ON INTEGRITY

Integrity is a shared process.

Integrity is interrelational.

Integrity is contextual.

Integrity is integrating.

Integrity is unscripted.

Integrity is a kind of super-attention.

Integrity is watching for the cracks in what you thought you knew.

Integrity is willingness to learn together.

~ Nora Bateson

Integrity is an important word and concept. It is critically important in spiritual and religious circles. Without integrity there can be no real spiritual growth in an individual or group. You can say that integrity is integral to attaining true fulfillment as a spiritual student.

The revelation that spiritual guru Deepak Chopra is mentioned multiple times in the email files linked to the Jeffrey Epstein case is, at a minimum, disturbing (LINK). A deeper dive into the situation, including how often so-called spiritual celebrities have difficulty maintaining integrity is here (LINK).

“My intent is to be generous of spirit and live with total integrity every day of my life.”
~ Deepak Chopra

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.”
~ Tom Peters

I have often considered some spiritual celebrities as conduits to New Thought for many people. Author Wayne Dyer was such a way shower for me, leading me to being open enough to explore the Science of Mind in the 1980’s. I am grateful for that, and for much of the wisdom that Dyer shared over the years, even though he had his own lapses of integrity, including this (LINK).

One of the most disturbing factors of the crimes associated with Jeffrey Epstein and his wide circle of influential friends and clients is the extent to which such horrific behavior went on and was widely known (and therefore condoned). The victims numbered in the hundreds, and almost all were children at the time. The perpetrators number in the dozens, perhaps even the hundreds, and include world and business leaders. What all of this says about our society is worthy of deep reflection.

But our own house in spirituality and religion is far from perfect. The victims of failures of integrity by religious leaders number in the millions. This has been compounded by the repeated failure of those responsible to demand accountability by transgressors. And even when accountability has occurred, the results are often kept confidential allowing the perpetrators to relocate and offend again. Such violations of trust drive people from spiritual communities.

“As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can’t see how it is.”
~ Ram Dass

We in spiritual communities and organizations have an interest in thinking of ourselves as good people, and we have an interest in being spiritual, which often means to be “nice,” no matter what. I have seen spiritual leaders who were toxic (LINK) protected by congregants, boards, and organizations. This was done for reasons including personal loyalty, a desire not to have a scandal revealed, or a sense that accusations must be proven beyond a doubt.

We in New Thought are nice people as a rule. We tend to think that we live in a friendly, even moral, universe and that people are basically good. We often pay a severe price for these beliefs.

“The opposite of reflexive niceness is integrity.”
~ James Hollis, Jungian analyst

Let’s look at these beliefs:

Our universe is not friendly or moral. It is evolutionary and amoral. We exist in our current forms because of violent collisions of planets, stars, and galaxies which allowed more complex elements to be formed and spread over wide distances. We exist in our current forms because of biological evolution, whose processes toward greater complexity and adaptation have resulted in the extinction of over 99% of all the species which have existed on earth. And we know that we are a transitional species, just as all others are; we will either evolve to more complex and well-adapted beings or become extinct as an evolutionary dead-end. Evolution is careless of the individual and of the species by nature.

Morality does not appear in our universe except as a human invention. Other species may and do cooperate, but they do so as a survival mechanism. Humans are capable of moral thought and actions, but it is something which must be learned and reinforced in the social structures around us. It too, is an evolutionary adaptation.

People have the capacity to be good and moral, but any number of things can limit that capacity, sometimes severely. We know scientifically that psychopaths have little or no ability for moral action or regret due to brain injuries, often occurring when in childhood. Research has shown that most psychopaths and sociopaths are incapable of regaining a sense of morality through any known treatments.

Of course, everyone who commits a violation of integrity does not have a physical condition limiting their capacity. In most cases, people simply decide to act out of integrity, usually by using rationalization. Everyone has done something out of integrity; most of us just about every day in some minor or significant way. It is important to remember that such actions are the result of a divided self, a self which is not integral.

Spiritual study and practices are in large part about realizing one’s wholeness, one’s integrity. To be in integrity means to be in your deepest truth. As that truth is realized more and more, it means to refuse to participate in behaviors which are out of integrity. It also means to speak out for integrity and justice and love in every community to which one belongs.

The Beloved Community does not tolerate behaviors which are out of integrity. Therefore, it requires people who are compassionate to fulfill their potential. We cannot be truly compassionate if we are out of integrity in our own lives; our communities cannot be compassionate if members are silent or complicit in behaviors which are out of integrity.

Our spiritual gurus know this yet often fail. We know this yet often fail. Our compassion is the only thing that can lead us to the realization of our true spiritual potential.

“Contradictions, whether personal or social, that could once remain hidden are coming unstoppably to light. It is getting harder to uphold a divided self….The trend toward transparency that is happening on the systems level is also happening in our personal relationships and within ourselves. Invisible inconsistencies, hiding, pretense, and self-deception show themselves as the light of attention turns inward….The exposure and clearing of hidden contradictions brings us to a higher degree of integrity, and frees up prodigious amounts of energy that had been consumed in the maintenance of illusions. What will our society be capable of, when we are no longer wallowing in pretense?”
~ Charles Eisenstein

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

NEW THOUGHT THEOLOGY – TIME FOR AN UPDATE? PART 5

“The meaning of word ‘trauma’ in its Greek origin, is ‘wound.’ Whether we realize it or not, it is our woundedness, or how we cope with it, that dictates much of our behavior, shapes our social habits, and informs our ways of thinking about the world.”
~ Gabor Maté, (Link to film on trauma by Dr. Maté)

The Myth of Normal

As we continue this series on looking at where New Thought theology needs updating (LINK to Previous Posts), we arrive at trauma (LINK). This is another area of human dynamics about which little was known at the time of the founders of New Thought. Over the past several decades, a wealth of new information has become available about trauma and its effects. This will merely be a sketch of what is a burgeoning field of study.

We have learned that trauma is more than physical violence. It is anything that creates a wound to the psychological or emotional process. While physical violence can cause trauma, so can being abused, devalued, or diminished by others, particularly by caregivers early in life. Indeed, trauma is closely associated with shadow development in children and adolescents. Trauma can show up as a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD Link), or in a variety of other ways.

Trauma affects our ability to learn and how we learn; our ability to teach and how we teach. It affects our emotional intelligence, interpersonal relationships, and professional achievements. It affects our ability to enjoy life, to feel empathy, and to love ourselves and others.

“Traumatic symptoms are not caused by the ‘triggering’ event itself. They stem from the frozen residue of energy that has not been resolved and discharged; this residue remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreak havoc on our bodies and spirits.”
~ Peter A. Levine

Waking the Tiger

Gabor Maté has studied trauma and its relationship to subsequent life issues such as addiction. His work is both accessible and relevant.

“The greatest damage done by neglect, trauma or emotional loss is not the immediate pain they inflict but the long-term distortions they induce in the way a developing child will continue to interpret the world and her situation in it. All too often these ill-conditioned implicit beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecies in our lives. We create meanings from our unconscious interpretation of early events, and then we forge our present experiences from the meaning we’ve created. Unwittingly, we write the story of our future from narratives based on the past…Mindful awareness can bring into consciousness those hidden, past-based perspectives so that they no longer frame our worldview. ’Choice begins the moment you disidentify from the mind and its conditioned patterns, the moment you become present…Until you reach that point, you are unconscious.’ …In present awareness we are liberated from the past.”
~ Gabor Maté

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

When someone comes into New Thought in adulthood, or even in adolescence, they already have a degree of shadow[1] built up because of traumatic events and the kind of thinking which embeds such events into the psyche. Learning to pray/treat/affirm, while important, is particularly difficult in the areas where the footprints of trauma have taken hold. We can have demonstrations stemming from our spiritual practices, but they will not be in the areas of the traumatic effect because the affirmation process does not go that deeply into our psychological process.

In those areas, coming to conscious awareness – a necessity for healing, must involve deeper work. This is because in our mind we have built a psychological wall around the aspects of ourselves which we have deemed inadequate. I cannot see through my own walls. I cannot pray away my shadow. I can use prayer to increase the courage needed to confront what I have repressed, but affirming along does not heal trauma/shadow. In such cases, I may use spiritual practices to bypass my true healing needs and support a false self I have created to avoid the pain of true self-realization.

“What we call the personality is often a jumble of genuine traits and adopted coping styles that do not reflect our true self at all but the loss of it.”
― Gabor Maté

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

Unless we do the deep work of healing shadow trauma, we will use any skills and techniques we obtain in spiritual instruction to strengthen the parts of ourselves which repress what needs to be revealed and healed. Getting past this repression is difficult work, and it requires both personal courage and an environment which both recognizes and supports the need to do such work.

“Optimism doesn’t come natural to trauma survivors because our brains are still scanning the environment for threats and danger.“
~ Dr. Nicole LePera

How difficult it can be for wounded people to come to accept beneficence as the nature of Reality! How difficult it can be to affirm one’s worth and goodness when the psyche has been molded by fear and self-defeatism! Trying to heal the effects of trauma with affirmation is like trying to heal a headache with a Band-Aid. Unless deeper work is undertaken, the surface work of spirituality will have little positive effect. However, healing can and does happen with a proper approach.

“(Carl) Jung believed that the psyche was purposeful; that we have a natural urge to grow to wholeness. Whatever trauma may happen to us, there is something within that remains whole, beautiful and true.”
~ Vivianne Crowley

Healing from trauma can be a difficult journey, however, as noted above, we do have a natural, soul-driven urge to grow to wholeness. This urge, called The Law of Growth in New Thought, is always present and urges us to be the best version of ourselves regardless of where we are in our development. Healing from trauma is a multifaceted process.

“Healing from trauma involves: 1. Learning to trust Self (keeping small daily promises) 2. Practicing setting and holding boundaries 3. Learning what your needs are and how to meet them 4. Practicing emotional regulation 5. Body healing: nutrition, gut health, movement, sun, proper sleep.”
~ Dr. Nicole LePera

Using our New Thought technologies of meditation, affirmation, and spiritual realization can lay a solid foundation for other modalities, such as therapy, to be successful. Such a healing process often involves surrendering to the realization that the traumatic injury has been deep and pervasive. It will involve forgiveness of self and others and is helped by being in a loving spiritual community where trauma is recognized as a common aspect of human life in our society.

Teachers of New Thought principles ought to be aware of trauma and its effects on teaching and learning, in their students, congregants, and in themselves.

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.”
~ Fred Rogers

In the next installment, we will summarize where we are in this process of updating New Thought theology and practice. Your comments are welcomed, as always.

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

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[1] Shadow is any repressed aspect of the authentic self. It can be developed due to trauma or by a conscious or unconscious “decision” to repress something about oneself because it is not acceptable to others.

2025 – IT’S TIME TO AWAKEN AND ENGAGE

For my final post of 2024, I turn for inspiration to Pema Chödrön, whose works have inspired me for many years.

“Times are difficult globally; awakening is no longer a luxury or an ideal. It’s becoming critical. We don’t need to add more depression, more discouragement, or more anger to what’s already here. It’s becoming essential that we learn how to relate sanely with difficult times. The earth seems to be beseeching us to connect with joy and discover our innermost essence. This is the best way that we can benefit others.”
~ Pema Chödrön

When Things Fall Apart

As the new year dawns, many of us find ourselves feeling anxiety about what is to come. This concern or fear extends across many aspects of our lives, from personal issues with health, finances, or relationships outward into local, regional, national, and global concerns relating to the climate crisis, wars, political turmoil, economics, healthcare, racism, sexism, and so on.

A part of me wants to think, “after all the praying and rituals done for peace and wellbeing, how did we get into this mess?” The metaphysical answer to that question is that the collective consciousness of those involved at any level of conditions co-creates experience. Then, I want to ask myself, “is the collective consciousness of humanity so filled with fear that it produced so much suffering despite all the praying?”

And then I realized: the prayers, the Spiritual Mind Treatments (not the same as regular prayer – LINK), the rituals, and the actions were generated in a consciousness of fear, at least to some degree. We are taught to look at the outcome to determine the dominant consciousness, whether of the individual or the group. So many are caught up in a speeding up of thought driven by a combination of our own tendency toward anxiety and the technical revolution of devices and new media which feed that anxiety.

“Not causing harm requires staying awake. Part of being awake is slowing down enough to notice what we say and do. The more we witness our emotional chain reactions and understand how they work, the easier it is to refrain.”
~ Pema Chödrön

When Things Fall Apart

It is important to develop a consciousness of Oneness with the Divine within as a starting point or a foundation for the beliefs in our subconscious. This expands our capacity to see what we fear and simultaneously know that we can deal with it. It gives us the ability to love and to be calm in the face of apparent chaos and danger. And it gives us the ability to hold ourselves and others in compassion, even when they are against us.

Religious fear is loud; spiritual truth is quiet. What the founders of the branches of the New Thought family tree had in common was a realization of the power of mind to transform and heal plus an intention to help people develop spiritual truth in their lives. That process requires high levels of intention, determined and extended spiritual practices, and a growing realization of one’s own inner power.

“When we’re putting up the barriers and the sense of ‘me’ as separate from ‘you’ gets stronger, right there in the midst of difficulty and pain, the whole thing could turn around simply by not erecting barriers; simply by staying open to the difficulty, to the feelings that you’re going through; simply by not talking to ourselves about what’s happening. That is a revolutionary step. Becoming intimate with pain is the key to changing at the core of our being—staying open to everything we experience, letting the sharpness of difficult times pierce us to the heart, letting these times open us, humble us, and make us wiser and more brave. Let difficulty transform you. And it will. In my experience, we just need help in learning how not to run away.”
~ Pema Chödrön

Practicing Peace in Times of War

Being with the inevitable pains of life until they have taught us what we needed to learn is a hallmark of spiritual evolution. Too often our spiritual practices reflect a desire to have a life free of pain and problems, as if that were even possible. In fact, it isn’t even desirable. Our fear-based ego tries to defend us by amplifying what is frightening while at the same time constricting our access to deeper intuitive wisdom; at least until we train it differently.

We develop the capacity for spiritual realization by embracing all of life, even the painful parts. This does not mean that we enjoy pain or fear, but if these were eliminated from our lives, we would cease developing. Our deeply held and cherished beliefs are often false and will not be charmed out of our consciousness. When we teach that healing can come without discomfort and/or pain we are being inconsistent with both what we know about human psychology and what the founders actually taught. Without challenges, we do not grow. Learning and growth require change, and change is always uncomfortable or worse. However, we have within us the capacities to withstand and transform more than we think we can.

“If we want there to be peace in the world, we have to be brave enough to soften what is rigid in our hearts, to find the soft spot and stay with it. We have to have that kind of courage and take that kind of responsibility. That’s the true practice of peace.”
~ Pema Chödron

Practicing Peace in Times of War

Echoing Gandhi’s prescription to be the peace you want to see in the world, here Chödron cautions that it is courage which will soften our hearts and allow us to stay the course. In other words, there must be peace in our own hearts before we can see it in the outer world. The transformation of humanity begins within each individual.

Resist the urge to demonize others. Become strong enough to see through the eyes of compassion, which means the real truth: that Oneness is the nature of things and separation is an illusion. With that strength, refuse to be baited into a lesser version of yourself or to be knocked off balance by the behaviors of others. Remember that all harmful behavior arises from fear.

Stay with love. Stay with power. Stay with Compassion. Practice the principles every day. Engage with life from this basis and you will be a positive influence.

“So, the next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in. Usually, we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear.”
~ Pema Chödrön

When Things Fall Apart

I wish you a very CONSCIOUS AND FULFILLING NEW YEAR!

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Copyright 2024 – Jim Lockard

I HAVE A LOT ON MY EMOTIONAL PLATE – HOW ABOUT YOU? PART 2

“Our only problem is that we want not to have any problems.”
~ Buddhist saying

“The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for a passing of a threshold is at hand.”
~ Joseph Campbell

In Part 1 (LINK), we began to look at the emotional impact of living in complex and challenging times. What differentiates this moment in history from challenging times in the past is the higher degree of complexity, not only of the issues facing us, but also due to the highly technological times in which we live. We have nearly instantaneous global communications, social media, and growing disinformation agents using social media to muddy the waters (LINK).

Of course, all of this is in addition to whatever personal challenges one may be facing currently. And of that that is in addition to whatever foundational wounds or trauma from one’s past exist and how they amplify emotional sensitivity in the current moment. This is a very difficult time for just about everyone from an emotional standpoint.

We are seeing reports that therapists have no openings for new patients, suicide rates are climbing (particularly among young people), and tempers are flaring across the public sphere. All of this means we are facing a strong pull to evolve to greater complexity, one which many of us are unable to adapt.

“With the enormous expansion of our consciousness and knowledge in physics and technology, which have gone ahead at such tremendous speed, the rest of humanity has not been able to keep pace. We have not been able to keep up morally, neither with our feelings nor with our minds.”
~ Marie Louise von Franz

The coping mechanisms of denial, compartmentalization, and passive-aggressive behavior are no longer sufficient to shield us from our day-to-day stressors. It is hard to disown feelings when they are triggered every day. It is hard to deny the challenges facing us when we realize both the seriousness of the threats and the failure of our institutions to meet the challenges effectively, or, in some cases, even to admit that they exist.

“[W]hat we disown does not go away. It lives on within us-out of sight, out of mind, but nevertheless real-an unconscious alter ego hiding just below the threshold of awareness. It often erupts unexpectedly under extreme emotional circumstances.”
~ Connie Zweig

We see more road rage, more mass shootings, more hair-triggered tempers, more depression, and other signs of too much emotional stress. This will likely continue to occur in increasing patterns.

But none of us needs to go down this path if we use our psychological and spiritual tools and techniques effectively. These include a belief in our divine and human potential as well as an intention to realize our best life possible. For some this will require taking and mental and emotional step back to allow new energy to flow within our system. Perhaps a brief fast from the news or from social media is in order. Perhaps a retreat in nature or simply to a place where solitude is available; or a retreat with others for the purpose of reconnecting with one’s true nature.

“Emotion regulation is not about controlling what you feel. It’s about choosing how you respond. Wise people don’t suppress emotion. They find constructive ways to express it. Intense feelings don’t always demand immediate reactions. They often benefit from deep reflection.”
~ Adam M. Grant

Another possibility is to engage with a challenging situation of concern to you – feeding the hungry, volunteering at a non-profit, becoming an election worker, advocating for a cause dear to you. Any of these things can provide an active way to reprogram your emotional settings. We cannot hide from the world and its challenges, nor are we meant to do that. We are designed to engage with life, but from a place of emotional health and well-being. Sometimes we need to do something to restore or deepen that well-being.

“There is no change from darkness to light or from inertia to movement without emotion.”
~ C.G. Jung, Collected Works 9i

Emotion is the engine of demonstration/manifestation. Emotion gives energy to the thoughts which accumulate to build beliefs. Emotion gives energy to the actions we take to translate those beliefs into behaviors. It is our feeling of life that is our experience of life. So emotional work is essential work. It begins by learning to control our impulses. Meditation and visualization are powerful tools to aid in developing emotional intelligence.

“The ability to control impulse is the base of will and character. By the same token, the root of altruism lies in empathy, ability to read emotions in others. If there are any two moral stances that our times call for, they are precisely these, self-restraint and compassion.”
~ Daniel Goleman

Here, Daniel Goleman, who has done amazing work in the area of emotional intelligence (LINK), mentions the need to control our impulses. This is not to be polite, but primarily to allow us to have access to our faculties. When we are overly impulsive, we lose connection with our inner intuitive knowing as well as with our better nature. Self-restraint allows us to stay in touch with these positive aspects of ourselves.

Compassion, remember, is not being nice – it is being truthful from a place of love. We do little good when we act without self-control or emotional intelligence. This is often why we shy away from activism for social justice, we fear the rough and tumble nature of such activities because so many people engage from a lack of emotional intelligence.

