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Last January I was in Athens, Greece, presenting a paper on the evolution of New Thought into a Global movement. The actual paper was all academic, but I did a popular version, which is linked HERE. And here are a few of the slides I used for the presentation: It's hard to believe, but here we are in January, and I've already agreed to several presentations in the coming year, as follows:
At Center for Spiritual Awakening in Pacific Grove, California:
At Unity Village, outside Kansas City, Missouri
Check the Classes & Schedules page a few weeks ahead of each for details, or use the Contact form to learn more. The Affiliated New Thought Network (ANTN.org) invited me to present a workshop on how Advent can be a useful, even important, part of a New-Thought-based spiritual practice. A recording of that workshop is available on the ANTN site. CLICK HERE for a pdf file.
From the ancient year-end traditions of the Celtic people, the Roman Christians adopted and adapted a time of preparation for the birth of a new Son of the Sun, a Day-Spring, through whom the Light of God is with us. Today, these 4 weeks help us focus on the core of the New Thought tradition: the Hope of a New World, manifest through Faith and Love, through which Peace becomes our norm.
Recently, a student asked this question, clearly in reference to the many reports we hear these days of horrid things happening to people in the world today. I've wrestled with this for a long time, and found myself going beyond my usual answer, so I thought I'd share here what came out of my mouth in response :) I grew up being told and believing that to be compassionate was: "Oh, those poor people, how horrible for them!" That, however, was actually a form of pity. It placed me outside and above the experience of others, and made me quite uncomfortable. As I became an adult, I realized that pity is useless. In the world of Buddhists, Christian ministers, and social workers that I was working in, compassion became a sense of "there but for Grace go I" combined with a call to action: see someone suffering; do what you can to fix it. That form of compassion, though, required barriers and boundaries. I was no longer outside the situation and I couldn't actually "suffer with" (the literal meaning of com - from the Latin cum, with - and passion - from the Latin passio, endure/suffer) if I was going to fix the problem. I didn't have the kind of boundaries that would let me deal with people in great distress without becoming distressed with them, which, as I told my student, was why I chose not to work in "Skid Row" when I was doing community development. As I sat there saying these things, the following words happened: "Compassion is dropping the barriers we've built against others so we see them as they truly are, regardless of the circumstances they are in, and as we do so, seeing the circumstances replaced with what the person is ready to experience." Effectively, then, the highest form of compassion is to engage in a Spiritual Mind Treatment, as outlined in this slide from last night's presentation:  Last night, August 16, I did a slide presentation for an IONS community group, designed to help them make sense of what is happening in the world today, and what we can do to move through it - individually and collectively. Below are some key slides... the YouTube link .... and CLICK HERE for a pdf file
Resources from the presentation:
What is the distinction between traditional Christian Science and the teachings of Emma Curtis Hopkins and Emilie Cady?
Basically, Emilie Cady didn't go there at all. She found her path through her training as a holistic physician, attendance at revival meetings, participating in study groups around Emma Curtis Hopkins' teachings, and her own reading of the Bible. Her ideas became the foundation of Unity teachings precisely because they were so clearly NOT Christian Science but were so clearly expressed that all could understand and practice them. Emma, on the other hand, studied with Mary Baker Eddy and worked for her for a while, called her own teachings Christian Science until MBE made it clear that no one outside her organization would be permitted to do so, and actually taught and published lessons that were very similar to MBE's for the first couple of years. We have published books based on her notes for 1887 and 1888 that are virtually indistinguishable from MBE's CS. Emma's initial move away was to include references to what she called "other mystical writers" and to accept what is now called NeoPlatonism: the existence of everything in an ideal form ready for us to attune ourselves to experience it. In Lesson 2 of Scientific Christian Mental Practice she goes further away when she contradicts MBE's teachings on 2 points: 1, That there is no intelligence in matter; Emma argues that if God is omnipresent and God is Intelligence then Intelligence must be omnipresent and that includes all forms of matter. She also says that matter, as such, is not Real, but transitory. That is, eternal spiritual Substance is taking a form for the moment that meets a consciousness and will change as that consciousness changes. 