From The ECLECTIC CHURCH
© 1996
“God enters by a
private door into every individual.”
(Emerson, Essays, 1841)
The
Importance of Individuation
A cornerstone of the eclectic philosophy
rests in the encouragement of an individual to discover, to know, and to
experience one’s self. Only in this
manner can one truly have a religious experience which can relate to the
Creative Force at the Source; that is, the element of the Divine within all of
us. In this experience we come to
realize that we are all God’s children; and as such, what we do to each other
is what we do to God.
Jesus told us:
“In a little while the world will see me no
longer, but you will see me; because I live, you too will live; then you will
know that I AM IN MY FATHER, AND YOU IN ME and I IN
YOU.
(John 14:19)
In addition to Jesus: philosophers,
artists, poets, musicians, mystics, prophets, saints and more recently psychiatrists
have all made reference to this idea of a Divine or connective element in the
core of the individual. While much of
Christian theology de-emphasizes this concept in favor of a more organizational
approach toward God, many holy thinkers have embraced it.
Through the efforts of men like Carl Jung,
we have come to see that the religious ideal of the early Gnostic Christians,
that God is within all men, is also a sound psychological concept. The literalization
of Sacred Scriptures, and the consequential distortion of the message of Jesus
that often follows, has led us away from a truly personal elationship
with the Divine. Yet, the religious
experience of God within is the only experience of the Divine that human beings
can feel.
Jung states:
“The self or Christ is present in everybody, a
“priori”, but as a rule in an unconsicious
condition to begin with. But it is a
definite experience of later life, when the fact becomes conscious. It is not really understood by teaching or
suggestion. It is only real when it
happens, and it can happen only when you WITHDRAW YOUR PROJECTIONS FROM AN
OUTWARD HISTORICAL OR METAPHYSICAL CHRIST and wake up this CHRIST WITHIN. This does not mean that the unconscious self
is inactive, only that we do not understand it.
The self (or Christ) cannot become conscious and real without the withdrawel of external projections. An act of introjection
is needed, i.e., the realization that the self lives in you and not in an
external figure separated and different from yourself. The self has always been, and will be, your
innermost center and periphery, your “scintilla” and “punctum
solis”. I is even
biologically the archetype of order and --- dynamically --- the source of
life.”
(C.G. Jung, “Psychology and Religion West and East”,
Collected Works, Vol 11, par 1638, c1958)
The simple truth Jung reveals here is that to know God we must
know ourselves. He realized the psychological importance
of what he termed “individuation”, which is the process of self discovery --- a
process he deemed necessary for spiritual, mental and physical health; He defines individuation thusly:
“Individuation
means becoming an ‘in-dividual’, and, in so far as ‘indivudality’ embraces our innermost, last, and
incomparable uniqueness, it also implies becoming one’s own self. We could therefore translate individuation as
‘coming to self-hood’ or, ‘self realization’.
(C.G. Jung, The Portable Jung, ed by Joseph Campbell,c1971, p121)
The Gnostic Christians, and certain Eastern
religious tradititions, recognize the importance of
individuation for spiritual growth. Many
of our modern religious ideals have lost sight of the spiritual concept that
‘self Discovery’ is the best way to discover God. Often, instead of leading us to God in a
manner in which we can know what He/She is saying to us, religions tend to
proclaim God’s Will in a blanket format for everyone. But this doctrine fails to take into account
that God created us as individuals who are diverse; would it not make sense
that He/She would respond to that individuality?
In the Eclectic Ideal
there is no pope, theologian, minister, clergyman --- or any man for that
matter --- who has the aithroity, or right, to
declare for us what God demands of us.
We are striving to fill the need for a religion that stops pronouncing
in the name f God, and encourages us to find God within one’s own self. Our aim is to reverse the idea of preaching
what God offers us and what God demands of us for faithful service; seeking
instead, within our individuality, what it is we can personally do for
God. The first step in that achievement
is to encourage people to look for God within their own heart and soul, so they
can discover how God might be revealing Him/Herself to them.
This coming to terms
with one’s self, is a basic tool of psychology and a
necessity for good mental health. But
psychology is not alone, and religion has to recognize this. If we look to sacred literature of all faiths
self discovery (Individuation) is also necessary for a healthy spirit. Moses demonstrated this with his trip to the
mountaintop. Jesus
with his forty days in the desert.
Buddha under the bodhi tree. Each of these great men to the time, and in
solitude, reached within themselves and discovered their vision of God. From Plato and Buddha, to Jesus down to Jung,
and in all the myth and sacred writings of all the great faiths, this concept
of gnosis (self knowledge) is the fundament principle for spiritual
growth. Once discovered, this knowledge
goes through life with us and can be drawn upon as we need it to face decisions
and changes necessary in life’s course.
Such reasoning makes
sense even in practical terms. If men
did not take a stand on their own ideals and just followed everyone else, even
when those ideals may not be accepted by their contemporaries, there would be
no advancement of mankind. Copernicus,
Galileo, the Wright Brothers --- were all scoffed at by the main stream of
their societies. Jesus himself is a
shining example of honesty about the self and living one’s life according to
God’s personal directive. When we are
--- if we think --- if our faith --- if our ideas are the same as everyone elses, we wste the precious life
God has given to us; for we could be missing the very purpose for which we
might exist.
At this point it is
necessary to interject A WORD OF CAUTION before going on. There is a fine line between individuation
and becoming narcissistic or selfish.
One must become very careful one doesn’t fall into this rationalization
trap. Eclectisism
does not preach a philosophy of anything goes.
Again, Jung explains it niecely:
“Egotist are called ‘selfish’ but this, naturally, has nothing
to do with the concept of ‘self’ as I am using it here. On the other hand, self-realization seems to
stand in opposition to self-alienation.
This misunderstanding is quite general, because WE DO NOT SUFFICENTLY
DISTINGUISH BETWEEN INDIVIDUALISM AND INDIVIDUATION. INDIVIDUALISM means deliberately stressing
and giving prominence to some supposed pecularity
[self interest], rather than, to collective considereations
and obligations [taking others into consideration]. But individuation means precisely the better
and more complete fulfillment of the collective qualities of the human being,
since adequate consideration of the pecularity [ the
uniqueness of self as opposed to self interest] of the individual is more
conducive to a better social performance then when the pecularity
is neglected or surpressed… Individuation, therefore,
can only mean a process of psychological development that fulfills the indivdual qualities given, in other words,it is a process by which a man becomes the definite,
unique being, he in fact is. In doing so
he does not become selfish in the ordinary sense of the word, but is
merely fulfilling the parcularity of his nature [in a
responsible manner], and this, as we have said, is vastly different from
egotism or individualism.
(Ibid, p122)
In spiritual terms
we can apply Jung’s words above, thusly.
When we reach into ourselves the easiest to discover is ego, and if we
stop there we can become selfish, indifferent and intolerant toward anything
not compatible with our ego. But in a
state of individuation, where we can objectively look into ourselves and face
the bad and the good, we recognize the Divine element --- and in recognizing that element we
are more keenly aware of its presence in all of creation. We, each in our own unique way, are a part of
the wholeness of things. As the Trinity
metaphor conveys, God is one, yet more than one. God is God, but He/She is also creation. That essence of God, which allows us to be
unique individuals, is also a balancing tool whereby we can control ego interest
for the good of the whole. Individuation
goes beyond selfishness helping us to see that whatever is good for the whole,
in the end is good for the self. It is
the Divine paradox that can enable us to balance our lives.
And individuation is not,
as some would have us believe, a magical formula that releases hidden magical
powers within us. It will not give us
riches, or fame, or power over others, and
attainment does not offer glory.
