Master of Spiritual Awareness ...............$60

Sample - ULC-SEMINARY by Rev. Elizabeth King

Hello,

Welcome to week three of Insights Into Awareness. This is a sample of the Insights nto Awareness Course. To order this course, click INSIGHTS. Every week you will receive an email in your box that has wonderful information for you to study. Please read each discourse at least 3 times, as three is the magic number. Do you assignments carefully and diligently and at the end of this course, you will receive a masters degree. If you don't receive a mailing every week, please email amy@ulcseminary.org so she can check it and re-mail them as necessary.

 

Spiritual Awareness www.ulcseminary.org

Universal Life Church Seminary ********** Lesson 3 -- The Universe as Energy

The Third Insight tells us how to develop a new view of life. It defines the physical universe as one of pure energy, an energy that somehow responds to how we think. It tells us that sometime near the end of the second millennium humans will discover a new energy, which radiates outwards from all things (including ourselves), forming the basis for all life.

Human perception of this energy first begins with a heightened sensitivity to beauty. The perception of beauty acts as a barometer telling each of us how close we are to actually perceiving the energy. This becomes instinctually clear because once you observe this energy, you realize it's on the same continuum as beauty.

You ± Insights = Wisdom

The Third Insight informs us that everything in the universe is composed of Energy, and this Energy creates all the forms and substances of what we call our reality. A large ocean of eternal Vibration, this energy coalesces into the myriad forms of existence, whether it be a rock, flower, computer, wave, grassy meadow, or you. Existence is made of the same basic Substance and it is always in action--ever birthing, unfolding, transforming, and shifting.

If you are not well acquainted with the events that have molded the world over the last one thousand years, take some time to study and familiarize yourself with this time period, keeping in mind that what you are looking for are the reactions, hopes, fears, and needs of the people rather than the dates, and facts of governments, Church, or institutions.

 

Stepping Back in Time

Once you have gathered enough information, take the time to step aside from your everyday activities and take a time-capsule journey backward in time to view the events of this last millennium in the flesh, so to speak, experiencing in your imagination what life was like as the years roll by. Become a living, breathing part of history, making it truly your own.

 

These stories are not just about people long turned to dust; they are about who you are, and what your world is like today. They are the roots and you are the limbs of the Tree of Life. As a tree draws sustenance and life from the Earth through its roots, so does the present culture draw from the living roots of its past. Think on it.

 

The Third Insight describes a new understanding of the physical world. It says that we humans will learn to perceive what was formerly an invisible energy. This means we have to gain an understanding of the history of science. Recall, for a moment, the information revealed in the Second Insight. After the fall of the medieval world view, we in the west suddenly became aware that we lived in a totally unknown universe. In attempting to understand the nature of this universe we knew we had to somehow separate fact from superstition.

 

In this regard, scientists assumed a particular attitude known as scientific skepticism, which in effect demands solid evidence for any new assertion about how the world works. Before we would believe anything, we wanted evidence that could be seen and grabbed with the hands. Any idea that could not be proved in some physical way was systematically rejected. (The evolution of this sort of thinking is studied in more depth in the Master of Spiritualism course.)

 

This attitude served us well with the more obvious phenomena in nature, with objects such as rocks and bodies and trees -- objects everyone can perceive no matter how skeptical they are. We quickly went out and named every part of the physical world in the attempt to discover why the universe operated as it did. We finally concluded that everything that occurs in nature does so according to some natural law, that each event has a direct physical and understandable cause.

 

In many ways those early scientists were not that different from those in our own time period. They decided, along with everyone else, to master their environment. Scientists today are still doing this. The idea was to create an understanding of the universe that made the world seem safe and manageable, and the skeptical attitude kept us focused on concrete problems that would make our existence seem more secure.

 

With this attitude, science systematically removed the uncertain and the esoteric from the world. We concluded, following the thinking of Isaac Newton, that the universe always operated in a predictable manner, like an enormous machine, because for a long time that's all it could be proved to be. Events which happened simultaneously to other events, yet had no causal relationship, were said to occur only by chance. The old Newtonian idea is that everything happens by chance, that one can make good decisions and be prepared, but that every event has its own line of causation independent of our attitude.

 

Then, two investigations occurred which opened our eyes again to the mystery in the universe. Now, after recent discoveries in modern physics, we may legitimately ask if the universe is more dynamic than that perceived by Newtonian scientists. Perhaps the universe runs mechanistically as a basic operation, but then also subtly responds to the mental energy we project out into it.

Much has been written over the past several decades about the revolution in physics, but the changes really stem from two major findings: those of quantum mechanics and those of Albert Einstein. The whole of Einstein's life's work was to show that what we perceive as hard matter is mostly empty space with a pattern of energy running through it. This includes us. And what quantum physics has shown is that when we look at these patterns of energy at smaller and smaller levels, startling results can be seen.

