Living Originally: A Courageous Shift in Identity

This coming Sunday we will be welcoming back to Unity Center for Spiritual Growth Gregg Levoy. Gregg is the author of Callings and Vital Signs. He will be doing an afternoon workshop on Zoom and here is what it will cover:

In the central creation story in the Western world (Genesis), Chaos with a capital C is described as the condition of the Earth before it was formed. i.e. Chaos precedes Creation.

The vaccine that’s finally arrived for the coronavirus works on the same principle: We introduce a little chaos into the body in order to strengthen it, shake it up for the sake of helping it grow and evolve. And the “chaos” of the pandemic year has the potential to do the same thing, and this Zoom service and webinar is an opportunity to explore how your own life might grow and evolve as a result of it, whether creatively, professionally, interpersonally, or spiritually.

Through self-reflective questions, small-group work, sharing, and discussion, you’ll clarify:

• What wants to emerge or awaken for you?
• What’s been given an unexpected entrance cue, or been called-for from you, during these unsettling times?
• What you’ve discovered about yourself?
• What the takeaways have been for you this past year?
• And what you want your new-normal to look like once the pandemic is in the rearview mirror?

Don’t miss joining us for the workshop. What Gregg is offering aligns beautifully with the new series I began this past Sunday: Living Originally by Unity minister Robert Brumet. The title of the talk was “A Courageous Shift in Identity.”

Brumet writes: To live originally is to live consciously from the ever present origin of life; it is to live from the very source of all that is. This ever present origin is centered within each of us. We all live from that origin, but the vast majority of us are not conscious of this. Most of us live unconsciously because we have become identified with a false self; we live from a mistaken identity. This false self is the product of our conditioning; it is a manufactured sense of self. It is unoriginal.

Living Originally requires one to have a transformation of consciousness.

Here are some key points that I didn’t cover in the talk:

Right intention: Does this intention arise from the authentic self or from the ego?

Desire: Discernment of desire is essential…desire for transformation is necessary to provide the motivation to engage spiritual practice.

Surrender: not to anything or anyone outside of yourself; it is surrendering to our own authentic self.

Resistance: from our subconscious arises and we see the myriad of ways we deceive ourselves. We begin to see that resistance and deception are the foundation of the ego itself.

Honesty: It takes brutal honesty to see the ways we deceive ourselves and others as well. True surrender can’t occur without complete honesty, and complete honesty can’t occur without genuine right intention.

Personal will: Transformation doesn’t occur simply through willpower; however, we must be willing to allow transformation to happen. We must have the will to surrender our will, but not force it to happen.

Awareness, trust, and appreciation are all attitudes that ripen us for transformation.

In the next few weeks, we will be putting our attention to the process of cultivating the soil for transformation by way of spiritual practices.

Have a week of living originally…from the center of your being to the circumference of your life.

Nonviolent Practice: Week 4 – Kindness, Graciousness

Every day we hear of random and senseless acts of violence. Participate in the counter-revolution of kindness started by Anne Herbert. Perform three random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty each day this week.

When you are out driving this week, slow down, and let the other person in front of you. Stop and let pedestrians cross the street.

Have a great week and stay safe and healthy.

You are a blessing in my life,
Rev. Patricia Bessey