“People think to be radical is to be confrontational, hostile, and angry when what is truly counterculture is understanding, curiosity, self-discipline, a backbone, combined with spiritual and emotional depth.”
~ Ayishat Akanbi

The key is to do your personal work – spiritual practices, emotional development, and more, developing them into a regular and ongoing set of practices – before you engage. An important function of spiritual community is to prepare people to contribute to building a better world (#aworldthatworksforeveryone) by helping to develop spiritual and emotional intelligence. We are empowered when we bring our best selves to a cause or to a project. This includes bringing a strong cast of spiritual principles and practices which we have embodied and habituated.

Emotional and spiritual intelligence are the foundations of spiritual realization, not just in achieving states of awareness, but in learning to continually develop higher levels of spiritual expression. Emotional intelligence gives us the discipline to do our work and the maturity to interact with others wisely and lovingly. It allows us to set healthy boundaries and to extend ourselves when called to do so without placing ourselves or others in jeopardy due to our own unhealed insecurities.

“When we practice generating compassion, we can expect to experience the fear of our pain. Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allow ourselves to move gently toward what scares us. The trick to doing this is to stay with emotional distress without tightening into aversion, to let fear soften us rather than harden into resistance.”
~ Pema Chödrön

We all want to live in truth, to be able to bring our best selves to bear on what is actually happening. It does not serve us to hide or obscure what might be painful to know. Compassion is daring because compassion is truth and love. It may be tough love, it may be unsettling, it may be very painful. It takes great strength and character to express compassion, whether to yourself or to another.

There is no path to compassion except through our fear and suffering. Compassion arises from our fears and our pain. When we deny them, we deny ourselves the realization of a compassionate heart and we deny the world our best self in expression. Fortunately, it is our spiritual practices which are key elements in healing and strengthening our emotional immune system. Using our teachings and engaging with our spiritual communities to create mutual support systems is essential.

As always, your comments are welcomed.

“Nirvana is right here, in the midst of the turmoil of life. It is the state you find when you are no longer driven to live by compelling desires, fears, and social commitments, when you have found your center of freedom and can act by choice out of that.”
~ Joseph Campbell

Copyright 2024 – Jim Lockard

WHY SPIRITUAL REALIZATION IS HARD

“A change of consciousness does not come by simply willing or wishing. It is not easy to hold the mental attention to an ideal, while the human experience is discordant, but – it is possible. Knowing the Truth, is not a process of self-hypnosis, but one of a gradual unfoldment of the inner self.”
~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

“Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings.”
~ Victor Hugo

There came a moment of clarity for me when I was in my second year of Science of Mind™ classes in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, when I realized that as difficult as I thought it would be to be a truly good Catholic (my religion of birth), it would be even more difficult to be a good Religious Scientist (my religion of choice).

The difficulty of my Catholic faith (to me, immature as I was) had to do with trying to please an external power who was, frankly, impossible to please. It was about conforming to others’ interpretation of dogma, doctrine, and rules with little to no focus on realizing my own power or divinity. I just HAD to be good.

To be a good student of New Thought is to realize that inner divinity and power and to express it in everyday life, regardless of what is happening or of what conditions are present. It is self-realization, which can be described as alignment with one’s deepest self, the soul, through the unconscious to the conscious mind and outward into action. The locus of control shifts from external to internal. To live the Science of Mind or any New Thought teaching is to work toward becoming AND TO BECOME self-realized in a real and practical sense. It is, to paraphrase Carl Jung, the realization of the soul’s agenda (LINK). There is no greater challenge, and it’s hard.

The gap between belief and knowing is critically important to comprehend, as it is the key area of inner action for spiritual realization. We can believe things which are true or false; we can only know what is true. It is in the gap between believing and knowing that our most significant work is done. It is here that we meet the shadow elements which can obstruct our path if we do not claim and integrate them. Shadow work is essential to aligning with the soul’s agenda.

Demonstration is often what leads us from belief into knowing, for we can only know what we have demonstrated. You might say that our treatments/thoughts/affirmations lead to belief and that our faith leads to demonstration and our demonstration leads to knowing. Only in knowing is our work complete with regard to any particular issue or characteristic.

“People who expect to demonstrate this principle must be very constant, very determined, very positive, very sure, and faithful with themselves, patient with themselves, long-suffering with themselves. You will rise and you will fall, you will get discouraged, you will become encouraged, but always you will be progressing.”
~ Ernest Holmes

Love and Law, p 57

How does one describe the difference between belief and knowing? An example would be if one person had been to Seattle and the other had not, the first person would know that Seattle exists and the second person could only believe that Seattle exists. That belief might be very strong and it may be true, but it is not a knowing until one has experienced being in Seattle.

The same can be said for anything else – health, abundance, compassion, creative self-expression, self-love – these can only be at the level of knowing when they have been demonstrated or experienced. This takes diligent, constant, determined, and faithful spiritual practices over whatever time it takes to transform consciousness and create alignment for the intuitive knowing of the soul to move into conscious awareness.

“In order to manifest you must assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled. You must be able to feel it in your body long before your senses are aware of it. Your inner pictures and the corresponding feelings that are connected to your vision belong only to you, and you begin to treat this inner world of thoughts and feelings as sacred territory. You make the shift from believing to knowing, and what you absolutely know is not tinged with doubt.”
~ Wayne Dyer

Here, Wayne Dyer, one of my personal way showers into New Thought, describes the process of manifestation. He includes the key in the last sentence, to shift from believing to knowing, which is the essence of spiritual realization. This is perfectly consistent with the quote at the top from Ernest Holmes, which speaks to the idea of a gradual unfoldment of the inner self, meaning to come into alignment with the soul, the essence of our individuated selves.

Knowing requires alignment through our unconscious (or subconscious) mind, which by definition we do not have direct knowledge of. We can only get a sense of the contents of our unconscious by seeing our automatic behaviors, especially habits and attitudes which arise without conscious effort. What we call our consciousness is an aspect of the unconscious mind which our awareness cannot penetrate. We can only know that we have made a change in our consciousness by observing our automatic behaviors and attitudes and seeing that they are different than they were.

“The dominant attitude of consciousness is only ‘right’ when it accords with the claims of both consciousness and the unconscious. Only then can it combine their opposing tendencies into unity. If, on the other hand, the ruling attitude is either too weak or incomplete, the ‘life is consumed by unfruitful conflict.’ But if the old attitude of consciousness is renewed through its descent into the unconscious, then from the latter there emerges a new symbol of wholeness which is as son to the old king.”
~ Emma Jung & Marie-Louise von Franz,
The Grail Legend

When there is a change in consciousness at the unconscious level, it automatically emerges as new attitudes and behaviors in our lives. This is the new current reality after the initial demonstration. The demonstration is, in effect, a step in developing knowing. Once knowing is established, then new consciousness is automatically expressed in our lives. This is the importance of going beyond believing to knowing; of going beyond the need for conscious control of behaviors and thoughts to the realization of a new idea which is embodied in the unconscious mind. The old habit is extinguished, the new habit is born. This is all happening through processes in our brain/mind that we have no direct experience of, both quantum and biological in nature.

Once we have arrived at knowing, we can be at peace, confident that we will express in a manner consistent with our newly accepted consciousness, a consciousness based upon our demonstrations and experiences.

“I am still, knowing that God is over all, in all, and through all. I am at ease. I am at peace.”
~ Ernest Holmes

In a future post, I will explore how to make the process of manifesting at the level of knowing more accessible, and how the ways that we often teach New Thought principles and practices can inhibit this transformational process.

As always, your comments are welcome. Please share this post with others who may be interested. If you are so inclined, you can register to receive an email when a new post is up on this blog.

Copyright 2024 – Jim Lockard

SACRED THINKING REVISITED 4 – THE 7 BELIEFS: BELIEF 7

This final post in the series continues our exploration of the seven core beliefs from my book SACRED THINKING: Awakening Your Inner Power (LINK), this post looks at beliefs 5 & 6. The first post (LINK) looked at Beliefs 1 & 2; The second post (LINK) looked at Beliefs 3 & 4; The third post (LINK) looked at beliefs 5 & 6.

BELIEF SEVEN:

Within each human being is the potential to fully experience the connection with the One Spirit. A number of great spiritual teachers have set examples as to how this can be done. The collective human consciousness is, it seems, poised on the verge of emerging into the level of awareness necessary to experience this connection on a mass level. Each of us possesses a mind that is the locus of our experience of reality, of life experiences. Our thoughts create our mental images and beliefs. Sacred Thinking creates a mindset that connects with Spirit in a way that can bring bliss, connection, harmony, and empowerment. Right now, a relative few have done the preparatory work through spiritual practices to move into this new awareness. Human beings have reached an evolutionary point where the choice can be made to seek this awareness. Will you make that choice?

“The quantum world evokes the new mystic, one who dreams from a deeper center and loves from an unknown spring of life, for the mystic already lives in the world of tomorrow.”
~ Ilia Delio, The Not Yet God

This belief speaks to the concept of integral relationship which is our connection to Source, Spirit or God in a reciprocal and constant connection. The Creative Intelligence of the universe (or multiverse) underlies all energy and gives rise to individuated expressions, including human beings, all in this integral relationship. Together, we co-create our experiences and these experiences become aspects of an evolving Source – yes, Source evolved by means of us.

For students of New Thought, this means that we must go beyond cause and effect as the only means of understanding the dynamics of reality. Within the implicate order of the multiverse, evolution is the vehicle of expression for Source in many dynamic ways, cause and effect being one. But quantum physics tells us that there are other dynamics which exist and function in ways that we would see as acausal!

“It’s a recognition that reality as we know it is being animated by an evolutionary current. This is true on the cosmological large-scale structure of the universe. It’s true biologically. But it’s true on a human level, too. The great mystery is living and wanting to transcend itself through us toward greater expressions of beauty, truth and goodness. And so evolutionary spirituality says that, for lack of a better word, God is implicate, intrinsic to that evolutionary push.”
~ Rev. Bruce Sanguin

This implicate nature of God, Source, or Spirit is intrinsic to the nature of our existence – It is always present, always moving, always evolving, always expressing, becoming explicate. And we, human beings, are in that dance, but there is no separation, there is one dancer, one thing happening. It is a paradox that our human brain comprehends with great difficulty, if at all. The Absolute Source expressing through the mystical realms, and emerging into physical reality on a continuing, unfolding basis.

The more we come to understand this, the more astonished we are, the more reverence we hold for our existence and everything in it. Therefore, the more we will approach our lives with true compassion and grace.

We do not discard cause and effect but embrace it as a developmental tool of understanding our reality, if in a partial manner. We need to master cause and effect to have a strong foundation for developing our relationship with the acausal, the mystical, and the transcendent. This is the reality in which we are immersed and to which it is our destiny to awaken.

Human challenges and frustrations arise when we are distracted from this soulful pathway and our progress toward spiritual realization is halted or obstructed. Our soul’s agenda is to fully experience what is possible for us and to dance with Source. Nothing else will do.

“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based upon our perceptions. What we perceive depends on what we look for. What we look for depends on what we think. What we think depends on what we perceive. What we perceive determines what we believe. What we believe determines what we take to be true. What we take to be true is our reality.”
~ David Bohm, Quantum Physicist

As always, your comments are welcomed.

Copyright 2024 – Jim Lockard

SACRED THINKING REVISITED – THE 7 BELIEFS: BELIEFS 3 & 4

Continuing our exploration of the seven core beliefs from my book SACRED THINKING: Awakening Your Inner Power (LINK), this post looks at beliefs 3 & 4. The first post (LINK) looked at Beliefs 1 & 2.

BELIEF THREE:

The Universe is constantly changing, moving toward greater and greater complexity. This is done through a process called evolution, which has been going on at least since the Big Bang – our name for the origin of the universe. Evolution appears to be a process through which Spirit manifests increasing degrees of complexity and intelligence in Its creation. As of now, human beings exist at the pinnacle of evolution, so far as is known. It can be said that greater intelligence emerges from potential to actualization by means of evolution. Human beings have reached a point in our evolutionary development where we can and do consciously affect the process of evolution.

“This is exactly the position that modern philosophers take; it is called the theory of emergent evolution, which means that when nature needs something, it demands it of itself, and out of itself makes it. So, in the evolution of the human being, when it was necessary for him to grasp, fingers were produced. When, then, if it is necessary for you and me to know something we do not know, can we not—according to this theory of emergence—demand the information of ourselves and have it come to be known?
~ Ernest Holmes,
published in Science of Mind Magazine, July 2011

Holmes’ explanation reflects a mid-20^th Century knowledge of evolution, but it is generally accurate. Seen through the lens of metaphysical spirituality, evolution is the methodology for the development of Spirit’s expression AS our universe. Our universe evolves in a cosmological sense, our planet in a geological sense, life in a biological sense, and humans in a psychological and spiritual sense. The only constant in this scenario is change. Nothing is static, all is dynamic.

It is best to think of evolution as a flow, a moving image, rather than as a series of photographs. Human evolution flows like a river, sometimes wide and slow moving, sometimes very rapidly. We are currently in the rapids of evolution – things are changing faster than in the past. However, regardless of the rate of evolutionary change, the process of emergence is always at work. Everything is moving, vibrating, expanding or contracting.

