Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Spiritual Living Center!

I’ve been doing a series on the Centers for Spiritual Living statement called “What we Believe.” I’m on the third statement today (the first two are here and here, but the honest truth is I’m not sure what I believe about this particular statement:  “We believe in the eternality, the immortality, and the continuity of the individual soul, forever and ever expanding.”

Basically the third statement says that while our physical bodies may wither, decay and die, our souls live on….forever and ever.

That’s a lot of souls.  Do I believe that MY soul never dies?  Well, never is a pretty strong word. I believe my soul has been around a long time, and that what I do in this present incarnation is caused by my soul’s longing, bottom line.  Maybe I believe that when the soul stops its longing is when the soul transitions into another realm.  Pretty heavy duty stuff.  And then there is the question of what, exactly, is the soul?

And really, why is this important?  Is it really important to know what happens to our souls?  Is it important to have a belief as to whether or not we even have a soul?  Is it really important to know what a soul is?  I’m thinking that it might be more important to lighten up.

Besides, I’m currently taking a history of New Thought class and have discovered that What We Believe is really what Ernest Holmes believed.  So the Centers for Spiritual Living are putting out a belief statement based on the statements of our founder.  Nothing really wrong with that, because the What We Believe statement is generally accurate for our overall belief system.  And because really, we are free in this movement to believe whatever we wish, we can take it or leave it, accept it or not.  I like to think the What We Believe statement is more of a thought provoker:  really?  Is that really what I believe?  Why?  And what kinds of ramifications does this have for my life?  The statement is also a sort of informational thing as well, because we are all over the map in terms of beliefs.  A newcomer walks into a Center and asks, “What are you guys all about?” and the answer he or she will receive will depend on who is answering the question!  The cool thing about our movement in particular is that we really don’t care what you believe, as long as you are happy and at peace.  And if you aren’t, change your beliefs and it will change what you manifest.  And to change your beliefs do these spiritual practices and your beliefs will be changed.  That’s really a very short description of what we teach around here.

I’m thinking the importance of the third statement is not so much what it states, but what it causes in terms of introspection.  Introspection is a key spiritual practice.  The practice of introspection will allow you to get to know the beautiful being that is you, and that’s a good thing.  Spend some time in introspection about your soul today and see what comes up for you.  I’d love to hear about it!

This is a second installment in a series based on the philosophy of Centers for Spiritual Living, taken from a piece written by founder Ernest Holmes called “What We Believe.”

I wrote about the first sentence in What We Believe here.

Here’s the second in the series of twelve statements: ” We believe in the individualization of the Spirit in Us, and that all people are individualizations of the One Spirit.”

In plain English, basically what it says is that each of us is the physical manifestation of God.  This is one of my favorites in the series, as it has powerful ramifications for how I live my life.  See if perhaps it doesn’t for you also.

Can you believe that you are a physical manifestation of God?  Think about it.  If you are a manifestation of God, that means you have power.  Lots of it.  Awesome power.  It means you are nothing but good and love and abundance and joy and peace.  It means that all of the attributes of Spirit are also your attributes.  I don’t know about you, but I am filled with wonder and excitement when I contemplate this.

If you believe that you are a physical manifestation of God, you also have responsibility and empowerment.  If this statement is true, then attributing the stuff that happens in our lives to God is not accurate.  I can no longer say, “God did this,” or “God did that.”  I can no longer give responsibility to God for anything in my life, because I am a part of God, a physical embodiment of Spirit.  What is true  is that “I did this” or “I did that” or “I am good.”   God does not do things.  God simply is.  We humans are the doers, God is the be’er. As physical embodiments of Spirit, God is a force that provides us with the strength and power to be and do that which we were meant to be and do.  When we are out of touch with this connection is when we experience negativity in our lives.

I don’t know about you, but when I first “got” this, I was a bit frightened.  It meant I could no longer blame anything or anyone else for anything in my life, which meant I had to take responsibility.  After I realized that ultimately responsibility meant empowerment this concept no longer frightened me, it exhilarated me!

This concept also means that what I call myself, I am also calling God that.  All that negative self talk had to go.  I just didn’t feel right about putting God down, and if I’m a part of God, I’m not going to put myself down either.  This is where a very good concept of humility comes from, by the way.  Humility is not about putting ourselves down, it’s about knowing our truth and embodying it.

Try this statement on for size.  See how it fits in your life.  I’d love to hear your thoughts about this!