Align with God — through prayer and meditation, we align our heart and mind with God.
We are born into a world of illusion, a world appearing to operate in a linear direction that is known as time. It appears logical- we are born, then we pass away. As we develop, we begin to try and make sense of this world of matter. Our senses assure us of matter’s solid and alluring characteristics. Our flesh reveals the intense experience of pleasure and pain. Along with the flesh comes the driver of that experience- ego.
Starting as a child, the ego begins forming from experiences, and buys into the perceived “reality of duality”. The world appears to be apart from oneself, and in this separateness, one tends to think of a world “out there”. But what is “out there?” Is it not all initially perceived “in here?” For many, at varying stages in life, the reality that we exist in an invisible world unknown to others begins to take shape in the mind. It is difficult to understand that we are invisible.
These observations are the beginnings of awareness that exist in a realm outside of the illusion of linear time. This is the beginning of an awareness that crosses that linear point and where one begins to think vertically, or within a new awareness about the true nature of our invisibility. It is the exploration of our inner self that carries the potential to master one’s thoughts and to change the appearance of what is “out there” by changing what is “in here”.
This potential can be developed and nurtured by understanding our Fourth Unity Principle. By looking beyond the illusions of outer appearances, or the inner stirrings of mental and emotional triggers, one can see what lies beyond the world functioning in time. The origins of self are experienced in an entirely different way when we go inside. The lack of answers from a world “out there” causes anxiety in a great many people, prompting one to seek various practices of insight and meditation. Quite possibly this is how you came to find a seat here at Unity.
It has been said that prayer is talking to God, and meditation is listening. We know how insane it would be to ask someone their name, and immediately walk away before receiving an answer. It is no different when we posit perplexing questions to the Universe, only to listen for an answer in the archive of our own mental blabbery.
Conscience is said to be a knowing that arises from inside. While each person may carry different standards of right and wrong derived from their upbringing, there exists a universal conscience that is based in the spirit that flows through all conscious forms of life.
As a young man, I was amazed when I followed a breath of air into my body, finding that its life energy literally becomes my flesh. Beyond amazing is that I exhale both unused oxygen and carbon dioxide. The CO2 feeds plants and trees, while the oxygen I could not use and exhale now becomes you. These elemental building blocks of life only change form, they do not disappear. This means our bodies are made of the same atoms once known as Jesus, Buddha, and yes, even Hitler.
If you had a reaction to that last name, you just experienced an immediate disturbance in your field of consciousness, swayed by the world. By way of experiencing stillness of thought, one can begin to tap into a deeper knowing not formed by opinions, beliefs, and societal norms, but one that is all knowing due to a connection to the Oneness of all that IS. This is the still, silent space between thoughts that is us, long before our attention begins to wander into new territory.
Science has traveled far from the days of the physicist, Max Planck and his understanding that consciousness is fundamental to all. Quantum physics now reveals far more into the interconnectedness of consciousness. We truly are part of One mind, appearing separate, and awaiting judgment by the ego.
Prayer is the vehicle to bringing conscious, invisible thought into the manifested, visible world. Our prayers are our thoughts, hence the biblical passage, pray without ceasing, and since we generally have a steady stream of thoughts, we are constantly praying. What we carry from our intention into our Prayers, or thoughts, has power, the power of the spoken word. Before becoming aware, we are so identified with thought, we are the thought. Stop and observe this in action, and we can now watch our thoughts take control, and madly run us about as a malfunctioning robot.
By aligning our thoughts with Love, we align our minds with the Oneness of the Great Mind many call God. When we use this ability, known also as the Law of Attraction, we watch “in here” become manifested “out there”
The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians wrote "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you"
May we be good stewards of this great and wondrous power. While seeking comforts within the material world has its place, let us be mindful that this amazing power has the potential to hold space for love in a seemingly hostile world. Let us see Love, Be Love, and Know Love.
Where we once believed, let us Now Know!