Thoughts on new group Committing to Oneness

Jesus said:
"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us."

"I am that which thou art, thou art that which I am."

“In him, we live and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:26

Hereby, know we that dwell in him, he in us, because he hath given us of Spirit. 1 John 4:13



First of all I think we need to add to subtitle besides loving those we "don't like" to ones we "don't agree with".

I want this group to go deep with the exploration of the principles of Oneness and what are the best ways to get out of separation. Besides reading Byron Katie, MLK, Jr., Ernest Holmes, Arjuna Ardagh's Awakening into Oneness, Jackie and I have been really enjoying Oprah and Eckhart on Monday Nights.

So far, I feel Holmes and Eckhart identify the problems of separation very well, and Byron Katie may have best concrete solution to it? Although, I like Eckhart's very well.

My idea of the group would be to read segments of the writings about Oneness, and then take turns dialoguing about them using the Native American "talking stick" as a tool. I find the sacred stick makes it easier to focus on one person at a time.

In this example of his writing, Ernest Holmes presents a solid case for the Reality of Oneness, the adjustment needed and his suggestions of how to get out of separation.

"We must have a firm conviction that all people live in God, and we must have a deep realization that we are all One in this Universal Spirit that is God.

There is a place where we begin and leave off physically, but there is no place where we begin and leave off mentally or spiritually. Our minds merge with the minds of others, and as they meet, some silent force within us attracts or repels automatically in accord with our accepted thought patterns.

If we do not merge with others in cooperation, in unity, and in happiness, we may be certain that there is something in us that feels it has been rebuffed or rejected. Here is where an adjustment is needed.

If you want sunshine, step out into the sunshine. If you have locked yourself away in a dark closet, why not come out into the light? If you have been feeling everything is against you and no one really cares for you, know that God is in everyone, and meet God in others. See what happens. If you think that all the fears and failures and hurts you have been carrying around for years are something over which you have no control, come to realize that you are born out of Life. The thing that entered into you when you were born was God, the living Spirit you are One with everything because you are One with God. Recognizing this truth, you can go forth and meet joy and love."

Above is an example of the reading we can use in group and then dialogue about the best way to "get into the light" . How Eckhart tells us to do it. How Byron Katie tells us to do it. How Martin Luther King did it! Ernest Holmes's Science of Mind is very similar to Unity with using Affirmative Prayers, meditation, prayer (Spiritual Mind Treatments in Science of Mind) to change our thinking. Holmes is very clear that the above processes change the brain over time, as the deeksha blessings do in a quicker time period. Why not have both? I want to know the principles and techniques rationally and how to use them effectively. And the way you ask questions, I am sure you do also?

A goal for the Committing to Oneness group will be to synthesize current and past knowledge about oneness. Next we will identify the principles, integrate them individually and in group, and then dialogue about how to put them in practice in our lives.

Committing to Oneness: Learning to Love Everyone Group

Does it work? Yes, so much better. It's a confusing issue....as I thought about it later.... it's loving the people who think you are whacko, loving the snobs, loving the people who do you wrong.... Everyone I know struggles with this... and I know I'm just glad that God's admonition is not to LIKE everyone . Instead it is to love, to treat them well - as if they are family. So you see the face of God in all people.......serve them as you can, and avoid some of them like the plague
Sally

Dear Sally,

Thank you for bringing that brilliant poem to us, about the abusive young man who almost committed suicide. He is a great example of the question - if we believe in oneness, in unity - how can we love the "unlovable"? If we believe in the death penalty, there can be no dialoque here. However, I believe that as Martin Luther King, Jr. says - we love our "enemies" by seeing "the image of God" in them, and we are all "Children of God." Did you see DEAD MAN WALKING, the actress who played the Nun (true story) was brilliant in learning to love the Child of God in the absolutely criminally insane actor on death row. And actually, the condemned criminal eventually started to redeem himself toward the end, and appeared to have died with some peace and forgiveness in his heart.

I really was inspired that you did mention a redeeming characteristic of the abusive handicapped man in your poem - his working in the yard, pruning the plants...... I believe that every one of us has some redeeming characteristics, and that we as humans cannot play God and condemn someone to death because of characteristics that we abhor.

I see the group as a dialogue/inquiry group. First asking God in meditation of how to love those we don't like, and then passing the Sacred Talking Stick (Native American Dialogue) and taking turns seeing what comes through us on the inquiry. "Dia..." of dialogue means "coming through" and logue means conversing - "saying what comes through." "Discuss" is rooted with "diss" and "cuss" and is related to disrespect, dismay, dissonance, concussion, percussion. "Discussion" implies coming into group with your beliefs and defending them in a debate. Dialogue implies leaving your beliefs at the door and coming in to group with open mind and open heart, willing to receive what Spirit says directly in meditation or what Spirit may say through each one of us. The "Talking Stick" is to keep the focus on one person at a time. One can pass the Stick, if silence seems more appropriate at that time. Or, inversely, one can ask for stick if one feels moved to share and are not interrupting the flow of conversation.