Category: Growth

Shadow Work Creates Growth

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The title page of the May issue of Science of Mind Magazine reads:

Light Within the Shadows — Embrace All Aspects of Your Sacred Being The Shadow: Healing Through Revealing

My favorite article is titled “Nobody Said Spiritual Growth is Easy” by Kelly Robbins. Our speakers in May have addressed the ‘shadow.’ Patrick Harbula said that embracing our humanness is part of the story of Oneness and reminded us that what we resist magnifies. Dr. Karmen Smith referenced David Hawkins’ Map of Consciousness Levels in her talk and stated that trauma from childhood must be dealt with; otherwise, we may stay stuck in lower frequencies, staying in victimization. The Map is a scale where the lowest level is 20 – Shame and the highest 700 – 1000 which is Enlightenment. At 200 is Courage where we reach a level of empowerment and shift from destructive energy to creative energy. Dr. Benjamin Hardy reports that the average person only grows about 5 points over their lifetime on this scale. He further states that all progress starts with telling the truth.

As the ancient sages all confirm, everything softens in time. If we want to soften while still alive, we have to bring our hurt places into the light. Mark Nepo

Jung first gave us the term “shadow’ to refer to those parts of our personality that have been rejected out of fear, ignorance, shame, or lack of love. He believed that integrating the shadow would have a profound impact, enabling us to rediscover a deeper source of our own spiritual life.

I am intrigued by this topic because I have encountered parts of my shadow at various times with the result being uncomfortable at best and embarrassing/humiliating at worst. I have found that at times I have ‘overreacted’ to situations and conversations. I wasn’t responding to current circumstances; previous hurt had been triggered, my mask of protection was pierced, and unhealed trauma came to the surface. Have you heard the phrase ‘if it’s hysterical, it’s historical’? It is clear that our hurts arise to be dealt with and healed if we have the courage.

Another area where our ‘shadow’ is displayed is in our critical judgment of others. We deny in ourselves what we react to in others. The truth is there is nothing we can see or perceive that we ourselves are not. Dr. Karmen talked about this projection also.

Shadow work is complex and uncomfortable but worthwhile. I found The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford to be enormously helpful.

–Linda Bullock

GOT INNER WORK

They say that everything you ever learned, you learned in kindergarten. If this is true, my memory brings me back to my first feelings of fear. It was 1967-68 and I was in kindergarten.

It was music time and my classmates and I were sitting in a row as the teacher was at her piano. She picked 10 of us and assigned us our number. I was number 3. We were lined up facing the other kids that weren’t picked. We were going to sing 10 little Indians. Each kid sings the number they are, as she accompanied on the piano. I don’t remember why, but I didn’t want to sing so I didn’t.

The first kid sang 1 little Indian; the next kid sang 2 little Indians; she continued playing but had to abruptly stop. In her stern voice as she glared over at me, “Madeline! You have to sing 3 little Indians.” I stood there and said nothing, but I remember thinking I did not want to sing. “If you don’t sing, you are going to have to stand out in the hall! Ok class let’s start this again.” She resumed playing and 1 & 2 sang but I kept my mouth shut.

The music stopped and she escorted me out to the hall! As soon as I hit the hall and she went back in the classroom, it occurred to me that Andrew, my brother may walk by and see me. Everyone knew if you were standing in the hall you were in trouble! If he saw me, he could tell our mom and dad and I would be in so much trouble (or so I thought). At that very moment fear of being in trouble kept me frozen by myself in my own thoughts. Andrew never saw me.

Jump ahead 55 years and I’m still that same little girl often frozen by fear, with the thought of being in trouble. I’m still doing some of the same actions. If I don’t want to do something, or don’t know what to do, I do nothing. I’m still carrying the fear of getting in trouble from my actions or lack thereof.

What can I do to release this fear?

The thought came to me to do some inner work. What is inner work? Google says, “deliberate and ongoing reflective practice that increases awareness of self, others, and the systems in which complex social problems arise. At its core, inner work is the process of getting to know yourself. It’s a form of introspective self-care where you can help yourself let go of harmful attachments, habits, people, and thoughts.”

