Advent, Christmas and the New Spirituality

Welcome.

PURPOSE OF THIS SITE

The purpose of this site is to inspire and empower Us to awaken to our Inherent Divinity.

It is the premise of this site that we can do so by spending some time each day gently focusing on our true nature. As we do so we begin to remember what we are, and in this remembering our Life is transformed.

This remembering can happen anytime but there is a time every year when the urge to remember is particularly strong. That is the season of Christmas. So here our intent is to utilize the urge and longing of this season of Advent and Christmas, to energize our remembering.

This site will provide some tools to facilitate that remembering and a process of using those tools. These tools include:

An audio recording of a guided visualization designed to give us an experience of feeling the presence of our Divinity within us. You will be able to listen to this 20 minute recording for free, either while visiting this site or for downloading on to your computer. (This will be loaded soon)

A daily thought or value to contemplate throughout the day and a simple way of empowering that contemplation with our intent.

Throughout the season there will be reflections on aspects of Christmas, Advent and what is referred to as the “New Spirituality” posted here as well.

And finally…

By gathering here we act as a support for ourselves and our fellows in holding this intention to remember what we are.

REMEMBERING WHAT WE ARE

There is nothing about Us that needs healing but there is much to remember. If we ask to remember who we are, remembering is facile and superficial. (In other words the surface stuff we deal with every day and which is the result of limited vision) When we remember what we are the vistas become endless and we discover we are magnificent, that we personify love, peace and joy, and reside in the midst of abundance that delights in the infinite ways It expresses It-Self. We discover that the spark of divinity that resides in all creation is much more than a spark. Its the whole thing. And when we remember we are also re-membering. We re-enter that which we never left. What we have been yearning for in the deepest parts of our soul has always been here and at hand.

THEOLOGY AND DOGMA.

This site aims to be available to persons of any and every faith, creed and practice. In doing so we are not concerned here in the theology or dogma of the established Christian Church or any other religion in any of their permutations. What we are focused on is our experience of remembering what we are. Oftentimes dogma and theology get in the way of remembering.

Dogma is the set of beliefs we are instructed to embrace whole heartedly because our spiritual “betters” tell us they are truth. Now many, if not most of these spiritual betters have actually experienced this truth profoundly in their own lives in ways that were gloriously revealing and transforming. Time passes and s/he who underwent the transformation eventually transitions and it is up to the followers and students and disciples of the Saints, Saviors and Bodhisattvas to gather all the teachings together and protect the legacy. The transformation which was born in freedom, discipline and attention now becomes proscribed and protected.

Hand in hand with dogma is its partner, Theology. Simply stated theology is the “Study of God”. While this is certainly a noble endeavor, attempting tounderstand that which is Boundless and Infinite is in a way futile. And while study can lead us to moments of inspiration and fulfillment, studying can become about getting smart about God. What is boundless becomes scrutinized.  Then the act of studying and theorizing becomes the primary purpose rather than our knowing.

Knowing is experiential. At one moment we don’t know. And then we have a dawning in all of our being and then at one moment (atonement) we do know. This knowing is much richer than understanding.

Have you ever had a chance to visit a Cathedral say in Salisbury, England or Notre Dame in Paris? I haven’t, (yet) but I have visited St John the Divine in New York City and it is wonderfully impressive.

When we visit these sites either as a tourist or worshiper we don’t need to know the laws of physics and engineering to be impressed by the building because it isn’t the building that impresses us. What touches us is what the building represents.

At one moment there was a bare piece of ground and then in another moment there was inspiration and then movement and activity. There where obstacles to overcome. Many of the techniques and tools required for the construction were not available at the time construction commenced. Solutions came to mind however and the thing was done. We don’t need to know how a “flying buttress” keeps the thing up but it makes an impression upon us that a flying buttress was needed and the idea of it showed up.

We can also be moved by the vast amount of talent, diligence and discipline of the laborers, craftsmen and artisans who collaborated on the undertaking of something so monumental. We see the rock, iron and woodwork, we don’t see the blood, sweat and tears but they are there.

