divine intelligence as a foundational aspect of reality. We should not think of intelligence as being created with this declaration, but only that the author is saying that intelligence is a fundamental aspect of God.   

Of the four spiritual resources—life, love, power, and intelligence—intelligence is one that is not equally expressed by all life forms. Its regulation appears to be tied to brain function. This apparently allows for endless diversity, with every species having the ability to successfully fill its own niche.

It is good for we humans to fully embrace the fact of infinite intelligence, especially when we are feeling at a loss for what we are to do next in our moments of uncertainty. We can affirm, let there be light, knowing that the full intelligence of God is responding even before we ask. Jesus alluded to the orderly aspect of intelligence when he said, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear (Mark 4:28). We affirm the intelligence of God is working through us now to establish favorable conditions in an orderly manner.

Because Advent is the lead-in to the mystical birth, or revelation of our own Christ consciousness, we can affirm that divine intelligence is very much alive and bringing to mind the right mental and emotional states that invite this higher awareness. This, of course, is not a seasonal aspiration, but the Christmas season reminds us of the spiritual truth we strive to express. As we affirm, Let there be light, let us do so knowing the light is already shining in full force at the center of our being. It is our privilege to let this light shine.

Empowerment From On High

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When we think of power in connection with God, we may envision the Almighty throwing mountain-splitting lightning bolts, or something of that nature. Or when we think of powerful people, we may think of those who possess great wealth or hold influential positions, such as a political figure.

Spiritual power is quiet. Empowerment from on High is the silent impartation of spiritual revelation. And we should not assume a person is spiritually empowered because of the position they hold. The exact opposite may be the case.

Spiritual power manifests through us as strength. For example, it may require a great deal of strength to admit we are powerless to resolve an addiction, or to control a difficult situation. Now we are moving into the notion of empowerment from on high.

We associate empowerment from on high with vision, the kind that evokes the understanding that we are more than the sum of our perceived resources. When we think of a power greater than ourselves, we do not think of a power outside of ourselves, but as the larger spiritual context that includes us. Empowered by this vision sparks new thoughts, new feelings of greater possibilities, and new strength to take needed action and move forward in creative ways.

We’ve all had moments when we felt we lacked the strength to take even one more step. But from such a place we also know that it can take only a few simple inspirational words of encouragement, spoken or written, to open the floodgates of power. Just a slight shift in the way we’re looking at a situation can bring us strength we didn’t know we had.

Like all of our spiritual resources, power is inherent in the soul. God as power is our underlying, unlimited source. When we feel weak, inadequate to meet that threatening challenge, we become still, take our mind off the appearance, and open ourselves to empowerment from on high. We wait in silence and in peace for the infilling. If it does not come immediately, we get up and go about our life. It is often in unexpected moments that we experience our desired renewal of strength.

The Attracting and Dissolving Action of Love

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“Love draws to us that which is for our highest good and dissolves that which is not.”

J Douglas Bottorff

Week two in our Advent series addresses the spiritual resource of love. When we think of the attractive and dissolving action of love, it is good to put this idea into a specific perspective. Let’s think of love as we would think of the phenomenon known as sympathetic resonance. Let’s say we have a guitar sitting passively on a stand. On our synthesizer keyboard, we hold a sustaining A note. Soon the A string on the guitar will begin to vibrate. The notes above and below will remain passive.

When we make this statement, we are not really drawing or dissolving anything. All strings are still on the guitar. What we are affirming is a frequency, a level of expectation that enables us to see and experience the truth of our statement, and to tune in to the evidence that this is truly happening. If we say to this mountain, be cast into the sea, and do not doubt in our heart that this is so, we are establishing a specific frequency that prompts us to see the outworking in our life. This outworking may look different than we expect, which is why it is important to think of it as love in action. We are striking the A note, and we are setting the A string in motion.

Let’s change the metaphor a bit. You have a circumstance in your life that seems discordant. All the strings vibrate at once, a situation like that of an orchestra tuning before the performance. Affirming that love draws to you that which is for your highest good and dissolves that which is not is a way of silencing the chaos and beginning the performance.

We’re not rubbing a magic lamp. We are focusing on the truth of how love operates. We are becoming conscious that the greater good is now unfolding, while that which may be blocking this greater good (most likely some attitude) is now dissolving.  

Life, The Renewing Agent of the Mind

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“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind …” (Romans 12:2).

This oft quoted passage from Paul represents a common theme of Jesus. His references to things like new wineskins, new cloth, and the need to be reborn all carry the theme of renewal. As our first topic of this Advent season, we focus on the opportunity to release the old elements associated with the paradigm of separation from God and open ourselves to the renewing truth of oneness.

It is probably fair to say that most of us evolved to the idea of the kingdom of God as an internal rather than an external phenomenon. If so, we may still find ourselves stealing glances to the heavens as we pray our way through one of our life’s challenges. As this renewal of the mind, this shift in spiritual values occurs, so does our enthusiasm for our new, inner-directed approach to life. We are gradually learning how to avail ourselves to this inner fountain of guidance and comfort.

When Jesus suggested the need to become as children, he was pointing to the child-like trust that positions the mind in a receptive and inquisitive mode. The life-energy bubbling up in us is like the new fermenting wine that requires a mind free of the preconceived limitations of the old wineskins. Likewise, we do not want to try to simply patch our old-garment thinking with a few positive affirmations. We become willing to let our mind become an entirely new garment.

The fact that you and I have already responded to a new way of thinking of spiritual matters indicates that we are engaged in the transformation Paul refers to. This is not an overnight process. There will be times when we find ourselves clinging to the old even as we long for the new. As we affirm the renewing fountain of life welling up within our being, our enthusiasm for this new direction grows. The cosmic wave, as I now like to think of it, rises from within, transforming the way we experience the world around us.

This is the beauty of the renewal of the mind. We are not required to change the world, only to experience it in a new way.

The Truth About Thanksgiving

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It may seem presumptuous to give a talk on the truth of Thanksgiving. It’s a pretty straightforward topic, after all, and those of us in the US have had our share of formal Thanksgiving celebrations. My intention here is to focus more on the spiritual principle embodied in giving thanks

Giving thanks is something we would do after having received some desired good. We normally think of thanksgiving as an effect. From the standpoint of the soul, the act of thanksgiving is understood more as a cause, an activity we engage in before there is evidence of a desired good.

You recall that Jesus gave thanks before he had the disciples begin passing out the meager supply of loaves and fishes. His attention was not on the apparent limited quantity of food available but on God as his ever-present Source. He blessed the food, which means he was seeing it from a consciousness of wholeness. The action of having the disciples begin passing out the bread and fish was based on his awareness of God as his unfailing supply.

The focus we place on this story as a miraculous act performed by a supernatural being causes us to miss the lesson we can draw from it. We are often faced with circumstances that proclaim, “There is not enough to go around.” Maybe you are in such a situation now, where it seems your resources are inadequate. You may find yourself turning to God asking for help. Jesus’ example indicates the importance of first lifting our attention above the appearance and acknowledging God as our unfailing supply. We give thanks for the solution that is now forthcoming.

We can use our faith to know the answers we seek are present even before we perceive a problem. Our previous appearance-based training has us reacting to the problem in a way that degrades the quality of our inner life. Fear and a sense of helplessness often set in and we resort to pleading for help. We pause to let go of the negative energy we have placed in the appearance and we begin giving thanks that the proper solution is now forthcoming. Thanksgiving becomes a creative action rather than a simple reaction.