Oh yeah, I need to do some inner work. I’ll start with prayer as written by Ernest Holmes:

LOVE DISSOLVES ALL FEAR
Greater than fear is Love.
Love dissolves all fear, casts out all doubt and sets the captive free.
Love, like the River of Life, flows through me and refreshes me with its eternal blessings.
Love cannot be afraid; it is fearless and strong, and is mighty in its works.
It can accomplish all things through the Inner Light of that faith in all Good,
Which fills my very Being with a Powerful Presence.
Love casts out all fear.

–Madeline Pallanes

Prayer Partners and Practitioners

I meet with two prayer partners and have a session with a Spiritual Practitioner once a month. Each relationship is unique and vital to my being. With one of my prayer partners we talk about spiritual principles, and our humanness. I shared an experience that activated my inner two-year-old and I didn’t want to play anymore. I could feel it and see it as it was happening. And learning to recognize limitations, I know that I am at choice with my feelings and behavior and don’t have to stay stuck, or in bondage, as Ernest Holmes would say.  As I talked about my humanness, I saw the humor, and both of us start laughing. In the lightness of laughter, I saw that the comment someone made, was simply data about something I didn’t do. At first, I took it as a criticism. Then I realized that my behavior (the data), was not the truth of who I am, and I can change my behavior to live my truth. It gave me a totally different way to look at those words that seem critical. It is merely an opportunity to get back to my Truth. It is God nudging me to choose a course correction.

In practitioner training we would get a new pray partner every 10 weeks. My first prayer partner and I decided we would continue meeting with each other. from class. At first we would talk a little and go directly into prayer. Now our conversations are an hour long. It has been wonderful to see our time together expand and see our lives grow and manifest our prayers.

My monthly meetings with a Spiritual Practitioner, anchor me in my practice. It is a time of emptying out and refueling for the next month’s journey.

These meetings with pray partners and practitioner are compass to keep me on course.

–Maria

We Always Succeed

We always succeed.
We need to learn to succeed in the right things.

Ernest Holmes – Art of Life – page 148

Without realizing it we too often negate what we affirm.

Ernest Holmes – A New Design for Living – page 144.3

One of the main reasons people don’t reach for their goals is that they believe there is something about themselves that will prevent them from getting whatever it is they really want in their deepest heart of hearts.

Edwene Gaines – The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity. page 69

One benefit from spending 6 years exploring New Thought at CSLT is discovering the incredible number of tools and practical methods of bringing more of what I want into my Life. Basic to all of them is the need to be clear on what I want and to be consistent – in a good way.

Consistency is all important. Consistent negative thought gets us into most of our trouble; consistent positive thought is the only thing that can get us out.

Ernest Holmes, A New Design – page 146.1

Mental equivalents were one of the first things I heard about during Rev. Janis’ classes on Wednesday evenings. Those classes were the teasers that intrigued me to read more and to begin attending Service. And Mental Equivalents were intriguing, yet somehow they felt just out of my reach.

Now creating a Mental Equivalent of my highest dreams is an ongoing effort. Getting past the limits others or more frequently that I create for myself is my daily job. Journaling daily is one of my primary tools. First, I define what I want, then all those internal voices tell me why I can’t or shouldn’t or that it’s beyond my reach.

And immediately I know what & how not to think.

It’s then I reach for Holmes A New Design for Living, or Edwene Gaines Four Spiritual Laws and let them fall open to any page and I re-read and I re-learn and practice once again – Affirmative Prayer as an active answer to all the doubting voices in my head.

It’s pretty amazing when I get it right and remember the unlimited Good already available to me and to all.

–In Peace, Mariann

Crayons

I have always loved to color. One of my fondest memories as a child is coloring with my Aunt Ellie who taught me how to shade and outline with crayons, turning the simple drawings in my coloring books into works of art. I also have memories of drawings in school and being graded, having my art judged as good, or do better, or that’s not good at all. This taught me that I’m not an artist (my drawings were never really very good) and to keep my work to myself. This extended into writing and public speaking – I was afraid to share anything that might reveal me as not good enough. I took refuge in math, where the answer is either correct or not. There are logical steps to solving problems. I became really good at that and thought I had made peace with not being “artistic.”

