Month: February 2020

Sevain Sangha (in honor of Dick Laird and all others like him who practice selfless service)

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First, two definitions:
Seva: Service. Working for the benefit of others.
Sangha: The community of followers and practitioners of the Buddha’s path and teaching. Sometimes used to refer specifically to Buddhist monastic communities. (Source: gaiahouse.co.uk/glossary/)

In writing to the early Christian church at Corinth, apostle Paul (his scribe, or his ghost-writer) wrote about the various gifts of the spirit that different members of their spiritual community embodied. Based on his words to the community at Corinth, I’m guessing he believed that some members of the community wanted to be more special, or that they valued some gifts more than they valued other gifts. He explained to him that everyone has gifts to contribute and no one’s gifts are inherently better than anybody else’s gifts.

I would step further out on a limb and say that I personally value competent plumbers, repair-persons, handy-persons and car mechanics much higher than I value some other individuals who are seen as more important in the world. If I look for the common theme shared by all those who I value, they all serve others or serve one or more groups, or ideals greater, larger, or more expansive than themselves.

True service often resembles altruism, the act of doing ‘good’ or serving another simply because the individual can. Philosophers have a field day with the concept of altruism because they argue that feeling good for ‘doing good’ is the reward and so it is not a selfless act. (Source: bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/does-altruism-exist-science-and-philosophy-weigh-in)

In the Buddhist tradition, one path to enlightenment is the sacred path of service, or seva. The path of the Bodhisattva is the path of the enlightened being who chooses to voluntarily disregard personal benefit and well being to relieve suffering in others. Part of the belief is that in helping and serving others, the individual’s personal suffering becomes diminished, though that is not the goal.It sounds like being called as a Bodhisattva would be a downer, and yet, if I consider the most enlightened beings that I know, they radiate joy.

In the Bhagavad Gita (commonly called The Gita), the best known and most famous of Hindu texts, Krishna instructs Prince Arjuna that he needs to do his duty and do battle with his family members, even if he doesn’t want to because it is his duty to do so. This message from The Gita is the call for selfless action and service to a greater good, which inspired many spiritual leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King.

Sikh communities regularly and routinely fed the fire management and control personnel as they worked to control the recent massive bushfires in Australia (and other places), as a spiritual practice of service.

Service is also a core value in Judaism. In The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary on Joshua, F.G. Marchant wrote, “God has three sorts of servants in the world: Some are slaves and serve God from fear; others are hirelings and serve for wages; and the last are children, who serve because they love.”

In Islam, service to humankind is considered equivalent to service to God. (Source: www.islamicinsights.com/religion/service-to-mankind-is-service-to-god.html)

And so, the apostle Paul was not alone in his point of view (1 Corinthians 14:12 New International Version (NIV)) So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. (Source: biblegateway.com)

And so today’s blogpost is a salute to the many quiet helpers in our community that build up our community with their unassuming service.

I feel grateful for each of you… for every single act of service, whether anyone has requested it, sees it, or acknowledges it. Our world is richer because of the many hands and hearts who lift us all up. Thank you.

–Rev Janis Farmer

Welcoming a Change in Perspective

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What I so appreciate about the Science of Mind is the surprising resolution to situations that occur in my life when I apply the principal that “All is happening for my good and the good of all involved.” When I stop looking at my life through the eyes of a victim, I find peace and love replacing fear and anxiety.

I write about this and it sounds easy to me but, recently, I have been clenching my teeth a lot and feeling the weight of the world as I have been dealing with a family member’s drinking plus familiar tax season stress.

I looked forward to writing this article as a means to reframe my recent experience. I regularly read 365 Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes. The daily meditations are lovely and bring me into a space of gratitude, regardless of any outside events. I often share them with my husband over the phone or across the table. My daily writing includes a listing of 5 things for which I am grateful. I also write a spiritual mind treatment daily. Often during the step of Unification, I sense the Divine expressing life through me, grokking It as living in me, as me and for me. The following Realization step states my daily intentions, often to complete pending tax returns and to return phone calls. So that I don’t lock myself into my controlling view of what needs to happen today, I often declare my intention as the more generic, “I joyfully accomplish today’s work with ease”. Putting it on a sticky-note by my computer reminds me to take a breath and reconnect.

Additional ways I stay connected:

  •  Exchange a daily intention with my prayer partner.
  •  Employ the services of Shelley Dunn, our licensed practitioner, to write a spiritual mind treatment for me. I have a lovely, handwritten treatment that I read regularly. $200 well spent on a discovery session resulting in a treatment tailored to my concerns.
  •  Mastermind group with Pat Masters and other Prosperity Plus III participants. Similar to the Power of 8 groups CSLT hosted, we meet to share and ask for fellow members to hold an intention for us until our next meeting. To hold an intention for another means, to me, that I read it daily, sending out my good thoughts, feelings and energy to the stated goals.

My regular practices help me feel good. It is important that I practice them with mindfulness. Otherwise, my practice can become just one more task in my busy day. I do this because I sometimes think my normal is about 15% below baseline. Dealing with the effects of my trauma-filled childhood is a daily process, and requires intention and attention.

The way I have re-framed the two opportunities is this –

Scheduled meetings with two people about expanding my business, bringing in more help. This would happen either as employees or perhaps a partnership.

