YouTube: Spiritual Affirmation

As we saw last week, spiritual denial is the deliberate act of pulling our attention and power out of negative reactions to life’s events. Spiritual affirmation is the assertion, through visualization, word, and feeling, of a greater good unfolding. Denial clears the way while affirmation sets in motion the creative energy that generates desirable ideas and favorable conditions. We can think of these two actions as the activity of love, which dissolves that which is not for our highest good (denial) and draws to us that which is (affirmation).

When Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (Jn 8:32), he was stating a vital principle. The truth we come to know is that the soul is already free. To know the truth is to know yourself at the deepest level. Denial is the process of letting go of that which is not true of the soul. Affirmation is stating and knowing that which is true. We experience greater freedom as the result of bringing the truth of our being to the forefront of our mind. This, in fact, is the essence of affirmative prayer.

Think of your day-to-day emotion and thinking mind as the surface of a lake. Sometimes it is calm and sometimes it is churning with waves. Think of your soul as the lake’s calm depths not subject to changes in weather. While the surface and the depths of the lake co-exist, each represents a very different experience. The soul, like the lake’s depths, is always free of turmoil. Denial is the deliberate act of taking our attention from the surface. Affirmation is our deliberate embrace of the peaceful depths of our soul.

Storms happen. Sometimes we see the clouds gather in the distance while other times they catch us off guard. We’ve all heard of the calm before the storm. Let us seek to know this same calm during the storm. Jesus spoke to the threatening wind and the waves, “Peace, be still,” and the storm ceased. He did not allow the inclement weather to rob him of his power. Instead, he spoke with absolute conviction from the depths of his soul.

Through the practice of spiritual denial and affirmation, we too can let the calm peace of our soul rise to the surface of our mind and our life.

YouTube: Spiritual Denial: What It Is and How To Use It

The word deny has two familiar meanings. The first example is when a person refuses to admit the truth. Did you eat the last cookie? No. The second is to refuse to give something that is requested. Can I have that last cookie? No. Spiritual denial falls under the second example. But instead of cookies, we’re talking about attention and power.

The world is constantly requesting our attention. Where our attention goes, our power tends to follow. Someone has rightfully said, whatever gets your attention, gets you.

Let’s say we receive some potentially upsetting news. I say potentially upsetting because at first, we don’t think that much about it. However, the more we do think about it, the more upset we become. The situation is asking, Would you give me your attention and power? We are saying, Yes, it’s all yours. Spiritual denial is doing the exact opposite: No, I will not give you my attention and power.

Spiritual denial is not the act of pretending the news we received does not exist. It involves a definite decision on how we are going to use our mental and emotional faculties. We can employ our faculties of imagination and faith to create a worst-case scenario that leaves us languishing in fear. Or, we can say no to this temptation by refusing to visualize the worst and instead pour our faith into a brighter picture.

Jesus warned against judging by appearances for a very good reason. Looking only at the facts of a situation creates tunnel vision. In this universe of infinite possibilities, we home in on a specific few. The appearance demands our negative reaction, but are we obligated to give this appearance the attention and power it demands? The answer, of course, is no. We will most certainly deal with the situation, but in a positive and constructive way. Through spiritual affirmation, which we will explore next week, we remain in our center of power by directing our faith to the best and highest good for all concerned.

A feature known as YouTube shorts (videos 60 seconds or less) has gained great popularity on the YouTube venue. Below are three examples I’ve created. My thought is to post a couple of key points from each talk throughout the week. These easily digestible bytes would not only serve as refreshers, they would also provide sharable links for friends and family, your Facebook page, and other social media outlets that could provide an easy opportunity for those of you who want to help us expand Independent Unity’s online outreach.

Let me know what you think.

Rev. Doug

True Enlightenment

Peace and Freedom

Do I Want To Be Here or There?

YouTube: Monkey Mind: Is There a Cure?

What is the monkey mind? It is believed that the term originated in Buddhism to describe the constant mental chatter that scrambles through our mind like a troupe of busy monkeys. The monkey mind generates a false perception of reality that often has us running in fear and anxiety away from possible danger we cannot control.

Our chattering little monkey may not always present as a sense of danger. It may simply rattle on as a preoccupation with perceived possibilities of the past or future, mental noise that has no bearing on anything in particular.

When it comes to achieving mental and emotional peace, we need to recognize the difference between life in the here and now and the constant scanning of future and past possibilities. I have said before that we only worry over things we can do nothing about. These things are mental and emotional projections that have us wrestling with questions of what if rather than dealing only in the moment with what is.

