September 25, 2010   Center for Spiritual Living , Center for Spiritual Living Santa Rosa , Ernest Holmes , Inspiration , Peace , Prosperous Life Journal , Social Awareness , Spirituality

A World that Works for Everyone

By Karen Linsley (used with permission) The world is full of economic gloom and doom these days.  Everywhere I turn I see news reports ...

By Karen Linsley
(used with permission)

The world is full of economic gloom and doom these days.  Everywhere I turn I see news reports of job loss and home foreclosures.  Even on Facebook some of my friends are lamenting the state of the economy.  I myself succumbed to that level of fear for a while, making myself sick in the process.  Indeed, I found a newspaper article that chronicled the stories of many whom, having lost their homes, then found themselves in a state of poor health because of the stress brought on by the financial losses.

The desire to place blame is great and probably natural, as is the need to place responsibility upon the bankers and the government to get us out of this perceived mess.

But I belong to an organization which says that it does not have to be that way.  My organization, the Centers for Spiritual Living, says that we can effect change in our lives from within.  It says that we do not have to

allow outside “stuff” to effect us this way.  It says that we can live better lives and feel better, no matter what is happening in the outside world, and not only that, but we can effect change ourselves.  As the Dalai Lama says, we can “be the change we wish to see in the world.”

How does one get from a state of financial woe to a state of feeling wealthy?  As in all things, it is an inside job.  We believe that our outside world, the place where things exist, is a direct manifestation of what goes on inside of us, and that it is inside where we can effect change.  And that when we effect change within, our outside world begins to change.

We have a Global Heart Vision (*) which states, among other things, that “We see a world in which fellowship with all life prospers and connects through the guidance of spiritual wisdom and experience.”

The spiritual guidance and wisdom I find in the Centers for Spiritual Living has provided me with tools for living that work in the long haul.  Even though I temporarily succumbed to the thinking of the general populace, I was able to come back to a place of comfort and ease, that place where I knew that wealth does not come from how much money I have, but instead from how I feel about it.  And that as my attitude improves, so does my financial situation.  It is possible to experience that fellowship, prosperity and connection that the Global Heart Vision speaks about.

Our Global Heart Vision also states that “We see a world in which there is generous and continuous sharing of heart and resources.”   We have what are called Spiritual Laws in our organization.  One of them is called the Law of Circulation.  We also have a book called the Science of Mind (written in 1926 by the founder of our organization,  Ernest Holmes) in which this law is described:  “When a man’s thought rest entirely upon himself, he becomes abnormal and unhappy; but when he gives himself with enthusiasm to any legitimate purpose, losing himself in the thing which he is doing he becomes normal and happy…..Let the one who is sad, depressed, or unhappy find some altruistic purpose into which he may pour his whole being and he will find a new inflow of life of which he has never dreamed.”

Even if one does not have much money, one can contribute of their time or talent, and such a contribution serves to activate the Law of Circulation.  If you are unemployed, you have some time to donate.  When was the last time you gave of your time to a charity, a hospital, a church or your local Center?  Generous and continuous sharing of your heart and resources means you have more to share than money.  Give of your time and talent and you will be going far towards changing not only your own circumstances but those of others around you.  You will be doing your part to be the change you wish to see in the world.

Each person is part of a great whole, we are all unified, and if more and more of us turn towards the Light, there will be more Light spread.  If each of us turns our thoughts towards the good in our lives instead of dwelling on the negative, we will experience more of the good, and a groundswell of good will emerge.

We believe that every human being has the right to be prosperous.  And that while prosperity may not always come in terms of financially prosperity, it always comes, if we know that there is no limitation in Spirit.

 “It is right that we should be successful, for otherwise the Spirit is not expressed.”   This is another quote from the Science of Mind, and similar sentiments are expressed in every spiritual and religious book ever written. 

There is a phenomenon in our movement known as Group Mind or Race Thought. It does not refer to a particular race, but to the human race as a whole, and what the majority of the population is thinking and believing.  As members of the Centers for Spiritual Living, we are told that we do not have to buy into the Group Mind.  If we do, we are simply allowing ourselves to be swept along on the tide of what humanity is thinking, like gremlins following gremlins off a cliff.  The Group Mind right now says that we are in a recession.  We might very well be, but  I believe we have a responsibility to ourselves first and to the rest of humanity second, to not buy into the Group Mind.  We should turn our thoughts away from lack and limitation and towards what we do have that we can be grateful for.  We should always turn our attentions and our thoughts to the positive and away from the negative.

Part of the spiritual wisdom referred to in the Global Heart Vision means changing our thinking.  In doing so we change our lives.  Again, it is up to each one of us as an individual to change our thinking.  Because we are one of a great whole, we will be doing our part to change our lives.

Spiritual wisdom means there is no separation: no separation between human beings, and no separation between human beings and God.  We believe in Oneness.  We are one with Spirit.  There is no lack in Spirit, no limitation in Spirit, so there can be none in ourselves.  That is the wisdom that we all strive for.

As the Global Heart Vision states:  “We see a world free of homelessness, violence, war, hunger, separation and disenfranchisement.”

I see this world now!  Can you?

                                                                               

*(http://www.unitedcentersforspiritualliving.org/Philosophy/phil_global_heart.php)