“Others will arise who will know more than we do; they won’t be better or worse, they will be different and know more than we do. Evolution is forward.” 
~ Ernest Holmes,
Sermon By The Sea- Asilomar, Saturday, August 15, 1959

BELIEF FOUR:

The Universe and everything in it is infused with intelligence and is self-organizing. Behind every thing is an invisible Power, a Power that is the Ground of All Being, and The Animating Force. This Power expresses as the physical or manifest universe and the energy therein. This Power expresses impersonally – it is fully available to all.

“You belong to the universe in which you live, you are one with the Creative Genius back of this vast array of ceaseless motion, this original flow of life. You are as much a part of it as the sun, the earth and the air. There is something in you telling you this — like a voice echoing from some mountain top of inward vision, like a light whose origin no man has seen, like an impulse welling up from an invisible source.”
~ Ernest Holmes

In order to become spiritually realized, we must fully transcend believing only in the evidence of our senses. The senses have evolved to help us negotiate our physical surroundings. The Source of everything in those surroundings is invisible to our senses. Spiritual realization, the process of discovering this invisible Power, does not separate us from our physical surroundings, it allows us to know ourselves for what we are and to know our surroundings for what they are – projections of an invisible Power imbued with intelligence.

“Sooner or later we have to risk everything. We have to gamble on the invisible and risk all that we can see and taste and feel. But we know the risk is worth it, because there is nothing more insecure than the transient world.”
~ Thomas Merton

Spiritual realization is a process of awakening to our inner reality, the mystical reality which is behind all physical expressions of reality. The mystic is one who has cultivated a relationship with the inner self, a capacity we all have. It is kind of like learning the inner operations of a clock and discovering what makes the hands show the time.

“Invisible connection is stronger than visible. To arrive at the basic structure of things we must go into their darkness.”
~ Heraclitus

This quote from Heraclitus is over 2,000 years old. The idea of an invisible Power in back of all things is not new. It remains a key to developing a powerful and mature sense of personal spirituality.

As always, your comments are welcomed. The next post will explore beliefs 5 & 6 from SACRED THINKING.

Copyright 2024 – Jim Lockard

GRATITUDE IS PROACTIVE

“. . . for all tomorrow’s good
May rest today upon your gratitude,
For he who gives thanks before the wine
Is pressed from grapes still clinging to the vine
Has shown a faith above, beyond the present hour
And his thanksgiving holds the future flower.”
~ from “The Voice Celestial” by Ernest and Fenwicke Holmes

Ernest Holmes, the developer of The Science of Mind (LINK) philosophy and the founder of Religious Science/Centers for Spiritual Living, was largely a synthesizer of ancient wisdom and modern psychology. He did not originate most of what he wrote and spoke about but put things together from various sources in a way which created a practical approach to spiritual realization. He was eternally curious, seeking out new wisdom throughout his life.

One thing which is unique to his teachings, as far as I can tell, is seeing gratitude as a proactive expression – in other words, when we are deeply grateful in advance for what we seek, we bring more energy into our manifestation – we create a strong consciousness of positive expectation. While it is easy to leave a focus on gratitude behind as we move from November to December, we do well to remember our New Thought principle of gratitude as an active and proactive element in our everyday lives.

“The feeling of gratitude is among the strongest and most affirmative spiritual energies at your command.  When you feel a deep sense of gratitude…you are actually focusing your creative energy and bringing it to bear on your life.”
~Rev. David Owen Ritz

If my use of mental science is to be most effective, I need to recognize the power of gratitude in advance of manifestation. When I am truly grateful for what I am seeking in advance, I create a stronger consciousness of expectation within myself. Doubts about manifesting my desire are erased as I repeat my spiritual mind treatments with the gratitude step (Step 4 in the Five-Step Treatment Process).

“And the days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, I have really good days.”
~ Ray Wylie Hubbard

It was at this point in writing this post that I had a spell of vertigo and ended up in the emergency room of the Hôpital Croix-Rousse here in Lyon for the rest of my Sunday. Apparently, all is well, but during the 7+ hours in the ER, which was mostly waiting, I did have time to ponder how gratitude can be a creative force, even when appearances are not positive. Or maybe, especially when appearances are not positive.

“When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.”
~ Shanuna Niequist

Rather than catastrophizing thinking, which is easy for many of us to do, I steered my thoughts toward gratitude. Gratitude for the four members amazing ambulance team, one of whom spoke excellent English, for assessing me so well and giving me the experience of riding to the hospital with the siren on! Gratitude for the excellent French healthcare system, and the Croix-Rousse complex which serves the northern half of Lyon so well. Grateful for the ER staff, who despite a heavy workload (an ambulance every 15 minutes or so, plus lots of walk-ins), did their jobs professionally.

And grateful for my own support system – Dorianne and our friends, who were there for me. Finally, grateful for this philosophy, the Science of Mind, which I have worked diligently to embody, and which served me so well in maintaining a consciousness of healing during this event. AND: GRATEFUL FOR MY HEALING WHICH WAS ALREADY PRESENT!

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”
~Meister Eckhart

Gratitude in advance, in order to be truly effective, must be accompanied by a consciousness of positive expectation. And while things do not always turn out as envisioned and there are no guarantees in life, this consciousness of expectation and gratitude is powerful and puts the odds in my favor. Our difficulties show up in life to call forth some quality yet unexpressed, so gratitude in times of difficulty, as difficult as it may be, can speed the process of expressing that quality and to a fuller experience of life. The creation of your life experience does not happen without your involvement in each unfolding instant.

Therefore, while Thanksgiving is past, and we are moving to the end of the “Month of Gratitude” in November, it is really important to keep a consciousness of gratitude active in our daily lives. I will close with one of Ernest Holmes’ more practical quotes:

“Always come to a complete conclusion when giving a treatment. Always feel that it is done, complete and perfect, and give thanks for the answer.…The treatment should be repeated daily until a healing takes place. If it takes 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, or 5 years, the treatment must be kept up until a healing is accomplished. This is the only method we know. It is not enough to SAY that everything is all right. This is true in Principle, but in fact and in human experience, it is only as true as we make it. Treat until you get results. A healing takes place when the patient is no longer sick, and until such time, mental work should be done.”
~ Ernest Holmes

As always, your comments are welcomed. Please share this post with others who may be interested; and if you are so inclined, sign up to be notified when posts are published on this blog.