This is not to say an individuated person might not attain all these
things if they work responsibily toward a particular
goal. Gnosis will not make our problems
go away, nor magically remove obstacles; but it does help us to deal with the
problems of life and our fellow human beings.
The fact is, as Jesus
demonstrated, self-discovery can become a cause of personal sacrifice; that is
it often makes one at odds with much of the accepted hypocrisies of our
societies. This whole idea of
self-discovery revolves arount he concept that once
we see and know ourselves (‘pulling the plank from our own eye’), we will be
more tolerant of others because we will know at the root we are all the same
(being able to gently remove the speck from our brother’s eye). The more we come to recognize our own
uniqueness, the more apt we might get at respecting the uniqueness of
another. The more we face God in our own
soul, the better we will be able to recognize Him/her in another.
And Jung was careful
to point out, that this self-discovery isn’t just about discovering the
positives of our personality; it is also the recognition of our weaknesses,
faults and darker natures. In
recognition of these flaws we are able to begin to deal with them in a
responsible manner.
We all have traits
that are often not very likable, but we seldom acknowledge them. In fact, very often our criticisms of others
are the very traits we ourselves possess.
We don’t want to call ourselves names so we call another a name. Sometimes even being jealous of one’s ability
to deal with a flaw can create this hostility.
The true reward of
individuation is the realization we are part of the
whole, uniquely individual, but nevertheless attached to all of being
itself. As we progress in the gnosis,
our attitudes become more positive and our actions are often less self
motivated. Self knowledge may not make
one rich, but it may help them endure their poverty. Gnosis leads to acceptance and patience in
life whereby we can make the most of life’s experiences good or bad.
The Buddhist have a wonderful metaphor to describe the oneness and unique
diversity of all things.
Legend tells us of a net
owned by the great God Indra. It was unique in that
it was made of highly reflective gems, and the wonderful effect of this is that
when one gazed at a single unique gem, one could see the isolated stone in all
of its beautiful particularity; and yet reflected in it, one could see the
entire net.
(Douglas
Fox, Buddism, Christianity, and the Future
of Man,Westminister Press, ©1972, p48)
Like the net, each of us makes up the world of being, and that
being is what binds us together.
Realizing it or not: when human beings suffer needlessly, when the greed
of our socities exploit, when we destroy the earth
needlessly and without concern --- We, in our unique individuality, pays a
price! One only need to look at the
realities of our world: the crime, the
despair, the addictions, the neurosis, the wars, the financial chaos, the
inequality, the bigotry, the hatred, the injustice, our own insecurities, and
our fears --- are the price we pay for our indifference to the whole.
Eclectisism
is not striving to set itself to set itself above other religious ideals. But we do feel, at least part of the problem,
rests in the religions that set themselves up above others; religions claiming their’s is the only way to salvation, or they are the only
true keepers of God’s truth.
Theologies, which claim they alone can speak God’s truth for another, are
seriously flawed. For one thing, they
serve to divide us ofen creating a projection that
contribute to prejudice, bigotry and the social injustices so prevalent in our
world.
In our view, God
becomes bigger than any single definition.
We can see that His/Her TRUTH may vary from one individual to the next,
often in proportion to the individual’s ability to understand; and, His/Her
WILL might very from one individual to another, accommodating one’s unique
individuality and purpose for being. Our
studies of the scriptures of many faiths, the myths (sacred stories) and all of
inspiration have lead us to some wonderful universal messages: In order to seve
God, and better contribute to our world, we must find out what God is saying to
us --- In order to achieve salvation (to eclectic thinking is personal
fulfillment) we must discover that which truly makes us feel responsible and
part of the whole.
Far too often, we are
seeing religion as a matter of faith, when in reality; religion should be a matter
of experience. If our religious ideals
are to survive, giving purpose and meaning to life as well as death, we must
feel God’s love rather than merely professing it. We must allow His/Her love to work through
us; instead of projecting it outside to another such as Jesus. In this way a mere faith is replaced with an
inner knowledge that is attained by experience.