We can also be touched by using our brains for the purpose intended and imagine the countless worshipers with their prayers passionately expressed, faith fervently held  and surely moments of grace miraculously witnessed that still resonate within the structure.

It is what the building testifies to that moves us and not the structure itself.

Dogma and theology are then the structure. What they testify to is what moves us.

THE NEW SPIRITUALITY.

There is a dawning of awakening happening now. Countless numbers of men and women, of every faith creed, spiritual practice or religion (or of no particular faith or practice) are experiencing for themselves what the traditions of their various faiths point to.  They are having experiences, either asked for or unbidden, that are transforming their lives. Some of these experiences are profound and some are gentle but palpable nudges. For some, it is like a wall that has blocked the view of a wonderful landscape falls away, and for some it is as if a little light flickers on within them that never goes out. They are left with a knowing that they never had before. This knowing is expressed as Oneness or Rightness of the world (despite all the seeming evidence to the contrary). There are no words that can express it try as they might. (This phenomenon of awakening is wonderfully explored in the book “The Translucent Revolution” byArjuna Ardagh). They are beginning to remember what they are and after the initial remembering they are inspired to remember more.

CONCIOUSNESS AS CAUSE

As our fellows begin to remember what they are their consciousness of what they are shifts and expands. As a result of this shift and/or expansion of consciousness their perception of the world shifts as well. This shift is a result of the change of consciousness and is therefore an effect. Now some of these effects can be profound and sometimes subtle. For some, all of life’s struggles seem to disappear in an instant. Where there was lack and any form of hunger there is now bounty and fulfillment. For some, few if any of so called circumstances fade away but there is a new way of looking at them and a greater strength in dealing with them. But for one and all the shift in consciousness is the cause of the changing of effect. And where perhaps one was focused on transforming effects in the past, one sees the futility of that exercise and instead focuses on the growth and shift in consciousness. They are now at cause of their experience in life and that is the great transformation.

OUR CONCIOUSNESS OF CHRISTMAS.

We are getting close now to the purpose of this site and as a way of getting closer let’s ask ourselves, “What is my consciousness of this holiday of Christmas?” As we look out on the world we will see it. (If you don’t see it right now because you have not turned on the television in a while or opened a magazine or been in a shop, try and remember your experience of last Christmas.) What we see of the way Christmas is celebrated and held in consciousness is right there before us. Granted a lot of what we see is the effect of a societal consciousness but as we are breathing and kicking right now we participate in some way in that consciousness. (Yes even if we stay home on “Black Friday” all cozy by the fire instead of going to the mall).

Another way of investigating our consciousness of Christmas is to observe how we react emotionally to what we see. Are we disgusted by greedy merchants and consumers who turn the Holiday into a feeding frenzy? Do we panic when we see the prescription for Valium we need to get refilled because we dread seeing members of the family, we will surely see soon, whom we haven’t seen in a year and would rather not see this year? Do we despair because the balance in our bank account is deemed insufficient for us to afford what we want to gift this year? Do we react cynically while watching some holiday movie that stresses the power of belief? And do we notice, while singing along with a wonderful Christmas carol, a yearning to know the source of that wonder.

Or

Are we amazed at the abundance that surrounds us? Are we surprised to discover we fondly anticipate being reunited with friends and family we haven’t seen in far too long? Do we rejoice in realizing we have enough to fulfill what we set out to accomplish? Do we find ourselves overcome by gratitude in discovering the innocence, long buried in our hearts, which truly believes that the Source of wonder is revealing itself even now?

In observing what we perceive and how we react to that perception is therefore a perfect method for discovering what our consciousness of Christmas is. If we do not like what we see of the effects of our consciousness of Christmas (or anything else) we can choose to experience a transformation of that consciousness. We take the focus off of effects and focus on cause.

