Thoughts Are Things

“Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance.” -Immanuel Kant I have been on a particular journey of pressing against the establishment for more than a year. I have been pressing the boundaries of what is considered acceptable among some of my peers. I am a firm believer that as long as we remain in our safe zone, wrapped in comfort, we do not expand our sensibilities which lead to growth. For many years, at the beginning of my journey in ministry, I was an adherent to the dictates set forth by the greater governing organization. I say this with tongue slightly in cheek because I think I was viewed as rebellious.

“This isn’t a journey about becoming something. This is about unbecoming who we are not.” -Adyashanti Today I had this come up during meditation, “Are we liberated by or trapped in our spiritual practices?” I think the question is related to yesterday’s blog and podcast on allowing our practice to become rote. When practice becomes rote it eliminates effectiveness, and we cease to benefit from the growth. That is the time when I believe we are trapped. There are many other ways, I think, that we become trapped.

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” -Rumi In alignment with the concept of spiritual bypass I covered yesterday, there is another detrimental aspect of the spiritual life that can begin to take hold… if we are not paying attention.

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” -Carl Jung Last week, I completed five days of presenting some of the spiritual practices we utilize in this teaching. It was a good reminder to me that I deeply believe this approach to the experience of life has value and works to establish a new way of being.

“All illumination, inspiration, and realization must come through the self-knowing mind in order to manifest in man. Vision, intuition and revelation proclaim themselves through man’s self-knowing mind.” -Ernest Holmes To wrap up this week’s offering of spiritual practices to carry with you I am choosing to end with the practice of visioning. Visioning is a process whereby we purposefully and actively seek to tap in and make ourselves aware of the unlimited flow of the Infinite Mind. It is a practice of allowing, creating a space of receptivity within ourselves. Visioning is a tool we can turn to to find direction in our lives.

“Through prayer , life can become a continuing experience of health, happiness, success, joy, and abundance.”
-Ernest Holmes Prayer. It is the primary tool we use in New Thought to change our lives. In my branch of New Thought, Religious Science, we use an odd sounding term to refer to prayer. We call it spiritual mind treatment. In the teaching a common test question for students is, “Are prayer and spiritual mind treatment the same thing?” It is, of course, a loaded question. The answer is both yes and no.

“DAILY WE MUST CONTROL ALL THOUGHT THAT DENIES THE REAL; AFFIRM THE DIVINE PRESENCE WITHIN US; then, as the mist disappears before the sun, so shall adversity melt before the shining radiance of our exalted thought!” -Ernest Holmes

“There’s only one life. That life is God’s life. That life is perfect. That life is my life now.” -Ernest Holmes What do you think of when considering the word meditation? Are you like me when I first considered meditation? I could feel the anxiety well up, my heart felt like it was in my throat, my breath would quicken, and the first thought in my mind was, “I can’t meditate, what’s the point?” That was decades ago, for me, and I am grateful I worked through my anxiety (which in fact was supported by developing a meditation practice). My first knowledge of the practice of meditation was from around age 6. I was visiting my uncle in California, and I recall he had a dedicated space in his home for meditation. I was not allowed to enter that space. I thought it was strange that he would just sit there and do nothing.

“I would rather see a student of this Science prove its Principle than to have him repeat all the words of wisdom that have ever been uttered.” -Ernest Holmes Practice. The actual application of the method. Moving beyond theory. To become a living embodiment of the theory through practical application is what is requested of New Thought followers. So this week I am going to offer five practices to try, one for each day.

“The question, ‘What’s in it for me?’ is the internal dialogue of the ego. Asking, ‘How can I help?’ is the internal dialogue of the Spirit.” -Deepak Chopra What is yours to do? I just finished a great conversation with a dear friend and this question is what has come through as a result of that conversation. I have been telling a story for some time now that I had an awakening, an illumination moment in Toronto on Easter 2017 that has led me to this point… the point where I am now. On that date I stated aloud, “what was mine to do here is complete.”