An encounter with the police and my family member last week led to an eye-opening realization that this is a serious problem that needs to be dealt with now through Intensive Outpatient treatment and daily attendance at 12-step meetings. Both are happening.

With gratitude I realize that Science of Mind deals in actualities, not just simple, nebulous, affirmations chanted to myself in the mirror, although that sometimes works too. After writing this, I am more at peace, truly understanding, just for now, that all happens for my good.

— Marya Wheeler

… If You Knew You Could Not Fail

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Like everybody else who takes a turn at writing for the newsletter, sometimes I find myself at a serious loss for ideas. After last week’s newsletter went ‘live’, I looked to see who would be writing the lead article, and was a bit dismayed that it was my turn. So I started looking for patterns in my life, seeking something that might form that thread of continuity that would be useful to explore and write about.

Mentally, I’ve been all over the map this week. This morning, I read a bbc.com article about a life hack ostensibly to help with divided attention aptly called GYLIO (get your life in order). What made this of potential use to me was not the implication that I was going to stop everything and reorganize my life completely before I attempted anything (like the name implies), but simply that I could start taking a few well-defined steps to get a handle on what needs doing, and then just start somewhere. Anywhere. I realized I generally, mostly, do this fairly well. That was a relief, and that relief made space for progress to occur.

My car got sideswiped last Monday while I was driving on 22nd Street. No one was hurt, and both of us drove away from the accident site. The damage to my car is impressive looking, crumpled metal usually is, and the damage appears to be primarily cosmetic. The dude who hit me was very apologetic and took total responsibility for the accident. His insurance covers the repairs, and the loaner car. It has been sorting itself out in the most amazing manner. When I got to the rental car place, I asked for a small car for the duration of the repair. What they had, and offered me, was a Nissan Frontier, which feels like it is the size of my townhouse, and drives like a big truck.

I noticed pretty quickly how readily I adapted to driving a relatively large truck. I haven’t driven a large vehicle in a very long time. It has a turn radius of a tank, and I feel like I can see the road construction all the way to Phoenix! Yet it didn’t take long before it felt familiar, almost like it had become second nature. That got me thinking about how we move in our consciousness in the direction of our dreams.

The Foundations class is entering the 5th week now, and the students are getting serious about writing affirmative prayers that work. Part of what makes prayers work is the writer has to get into the mindset that this idea represented by the affirmative prayer is conceivable and plausible, they can imagine it could actually happen and become manifest (technical term for ‘show up’ or ‘become experience-able’) in the physical world. When we act as though something has become true, the universe conspires to support us in that experience.

It doesn’t matter whether what we are claiming is positive or negative. We claim the event or experience and the Divine Mind (in which we live, move and have our being) says “Yes, my Beloved”. There are times we wish it said, “Really? Are you sure? Is that your final answer?” But that’s not Its nature. It says, “Yes”. We choose. It delivers. Again, and again, and again.

So I apply this to the question I began with today. “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” The Universe, with all its legions of helpers (seen and unseen), is standing by… awaiting your clear instruction. (And mine.)

— Rev Janis Farmer

There’s Love, And Then There’s Love

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Love came and made me empty
Love came and filled me with the Beloved
It became the blood in my body
It became my arms and legs
It became my everything
Now all I have is a name
The rest belongs to the Beloved. – Rumi

The word Love in Sufism translates to intense liking. Figurative love is attached to mortals. On the other hand, loves real meaning is the love of God. Sometimes figurative love leads to real love. Love is not a mental issue, it is Spiritual. Love begins in God and with his/her/Its love for us. Why else would we have been created? The love of God is always flowing back to us if we allow it in.

I reviewed for my own curiosity the three types of love:
1. Eros, the Greek God of romantic, intimate love
2. Agape, is Greco-Christian revealing the love of God for man, and of man for God. It encompasses Universal love, nature or God, a modern concept of altruism. It is also a basic concern for others beyond self.
3. Philos, is an ideal love, which is an unselfish brotherly love also exemplifying loyalty, sacrifice and appreciation.

Aristotle theorized one must feel love for themselves before being able to feel love for others. It can be a powerful experience to give love and expect nothing in return.

My first hint of unconditional love happened when I had my first child at barely 18 years of age. (I ran away and married in Oklahoma at age 17.) Prior to that I had only experienced Eros love. I can still remember looking down at that little pulse beating in the skull of her head while nursing her. I never knew or imagined I could love anyone so much. I truly felt the presence of something much greater than myself, a blessing of such grace and a gift of such magnitude. I was simply overwhelmed with joy. The love of God, right there in my lap. And she is still the Love of my life.

From Ernest Holmes’ Living Science of Mind (331.5)
“Love is the victor in every case. Love breaks down the iron bars of thought, shatters the walls of material belief, severs the chain of bondage which thought has imposed, and sets the captive free.”

Also from Rumi:
“The way you make love is the way God will be with you, until your eyes constantly exhale love as effortlessly as your body yields its scent. Your task is not to seek for love …but to merely seek all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. The heart has its own language.”

There is no right or wrong way to love, but there can be beauty and fullness when you fill your life with the many types of love.

–Janie Hooper