FOCUSING ON CAUSE

How then do we focus on cause that shifts our consciousness? We start with intending to do so and we make sure to state as powerful an intention as we are ready to embody. We can intend, “To have a Merry Christmas.” And then proceed, with some application and discipline, the following steps;

1).Identification with our Source. We can call it First Cause, God, Presence, Higher Power, Holy Spirit. Whatever name allows you to approach and be honest with the Deity.

2).Identification with the emotional or feeling state we think the fulfillment of this intention will bring us.

3).Observing our thoughts and feelings that are other than the spirit of our intent and then releasing those thoughts and integrating those emotions.

4).Following through, on our inspirations for action as they arise.

5).Express gratitude for the fulfillment of the intention prior to its fulfillment.

Or we can follow the same steps with an intention that is bold and powerful, along the lines of, “I intend to use this holiday season to awaken to my inherent Divinity.”

Keep in mind, as we determine what we wish to intend, that the power of our intention will be reflected in its fulfillment. That is not to say that a less audacious intention is less meaningful than an audacious one. All fulfillment is meaningful. And while setting our intentions it is good to remember that powerful intentions are not more difficult to bring to fruition than gentle ones. However we may more strongly experience our resistance to our powerful intentions even though we earnestly desire them to manifest.  So then we may have to bring some further application of the steps listed above.

BEING AT CAUSE FOR A CONSCIOUSNESS OF CHRISTMAS.

As noted in the first paragraph at the top of this page, and rephrased just a few lines ago, this site has a powerful intention. “To inspire and empower Us to awaken to our Inherent Divinity.” To that end we will be helping our readers and subscribers to this site with the steps listed above.

Empowering step one. Identification with Source:

Starting on the first day of Advent, Sunday the 28^th of November and on until the 6^th of January (the 12^th day of Christmas) our daily posts will focus on a value expressed and associated with God and Its Creation. The posts for contemplation will be short and to the point. These will appear early so we can start our day with them. If someone subscribes to this blog they will then be emailed to the subscribers. It is our plan to create a facebook page connected to this blog we can read the daily posts there.

When utilizing these posts we recommend sitting quietly with them for just a moment.As we sit with the idea expressed in these posts we state an intention for that idea to be remembered and experienced some time throughout the day within the day. And then we imagine our self at the end of the day realizing that it was remembered and experienced and then feel the gratitude for that realization.

Empowering step two:

Identification with the emotional or feeling state we think the fulfillment of this intention will bring us.

The audio guided meditation placed here on the site is designed to give you the experience of a growing awareness of the immediacy of the Divine. It utilizes all the senses in a very relaxed (don’t listen to it while driving or operating machinery) and peaceful but vibrant way. The more we listen to it the more we imbue our consciousness with an experience of awakening. It is designed to help us remember what we are.

Empowering step three:

Observing our thoughts and feelings that are other than the spirit of our intent and then releasing those thoughts and integrating those emotions.

As well as the daily posts for contemplation throughout the Holiday season we will be sharing processes to help us to integrate our emotions and release resistant thoughts. We invite our readers to forward the methods that have helped them.

Empowering step four:

Only the inspired can act on their inspirations. However we hope our readers will share their experiences of inspired action and thereby inspire all of us.

Empowering step five:

During this season we will be sharing our thoughts and personal stories around gratitude and we invite you to share your expressions of appreciation with us. One of the ways you can share your appreciation in a tangible way is to make a donation. We resonate with the idea that the primary purpose of money is to express appreciation and that its function is to energize our human experience.  We don’t envision this site as a way of getting rich. If we did we would charge to use the tools. They are offered to all for free. If you find these tools of value as well as experiences they empower we appreciate your donations and expressions of appreciation.

<

SETTING OUT ON THE JOURNEY

Thank you for visiting here and reading our offerings. We hope that you will join us here as companions on our journey of awakening. We look forward to spending this time with you throughout this Christmas Season.

In the Spirit of Love, Peace and Joy, I envision you remembering what you are and realizing a Merry Christmas to the fullness of its meaning.

David