Beliefs: Mine and Yours

Beliefs: Mine and Yours (Whew! Having now tried to write down my own principles of faith, I finally appreciate that Maimonides came up with only thirteen principles. But he's been at it longer than I have. Perhaps when I get to be his age, the number of my beliefs will have become more modest. My understandings has been influenced primarily by the Kabbala and Zen. My conscious relationship with God has been influenced primarily through davvening (a practice of singing and speaking directly to God), and the Gestalt dialogue in a relaxed state as practiced by Psychosynthesis therapists. These influences, and my own reflection, have formed my beliefs.) Please try to write down your statement of your own beliefs, in the categories of your choice. Your Beliefs My Beliefs Who we are: 1. We are children of the universe. 2. All of us evolved from the same cosmic egg so we are connected forever. Where we come from, and the nature of our work: 3. I believe that we are on a journey, that we come from a faraway place, that we are in exile. Our journey is one of enlightenment, of returning home, to a place we have forgotten. Paradoxically, we are in the process of bridging and bringing that home here, to this universe. 4. In our inner travels, meditations, and dreams, we can visit our home and gain strength for our work. What is the nature of the universe in which we live? 5. We live in a beautiful and mysterious universe, on a planet struggling for its life. 6. The universe we inhabit is not the only place there is. Co-existing alongside it, and superimposed on our universe, are countless billions of others in a gigantic multifoliate reality of parallel and higher worlds. 7. The four worlds described by the Kabbala exist as realities. The four-worlds model provides a good characterization of this larger system but is not the only way to categorize all realities. About the connection between our worlds and higher orders of reality: 8. Alternative realities that we may perceive are not always completely disconnected from our own: they overlap our perceived universe and jostle its atoms. 9. To some extent, we can influence this overlap. About the connection between our dreams and other orders of reality: 10. Some of the overlapping realities are accessible by us in our ordinary reality, during both our dreaming and waking times. They especially edge in at moments of peak or unusually elevated experience, such as when in love, at births or deaths, etc. 11. We gather together to observe and celebrate many of these elevated experiences. These gatherings weave our souls together as a spiritual community. 12. Our dreams are occurring all the time just beneath our usual waking consciousness. Who we are: Where we come from, and the nature of our work: What is the nature of the universe in which we live? About the connection between our worlds and higher orders of reality: About the connection between our dreams and other orders of reality: My Beliefs Your Beliefs 13. Imagination is as important as knowledge: both link us directly to the universe. 14. Journeys taken in vehicles made of perceptual awareness and experience, transporting me through inner worlds, are equally as significant as those taken in automobiles or airplanes or trains or boats transporting me across the countryside or across the water or the sky. About the Jewish Holydays: 15. The Jewish calendar schedules Holydays to occur at times of planetary energetic fluctuation, such as during an equinox, or at various phases of the moon. During these times it is more possible to sense other realities, and inner journeys taken at these times are more likely to be successful. 16. The change we perceive as time is a function of the constant interaction between our perceivable universe and the other worlds. Through the time markings of Shabbat and Festivals, we interact with many planes of existence, and consciously help our universe in its spiral through time. About connecting with God: 17. God is our home. 18. We are already in direct contact with the origin of the universe, in many ways. 19. I believe that God stands ready to communicate with us in many different ways. 20. We can consult with the Highest Being directly in this and in other realities through inner and outer journeys. 21. Inner guides are available to help us connect when we am feeling distant or diminished. 22. I feel that the Kabbala is correct when it says that God appears at different times as each of five personas; the wise old one, the mother, the father, the son, the daughter. I believe that God also appears in diverse forms such as the whirlwind, the volcano, the sun, etc. About the earth, consciousness, and Meshiakh: 23. The earth, as well as the universe, has consciousness -it is like some great body which is being born, with its nervous system, its perceptive organs, its memory, still developing. 24. We, as aware, self-reflexive beings, are the culmination of billions of years of process in the universe becoming self-aware. 25. The universe has a stake in our continued existence, and we are in a unique position to help the universe achieve something special. 26. The human provides the ability for the universe to feel itself. When the universe learns this from us, the dawning of a new age will have begun. Here lies the secret of our awaiting the Messianic age. About the Jewish Holydays: About connecting with God: About the earth, consciousness, and Meshiakh: