July
23, 2006
You
can listen to parts of our July 23 service also
(MP3 format) »»»»
|
|
|
|
Martin Luther King, Jr., in being asked to publish some of his sermons, wrote in the preface to his book, ““. . . a sermon is directed toward the listening ear rather than the reading eye. . . I offer these discourses in the hope that a message may come to life for readers of the printed words.”” This is my hope for you, dear reader.
——Rev. Linda
SPIRITUALITY IN TOMORROW’S WORLD:
REVELING IN EVOLUTION
This month we’ve been talking about Spirituality in Tomorrow’s World, which is really today—tomorrow has arrived, and all the changes that are occurring on the planet and in humanity as a whole, as well as in our own lives. Patricia Sun says “The human race is in the midst of an evolutionary leap.” Can we revel in the evolution?
That’s the question I want to look at this morning. Because it seems to me we have 2 choices—to revel in it or resist it. And we all know what happens when we resist anything. . . we get more of it, right? What we resist persists!
So let’s look, first off, at just what is going on, what is it exactly that’s evolving, and then see if there are some ways that we can practice reveling in it.
I want to begin by touching just a little on something we don’t hear too much about in our Science of Mind centers, and that’s the old mythical teaching of the Battle of Armageddon, the last battle of good and evil before the Judgement Day. This is the story of the Apocalypse told in the book of Revelation in the Christian scriptures.
The Battle of Armageddon is a familiar term to most Christians, particularly fundamentalist Christians. It’s that time of the last days when the world is in turmoil and the Judgement Day is at hand. It’s a story usually told to emphasize doom, gloom and destruction, and usually interpreted in a very literal way.
But Charles Fillmore, a cofounder of Unity, in his Metaphysical Bible Dictionary describes it as “The end of a state of consciousness—the place of unfoldment where the old is cast off and the way is opened for the incoming of the new. . . [It] is the dissolution in mind of the realm of thought that has been built up by a belief in the reality of seemingly material things and conditions.” A much more positive perspective.
We’re all familiar with the predictions of the world coming to an end on a certain day. The last one was the one Sue read about, June 6, 2006. We all laugh and think it’s rather silly. Because the literal interpretations do get a little ridiculous. It’s like saying “you’re pulling my leg” and the person looks at your leg and says, “I’m not even touching you.”
And because if we look at it literally, it doesn’t make sense to us, there’s a tendency to throw out the baby with the bath water. So I think it behooves us to be aware and see if there might be some hidden nuggets of truth that might just be useful for us. After all, this teaching of an evolutionary leap is in almost all religions and cultures.
Norm Hirst really opened the can of worms in his talk that introduced this series. There was a lot of meat in that talk. If you missed it, I suggest you go to our website and read it or listen to it, or both. Thankfully our site is now up-to-date.
A very good thing happened when we created the atom bomb. It put us in the position where now we have to learn to love each other. Did you ever wonder what that other 90% of our brain is for? If we only use 10%, what’s the rest for? It has to be for something, right?
Patricia Sun, writing in Healing Our Planet, Healing Our Selves, says “We are evolving the latent potential of our brain to become a transcendent whole brain. The two hemispheres have a potential of synergy that we barely use, but which is released by healing old defense mechanisms. We respect and own the power of paradox, by using logic and intuition together as we think, perceive and solve problems. This new style of thinking is humanity maturing as a species.” (p. 296-7)
She says, “We keep making the same mistakes, because the solution for our unprocessed awareness is to convert the pain into invented demons, and to blame; projecting our own feelings onto others. . . Avoiding self-awareness—and instead projecting—is a fatal thinking dysfunction.” (p. 297)
The old way of thinking was very black and white, right and wrong, good and evil, judgmental, blaming, hard and static. But the new way of thinking is with what Patricia calls the “soft mind.” “It is intuitive, feeling, nonverbal, receptive, filled with metaphor and imagery, and the capacity to love.” It’s always optimistically expecting good. “It’s more powerful to be good than to be right.”
The Buddha and the great Jewish teacher, Jesus of Nazareth were just too far ahead of their time. We’re just now beginning to have an inkling of what they were saying. To save ourselves, we now have to do the unthinkable—actually follow their teachings, love our enemies, open to inspiration, and have compassion for the person who is harming us.
Listen to the way Patricia puts it, “Here is our work. It is to not be fake, and look like we are caring. It is to not be self-righteous and need attention, but rather to be self-reflective and self-correcting. To find the good will within is to be mature.” “As long as we stay intellectually stuck and stubborn about being right, we live at the appearance level. . . . it’s much more powerful to be loving.”
We must come to the place where we automatically ask “How can I heal that? How can I neutralize fear or hate? What can I do to touch that? What do I need to understand—to see differently and to understand the other?” We must do the emotional work.