The problem with this spiritual
fulfillment is that it cannot be taught, nor can one be converted to it,
because this fulfillment comes from the experiencing of one’s self and the
realization that we are uniquely in the Image of God. About mere belief Jung said:
When people say they
believe in the xistence of God, it has never
impressed me in the least. Either, I
know a thing and I do not need to believe it; or, I believe it because I am not
sure I know it. I am well satisfied with
the fact that I know experiences which I cannot avoid calling numinous or
Divine.
(Ibid)
The inspirations of God
provide guidance in a wide verity of ways to achieve this fulfillment, but
there are no set rules. One not only has
to be willing to find God within themselves, they
often need to accept things they may otherwise not be able to accept.
Contrary to the way it
might seem, self-knowledge is not easily
attainable. It is not a simple process
of knowing what we like and dislike, because very often we are in denial of
what we truly like or dislike. There are
also aspects of ourselves that we just as soon not know. But not knowing things about our inner self
can often cause them to fester and manifest themselves in not so nice of
way. As the old adage goes, “Knowledge
is power” and facing some of our darker aspects helps us to control them,
turning negatives into positives. Even
deep darkness, such as criminal feelings might be turned into a positive (such
as writing novels) when we are aware of it.
So this process
involves a lot of hard work, a disciplined self objectivity, and a willingness
to admit to our faults as well as compliment our virtues. To Jung again:
To find out
what is truly individual in ourselves, PROFOUND REFLECTION IS NEEDED; and
suddenly we realize how UNCOMMONLY DIFFICULT THE DISCOVERY OF INDIVIDUALITY IS.
(THE PORTABLE JUNG, edited by Joseph Campbell, “Relation Between the Ego and Unconscious, p103)
The human
personality is a complex mechanism.
There are the obvious conscious ideals we live with and are aware of,
with drives and motivations that are most often easily understandable. The ego, which is the strongest aspect of
personality, often rejects anything that is not comforting to its
experiences. Ego is self oriented. And while ego serves a very useful and
practical purpose, it can lead to narcissism and greed if we do not allow some
of our deeper spiritual being to emerge.
And in that consicuos ego itself, we have hidden aspects which Freud
called the “sub-conscious”
and Jung called the “personal unconscious”. This aspect of our consciouness
is the recepticle of experiences that we have no need
to actually remember consciously (or do not want to remember). Along with a whole host of no longer useful
memories and knowledge, this sub-consicous realm can
carry bad experiences, guilt, and things we choose not to face --- and this too
can lead to serious psychological and spiritual problems. So in order to completely know oneself,
exploring this area of intellect is a necessary component. Such a discipline might be very difficult to
follow because of the strong resistance of ego-consciousness, which can produce
rationalization, projections, and actually decive ourselves.
This is what Jung termed “avoidance” and Jesus proclaimed our “plank in
the eye”.
Avoidance thus
becomes a matter of not facing things we need to face. Thus, when we psychologically and spiritually
grow, we need a certain amount of determination if we are to succeed. These principles of facing the self are the
cornerstone of psycho-analysis in its earliest forms.
Jung transcends
Freud’s psychology and recognizes a yet deeper level of human totality. This, he called, “The Collective
Unconscious”. In his descriptions he
elaborates that this is the force, which links us to each other, and the
creation we are part of. In a religious
sense, this collective unconscious could be analogized with the soul, and at
the core of this soul would be the Essence of the Creative Force that gives us
being. This soul is what mythology and
the sacred writings are referring to when they point us in a direction that we
are more than we perceive, made in the Image of God, or one with the
universe. This inner element becomes the
‘Divine gene’, if you will, which makes us children og God.
Jung tells us about
this collective unconscious:
Hence, I
prefer the term “the unconscious”, knowing that I might equally well speak of God, or “Daimon” if I wish to
express myself in mythical language.