Creativity runs through each of us and can never be completely silenced. In my twenties I would draw mandalas that I would color as a way of relaxing. I continue to color as a form of meditation. I have a dozen coloring books that range from simple children’s coloring books to complex “adult” mandalas. I have colored pencils, pens, and of course, crayons.

Over the course of my 20+ years with the Berkeley Physic Institute (BPI), I slowly began reclaiming my creativity. An integral part of every class is coloring with crayons. There were big bowls of crayons, and it was always such a joy when a box of sharp, new crayons was added to the mix. I got over my fear of my work not being “good enough” and embraced the stick people and scribbled roses I drew in class. Set in the vibration of spiritual kindergarten, the point of coloring was self-discovery and not to produce a work of art worthy of hanging on the wall, or even a refrigerator.

Recently crayons have been my medium of choice as I began doing nondominant hand (NDH) work. In her book, Living with Feeling, The Art of Emotional Expression, Lucia Capacchione writes, “writing and drawing with the nondominant hand give you greater access to the right-hemisphere functions: feelings, intuition, gut instinct, inner wisdom, and spirituality.” Writing and drawing with our NDH helps us to access our inner child that remembers the Truth about who we are. I have found her to be feisty and no nonsense.

As I consider my dream of doing Spiritual Coaching for a living, my inner critic, from that familiar place of “not good enough,” tells me I don’t know what I’m doing, I have nothing to offer, and I can’t really help anyone. The first picture below is my NDH’s response – I am the guide and Spirit is the compass, and together we navigate the mountains of our lives. The second picture is my NDH’s response to the Truth that I am an expression of the Infinite – I am both me as Sharon and Me as the I Am.

With crayons I access that little girl coloring with my Aunt, when every picture was a work of art made with love.

–Sharon Whealy, RScP

 

Thoughts about Wholeness

A life of wholeness is a life of health and balance. In the process of healing from our wounds, we begin to harmonize our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual parts. Christina Grof, The Thirst for Wholeness, page 267

As stated in our CSLT Sacred Covenant Easy Prayer, “Because I know that the highest Purpose of my New Minister is to express Spirit, I therefore know that my New Minister is a Revelation of Spirit as: Wholeness.” Eleven of us spent about 14 hours in the Co-Creation process, facilitated by Reverend Doctor Kathy Hearn. Our Sacred Covenant was the end result.

Every word in the Sacred Covenant had to be agreed upon by all eleven of us. Choosing words to express an important concept and getting 11 people to agree on each word presented a predictable challenge. Different people can have varying reactions to the same word. Semantics in the context of communication refers to the meaning of words. It is how we personally interpret a word. The word Minister can have both positive and negative connotations depending upon one’s experiences or culture. Reverend Dr. Hearn led us in processes where full agreement was eventually achieved and any subtle shades of meaning were resolved.

We concluded that Wholeness assumes balance in several God qualities and more fully expressed what we seek in our New Minister. Reverend Dr. Hearn described wholeness as “nothing broken, nothing missing.”

Joseph Campbell described a society of individuals who lack wholeness as “where men who are fractions imagine themselves to be complete.” Other comments about wholeness include the following:

You don’t need another person, place or thing to make you whole. God already did that. Your job is to know it. Maya Angelou

The wholeness and freedom we seek is our true nature, who we really are. Jack Kornfield

Whole people see and create wholeness wherever they go; split people see and create splits in everything and everybody. Richard Rohr

A true desire is not to have but to be. We are whole creatures in potential, and the true purpose of desire is to unfold that wholeness, to become what we can be. Eric Butterworth

Perhaps the most “spiritual” thing any of us can do is simply to look through our own eyes, see with eyes of wholeness, and act with integrity and kindness. Jon Kabat-Zinn

I’m glad that the Divine led us to select the quality of Wholeness as our New Minister’s expression of Spirit. The desires, intentions, commitment, and faith of our community, as expressed in our Sacred Covenant Easy Prayer and read at the end of every service will manifest CSLT’s perfect New Minister. And so it is.