2, The denial of sensation; Emma states that if all sensation were delightful then no one would argue against its existence, that the issue is with our perception, not with the object being sensed; if God is Good and God is omnipresent, then all that is Good is omnipresent and therefore what we sense must be Good. What’s the difference between praise and gratitude? Gratitude is a heart opening brought about by deep appreciation in the moment, and may be triggered by contemplation of the past or the present or potential futures. Gratitude opens the way for more opportunities to experience gratitude. Praise is any and all descriptions of what is. Emma says, literally, that "all description is praise". Praise opens the way for more of what is being described., which is why we're careful about what we describe. Praises may also arise from a state of gratitude, as reflected in the Psalms and many hymns, where words can't describe the depth of our appreciation for what we're experiencing, but still we try. I recently received an email from a student who was concerned that by listing the ways that good things are present or would be appreciated, we may be "placing other gods before" the One, Infinite, Source of All that Is. Here is my response:
I get the sense that in your thinking, an object is not Source/Spirit, a person or event may or may not be Spirit, a quality may or may not be Spirit - and that is, indeed, what the culture teaches us. But what Emma Hopkins and Emilie Cady understood is that it's ALL ONE SPIRIT/SOURCE/SUBSTANCE. Every thing, person, experience, or quality we perceive is our brain-limited version of Spirit showing up for us. So, they're telling us, when we name anything, any person, any state of being, any feeling as our Good, we are naming Spirit, and by naming Spirit in that form, we are inviting Spirit to take that form in our perceptions. When Hopkins and Cady encourage us to acknowledge the good and claim it for ourselves they are offering a way of experiencing all that we call good by identifying all that we call good and ourselves as the same thing -- Spirit, the Source, the underlying power and intelligence of all that is. They say that we can have it without feeling required to DO anything to achieve or experience it. We identify with that experience, that physical form, that quality, and because we ARE it already (for we could not wish, desire, or imagine it if we weren't), we then begin to perceive it in our lives. We no longer seek it, because we realize we ARE it, and the form that is here and now is Spirit in expression - so it is Good. The lamp is Good, the food is Good, the body is Good, the person over there is Good, their healed body is Good...I name it Good to get out of the habit of naming things as not okay and reinforce my understanding that all is Spirit/Source/Substance taking whatever form I call good, that all I perceive is what I have thought and felt before now, and is my very loving, cooperative Spirit Self showing up as my world for me. I received an email this week asking me about whether the body really needs to be weened off of medications "slowly and gently". This was my reply...
Yes, in Truth, no medication is ever needed and there is no need to be limited by anything material. However, the way I think of it,
Now, as you're doing the clearing work, however, as you release and replace more and more of the brain’s programming, you will find that fewer and fewer of those old programs apply and more and more of your spirit-Self is your experience. So, as you go along, if you're paying attention to what you're thinking, and that thinking is focused on the spiritual reality of you, rather than the past experiences of the physical-emotional body, AND you can trust yourself to deal with any issues that may come up, you can feel free to do whatever feels right in the moment. Be aware, though, that the brain's programming runs deep, so you may find there are ups and downs along the way, as you make the shift from one state of being/consciousness to another. The second weekend of April this year was amazing! The full moon April 6 had all kinds of astrological and Wiccan overtones regarding the end of darkness and the emergence of new light, and was also the marker for the Jewish holy days of Passover (Pesach), honoring their deliverance out of bondage in Egypt, and the holiest of Christian days called Easter, honoring the resurrection of Christ out of the darkness of death. On Saturday Buddhists honored Wesak, the awakening of Prince Gautama into the Buddha, as he succeeded in overcoming the darkness of all his demons and so was free and able to share his experience with others. And all of that is happening in the middle of the Muslim month of fasting called Ramadan, by which Arab nations have, for millennia, left behind old ways and entered into a new life, and during which the blessed prophet Mohammed experienced the revelations that became the Q'uran. Whew! Billions and billions of people, all over the world, honoring the process of coming out of darkness into the Light! That's got to be making a difference in the collective consciousness of humanity!  Before this weekend happened, though, several people shared with me that they or their loved ones have been diagnosed with a mental condition that has become known as Alzheimer's disease. Talk about darkness!
