The following are opinions that community members desire to express to you for your consideration. If they move you to act, please do so. If you differ with what is expressed, feel free to open issues for debate and/or submit your own opinions for the consideration of the community. Where possible keep focused on expressing your understanding of an issue/topic rather than attacking what others express. Trust that the members of our community have enough understanding and intelligence to evaluate what is expressed, feel what their hearts/souls tell them, and act accordingly. Just express yourself clearly and let your information flow from your heart. Those who are meant to hear will indeed hear and be moved to interact.
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The New Age movement means different things to different people. However, I feel that most all New Age topics have one basic underlying theme. That theme is personal spiritual development. Every day there are thousands upon thousands of people around the world who are waking up to the knowledge, understanding and realization of who they really are, where they came from, and why they are here.
This collective transformation of individuals can be described as the New Age movement. The New Age movement provides the framework and the tools to assist people with their own personal growth and spiritual development.
NEW AGE BELIEFS
Here's an unofficial list of beliefs that some individuals interested in NewAge ideas may have in common:
The heart of community is commitment to share and participate in one another's lives in ways that truly make a difference. Sure, there are large causes that we can get involved with if they move us. But it is in the deep personal interactions where spirit truly is allowed to flow and do her work through us. Here reality is completely under our control. It is not a matter of economics or resources. It is solely a matter of how we apply our personal time, energy, attention, and abilities in a manner that enhances the lives of others. This is most effective when it is used to help others to more fully express whom that they are. This may come from helping them to better understand themselves, or by assisting them in developing their abilities, or by motivating them to use their abilities to help themselves and others, or by serving as an example, or just by being there in times of need to help lift their spirits.
These kinds of things occur naturally when we choose to give spirit control in our lives and actively start doing her bidding. However, relinquishing our will can be a difficult process. There is something addicting about being in control ... or thinking we are in control anyway. It takes a lot of courage to admit that most of what we experience is "magic" ... or at the very least "unknown" and in either case is definitely outside of our conscious control.
This only becomes a problem if we fear what we do not know. Perhaps even worse is believing that we are in control when in reality we are not ... for then we confine ourselves to a prison of our own making, not even realizing that we are confined. There is a saying that applies "none are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe themselves to be free".
So, what is the alternative? Being very careful to examine and understand what we truly know versus what we believe versus what we simple do not know ... there is nothing wrong with not knowing so long as we are aware that we do not know and we act accordingly. Trusting that we are spirit choosing a physical experience helps as well. Further, it helps knowing that as spirit we are fully capable of taking care of ourselves, despite appearances that may be to the contrary. To make a real difference, we must follow the dictates of our spirit ... learning to hear what it has to say and trusting enough to take whatever actions we are moved to take. Our concern should be: are we following the dictates of our spirit? The impact on self should be a secondary factor, if indeed it is considered at all.
It is our choice. We can choose to express in a manner that makes a difference or we can fail to choose to do so. The consensus reality will reflect the choices we make individually. I urge you to choose to make a difference then follow up and express and take actions consistent with your choice. Through such decisions and such actions a new age will be born.
Wow! What gives me the right to take on such a big issue? The very fact that I am spirit expressing in flesh here and now is more than sufficient. This is an opinion section. And I am entitled to have any opinion that I so choose. Whether that opinion has value for you is a completely different matter, one that only YOU can decide for yourself.
From all that I have experienced to date, the Purpose of Life is simply to provide a vessel through which spirit can express. That's it. That's all there is to it. But, in those few words whole volumes are spoken. Metaphysics is one of the few disciplines that deals directly with this topic of how spirit expresses through flesh, how reality is made manifest, what spirit is, and what we as individuals truly are. Yes, all of these are deep issues. But they are real issues ... how we address them both individually and collectively makes all the difference in not only our personal reality but in the mass reality created and experienced by the world at large.