–Linda Bullock

GOT CHANGE

I’m sure you know, some things change and some things never change. But did you know there are different kinds of change? This is something I hadn’t really thought much about. Reversible change—melting of ice. Irreversible change—burning of paper. Desirable change—ripening of fruits. Undesirable change—rusting of iron. Natural change—changing of seasons. Slow change—growth of a plant. Fast change—occurrence of lightning during a thunderstorm. You get the idea. It’s all change. We all experience change.

As we all know, our beloved community is in the process of calling forth a new minister to serve us. Now that’s some change!

What hasn’t changed is the spiritual way CSLT offers solutions to life’s challenges. We offer principles and practices that aid in spiritual exploration and discoveries. Some of these practices include meditation, classes and affirmative prayer practiced by a community eager to learn and to live a life more abundant in all ways.

Our community amongst each other, and our individual relationships with each other, I have found to be such a blessing in my life. Our morning meditation group has evolved into such an important part of my daily life. It’s a practice that has grown to be immeasurable. I am sure others feel as I do, and it is open to all who want to join us.

Our classes and book studies expand upon our teachings, principles and practices. Most of the time I get my homework or readings done before class, but even when I don’t, I still show up and get so much out of the classroom discussion. The most recent Ernest Holmes book study, “A New Design for Living” may be one of my favorites now. From page 131 we pulled some affirmations and I’m saying them multiple times per day and am receiving positive results!

• Something new and wonderful comes into my experience today.
• Today I bless everything I touch and am prospered in everything I do.
• Today nothing but good goes forth from me, therefore nothing else can possibly return.
• Today, this day, I am happy and whole.

We all change. Everything changes, yet everything stays the same.
I’m so happy and grateful to be a part of this loving community. That never changes.

–Madeline

Our Co-Creation

When we use our creative imagination in strong faith, it will create for us, out of the One Substance, whatever we have formed in thought. In this way we become Co-Creators with God.
–Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind 157.2

It is the day before CSLT’s Co-Creation process begins with Dr Rev Kathy Hearn that will take place Thursday to Sunday. On Thursday everyone is invited to be a part of the process either by coming to the office or on Zoom. Please contact Mariann if you would like to attend, as there are handouts you will need. On Friday evening and Saturday, the Covenant Creation Team will create our New Minister “Sacred Covenant” which will establish the consciousness that welcomes our New Senior Minister. On Sunday Dr. Rev Kathy will be our speaker and we will read the “Sacred Covenant” together.

I still have a lot to learn about Co-Creation and looking forward to going through the process for calling our next minister, and seeing what aspects I can apply to my life. So far, I have learned that “Co-Creation is the state of consciousness that unfolds through the process of healing. It is the state of consciousness that arises when we come into agreement with others. When we come into the consciousness of consensus.” (Rev. Lloyd Strom, the Principles of Co-Creation)

And the sense I get of “healing” is learning about two relationships: My relationship with the Divine and my relationship with others and working through what separates me from others, so we move forward in writing the “Sacred Covenant” as One Mind.

The goal of Co-Creation is not to recreate, but create something new which is beyond my current knowledge. I look forward to a new CSLT that is Divinely created.

When a group of people come together with one accord and with one thought, a greater Power is generated. Not because the Creative Principle responds to a number of people more than It does to one, but because the combined faith of a group reaches a higher level of acceptance. Therefore, group spiritual practice should be definitely performed with the purpose in mind of arriving at a deeper conviction.

                        –Ernest Holmes, from handout on Group Spiritual Practice

–Maria

We Learn and We Grow

Our Interpretation of the world changes as new information is verified and added to the knowledge base. The list of changes is monumental because the experience of life is always changing.

We are explorers, innovators, inquisitors, and we adapt as we go. Because of all the advancements it is not advantageous for us to cling to outmoded concepts, rituals, and practices.