Jesus recognized the need to still the busy mind. At one point he said to his disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). Yet it isn’t enough to simply go to a lonely place. We tend to take our monkeys with us.

It is important to pay attention to how we are using our mind. Are we allowing ourselves to be present? Some balk at the idea of practicing the Presence in meditation. We may want to begin simply with the practice of being present. Mindfulness. We can achieve mindfulness by taking a few moments to focus on something as simple as our breath. We can feel and appreciate the warmth of the sun, or the loving response of a pet. The practice of being present is a necessary step to becoming aware of the Presence.

The monkey mind will probably always be with us. The more we recognize it for what it is, the better we become at letting go of its incessant chatter.

YouTube: Expression is Attraction

Much has been written about the law of attraction and how we can use it to accomplish just about anything we desire. We are told by our new-age gurus that we put this law in motion by setting our intention. What most do not include in their presentation is that the law of attraction is an effect, not a cause. This law is not put in motion because we decide to set a particular intention. As the following passage illustrates, the law of attraction is in perpetual operation.  

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart” (Luke 6:45).

It is the character of the man, good or evil, not his intention, that determines what he attracts. The law of expression, first cause, will always manifest as the equivalent to what is stored up in the heart, regardless of the intention.

When Jesus advised to seek first the kingdom, he was calling attention to the importance of discovering the spiritual bedrock of our own being. Metaphorically speaking, this is the good man in the passage above. The evil man is the senses-based self-image disconnected from its spiritual core. When we are grounded in our spiritual center of power, our intentions naturally express as strength. When we are consciously disconnected from our spiritual center, our intentions focus on protecting our weaknesses. This spiritual law of expression was artistically stated in Shakespeare’s work, Hamlet:

“This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

The self in question is not the culturally influenced personality that we hold out for the world to see. It is that innermost sense of self we have always known, though sometimes kept under a bushel. The law of expression carries the goodness stored in the heart of our soul, naturally attracting to us the best and the highest in all ways.

YouTube: How Prayer Works

There are basically two types of prayer. The first, which is most common, is petitionary prayer. Petitionary prayer begins with the premise that we are separate from God. We have a problem. God has the solution. We petition God to act on our behalf and solve our problem.  

The second type is affirmative prayer. This type of prayer begins with the understanding that we are one with God. Our prayer aligns us with the creatively uplifting action of God. We do not need to persuade God to act. Affirmative prayer brings our thinking and our expectation (faith) into harmony with the creative activity of God.

What is the basis of this creative activity? God as love is drawing to us that which is for our highest good and dissolving that which is not. Jesus warned against reciting prayers containing many words. We simply acknowledge that love is now doing its perfect work in our situation. Jesus encouraged his listeners to believe they had already received that which they asked for in prayer. And what are we asking for in prayer? We are seeking to bring forth that which is for our highest good. We probably have an idea of what we think this should be, but then we add, this or something better. This keeps our mind open to greater and better possibilities.

Jesus also said that the Father knows our needs even before we ask. We will not get a stone when we ask for bread. This is an attitude of trust. Think of the creative life force that is God as a natural, healing, prospering flow. You are, at this moment, being carried by this flow to that which is for your highest good.

A simple affirmative spoken prayer directed to a specific issue can go something like this:

The infinite wisdom of God is now drawing to me that which is for my highest good and dissolving that which is not. Thank you, God, for the perfect solution now being made manifest.

Make this prayer an attitude that you carry throughout your day. Also, take quiet times to refresh and recharge your faith in the highest good now unfolding.

YouTube: The Truth That Sets You Free

A basic reason we argue over religion is because we do not clarify the nature of the paradigm we and others embrace. The paradigm is the basic premise that initiates a specific trajectory of logic. Unlike the two rails of the train track that appear to meet in the distance, the paradigms of separation and oneness will never meet. People make the choice to be on one side or the other.

The train track, however, must be understood as one thing, not two. This means that it needs both rails to be whole. Remove one rail and the track cannot function as intended. One rail is the appearance of separation from God, the other rail is the truth of our oneness. The whole train track represents the truth of oneness in a world full of appearances of separation.

The spiritual path is like the train track that requires both rails. If we go too far to the rail of separation, we deny our own spiritual wholeness. If we go too far to the rail of oneness, we may not function so well in a world that believes separation from God is the norm. 