(C.G. Jung, Memories Dreams And Reflections, 1961)
I have to
admit the fact that the unconscious mind is capable, at times, of assuming an
intelligence and purposiveness which ARE
(C.G. Jung, Psychology and Religion, 1938)
If the theologian
really believes in the Almighty power of God on the one hand, and in the
validity of dogma on the other; WHY THEN, DOES HE NOT TRUST GOD TO
SPEAK IN THE SOUL?
(C. G. Jung, Psychology and Achemy, 1953)
While this aspect of
our totality can never be fully understood (for Jung tells us that like God
Him/Herself it is unknowable), it does give purpose, direction, and helps
balance ego consciousness with the collective world of which we are a
part.
Jung speculated, and
then supported his ideals with empiracle evidence,
that: contents and messages continually input from this area of the
personality. In the Eclectic ideal of
salvation, we must reach intot he depths of our souls
to find out for what unique purpose we exist --- an answer only God can give us
--- an answer that is only in our unique individuality.
To provide the proper
balance in one’s life, one must yield to their spiritual nature for that
becomes the source of our being. We need
to feed it and care for it just as we do our physical bodies. THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT WE SHOULD NEGLECT, OR
DENY, OUR PHYSICAL NEEDS AND DESIRES; but rather, that we strive to harmonize
them with spirituality in order to exercise a self-control instead of letting them control us.
As an example: there
is a big difference in taking a drink because we want one; then in being
addicted and having to take it. This
harmony and balance of which we speak is only possible by devoting the proper
effort to finding one’s true and total self.
Ironically, it is a principle that is recognized by Alcholics
Anonymous as well as other step programs, and is quite successful.
M.L. von Franz, in
writing his section of a book by Carl Jung, entitled Man And His symbols,
said:
You yourself must become your own priest in your own inner church – in
the church of your soul.
This is one of the
core ideals of eclectic Philosophy and Theology. It is a philosophy of self-discovery,
evolution, and growth of the individual.
We seek to encourage inner spiritual direction that is practical and has
relevance in our unique daily activities; combined with, sound psychological
ideas that acknowledge that man is spiritual as well as physical. Our aim is not to present an individual with
dogma, commandments, or a universal Divine edict of sort; instead, we desire to
work with individuals to develop their own spirituality, with the ultimate goal
being to help an individual discover the ultimate truth within themselves.
Part of the problem
with many present religious approaches is the tendency to be extremist
about dogma, or plant unrealistic moral codes in the reality of our everyday
world. The use of fear and punishment by
some faiths can be psychologically damaging to a wide variety of people, and in
particular, children.
While all religions
have a similar message, many seem to loose sight of the profound truth revealed
through them. The simple reality is, in order to live the message of inspiration we must
balance our lives --- relate the self to the whole.
Unlike some of the
Buddhist’s interpretations, eclecticism does not advocate that people surrender
their desires, or their pleasures. It is
not desire which weakens us, but rather, an inability to balance self-interest
with the whole’s welfare. It is not
necessary to live life in self-denial, but merely to balance and control
desires. Self-discovery helps us to
discover a higher purpose, which in turn gives us greater control in our lives,
helping us to be more caring and responsible in our ego driven pursuits. Religion needs to remember that ego is part
of the Divine plan and cannot be ignored if one is to be healthy and
happy. Sexes, pleasure, want, are not
evil things --- they are not some devious creation of the devil --- they are
God’s gift to humanity. What God really
asks of us, is: to be responsible in our use of these desires, not hurting
others in our pursuit of them, not being consumed by them.
If it can be said that life has a known purpose, one would have
to conclude that it is the “experience” of life that must be the purpose.
