What is truth?

 

The fourth principle of Unitarian Universalism is to join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Pilate wasn't interested. He would not have been a good UU.

Loving without judgment.

The Holy Spirit teaches you to use your body only to reach your brothers, so He can teach His message through you. This will heal them and therefore heal you. T-8.VIII.9:1-2

A Course in Miracles (p. 305). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The body is a conduit of God’s unconditional love into the world. When we love everybody unconditionally all the time salvation of the separation has occurred on earth as it is in heaven.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to accept one another and encourage spiritual growth. This is the function of the Holy Spirit manifested in human intentions and interactions.

Today it is suggested that we love unconditionally without judgment whoever crosses our path.

How free are we really?

When you lay the ego aside, it will be gone. The Holy Spirit’s Voice is as loud as your willingness to listen. It cannot be louder without violating your freedom of choice, which the Holy Spirit seeks to restore, never to undermine.T-8.VIII.8:6-8

A Course in Miracles (p. 305). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Spiritual progress can be assessed when the degree of conditioning by the external world is measured. When we overcome this conditioning, we are liberated from it and free. In order to overcome this conditioning we need to be aware of it and then ask the Holy Spirit, “What would Love have me do?” Jesus tells us that if we ask we will get an answer. The clarity of the answer depends on the extent of our willingness to listen.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion which requires the setting aside of the conditioning of the ego and accepting Love.

Today it is suggested that we question our behavior, motivations and intentions and consider the extent to which they are the result of conditioning and socialization as compared to our conscious choice. How free are we really?

Consider the Oneness to which we ultimately belong.

Sickness is a way of demonstrating that you can be hurt. It is a witness to your frailty, your vulnerability, and your extreme need to depend on external guidance. The ego uses this as its best argument for your need for its guidance. It dictates endless prescriptions for avoiding catastrophic outcomes. The Holy Spirit, perfectly aware of the same situation, does not bother to analyze it at all. T-8.VIII.6:1-5

A Course in Miracles (p. 304). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

The ego loves baloney or more vulgarly, bullshit. The ego would have us live in fear because then we are more likely to listen to it. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, tells us that we are loved unconditionally and have nothing to fear. Being drops of the ocean we are meant to give up our separateness and rejoin the Transcendent Source from which we have emerged.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the awareness of the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Like the Buddhist monk said to the hot dog vendor, “Make me one with everything.”

Today it is suggested that we consider the Oneness to which we ultimately belong.

Do we identify with our spirit or our body?

It is still true that the body has no function of itself, because it is not an end. The ego, however, establishes it as an end because, as such, its true function is obscured. This is the purpose of everything the ego does. Its sole aim is to lose sight of the function of everything. A sick body does not make any sense. It could not make sense because sickness is not what the body is for. Sickness is meaningful only if the two basic premises on which the ego’s interpretation of the body rests are true; that the body is for attack, and that you are a body. Without these premises sickness is inconceivable. T-8.VIII.5:1-8

A Course in Miracles (pp. 303-304). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition.

From a sociological viewpoint there is a distinction between illness and sickness. Illness is a scientific fact of physical dysfunction while sickness is a social role that people enact. In other words, sickness as a social role, once we become aware of this, is a choice. The ego encourages us to be sick because of the social rewards that can be obtained. However, when one considers that we are spirit in a body and not a body with a spirit, sickness makes no sense.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. How can this inherent worth and dignity ever be sick?

Today it is suggested that we consider whether we identify with Spirit or with our body and the implications of this choice?

The bliss of cosmic consciousness.

The ego makes a fundamental confusion between means and end as it always does. Regarding the body as an end, the ego has no real use for it because it is not an end. You must have noticed an outstanding characteristic of every end that the ego has accepted as its own. When you have achieved it, it has not satisfied you. This is why the ego is forced to shift ceaselessly from one goal to another, so that you will continue to hope it can yet offer you something. T-8.VIII.2:3-7

A Course in Miracles (pp. 302-303). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

As people sometimes say, “There’s always something!” or “(S)he’s always on to the next big thing.” Psychologists call this phenomenon a product of “hedonic adaptation” meaning that when the novelty and initial pleasure wear off there has to be more or something else to sustain the high. Today we see this phenomenon in our digital age as FOMO, the fear of missing out.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which involves seeking not pleasure or happiness or joy but bliss. Bliss is not found in the world of the ego but in the world of God, unconditional love.

Today it is suggested that we consider what the things we seek are for. If they are merely for pleasure and happiness we will fail in the long run because these things of the ego cannot give us bliss. What we seek is the oneness with our Transcendent Source which provides the bliss of cosmic consciousness.

How big is Unitarian Universalism?

 Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion with roots in the Judeo-Christian tradition, but which has evolved to include a wide range of beliefs and practices, including humanism, atheism, agnosticism, and spiritualism.

It is difficult to determine the exact size of the UU community, as it is a decentralized religion without a central governing body, and many individuals who identify as UU may not be affiliated with a particular congregation or organization. However, according to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), the largest UU organization in the world, there were approximately 217,000 members in the United States and Canada as of 2020, and approximately 1,050 congregations in North America.

There are also UU communities and organizations in other parts of the world, such as the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU), which represents UU groups in over 30 countries. Overall, while UU is not as large as some mainstream religions, it has a dedicated and active community of individuals who value its emphasis on inclusivity, social justice, and personal spiritual exploration.

Unitarian Universalism can be better understood if one investigates its seven principles and six sources.

People who want to explore Unitarian Universalism and its application in their daily lives are encouraged to subscribe to this UU A Way Of Life blog.