Copyright 2023 – Jim Lockard 

DO WE NEED A NEW DEFINITION OF GOD? PART 4

“God is…Living Intelligence…. God is universal, infinite Mind. God is Spirit. Spirit is vital essence, formless, radiant, vibrant, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient…. God is stable Principle…infinite Being…the originating cause and the continuing source of all life, all being, all creation. God is at the same time the supporter and the support in its essence and basis. God is the creator and moves within the creation unceasingly.”
~ Helen Zagat, Faith & Works

“All nature is waiting for us to become conscious because there’s a particular quality of consciousness that only humans can provide. Nature needs that consciousness; cries out for it. And the process of deciphering Nature’s need, then discovering how to respond to it, is what’s called learning to become human.”
~ Peter Kingsley

In the first three parts of this series (LINK1 LINK2 LINK 3), we looked at how God is and has been defined in New Thought, and how that definition has been shaped by our cultural development in an evolutionary sense. So, buckle up: in Part 4, we will look at how that definition may have to shift as we move forward. A definition of any god is made up of the projections of those doing the defining combined with the projections of those interpreting and using the definition. All of this is affected by ongoing cultural evolution and how the cultural stages present impact our understanding and values – we tend to interpret things according to our cultural influences.

We have seen that where Traditionalist-Blue is the dominant values system, definitions come from some authority figure, often the founder of a faith tradition or those anointed to follow them and are written in scriptures which are held as holy and to be obeyed. Here, gods are magical-mythical in nature with decidedly human characteristics – love and anger for example.

When Modernist-Orange becomes dominant (as it is in the broad western population today), we see a movement to secularization, separating religion  to deal with the invisible (meaning mythical or superstitious) side of life while objective reality is the realm of science, business, and government. Most people, when Modernist-Orange emerges, keep their old definition of God, a definition which becomes increasingly irrelevant.

It is difficult for us to see, some 125 to 150 years later, how radical the Modernist-Orange New Thought idea of God was for its time. A Power within us that we could use – imagine! A practical definition of a divinity that is both mystical and useful. But now, it is time to move farther along our evolutionary path for our definition.

Postmodernist-Green brings a return to seeing things as sacred, a renewed interest in ritual, and a desire for intimate community; but it rejects the dogmatic/authoritarian approach of Blue and the purely rational approach of Orange. Here, a god is still cause-and-effect based, but manifestation is often more about larger issues of the community, or the common good than about personal success and fulfillment.

And now, 2^nd Tier on the spiral and Integral-Yellow are emerging with a radically more complex view and a values system which is, for the first time in human development, not based in fear. This will require a radical shift in how we view Ultimate Reality, and there are those who are showing us the way forward.

This quote I included in Part 2 is informative here:

“What we call theology is now history. To really engage in a vital theology, everything, including God, must be revisited in light of evolution and quantum physics.”
~ Ilia Delio, Theologian

Quantum physics and other fields of scientific inquiry have significantly changed our understanding of how reality operates in our universe. Cause-and-effect is but one way that things happen. Quantum entanglement and acausal actions are others; the expansion in brain science is also an influence. Using cause-and-effect alone, while helpful, is an incomplete way to build a theology for the future.

Faith traditions who will not or can not alter their theological outlook will, over time, be abandoned, a process well underway for denominations in many places. The likely path will be for secularization, or people being unchurched, to continue to grow for some time. As the proportion of people centered at Green continues to grow, there will be a desire for spiritual community, but not in the same forms as they have existed or currently exist. But this is not our topic here.

Our topic is what kind of definition of God, using whatever terminology, will best serve going forward. It must incorporate our expanding awareness about the nature of reality and what we know about ourselves. Relying on cause-and-effect alone leaves us at the mercy of unnamed forces and processes which are much less predictable.

Being stuck in an old definition is like holding the old image of an atom shown as something resembling our solar system – a nucleus with electrons discretely rotating around it. We now know that an atom looks and operates nothing like that – it appears more like a cloud with random electrical charges appearing as the electrons come into and out of existence; electrons can move from place to place without traveling through the intervening space. Even the nucleus, once thought a stable thing, is now known to come into and out of existence as we understand it. Our logical mind strains to understand this – and just about everything else associated with quantum physics, by the way.

“But this hard-and-fast mythology is now itself breaking in pieces. Newton’s ‘impenetrable particles’ have exploded, and in the realm of subatomic physics that is opening to the mind’s eye—beyond reach of direct scrutiny and to be known only by way of observed dynamic effects—the entire universe appears (to quote one recent interpreter) ‘as a dynamic web of inseparable energy patterns’ that always includes the observer in an essential way.
“This is to say that in what we think we know of the interior of the atom, as well as of the exploding stars in millions of spinning galaxies throughout an expanding space that is no longer, as in Newton’s view, ’always similar and immovable,’ the old notion of a once-upon-a-time First Cause has given way to something more like an immanent ground of being, transcendent of conceptualization, which is in a continuous act of creation now.”
~ Joseph Campbell,

Excerpt From: “The Digital Historical Atlas of World Mythology: IA – Prologue.”

“Quantum mechanics reveals to us that the more we look at the detail of the world, the less constant it is. The world is not made up of tiny pebbles. It is a world of vibrations, a continuous fluctuation, a microscopic swarming of fleeting microevents.”
~ Carlo Rovelli

Quantum physics/mechanics tells us, among other things, that some things which occur have no cause – they are acausal. There are random aspects to our reality which cannot be predicted and which are not subject to cause and effect as we understand it.

For me, this is a relief, because I keep finding that what I predict will happen when I do my affirmative prayers and my affirmations and set my intentions often does not happen – at least not the way I intended. What if my seeing the creative process as a mechanical cause-and-effect process is incomplete? What if there are acausal elements affecting these outcomes? How do I account for that and for the mystery into which it places me?

“The quantum world evokes the new mystic, one who dreams from a deeper center and loves from an unknown spring of life, for the mystic already lives in the world of tomorrow.”
~ Ilia Delio, The Not-Yet God

As we evolve in our capacity to understand, it is natural that our theology evolves as well. Finding out that we have had a limited understanding of reality is nothing to be ashamed of, it is the natural way of being. To insist that cause and effect is the only way that our universe operates, with the knowledge of other systems at work so well established, is hubris today.

I have seen New Thought students become convinced that they can control their life experiences if they can only think the perfect thought at the perfect time; and conversely, feel shame when their desires do not manifest, or when something completely unexpected happens. This is akin to trying to understand the physical universe using only Newtonian Physics, which gives an accurate, but overly mechanical and limited view of reality.

When New Thought theology arrived on the scene over a century ago, it represented leading edge thinking for its time. We must now face the reality that our theology has not evolved with other areas of human knowledge or with human capacities for complexity. We offer a theology past it’s sell-by date. The rate of change, including our growing knowledge of reality, which made theologies seem stable for centuries in the past, now forces us to expand and deepen our understanding almost continuously.

“Of course it is exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn’t meant to be reasonable.”
~ Kurt Vonnegut

Visionaries like Kurt Vonnegut and the founders of New Thought were willing to be seen as foolish or worse because of their leading-edge thinking. They also realized that their level of knowing was not the final level. It is time to return to that evolutionary pioneering approach to spiritual realization.