Another area where
many Christian faiths seem to have inverted the message is in the premise tht perfection and salvation are only attainable from
something outside us --- Jesus, God, rituals etcetera. This message becomes even more confusing when
the concept that God is somehow pleased with a form of of
some abstract self-denial such as celibacy is added. At its worst, such conepts
lead to a theology that embraces suffering and pain as a blessing of the
Creator, and that pure pleasure is a tool of the devil and evil. While suffering and pain are necessary
experiences in life for from them we often learn; they are not any more important
than joy and pleasure. To suppress the
desires that God has planted within each of us, pure pleasures that God has
given us the ability to feel and experience, seems almost like it would be
contrary to God’s intent of giving life.
Eclecticism disagrees with the premise that holiness is measured
according to one’s self-denial. We do
not feel that a person who has chosen to give up, sex for an example, is any
holier than one who has a healthy sex life.
Eclecticism sees a person’s so-called ‘holiness’ in what an individual
does with the things others are claiming sinful. To act responsibly, to be concerned with
others, to be concerned with the creation around us, to be in control of one’s
desires: these are the things that demonstrate a closeness to the Divine. Very often suppression and repression only
lead to neurosis.
One only need look to
the natural order God established to recognize the emphasis God has placed on
balance. Creation exists in a delicate
system of balances from the galaxies to the smallest microbes. The success of this system is dependent upon
its individual aspects operating uniquely and individually and yet at the same
time offering some contribution to the whole.
God built an entirely successful universe on a give and take principal
from the smallest particle to the largest stars. What convoluted reasoning could possibly see
humankind as being an exception to that natural order? The human race, itself, could not survive
through the effort of a single individual no matter how hard they might try.
Ou
social contradictions are as profound as our religious ones. While we talk about individual freedoms in
our society, there is very little encouragement for anyone to become a true
individual. We are actually preassured by society to work and think imn
a certain manner and those who do not do so are often ostracized in some
manner. The economic world strives to
condition us to wear particular cloths, eat certain foods, abnd
maintain a certain look. Our educational
systems indoctrinate more often than they teach individuals to think for
themselves. Entertainment is full of
advertising, which is yet another way of conditioning us to respond the same to
stimuli. Our jobs, families and social
and economic pressures dictate our daily lives. Our political affiliations are put into neat
little categories, seemingly forcing us to choose between the ideals of one or
the other despite the dact we may have agreements or
disagreements with both. We encourage
teens to dress alike, act alike, listen to the same music --- so often dictated
by commercial interest.
The eclectic ideal
recognizes that certain social norms are necessary for a productive and healthy
society. And we also advocate that we
take others into consideration before seeking any selfish pursuit. But, the scales have been tipped here
too. Despite ethe
fact that history, time and again, has proven that the majority may not always
be “right”, we continue to declare our social order, our science, our
collective intellectual opinions and our religious and economic ideologies – as
being the best or the ultimate truth.
Too often people are discouraged from challenging these pronouncements
being labeled abnormal, evil, cynical, anti-social, or revolutionaries.
But here again
history teaches us an important lesson.
When individuals, who are well balanced between their individuality with
a genuine concern for the whole --- the society often advances through their
unconventional ideas. Yes, there have been many atrocities committed by
independent thinking individuals, but most often they lack the balance to care
for anyone or anything outside their own selfish agenda. But if it were not for these brave souls who
move forward with their unique dreams, ideas, and inventions we would still
believe the earth was flat --- we would never see an airplane fly --- in fact,
we would probably still be dwelling in caves.
Intellectual diversity is a gift God has given to man by which we have
been able to reach out for the stars. No
knowledge can grow absent of individual thought, perspective, and a unique
approach.
One of our aims in
promoting self-discovery is to become a fellowship where we can encourage and
share our uniqueness and diversity to benefit all. We firmly believe that in such encouragement
of individualism, combined with an ethic and responsibility toward the whole,
there may be solutions to the many problems we face in our world --- new
avenues of knowledge to pursue: and in that fellowship we might just be able to
understand God a little better.
In the Eclectic quest
for some sort of Divine ideal or ethic to focus upon, in our search for some
meaning for the existence of man, we have found (what we believe) to be, a
manual of sorts, which can help guide us.
