In his final Easter Message, our founder Dr. Ernest Holmes talked about the great hope and expectation we have that we shall continue to live in whatever form is appropriate to the next phase of our existence.
He believed that whatever it is that makes us alive, awake, and aware in this life shall continue beyond the grave. He taught us that our consciousness is a permanent part of our being. Some call that the soul.
Although Dr. Holmes had confidence that we shall continue as part of eternity, he encouraged us to live the best life we can live today. He encouraged us not to let our focus on the future life rob us of the experience of living today, in this world, in this body, in whatever experience we are going through.
That is something powerful to ask ourselves while we are sheltered-in-place.
How can I express what lives in me, in this situation, and the next? What newness wants to come alive in me, in us, in our families, in our nations, and on our planet?
At the pandemic's beginning, I interviewed world spiritual teachers and leaders, asking them about their faith's response to the pandemic. There is a theme that runs through their responses – maybe you can identify. It is this: Now is the time for us to practice what we have been learning, to stay close to our faith, and to do whatever we can to renew our sense of who we are, to restore our conviction in what we know in our hearts.
This is also a time for us to respect the losses, suffering, and sacrifices of so many. While some of us are ok, it is essential not to forget or minimize the pain and suffering present in this evolutionary moment.
How we navigate through a crisis is the real test of what we believe. One of us is faith-filled, while another is anxious and afraid. And it is reasonable to expect that one of us will be confident at any given moment, while another is unsure. It is part of our tradition to welcome and embrace every experience into the whole, to make every response and coping mechanism ok, because there is not, and cannot ever be, only one way to respond to and embrace life.
Now, should we get lost in the storm of this world-shaping event, our values can guide us home. And among our values is Love, of the divine kind. Love that knows no boundaries. Love that cannot die. Love that only says yes. Love that expresses itself through us in this world and the next. So, don't wait till later. Follow the compass of that value.
When Jesus said to his students, by this shall all people know you are my disciples, that ye love one another, he announced a standard for all and any faith traditions, and for you and me. It's this. How we show up in the world is our message, it is our testament, demonstration, and legacy. Not just in the good times, but in the rough times too. How we love one another.
During the aftermath of September 11 in New York, Swami Satchidananda students gathered and asked what they could do. I talked to Swami Ramananda of the Integral Yoga Institute and asked him what his teacher, Sri Swami Satchidananda's message, would be for us in these times. His answer was this. And apart from the instruction to help as we can, he said, know this, that our finite human minds cannot understand or take in the impact and reach of our prayer or loving intention. So don't forget to do that too, even though you and I may not be able to conceive of or understand the reach of our practice – do it.
In other words, don't wait for things to get better before you share with the world the peace and beauty that lives in you. Don't wait for love in some future time; don't hope for freedom later; don't wish for peace to come, but instead, let the qualities of love, freedom, and peace come alive in you right now. Someone very near to you--maybe you--is counting on that. When we turn to these qualities and accept them in our consciousness as the truth of who we are, that's when they come back to life in this world through us.
In your spiritual mind treatment work (affirmative prayer,) start where you are by remembering that the Divine has never changed, moved, or withdrawn. And next, bring into your treatment your loved ones your neighbors and keep expanding until you embrace the world in a vivid, vibrant vision of a healthy, loving world.
Dr. Edward Viljoen, Spiritual Leader
Centers for Spiritual Living
In your spiritual mind treatment work (affirmative prayer,) start where you are by remembering that the Divine has never changed, moved, or withdrawn. And next, bring into your treatment your loved ones your neighbors and keep expanding until you embrace the world in a vivid, vibrant vision of a healthy, loving world.
Dr. Edward Viljoen, Spiritual Leader
Centers for Spiritual Living
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