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Universal Spirituality Universal Spirituality is a state of consciousness emergent within Humanity. It connotes the widening of ones perspective from the angle of a specific religion to a global view of human spirituality. This process towards a global understanding of spirituality is essential for comprehensive world peace. It is based upon the recognition of the sacredness of all human beings and the oneness of humanity in all its diversity. The new bottom line uniting those individuals and groups who embrace this recognition, is to think, speak and act in terms of the highest good of all. The Oneness of Humanity Humanity stands on the threshold of a "new age" in many ways. This new age is basically about the expansion of consciousness into the growing recognition that all human beings are members of the One Humanity, which has a common origin and a common future, beyond all the differences. The principle of "Unity in Diversity" is one of the most important of our time.One of the more obvious outer expressions of the oneness of Humanity is the internet. It is becoming more and more apparent in all fields of human endeavor, that the process towards a wider and more inclusive vision is intensely under way. Know Thyself The first step on the way to self-development and responsible world citizenship is the understanding of oneself. "Know Thyself" is the injunction of all spiritual paths.Through the integration of Eastern meditative techniques and Western scientific knowledge, attainment of in-depth knowledge of self, psychologically and spiritually, is becoming more and more possible for all human beings. The Centre for Universal Spirituality provides a structured training program towards this end. Meditation, Study and Service Our Centre’s work is based on the practice of Meditation, Study and Service to Humanity, in line with many spiritual paths. This practice engages all three aspects of the human nature – the mental, emotional and physical aspects.Meditation may be defined as an introspective and subjective approach to knowing oneself and the world, which complements the objective acquisition of factual knowledge through the concrete mind. Independent study of all the many Wisdom paths is encouraged in the students. The wider the perspective, the clearer becomes the fact that all true wisdom comes from the same source. A balanced spiritual development is accompanied by a growing care for the surroundings. The Centre strives to inspire and nurture the human natural wish to contribute to the betterment of the world (‘Tikun’). Higher Consciousness or Soul Beyond the everyday consciousness lies a higher wisdom which the various religions have propounded down the ages as the divinity within the human being, the soul. The many new approaches to spirituality are developing a wide range of techniques to get in touch with this higher wisdom and learn to cooperate consciously with it. This empiric endeavor may perhaps one day become a science, by discovering the laws which govern the relationship between human consciousness and the higher worlds. These laws, when found to be true for Humanity as a whole, will help transcend religious and cultural differences. Then these laws will form the new bottom line of human ethics – thinking and doing everything with the good of all in mind. Co-Creatorship Today people who wish to take their own growth in hand, have almost unlimited possibilities, in both the worldly and the spiritual life. The new Aquarian Age brings in a more mental, practical, feminine and universal approach to spirituality; the human search for the Divine is pursued individually and in groups in many new ways; it becomes a more scientific exploration of the higher realms of consciousness, based on authentic experience rather than on outer authority. Through discovering and intelligently cooperating with the laws and cycles of the spiritual world, people are gradually moving from belief to knowledge, from the perception of God as external to us, to the personal experience of the Divine within. Thus Humanity is advancing from being a passive receptor of Divine Grace into the more mature position of active co-creatorship. This enables people to become aware of their power and responsibility, and thus to consciously create their own reality and to contribute their share towards the improvement of the world. Love-Wisdom Love Wisdom is the name we give to the divine quality or energy of "beyond-personal" unconditional love, and a higher all-embracing wisdom, inclusive of all life. The Dalai Lama calls it Compassion. It is the redeeming force in the world. Love Wisdom was expressed through the saints and prophets down the ages; the Jews await it in the form of the Messiah or the Shekinah, the Christians as the second coming of the Christ, the Muslims as the Imam Mahdi and the Buddhists as the Maitreya. This divine quality of Love Wisdom exists in all of us. Each human being can learn to bring Love Wisdom into outer expression by practicing loving kindness, goodwill, "Love thy neighbor as thyself", which then naturally unfolds into good human relations. Love Wisdom is the major force towards Peace. Group-Consciousness Group-consciousness refers to the ability to identify with larger wholes. In the process of evolution, mankind has evolved from the stage of herd-instinct to the stage of individualized consciousness. On the level of the individual this is expressed as a strong and independent personality. In international politics it manifests as the struggle for independent statehood. The next stage in human evolution is then the synthesis of these, into the ability to live as an individual self who is a conscious part of a larger whole. This is what is meant by group-consciousness. Through the practice of loving kindness and conscious harmlessness, one gradually learns to become inclusive in one's thinking and sense of belonging - moving from a self-centered view to the awareness of being part of an ever widening context - from a local group, to a culture or religion and gradually beyond that, to the recognition of being a part of the human family as a whole. In our Hechal Centre group-consciousness is practiced by consciously building and maintaining an atmosphere of loving inclusiveness, a "group-field". The Hebrew word "Hechal" means "Sacred Container". It connotes a space in which the quality of Love Wisdom is maintained. This "Hechal" or group field can be used as a laboratory to learn how to relate to ourselves, others and other states of consciousness in a both loving and precise way. It becomes a powerful tool for implementing the higher principles of right human relations. Conscious Harmlessness Harmlessness is the active effort to refrain from thinking, saying and doing what could be harmful to another being.This demands a disciplined training of introspection and keen observation of behavior. Thoughts, speech and deeds need to be scrutinized and rendered harmless. The practice of Conscious Harmlessness includes the stilling of the reactive emotions, a mental effort towards reaching a completed point of view and the cultivation of a deep and heartful understanding of our fellow human beings. The way into practicing harmlessness is well articulated in these words: “Enter thy brother's heart and see his woe; then speak. Let the words spoken convey to him the potent force he needs to loose his chains. Yet loose them not thyself; thine is the work to speak with understanding. The force received by him will aid him in his work.” (First Rule of Harmlessness, by Alice Bailey, in "A Treatise on White Magic", p320) Wholesome Relations A Manual for wholesome human relations:
People who are aware of their co-creative power endeavor to take responsibility over everything in their lives, including their relationships. They strive to express the qualities of Harmlessness and Love-Wisdom in all of them, and wherever they are not yet able to, they will attend to it.In our courses we facilitate each person's in-depth exploration of her/himself. We encourage our students to take responsibility for their personal relationships, through the practice of wholesome thought, speech and action.Our Centre cooperates with other organizations in Jerusalem, Israel and the world, who work towards wholesome human relations through meditation, universal-spiritual education and service. |
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