I thought I'd share with you all what I've shared with them... First, such diagnoses are always so hard... sympathizing and sad you're having to deal with that! Having said that, though, there are several levels to approach the situation. At the level of matter and the body:
In the One Mind, the Unity of all Life, all Wisdom, all Joy, all Truth, only well-being is possible. All else is a dream or nightmare and we can awaken from that nightmare by turning our attention, again and again, to the divine Light that surrounds and enfolds us now, feeling it at work in our lives. And, as we do so, the people around us begin to experience that Light, that Love, that Wisdom, and are freed from any nightmares of hopelessness, helplessness, regret, or guilt. And as we FEEL the Presence in our mind and body, they begin to feel it working within them to undo any past ideas or thought forms that were shaping their experience. As we accept the Power working in, through, and as us, we are no longer deceived by the media or the people who believe in the discord and disease of the nightmare, but are freed to experience more Light, more Love, more Well-being in our own lives. As our True Self becomes the focus and guide for our mind and body, moment-by-moment, our experience becomes more and more heavenly, and we are surrounded by people, places, and things that reflect the divinity that we truly Are. So, in this time and place, with this diagnosis, I refuse to be caught up in the nightmare of the cultural norm, and I claim and accept the Truth, that all mind is one beautifully wise, knowing and remembering mind, that all being is well-being, and that the people I know and love are well and whole and on the path of their fulfillment. For so it is, and so I say Ah-men. Copying these lines a few times, saying them aloud, and repeating the treatments in Emma Hopkins' Lessons 7 and 8 until you feel their power working through you would be very helpful right now. And this is not something that you do once. You do it until you KNOW it is handled and complete - which may take several hours, or even overnight (but you won't be drained by the process, as you'll be energized by divine Power!). And, if the symptoms remain or show up again, you do it again. Charles Fillmore used to say "Pray first, and if that doesn't take care of it, call the doctor." So, if you and your beloved are convinced that the only real way to address the symptoms is with medication, which usually is evident by not seeing a cessation of symptoms after wholeheartedly doing this work, then by all means, use the meds and whatever else feels like it can help. And keep doing the treatment, getting to the place where you KNOW without a doubt that you and your beloved are whole and well and living a full, wonderful life NOW. I trust that those who have a need will find these words and use them... About 25 years ago, the man who wrote the Tao of Physics wrote an amazingly different book, called The Web of Life. He’s a physics professor at Berkeley, named Fritjof Capra. He had also written a book called The Turning Point, on where we were in history, which I had found as interesting as his physics book. About that time I was working with a woman on a systems text who had worked with him. I was asked to coordinate a conference of systems people in 1990 that was focused on the future, so I took the chance to reach out to professor Capra through her and ask him to be the keynote speaker at this conference. When he heard it was a gathering of systems people he said he didn’t think he’d fit. I said not to worry, his Turning Point and his integration of eastern and western philosophy in The Tao of Physics was perfectly in alignment with our conference theme and he’d be just fine. He finally agreed, came, did his talk, and was very well received. Of course, he received a copy of our program and our proceedings as part of our thank you. I left my career as a systems scientist for the ministry a few years later and never heard from him again.
A few years later, when The Web of Life came out I was blown away. The man had paid attention! He had integrated what we were talking about at that conference with his own understanding of how the universe works and said it in a way that any intelligent reader could make sense of! Wonderful! A few years later, I was asked to tea with one of my more “mature” former students – a retired engineer from IBM – and he said “I was participating in a class in Berkeley and one of our instructors was Fritjof Capra. When I asked him how he had come to do all this work in systems, he said “This woman in Portland called me and asked me to speak at a conference…” Needless to say I was delighted – and, once more, blown away. Capra has since come out with a number of systems-thinking books, including A Systems View of Life, for which I am truly grateful… we need as many systems thinkers in the world as possible. Now, why am I telling you this story today? Because you who believe that there is One Power, One Presence, accept that we are all part of the Web of Life. Whew! There is only One. That One is Good. Here is only One, Good. Everywhere is only One. Everything, everywhere is the One that we call God, the Good, omnipotent. So that means all beings are Good. They can’t not be! We might misunderstand them. They might be being Good in places we’d rather they were not, or ways we can’t see as Good right at the moment, but they MUST BE GOOD. |
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