Monday, April 9, 2012

Principles of miracles #2 - Don't mistake the means for the end


The second principle is “Miracles as such do not matter. The only thing that matters is their Source, which is far beyond evaluation.”

The shift in perception from the world of ego illusions to the spiritual dimension is the tool of recognition, acknowledgement, and acceptance of the source but this miracle does not matter in itself, it is merely the door that we walk through. The shift is a way of removing the blocks to the awareness of Love’s presence. What really matters is the unconditional, all encompassing Love that extends Itself to all of us and to the universe.

Our Unitarian Universalist principles point to this Source in our seventh principle which is “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” Back in the 60s we called this “cosmic consciousness”. The experience of “cosmic consciousness” is rare but a perennial aspect of human history especially in the reports of the mystics.

Mystics, though meditation, prayer, and other spiritual practices are able to obtain an awareness of the cosmic consciousness and this “miracle”, shift in perception, doesn’t matter. It is the experience of the cosmic consciousness, the peaceful loving presence of the universe that matters.

Children, in their innocence, may have more mystical experiences than adults, but with further socialization, and conditioning by the culture, the illusions of the ego, the drama of life soon repress the awareness of the spiritual level of consciousness deep into the unconscious.

Having lived a life in on the ego plane, as we mature, we slowly become aware that there is something more to life than what we have been living. Sometimes our lives become so painful, so distressful, even traumatic, that we  hit bottom and become convinced that there must be a better way. It is often in our greatest suffering that we become desperate enough to shirk off our participation in the illusions of the ego world and start looking, searching for another dimension of life that can bring us peace and make us more whole again. While the search seems miraculous to ourselves and to other witnesses, the Course reminds us that it is not the search that is miraculous although it is important, but what really matters is the Source of the other dimension of Unconditional Love that we intuitively sense and therefore seek.

Implementing the values of our Unitarian Universalist faith, the seven principles, at a deep level on a daily basis can help us remove the blocks to our awareness of What Really Matters that is “far beyond evaluation.”

4 comments:

  1. I don't understand half the things you are talking about but I do get that we all have a deep yearning for something more that material things and romantic relationships don't provide. I sometimes find it in music not that I am very good, but when I play the piece just right I enter into a flow which takes me outside of myself. I sense the all encompassing unconditional love which you are talking about. I wonder what other people find that helps them to tune in, no pun intended, at this deeper spiritual level?

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  2. If we consider spiritual life from a developmental model most people aren't ready to leave the world of the ego and tune into the spiritual dimension. Most people are driven by their fears and insecurities have not yet decided to find a better way to live. We UUs promise to accept one another and encourage each others' spiritual growth in our congregations and in the world. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make em drink. As the Course says, if I understand it right, we don't get to choose the curriculum, that is universal, but we do get to choose how and when we take it. If not in this life time maybe in the next. The observation that most people don't "get it" in their current life time makes one consider that reincarnation has great appeal.

    Thanks for your articles. I find them very thought provoking and stimulating.

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  3. I think the Standing On The Side of Love campaign has pushed the witnessing of UU principles to a new level in the public square. The question you seem to be raising is what in Unitarian Universalism has inspired this campaign? How did it develop and on what foundation does it stand? I don't know the answers to these questions and I wonder if anyone can tell us?
    would the answer to these questions point to the "source" which the second principle of miracles is referencing?

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  4. Your mentioning of "cosmic consciousness" takes me back to my youth in the 60s. What happened to us idealistic people? As a generation it seems that we sold out and became one of the greediest most selfish generations to come along in quite a while. Our children have been captured by the digital age which is like a tsunami which is seducing their souls into agitated adrenaline rushes triggered by a key stoke click.

    The millenials are even more distressed manifested by a self concept so warped that they present themselves to the world as tattooed, pierced, garish clowns following a nihilistic ethos engendered by data bites of information which is soul numbing to the point where nothing matters and the only thing to do is to tattoo and pierce one's body in an attempt to stand out and startle an observer to awareness of one's presence here on earth.

    When so many young people choose to present themselves as garishly, physically defaced bodies as a means to make themselves "special" so that the society will take notice of them, you can understand how our current cultural values are so dysfunctional as to render our young to a world of self abuse painting their bodies with permanent graffiti like buildings in the decaying cores of our cities which have been abandoned to the stigmatized populations of poor, criminal, substance addicted, mentally ill.

    What has our religion to offer these lost souls? Do we have hope to offer them? Do we have ways of letting them know that they are loved? Do we have ways of connecting them with their divine source which in their ignorance and distress they seem unaware of?

    If the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit many people apparently don't know this if the way they care for it and adorn it is any indication.

    We UUs need to remind ourselves and others that every person has inherent worth and dignity. Defacing your body while momentarily entertaining and titillating does nothing to enhance the basic dignity and worth of the person. There must be a better way and we, as UUs, need to spell out what it is and can be.

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