Namaste from all of us at the Awakening Ways Center for Spiritual Living Community.
By taking a “New Thought” about the ancient spiritual traditions of the world, we can come to a new, more abundant and dynamic experience of Good and “Living the Consciously Awakened Life”.
We honor all paths to God and recognize and teach the spiritual ideas of the Golden Thread of truth and love that run through all great faiths.
A Practical Spirituality that includes these beliefs
• There is only One Life and One Power in the Universe and that Life and Power is the Divine – whether we call it God, Spirit, or anything else. That Life and that Power is Good.
• That Divine Power is in, as, and through all creation. Each person is a unique and sacred expression of the Divine.
• The laws of the universe act through Love: love of God, love of self, love of each other, and love of all life. Freedom, peace, and joy belong to everyone.
• We are a welcoming community of warm-hearted, like-minded people celebrating diversity, and our gatherings are positive, upbeat, and life-affirming. Come, join us to discover and experience your personal connection and relationship with the Divine.
Our Core Values
LOVE — The nature of the Divine expressed as the unconditional acceptance of self and others: The Way of Love nurtures the giving and receiving of unconditional care and acceptance.
COMMUNITY — A gathering of diverse, loving people who support one another on their spiritual journeys: The Way of Community teaches and promotes trust and loving kindness in all our relationships.
AWAKENING — Shifts in consciousness that allow us to experience Oneness as Unity with the Divine and all Creation: The Way of Awakening opens us to spiritually evolve to become all that we were truly meant to be.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH — The continuing process of discovering and expressing the loving Presence of the Divine in every moment: The Way of Spiritual Growth promotes learning and using the spiritual tools that allow us to experience the Presence of the Divine in every circumstance, every relationship, and in all life.
HEALING — Revealing and experiencing Divine Perfection: The Way of Healing leads to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual tranquility, balance, and attunement.
SERVICE — Expressing Divine Love through acts of generosity of time, talent, and resources: The Way of Service offers opportunities for selfless acts of loving labor as a gift to Spirit.
Our Guiding Spiritual Practices
Our Guiding Practices are the spiritual practices and consciousness-elevating techniques which allow us to live from our inner being of Divine wholeness and to be a beneficial presence in the world.
The five fundamental practices include prayer (spiritual mind treatment/affirmative and devotional), meditation, spiritual education, the principle and practice of financial circulation, and selfless service.
Prayer – Spiritual Mind Treatment is the affirmative prayer we use to commune with the Eternal Presence which consists of 5 steps including: Recognition, Unification, Realization, Thanksgiving, and Release. The simplest prayer is there is only one God, I am one with it now, it is a perfect life, and all is well, I give thanks as I release it to the creative action of the law where it is made manifest now. And so it is! Devotional prayer is more personal and communion with the God/Spirit/Source Energy/Presence of your understanding in any way that is comfortable for you, without any formula and a free flow of or stream of consciousness from the heart.
Meditation – Meditation can take many forms such as silent sitting, chanting, movement (walking, yoga, dancing, etc.), drawing mandalas, etc. When we meditate, we allow ourselves to slow down and give the mind a rest from thought and doing, moving into a state of being. Centered and anchored we emerge with new energy, clarity, and vitality of Spirit.
Spiritual Education – This is ongoing and can include taking a class or workshop, daily readings from a spiritual book of your choice, attending a Sunday service or a lecture, and so on. We encourage learning more about the philosophy of Ernest Holmes by reading How to Change Your Life: An Inspirational Life-Changing Classic, Basic Ideas of Science of Mind, the Science of Mind textbook, other Ernest Holmes writings, or perhaps reading the daily guides from the Science of Mind Magazine.
Financial Circulation – We practice giving to our spiritual community where we are nourished and fed spiritually out of the generosity of the Spirit within us in a regular fashion. As we do this, we strengthen our trust in the Spirit knowing that as we give, we also receive, and the giving enhances the value of our community. Our gifts return to us multiplied abundantly.
Selfless Service – We participate in selflessly serving our spiritual community in any way that we can, based on our talent and devotion. It takes a village for any community to thrive and as each individual contributes from their heart there is growth and beauty that emerges. Some people might be called to do administrative work while others may be called to become licensed prayer practitioners or to serve on the Board of Trustees. Still, others may love to create beautiful graphics for the website, banners, flyers, etc. Whatever it is, we encourage you to bring your talents and gifts with heartfelt joy and love. There is no small act of service, and we graciously appreciate each one of you!
Visioning, the Co-Creation Process, and mindfulness are also spiritual practices frequently used.
We welcome and encourage the use of any spiritual practice that supports you in your communion and devotion to the God of your understanding! Whether you dance, exercise, bike, chant, drum, sing, kirtan, play a musical instrument, or otherwise, you are welcome here.
Part of manifesting a world that works for everyone includes honoring all faith traditions and walks of life.
We at the Awakening Ways Spiritual Community have great respect for all. We believe that God is personal to all who feel Its indwelling presence. We have heard of answered prayer occurring for people of all faith traditions and conclude that your faith and your belief in a God of your understanding leads to the manifest realization of a life you truly love, or, your prayers answered.
While our understanding of God may be different, and we may call it by different names, it is our belief in the One Thing that is in and through all religions or faith traditions, that is the God which answers all of our prayers. We can take a premise from each faith tradition and use them as we like and then discard that which does not work for us.
For example:
- Judaism tells us that there is only one God.
- Christianity tells us that you can have a personal relationship with it.
- Hinduism tells us that it has many faces and many voices, and yours is one of them.
- Paganism tells us that everything is interconnected.
- Taoism tells us that once you name it you leave others out.
- Buddhism tells us that there is suffering and that the cause of that suffering is attachment; the cure is detachment.
- Islam tells us that the way to get out of that suffering is through spiritual practice.
- Science of Mind says that’s not all, there’s so much more!