There is a major difference between the belief in separation and the acknowledgment of the appearance of separation.

When we leave this body, all problems associated with it disappear. This means that 100% of our problems are resolved. The spiritual path, which is our challenge of learning to live successfully in a world of appearances dissolves. The train track goes away. We experience the truth of our oneness with God with absolutely no struggle. This is why no one wants to come back to their body. All their questions are answered. All their perceived inadequacies are resolved. Every problem associated with the human condition is gone.

The problem is, we have a body. Because we have a body, we have a train track with two rails. We have the truth of our oneness with God, and we have an abundance of appearances that suggest we are separate from God.

“I do not pray that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

John 17:15-16

YouTube: The Coming Kingdom

For the early Christian under Roman suppression, one of the most appealing aspects of the book of Revelation was the promise of a new world full of joy and free of suffering.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband…” (Rev. 20:1-2).

Derived from the book of Ezekiel, this vision of a new Jerusalem represents the long-held hope of the dawning of the kingdom of God. In the coming three decades, however, the Jewish revolt against the Roman empire would produce only a brief glimmer of hope, followed by complete devastation of the Jewish population.  

Among the sayings of Jesus, the kingdom of God is a central theme. If we pay close attention to what he meant by this phrase, we see in this oft-quoted passage that he was not talking about a brick-and-mortar phenomenon, but the dawning of a new state of consciousness.

“Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is within you’” (Luke 17:20-21).

When it comes to understanding this notion of an inner kingdom, our Judeo/Christian heritage has produced a great stumbling block by indoctrinating us with the belief that we are separate from God, and that the future, saving intervention of God will indeed be accompanied with signs to be observed.

In contrast, Jesus spoke of the need for a new birth, a new way of thinking and being that is intuitively rather than intellectually experienced. During the crucifixion, this transition is symbolized by the rending of the curtain covering the temple’s Holy of Holies, the so-called dwelling place of God where only certain priests were permitted to enter.

“And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom …” (Matthew 27:51).

The universe is not striving to perfection. It is perfect now. Likewise, the kingdom of God is not a thing of the future. It is a present reality to all who have the intuitive eyes to see.

YouTube: A New Revelation

Allow me to share with you a little secret. The only reason I have ever been interested in the book of Revelation is to help people understand that it has nothing to do with the events of today. Though there are a few passages that, when taken out of context, invoke inspiration, most of it is confusing to those who lack understanding of the historical context in which it originally appeared.

Revelation is a New Testament example of the classical apocalyptic genre. The 13^th chapter of Mark, known as the little apocalypse, is another. The book of Daniel is an Old Testament equivalent. Apocalyptic writing usually appears when the authors producing it are part of a persecuted community. In the case of Daniel, the Jews were under Persian persecution. Revelation appeared during the Roman persecution of Christians.

Apocalyptic language depicts a great battle between the forces of good and evil. The apocalyptic community of the Essenes envisioned a battle between the sons of darkness and the sons of light. In their eyes, the sons of darkness included the Romans and Jewish leadership they believed had hijacked pure Judaism. The envisioned battle, which takes place on a cosmic scale, culminates under a variety of names such as the end of days, the end times, judgment day, or the day of the Lord. We must understand that these authors do not see the end times as the end of history but as the end of the present evil age, when the oppressor is overthrown and the oppressed emerge victorious.

Revelation was a promise to the Christians that Jesus would soon return and the overthrow of the great beast that was Rome would commence. The book appeared somewhere around AD 95-100. Christianity was not actually sanctioned by the Roman empire until the reign of Constantine the Great (AD 306-337). The intended message of Revelation to the early Christian community was simple: Hold fast, the days of persecution are numbered. Jesus is returning soon. “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done” (Rev. 22:12). “Surely I am coming soon” (Rev. 22:20).

Because Jesus did not return as promised, Revelation fell into obscurity. When it emerged many years later, it did so disconnected from its historical context and theologians routinely began treating it as prophecy. To our present day, religious professionals have attempted to decipher the symbols in ways that inspire hope that the evil forces at work in our current affairs are about to be overthrown. A book so rich in symbolism has, through the centuries, proven to be fertile ground for the active imagination. Not a single one of their predictions have come to fruition.

One beautiful takeaway that is true of anyone under the oppression of that great beast of fear is found in these passages:

“Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:3-4).

YouTube: The Essence of Christmas

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 hope of glory lies in 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.