By asking questions like this, we give our powers of logic and our intuition a new request, thereby restructuring “the software of our mind; this builds a greater interface between left and right brain. We increase our capacity to think, perceive, and feel how empathy can find new and deeper solutions.” This is how we grow up.
So what I want to do this morning is to look at some ways we can consciously evolve our thinking, our intuition and our capacity to love. There are some wonderful tools I’d like to share with you.
The first one is suggested by Patricia Sun: starting right now, pretend that everyone you meet can read your mind. They actually can, you know, at some level. Imagine how aware we’d become of all those thoughts floating around up there in our brains. This exercise will really teach us to be more authentic, less deceiving, especially to ourselves. We become transparent. The veil is lifted. In honesty is freedom. To be transparent is to be free.
Now if this isn’t enough for you, here’s another tool. It’s from Neale Donald Walsch, the Whooo Meditation. For the next 100 times you see your reflection in the mirror, ask “whooooo?” 3 times, for 10 seconds each time, holding the “oo” sound.
So what you’re really asking is “Who is this? Who is this standing before me? Who is this being that I think I am? Who? Who?” If you do this, you will become Self Conscious.
So pretend people always know what you’re thinking, and do the Whooo Meditation 100 times, 3 times for 10 seconds each.
Now once you’ve done that, the next step is to start looking at things as you. See yourself as everything—“the cracks in the sidewalk, the leaves on the tree, the petals on the flowers, the faces in the crowd. . . Call yourself that.”
“There I go again, being a street person without money. There I go again, being a flower in that field. There I go again, being a domineering spouse. There I go again, being a dictator in a foreign land oppressing my people. There I go again, being that blade of grass.” (Tomorrow’s God, p. 54)
As we do this practice, we begin to see that we’re not separate from anything. We are one with all that is. And a great love and compassion begin to come into our awareness.
And the last tool I give you today is one we can practice right now. It’s a breathing meditation. So go ahead and get very comfortable in your chair. Wiggle around until you find that position where your body can become still, absolutely motionless. And let your eyes fall gently closed as you close out the outside world and enter the inner sanctuary within.
And with the body still and becoming more and more relaxed, the brain becomes more and more quiet and peaceful. Now take some nice deep breaths, at least a couple. Three are good. Then let your breathing become normal and relaxed. And just focus on the breath. Concentrate on the sound of your breath. Let the sound of your breath take you deep within.
Now as you breathe, simply breathe in the Life that is all around you. Breathe . . . with the natural rhythm of Life. . . Now as you inhale, feel yourself taking in the energy of Life. . . and imagine this energy of Life entering through a portal at the top of your head. Watch with your internal eye as it courses through your body. As you exhale, let it exit through your feet. Continue to imagine this energy of Life entering through your head, coursing through your body, and exiting through your feet.
Now, imagine filling your brain with this energy. Feel the oxygen fill your brain, feeding and nourishing the cells there. Feel the cells of your brain expand. Continue filling your brain with this energy and feeling the oxygen filling your brain, and feeding and nourishing the cells of your brain. Feel the cells of your brain expand. Oxygen filling your brain cells and causing them to expand. More oxygen filling the brain cells. Feel the cells expanding. More oxygen, more expansion. And more and more.
You may begin to feel light-headed. It’s okay. You’ve sent the golden-white light of energy of life to your brain. This lightens you brain cells. With that physical feeling of lightness may come an increased awareness of Life, of everything around you. Don’t be surprised if this occurs. You’ve opened your mind, exposing it to the gentle breeze of expanded consciousness. (p. 54-59)
Now allow our breathing to continue normally as you bring your awareness to your body resting in your chair, and the room, and you become fully present here in this place and time. Wiggle your fingers and toes, and when you’re ready, allow your eyes to come gently open.
This exercise is one that’s suggested to do before doing anything else as you begin your day. It’s a way of preserving–pre-serving—Life. By serving Life before serving anything else, you pre-serve it, preserve it. It’s like tithing. Tithe first, then pay the bills, and so forth.
This is how we evolve consciousness. This is how we save the world.
So there’s 4 tools to revel in evolution:
1. Imagine everyone can read your thoughts
2. Do the Who Meditation 100 times, 3 times, for 10 seconds each
3. See everything as you being that
4. Breathe Life into your brain and expand your brain cells
Our founder Dr. Ernest Holmes, said “Whatever you mentally see and spiritually comprehend, you may objectively experience, for the God within you is not limited to any one experience. It is the Creator of all experiences.” (Your Invisible Power, p. 12:2)
This morning I’ve given you power tools! I’m willing to bet any one of them will open the love in you so wide you’ll be reveling in your evolution.
