Spiritual Principles

Truth-

What we conceive of as truth is a consensus view that validates the consequences of perceiving cause and effect in time and space. If time and space are not linear, then effects may not have a cause, and what we think is truth is merely the temporary arrangement of events that we can perceive collectively. In other realms, as in dreaming, truth is not what it is in this reality. Ultimate truth is the underlying consciousness that arranges reality.

Knowledge-

True knowledge is based on truth. Most of our knowledge consists of beliefs we've acquired from authority figures, and we have the choice whether to accept these beliefs as true or not. Because there is a choice, beliefs are subject to doubt and revision given contrary evidence or testimony from other authority figures. Knowing, rather than believing, is a consequence of experience, but, while more reliable, is still subject to sensory clarity and mental interpretation. Ultimately, all we know is our own mind, not the truth. Yet, our goal should be to seek knowledge by testing our beliefs.

Faith-

When we suspend judgment until we work through determining the validity of our beliefs, we act on faith. If we don't act to validate our beliefs, then faith becomes superstition. Faith is the hypothesis on which we stand until the experiment is complete and the lesson is learned. Faith is the bridge from belief to knowledge.

Action-

Given a choice between acting on what we believe, or rather, on what we know, then we always chose what we know. Our actions are usually dictated by the demands of neural excitation, which drives us through physical reality to achieve different experiences. And neural excitation is achieved through sensory input, which is encoded as real by the brain. Without that physical mechanism, there is no doing, there is only being. In being, there are no parameters of time and space, and the physical realm collapses into unity. But action is necessary in the physical realm, and the meaning we assign to the results of action lead to wisdom.

Wisdom-

Wisdom is the result of action. Ordinarily, we react to the world as if it were real, which in a sense it is. When we cease to react to the physical world according to our superficial understanding, but rather, impose a meaning on it that is based on faith in an ultimate truth behind the facade, then we have gained wisdom. Knowledge of the truth is the key to wisdom.

Meaning-

If we are wise enough to realize that nothing in this physical realm is ultimately true, then we can lay aside our judgments. The mind assigns meaning to physical events that, in and of themselves, are just events. Even if the event was put in motion by a conscious intent, only we can assign it a meaning. Since we react to events according to our assigned meaning, we can change our reactions by changing the meaning we assigned. Learning consists of assigning meanings that lead to our gaining the wisdom of love.

Reality-

Reality is the meaning we give the interpretation of our sensory inputs. When we have love, we have true perception, and meaning becomes irrelevant. Meanwhile, what we conceive of as reality is a construct of our own brain. Not only does our own version of reality depend, then, on our perceptions, there is no reason to believe that other realities don't exist that our senses can't discern. Expansion of our concept of reality depends on the willingness to entertain alternative ways of obtaining knowledge. The experience of alternative realities is a step towards placing physical reality into perspective. While what we experience is real in relation to our existence in physical reality, it is unreal when viewed from the spiritual perspective. Hence, our existence may not cease with the end of our physical sensory perceptions.

Identity-

If we conceive of ourselves as discrete egos, we are adopting a meaning about our perception of ourselves that we consider our reality. But if we posit ourselves to be eternal, infinite beings, then physical existence becomes a temporary drama of no permanent effect, and merely that which the real self arranges to experiment with. Identity is a construct of a mind that is tuned to perceive physical reality as discrete sensory inputs. If the mind did not divide everything into illusory identities, all would be perceived as one, and physical existence would be impossible. Identity is self awareness, and without the self, there would be awareness of what is beyond self. Identity is lost in the ultimate experience of being.

Love-

Rather than a human emotion, which ultimately divides us into those we care about and those we don't, real love is a sense of wholeness and harmony that collapses duality into a singularity. It is the recognition that nothing exists apart from us. Our identity and the identity we assign others becomes an illusion. The human emotion of love is valuable as the first recognition that we are not comfortable being isolated, that we must feel a connection with others. The experience of human love is normally the only way we can place others above ourselves, and the only feeling we may have of oneness. It is generated by that part of ourselves that is divine and existing in wholeness. Human love, then, is the foundation of experiencing divine love, and divine love is the foundation of experiencing human love.

God-

God is love. Any concept of God that posits an entity or being is a reflection of the mind's insistence on identity. It's a mirror-image of ourselves, distorted and larger. As the background out of which all things emerge, God is the infinite consciousness and energy responsible for duality in the physical reality, and when collapsed in on itself, the unity behind the whole. God is being. Physical reality is God doing. God doing is the creative force that ultimately resulted in God achieving identity through our observing what God is doing.

Morality-

Oneness with God is love in being. With genuine love, nothing is immoral because all duality ceases. But in this reality, it is not what we do, per se, that determines morality, but rather, the intent and outcome of our actions. Morality is the mind's judgment concerning the actions we take in physical reality and their affect on our acceptance as a social being. In that judgment, the intent and action to avoid harming others is moral. The intent and action to unselfishly give is not only moral, but loving. An open heart is moral. A closed heart, however, is not immoral. It is only an error in true perception that results in selfishness based on false identity with the duality of physical existence. Immorality is healed by divine love.

Character-

Our character is a function of our morality, that is, the love we express. How we act and view life is determined by the transparency of the heart to divine wholeness. A heart transparent to the ultimate reality will manifest compassion, generosity, and gratitude, since these are attributes of divine, unselfish identification with others. A heart opaque to the ultimate reality will be characterized by self-centered concern with the illusions of physical reality. An opaque heart will manifest in judgment, fear, selfishness, and delusion. An open heart results in generosity and gratitude. A closed heart breeds distrust and pettiness. A transparent heart is spiritual. An opaque heart is material.

Purpose-

A person of spiritual character, that is, an open heart, acts to attain the knowledge of wisdom, truth, love, and God. There is no other purpose higher or more important.

 

Website Builder