It is not a book of “do’s” and “don’t’s” or
written edicts dictated by the Divne. We see a universal message which exists in
the personal dreams of individuals at an individual level, and at the
collective level in the religions, myths, literature, art and music from human
culture itself. The core of that
message goes something like this: We
must look “within”, and when we have looked deep enough we will see the
“without” much clearer, realizing that it is a responsible use of our
uniqueness that allows the whole to live --- and, we are part of the whole in
our individual uniqueness. All this is
part of the paradox of the Divine, the singularity from which all being flows.
Jung said, “It is
the role of religious symbolism to give meaning to the life of a man.” That is religious idealism at its best. This is not achieved in magical thinking or
superstition, or words, or ritual; but, only in a practical theology that
relates to one’s everyday life. In order
for religious symbolism to give meaning to (this) life of men, it needs to be
relative to an individual’s uniqueness --- that is one reason we have so many
religions, God was keenly aware of this.
Too often when our religions talk about a “personal relationship with
God” it means that we see God in the same way as everyone else sees Him/Her,
but that is really not personal is it?
Religion should refrain from becoming yet
another programming mechanism of our society.
The holy men who founded many of the religions sought to bring men
closer to themselves, closer to the personal Divine; not, closer to a
church! It would seem their goal was not
to issue commands that serve to control another’s life; but to present a
philosophy, which would allow men to take control of their own lives. Forgiveness, too, is the cornerstone of many
of these prophets (including forgiveness of one’s self), but yet so many of our
religions emphasize the judgment of God.
The Eclectic Concepts
do not argue that organized religions have helped to keep our awareness of God
alive in our world. In so many ways,
traditional religions have guided thousands of individuals to a higher
spiritual awareness. But on the flip
side, not even the most ardent believer can deny the abuses and atrocities
committed in the Name of God by religions claiming to be His/Her
spokesperson. And there lies the real
danger of placing one’s faith outside the Divine. In the Eclectic ideal, we feel, God is
capable of communicating to anyone He/She chooses, and that no human being can
speak with any Divine authority. Even
the Bible itself, although claimed by so many to be GOD’S WRITTEN WORD is
subject to the interpretations of the reader, and not one word of it did not
come from human hands. Blake says it
nicely, “Though we both read the Bible day and night, you read black where I
read white.”
We readily
acknowledge that the stories, scriptures, and many of the rituals of our religions do
contain the inspiration of the Divine.
But it is inspiration alone; not God’s written word; and this
inspiration was never meant to serve as a means where men have the authority to
speak for God.
God’s inspiration is
in the sacred works, but it is also in each one of us. To better understand any collective
inspiration we need to experience the personal inspiration from the
Divine. God can talk to us if we are
willing to listen to Him/Her.
The realities of God
are not in the articles of faith of some church. God’s inspiration is not to one person or one
people. God’s love does not fall upon
one particular faith. God’s reality is
housed in every human being and manifested in the very creation surrounding
us. The Divine revelation is present in
the complexity and diversity of creation, a creation made up of individual
parts.
A wholesome religious
experience is one in which we experience the Divine for ourselves, and to reach
its fullest potential we need to look within.
It is only in moving inward that we can clearly see what is around us.
The fellowship of a
church should encourage the sharing of people’s inner experiences so that
others may also seek God. Religion
should seek to provide a means where an individual’s can follow God’s personal
message to them, empowering them to contribute to our world in God’s chosen
way. Above all, religion should work to
bring the manifestation of God’s Love into the reality of our world, for it is
through the human heart, and our actions because of it, that God’s true
miracles are brought into the everyday world.
It is our prayer that Eclecticism grows into such a religion! Ask God if you might help!
Let us quote Jesus in
closing: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffes the loss of his soul (true self)?”
MAY GOD FLOWER WITHIN YOU!
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