One very important commandment driving all living beings is "Know Thyself". For it is by carrying out this commandment that we become the best that we can be and are thus able to express spirit through us to the fullest degree possible. We, humankind, have known this for literally thousands of years. So, why do we find it so hard to abide by? Why do we collectively know so little about whom and what we truly are? Why is there so much darkness where there could be light? Why do we not take responsibility for creating a kinder, gentler world? Is it truly so difficult? Or is it simply a matter of choosing to change our perspective and start focussing on things that truly make a difference? How long to we collectively continue to give away our power to a few ... and to forces over which we feel that we as individuals have no power to control? Such is not what "reality" is meant to be. The game has gone out of its intended bounds. Enough is enough! It is time that we take responsibility again, collectively. I choose to do this NOW! Hopefully, you will choose to do so as well. Together, we can build a world that allows us to fully express whom that we are, spirit enfleshed.
Money seems to be a major area for struggle for most people that I know. Why should this be? Why are people starving while the government pays farmers not to grow food and while excess food is being dumped? Why are so many homes in need of repair when painters, plumbers, roofers, and other skilled workers can't find as much work as they would like? Why are so many people barely making ends meet? How is it that collectively we have chosen to consume to such a degree that we are enslaved to jobs just to earn enough to be able to live comfortably? Why do we permit such great variation in incomes for different jobs, and for different people in the same jobs? Do differences in abilities really justify differences in income by factors of 1,000 and more? Is that really fair?
Shouldn't there be some degree to which we are "equal" economically? This is especially important since economic power can literally "buy" political power in our present social system.
Why should the work week be 40 hours? Is it because that is all "we, the slaves" will bear without revolting. Similarly, are wages what they are for the same reason? ... or because people wouldn't do the jobs or wouldn't do them as well if they were paid less?
Yes, there are some people who truly love what they do. However, my sense is that these are a small minority. I guess the test would be: if you didn't have to worry about bills, costs, and money, would you keep going to work and doing your present job. Personally, my answer is a resounding NO!!!! It is not that I don't want to work. It is that I believe my skills, time, energy, and effort would be much more effective for society overall if they were channelled into areas that truly make a difference in allowing spirit to express in flesh.
It seems that as a society, we need to do something to reign in the economic system and make it our servant rather than our master. The economic system's whole purpose is to create goods and services and distribute them to where they are needed. It seems that we do a great job at the first part, but a lousy job at the distribution. Don't get me wrong. We do this better than most if not all other countries in the world. But, that is not enough. We can do better and we must do better.
Why can't we have true prosperity for all? What is the root of the scarcity mentality in the current system and how do we get rid of this cancer once and for all?
In case you haven't noticed, my name and words appear in many places in this newsletter. Why? Simply because I have made a commitment to spirit to give of my time and energy so that she may express here in this manner. To me, this is a sacred commitment. It is one that is so great that I would literally rather die than fail to honor it. Yes, I mean that! This endeavor and this expression is that important. How do I know that? Because I feel it to the core of my being. To date, there has not been sufficient feedback to know this is true by any outcomes or results. So, my only real alternative is to rely on information sources that come from within.
Seeing the products of my own efforts, I can't help wondering what miracles we could manifest if all of us could make such a commitment and work together to make our joint commitments as effective as possible. My sense is that the magic transformation that we would seed is the very step required to bring about the Dawn that has been prophesied for so long. It is as if the Aquarian age is but a heartbeat away ... but it is a very special heartbeat ... a collective one of many hearts beating as ONE!
So what are you willing to commit to do? And are you ready to make that commitment public? An idea just came to me ... it is time to start a club, the Committed to Make a Difference Club. The price of membership is posting a statement of what you are committed to do in the new Making a Difference section and providing monthly status on what you did to honor your commitment.
The intent here is not to gain recognition for anything. Spirit is better served if we use the club as a support group, a motivation enhancer, and a means for people to find others with similar or related commitments so they can explore building relationships and joining forces to better achieve what they are committed to doing. We can do far more together than the sum of what can we can do individually. Anything that assists us in creating collective expressions of spirit has the potential to truly impact the scope of difference we can make in the world.
So. The Committed to Make a Difference Club is officially established and looking for members. Is your commitment to do something strong enough that you are ready to be one of the founding members? If so, send an e-mail with your name (and/or nickname), e-mail address, and statement of commitment to me by 22 Jan 97 for inclusion on the inaugural page of the Making a Difference section in Issue #4 of The Search for Center Newsletter.