Like it or not, believe it or not, accept it or not we are bound to follow certain aspects of the universe. We may change our relationship with them. For example, cataclysmic events are not the result of an angry Deity. Or electricity in the form of lightning is not supernatural. Sure, it took us a while but today we have a better handle on these things than we did. Our application of electrical principles is expanding into other aspects of matter and energy.

Clinging to past logic loops and justifying them in any fashion will not allow for spiritual growth or expansion of our database. As they say in the computer programming world “Garbage In Garbage Out”.

I want to include in my present experience an element of zeal, which to me is kind of a mix of eagerness and energy. Particularly because our teaching releases me to experience unencumbered freedom like I never knew before. Now that I have Science of Mind, I want to step into the authentic version of me and feel the awesomeness of life.

Today is a great day. We are on a continually advancing adventure. Expanding into life learning and growing every moment. Our CSL is becoming and expanding. I am looking forward to the changes with excitement and anticipation.

–In shared growth, Chris

Me to We and Back Again

“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” — African Proverb

I’ve realized in these past few weeks that I’m quickly running out of time to ‘speak about’ one of the ideas that I’ve wanted to share with you all for most of a decade. I still haven’t figured out how to do it, but here goes. It’s an idea that originates from the world of psychology, and business, and totally belongs in a conversation of spiritual evolution for individuals and communities.

You remember in the Four Kingdoms of Consciousness that Dr Michael Beckwith made popular, there are different levels of consciousness – Level one, Victim (Stuff happens to me); Level 2, Victorious (Stuff happens by my thoughts, choices, decisions & actions); Level 3, Conduit (Stuff happens through me); and Level 4, Mastery/As One In God (Stuff happens as me). If you don’t remember this model, look up Beckwith on YouTube. This model is worth a refresher if you don’t remember it.

One piece of this model that is easy to forget is that every single one of us moves between the different levels multiple times a day, depending on the state of our awareness, and our momentary physical, mental/psychological, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Most individuals will have a level that serves as their home base – most individuals who have been around New Thought for a while and have embodied the principles tend to have their home base at Level 2 or higher. (I know of no human who walks on the earth at this time who lives primarily in Level 4. The best most of us can do is visit there, now and then.)

Another piece of this model that’s easy to forget is that it’s somewhat of a linear process – that is, you can’t skip over a step. Even if you don’t want to be materialistic, you still have to have the experience and awareness of being able to manifest your desires (level 2) before you can move into levels 3 and 4.

This other model that I want to introduce is called Spiral Dynamics. The article, “The Never-Ending Upward Quest” by Jessica Roemischer, gives a more in-depth introduction to the Spiral Dynamics model. The model’s basic premise is that individuals and groups automatically move up and (for short periods) down the spiral of social development. No level is bad or wrong.

Each level is appropriate to the social conditions that the person or group experiences, and what shifts each individual and group up or down the levels is their reaction to, or resistance to, change. (…more on that in a minute) Each level (stage) builds on the previous level, and you can’t skip a level because you don’t like it. Each one of us moves through different levels in different parts of our lives and in different situations, depending on our state of awareness, our reaction to changing conditions, and our momentary physical, mental/psychological, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

The basic level, at the bottom of the spiral, is simple survival. The next level is ‘Paternalism’ aka tribalism, where there is an in-group that matters, and everyone else who doesn’t. This is the first level of group, or ‘we consciousness’. The next level
that naturally arises from the tribal consciousness is that of the Tribal Leader. Someone has to make the decisions, after all! (Think about George Orwell’s 1984, “All pigs are equal, but some pigs are more equal than others.”)

The leader is not necessarily benevolent, but their presence and leadership does provide stability and structure that usually allows the larger group to flourish.

The next stage of social evolution is the ‘Rules-and-Regulations’ group or the Order-based group. An example of this group would be an organization, like the US Military or the Catholic Church. As long as an individual aligns with the rules of the group, then all is well. If not, and the organization can control or suppress the outlying individual, they will.

Sometimes, an individual will learn to work the ‘system of order’ to maximize their own benefit. This gives rise to the next stage of development, which on the spiral is shown as ‘Profit’. Richard Branson/Virgin Airlines and Elon Musk with his many ventures are examples of this stage of social evolution. When there is a reaction to individuals such as Branson or Musk, it can arise from within the ‘Rules & Regulations’ folks, or it can arise from the next stage of the model, which is shown on the spiral as ‘People’.

In this group — People — everyone’s voice matters, and it’s really hard to get anything done because no one wants to be the one in charge. This stage of social evolution looks a lot like the earlier Tribal model, except the tribe is massive.

Most modern ‘First World’ individuals live somewhere on the spiral between the Order-based group and the People-focused group. The individuals we think of as successful are often operating primarily from the individually-focused Profit-focused group. In general, ‘First World’ individuals and groups have moved past the level of social evolution associated with simple survival – though in situations of massive destruction like major fires, earthquakes or hurricanes, you will find people desperate enough to choose to serve their own survival needs, or their immediate family needs, over the community needs.

There are still more stages of the spiral beyond the People-focused stage. In the Spiral Dynamics model, the upward shift to the next level after ‘People’ is challenging, because not only is everyone’s contribution valued, but all the people at all the levels are seen as already providing value to the whole.

And so it goes, ad infinitum.

Next, I want to take a quick peek at this ‘Change Model’. The key idea is that we humans generally prefer to live in the ‘alpha’ state of stability and peace. But when stuff happens in our lives that pulls us off balance (the ‘beta’ state in the diagram), we have choices we can make. We can adapt/flex with that change, work with Reality as it is, or we can fight with it and stay in an upset or tension state.

 

In Science of Mind terminology, this is simply an expression of working beneficially with the Law of Cause and Effect. We can recognize when we are in resistance (arguing with Life). We can ignore Reality and stay miserable; or we can redirect our focus and attention and realign with Life, and return to ‘alpha’.

We always have the option of staying miserable. It’s a choice, and people do make that choice. Sometimes folks don’t know that they have another option, because they’ve accepted the cultural conditioning that says they are powerless. Until they choose to take responsibility for their life experiences rather than thinking they are victims, they are stuck. Their stuckness is evidence of living in First Kingdom mentality from Michael Beckwith’s Four Kingdoms of Consciousness model. Lots of people choose to believe they are powerless and stay stuck in that powerlessness.

While the Four Kingdoms model is entirely focused on the growth and maturation of the individual, the Spiral Dynamics model recognizes that we (humans) automatically can and will switch between the levels/stages and adjust our focus between individual’s success and the success of our group. Dr David Hawkins (author of Power Versus Force) said that historically change like this happened only very slowly through the generations. He also noted that the rate of change/evolution has increased in recent decades. This is good news.

If you want to learn more about the Spiral Dynamics model, there are several books, articles, and YouTube videos that discuss it. If you read the online publication Medium, check out the writings of Jon Freeman on the topic. For our newsletter, I’ve added an article, “The Never-Ending Upward Quest” by Jessica Roemischer from the journal What Is Enlightenment?, first published fall/winter 2002.

Dr Jim Lockhard has written Creating The Beloved Community introducing these ideas in the context of spiritual community and Being The Beloved Community which is about how spiritual communities can choose to deal constructively with change. Unfortunately, you can’t understand the second book without reading and digesting the first book. The classic textbook by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan, Spiral Dynamics, Mastering Values, Leadership and Change, can give you additional background on the topic.

I know I’ve thrown a lot of information at you in these almost 1500 words. I think it is important to introduce you to this highly valuable, testable model that helps us recognize who/where we are individually and as a group. The good news — this progression to higher order thinking and awareness happens whether we know about it or not. But knowing about it, we can choose to direct our attention and focus toward greater consciousness. We always have choice in the speed, and ease, of our individual and collective transformation. Happy spiraling!

The link to “The Never-Ending Upward Quest” by Jessica Roemischer from the journal What Is Enlightenment?, first published fall/winter 2002.

Rev. Dr. Jim Lockard Creating The Beloved Community

The classic textbook by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan, Spiral Dynamics, Mastering Values, Leadership and Change is available from various sources online.

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