As we expand and evolve toward the realization of the greater mystery in which we all exist, perhaps our rational focus will soften a bit and we will become more open to the symbolic and mythical stories which have helped humans for eons to better understand our world and our place in it.

“Remember, the opposite of rational is not always irrational, but it can also be transrational or bigger than the rational mind can process; things like love, death, suffering, God, and infinity are transrational experiences. Both myth and mature religion understand this.”
~ Richard Rohr

“Myth involves us in the necessary project of finding enough imagination and vision to keep restoring and ‘re-storying’ the world. It is important to have a mythic sense, a sense of living imagination that can connect us to the ongoing eloquence of creation.”
~ Michael Meade

Moving into a deep realization of the mystery of life while staying grounded in the reality of being a human being in a society is the defining task of spiritual and psychological development. It is easy to lean too far in one direction or the other and become one-dimensional and thus close oneself off to so much potential.

In a very real sense, what is being called forth into emergence as our theology is a re-imagining of the mythic and the mysterious which we can now hold in a much more complex container. This container includes our growing awareness of the quantum aspects of reality, the deep work of shadow healing to allow an open conduit for our Soul’s Agenda to be more fully realized in our own experience. Each of us can be actualizing more of our potential to create better lives for ourselves and to contribute to the greater good. It is a vast undertaking which requires us to let go of many sacred cows and cherished ideas, but which is the only way forward for a sustainable humanity – a humanity poised to become an evolutionary launching pad for future generations and even more evolved species.

This redefining must be done in a way that works for as many as possible. Those beginning New Thought teachings will need a grounding in cause-and-effect metaphysics, just as a beginning physics student needs a grounding in Newtonian Physics. This will be discussed in the next part of the series.

My hope is that this series will spark some conversations in our Movement about who we are going to be going forward as spiritual beings having a human experience. We need to reframe and update our understanding of Ultimate Reality and how it expresses as us and everything else in this universe and beyond.

“Others will arise who will know more than we do; they won’t be better or worse, they will be different and know more than we do. Evolution is forward.” 
~ Ernest Holmes,
Sermon By The Sea- Asilomar, Saturday, August 15, 1959

“The individual who ties himself to the past is lost. The individual who awaits forever the future is also lost.”
~ Manly P. Hall

In Part 5, I will explore how this new theology might be integrated into a coherent curriculum by New Thought organizations and used in spiritual communities and other ministries.

As always, your comments are welcomed. Feel free to share this and other posts with others who may be interested.

Copyright 2023 – Jim Lockard

FIERCE SPIRITUALITY – ARE WE UP FOR IT?

“Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging. Negativism to the pain and ferocity of life is negativism to life. We are not there until we can say ‘yea’ to it all.”
~ Joseph Campbell

If Campbell’s statement is true, then we are in a rich field of opportunities at this moment in history. We are experiencing increasingly catastrophic challenges, with climate change being the most threatening. And the responses to this huge challenge, and to the many other serious and threatening challenges has been an increase in denial, distraction, and destructive behaviors.

If we look at our societies as reflections of the individuals within them, we can see parallels between the kinds of denial that an individual would have to an addiction. Instead of facing climate change (or COVID, or racism, or gun violence) head on and bringing our genius to bear, there is instead widespread denial and even actions which contribute to the problems rather than heal them.

We as a society have lost our spiritual center. But this is less about that grand issue and more about how we in our microcosm called the New Thought Movement are responding to these challenges. I suggest that New Thought has collectively moved away from a challenging spirituality to something much tamer and less threatening to its practitioners. We are less likely to take on theological and psychological viewpoints which are uncomfortable or deeply challenging. We are less likely to insist on rigorous standards in our education and credentialing. We have, too often, moved into a corner of needing everything to be good all the time and constructed platitudes and social behavioral patterns to reinforce the walls around that corner. And we wonder why more people aren’t attracted to us.

We have forgotten our theological and philosophical lineage, a thread running from the Hermetic philosophies of early Egypt to the Gnostics, Plotinus, the contemplative traditions of the west (and later of the east), Spinoza, Coleridge, the Transcendentalists, Quimby, and the founders of modern New Thought (not a fully inclusive list – for more read – PLEASE READ – “The Perennial Philosophy” by Aldous Huxley LINK). We have forgotten that spirituality is a total immersion into life – the pleasurable and the painful, the sacred and the profane. We have forgotten how to be fierce.

“Instead of leaving the sacred well alone, which would have been the wisest thing to do, we domesticated it no less effectively than we managed to domesticate everything else; trivialized and thoroughly prettified it; agreed on making it into something politically correct. But this happens to be almost the exact opposite of the ancient understanding — which is that spirituality and the sacred offer the profoundest challenge to our complacency, as well as presenting the most radical threat. The spirit is not only there to make us think deeply. It exists to take us into places where thinking becomes useless and even our cleverest ideas are left behind.”
~ Peter Kingsley,
Catafalque: Carl Jung and the End of Humanity

We, of course, are not the only ones to do this – the Abrahamic religions have all fallen from their origins in “domesticating” the sacred to the point where it becomes an unrecognizable sanitized shell. But I am not concerned with them here.

I am concerned with New Thought, whose principles, when fully realized, carry the healing power to transform society. But transformative principles are only realized through people who are themselves realized. People who have walked through the fire and emerged as greater versions of themselves. People who have a sufficient realization of abundance within to contribute to those around them. People who have done their work over time and continue to do it with dedication and enthusiasm.

“Your life, all of your life, is your path to awakening. By resisting or not dealing with its challenges, you stay asleep to Reality. Pay attention to what life is trying to reveal to you. Say yes to its fierce, ruthless, and loving grace.”
~ Adyashanti

The need for it to be “all good” or peaceful or for everyone to be nice is an insufficient basis for spiritual realization. Such desires are unrealistic, failing to call forth the power within us. We are then pushed into our corner, needing the world to fix itself so that we can emerge – something that is not going to happen.

I have written extensively on how we need our organizations and spiritual communities to align with the new paradigms of cultural evolution. The only reason to do such a thing – to go through the ordeal of transformation – is to be in a position to bring the kind of spirituality necessary for human transformation to our members and, through them, to the world.

So, transformation begins with each of us as individuals, being willing to put it all on the line, to move our fears aside and allow our inner power and wisdom to emerge. Then, finding in our spiritual communities the kind of support we need on the challenging and sometimes dangerous path of spiritual development. Spiritual communities at their best can create safe spaces where we are challenged to meet rigorous standards of learning and growth. Nothing less will equip us for what is coming.

“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these — to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.”
~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Copyright 2023 – Jim Lockard