 

Experiments have revealed that when you break apart small aspects of this energy, what we call elementary particles, and try to observe how they operate, the act of observation itself alters the results--as if these elementary particles are influenced by what the experimenter expects. This is true even if the particles must appear in places they couldn't possibly go, given the laws of the universe as we know them: two places at the same moment, forward or backward in time.

 

The Basic Core of the Universe   is Pure Energy In other words, the basic stuff of the universe, at its core, is looking like a kind of pure energy that is malleable to human intention and expectation in a way that defies our old mechanistic model of the universe; as though our expectation itself causes our energy to flow out into the world and affect other energy systems. The Third Insight reveals that all things are literally one and therefore interconnected. Because all energy is interconnected, it is malleable to human consciousness through the action of intention. Incredibly, it responds to our expectations of it. Our radiating thoughts and feelings cause our energy to flow out into the world and thus affect other energy systems. This, of course, is exactly what the Third Insight would lead us to believe. While the things we perceive as beautiful may be different for each of us, the actual characteristics we ascribe to beautiful objects are similar. As you think about this, we will begin to see that when something strikes us as beautiful, it displays more presence and sharpness of shape and vividness of color. It stands out. It shines. It almost seems iridescent compared to the dullness of other less attractive objects. Colors and shapes seem magnified. The third Insight encourages us to own the reality of this universal energy by observing it in nature and within people. In the beginning, the easiest, gentlest way to get closer to seeing this energy is to cultivate our appreciation of beauty. When we become aware of the unique and beautiful qualities of nature or a person, we have, in effect, raised our vibration on the continuum of consciousness.   Increasing Your Appreciation of Beauty A quiet mind is the best place for you to begin your Journey towards Awareness of the beauty with which we are surrounded in our environment. If you are eager to begin applying the idea of Awareness through insight, you might want to ask yourself this question: “How can I improve my contact with natural beauty?” Over time the heart awakens, and in order for your own insights to grow into wisdom, they need fertile ground in which to sink deep roots, and time to grow and deepen. Here are some exercises you can do to help you begin to awaken your insight into beauty. If possible, take a day and spend it visiting a park, a wood, a church or temple, especially if you can find one that is empty and quiet. Explore how you feel as you are visiting your chosen place. Look about yourself, and try to sense Connection and a sense of belonging. For one 24 hour period, take a leisurely walk down a street that has particularly beautiful yards filled with gardens of flowers, bushes, etc. Continue the quiet mood you have from your walk into the evening by not turning on the TV. What did that energy feel like? How did you feel the next day? Contrast the energy of this day to the energy you feel when you are at the supermarket or the bank, or at the gas station. Make a point to connect with something beautiful and peaceful in nature every day. Write in your journal about these experiences and how they made you feel. What feels better to you? How can you work these experiences into your everyday life so they become a part of who you are as you work towards connecting to Spirit. Attention to beauty includes not merely the "beauty" we can see, but the wonder and uniqueness of each individual person or object as being the supreme manifestation of Divine Beauty. After putting ourselves into resonance with the beauty of an object or person, the next level of perception will be to see the energy in that which we find beautiful hovering about everything surrounding us. This awareness of universal energy is the foundation for ultimately engaging its flow and becoming a co-creator with it. Once we know that we are part of a living system of heretofore invisible energy, a core belief will have shifted and we will then exist at a higher vibration. The old skeptical attitude was germane when exploring the more visible and obvious phenomena in the universe, such as trees or sunshine or thunderstorms, but there is another group of observable phenomena, more subtle, that can't be studied--in fact, you can't even tell they're there at all--unless you suspend or bracket your skepticism and try every way possible to perceive them as the really are--living organisms surrounded by and filled with energy. Once you are proficient, you can then return to studying it all out. And remember:   You are a being of Energy   You are a Child of the Universe You are a Child of God You are a Child of Light  You are a Child of Love You are Love You are God Have a wonderful week, and Walk in Light. Until next week, Blessing be with you in all you endeavor to do. Thank you for joining us this week. See you next week! If you have any questions or comments about this course, please post it in the ULC forum. You are encouraged to post your lessons on the forum or send them to amy@ulcseminary.org and she will post them for you. The goal is to begin some meaningful dialogue with other ministers and to learn from the different exchanges. DR. OF CHRISTIAN STUDIES: THE FOUR GOSPELS: (5 credits) >>> CLICK TO ORDER A course on the four gospels. When you sign up for this course, you will receive a text in the mail and e-mails over the course of 4 months that will help you to learn about these four books of the bible. While this is obviously a course of interest to Christians, it is also of interest to those who wish to look at the words and deeds of Jesus in a more spiritual sense, rather than in a religious sense. 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