Honoring All Paths
/TODAY’S READING:
271.2-275.2
The reading today… these couple pages… I have used for teaching multiple classes. There is so much going on here! I decided to post a picture of myself holding the book today, because I wanted to show the highlights I’ve placed just on these pages… these highlights are statements within the book that I use for class discussion. When I am teaching this part of the book, the class is VERY lively!
We are at the crux of the whole philosophy:
“When Intelligence makes a demand upon Itself, it answers Its own demand out of Its own nature and cannot help doing so! In philosophy, this idea is called Emergent Evolution.”
We are this very intelligence. So whatever we demand of our Absolute selves must be met in the experience of our lives. If we truly get this then we become the next Buddha, the next Jesus, the next Mohammed. This is the goal (if there is one) in Religious Science—to become mystical masters of our lives.
I am grateful for the mention that this works for ALL. Not just some. This “is just as true in India, where people are Buddhists, as it is in America where people are Christians. It was just as true ten thousand years ago, before the advent of Christianity, as it will be ten thousand years hence.” Putting aside the obvious outdated statement of religious limitation (not all Indians are Buddhist, not all Americans are Christian), the sentiment is what is important here. There is no limitation for anyone to experience and use the Science of Mind. It is a great companion to religion, and was never meant to replace anyone’s faith. Religious Science is meant to be a compliment to one’s faith.
One of the practices that I intend to use as part of Tucson New Thought’s weekly gatherings is the honoring of all paths through a ceremony called “Lighting the Flames of Faith.” For each candle we light we recognize that all people, all faiths, are connected as Spirit and all form comes from the One.
We light a candle for the Tao, honoring the universal path of harmony and equilibrium, The Natural Way.
We light a candle for the Shamanic Traditions, honoring the beliefs and practices of all indigenous peoples, the way of Primal Spirituality.
We light a candle for Hinduism, honoring the path of knowledge, action, and devotion.
We light a candle for Judaism, honoring the ethical path of living by sacred Law.
We light a candle for all forms of Buddhism, honoring the Four Noble Truths and the path of compassion.
We light a candle for all forms of Christianity, honoring the Christ Consciousness as the path of love.
We light a candle for all forms of Islam, honoring the path of submission to the will of God as the highest calling.
We light a candle for the universalistic religion of Bahá’í, honoring the path of unity and peace.
We light a candle for all forms of New Thought, honoring the metaphysical path of mental healing through the practice of universal spiritual principles.
We light a candle for all those who are as yet unaware of the power and presence of Spirit in their lives and for the space that we are holding for them and for all religions unnamed in this ceremony. This candle also represents the healing of any circumstance that requires Divinity to be revealed.
And so it is!