Spiritual Living Podcast Archive

The three things that people are most afraid of are death, other people, and their own minds. The Buddha said this, "All we are is the result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thought. It is made up of our thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage. "All we are is the result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thought. It is made up of our thought. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him." So if we're miserable, what do we do? If we're unhappy or suffering, what do we do? The answer here is clear.

Motivational guest speaker Elizabeth Manuel speaks today about presence, awareness, and intention. She considers the question, "What's lurking beneath the threshold of our consciousness?", as she weaves examples of practical spiritual principles into triumphant stories of her life's struggles.

As a modern society, we tend to operate in ways that are not sustainable. This is our enchantment with progress. But we are not stuck, and we teach spiritual principles that we can apply in our lives, individually and collectively, to change the way that we show up in the world.

Ernest Holmes wrote that in the New Thought movement "we are likely to indulge in too much theory and too little practice." We need to practice these spiritual thoughts and spiritual modalities, to integrate them into the foundation of who we are. "As a matter of fact, we only know as much as we can prove by actual demonstration."

Ernest Holmes wrote, "We can know God only in so far as we can become God." We must practice these things as we work towards waking up our consciousness. "It is necessary that we release all thoughts---as well as things---that clutter up our lives." "I am looking at the face of God. You are beautiful. I support you in releasing and dissolving and eradicating whatever it is that you know is no longer required. You've got this. I celebrate your freedom and giving birth to the infinite possibilities!"

Divine Power is the energetic field of unconditional love and infinite possibility. When we move into that field, that's where instantaneous healing takes place. It is never too late. We are never too old. We are never too young. We are never deficient in any way, shape, or form. This is the only moment. We are in this incubator of unconditional love and possibility. This Presence is immersed in us. Divine Energy is unceasingly seeking an outlet. There is a Universal Mind, a Spirit, an Intelligence that is the origin of everything. It is First Cause. It is God. This Universal Life and Energy finds an outlet in and through all that is energized and through everything that lives. There is no spot where God is not.

"Protector and controller, may we please move through the Doorway of the Infinite Possibility of Love?" This January, Dr. Patrick explains the basics of the Science of Mind. Through Dr. Ernest Holmes, he explains how the engine works, and that it works for everyone. The study of the Science of Mind is the study of First Cause, Spirit, Mind, or the Invisible Essence, the Ultimate Stuff and Intelligence from which everything comes, the Power back of creation. There is a Divine Plan, and the Divine Plan is one of Freedom. Freedom is the birthright of every individual. All instinctively feel this. The inherent nature of man is forever and forever seeking to express itself in terms of freedom.

Dr. Patrick gives us three tools to look over the past year to help us move into the new year. He considers the "disease of more", a look at our values, and new ways of practice.

Why do we have the Feast of Christmas? Dr. Patrick considers the history of how we approach Christmas and the birth of the Christ. It turns out that Christmas and the Winter Solstice are linked in a very beautiful way. The deepest dark is not where grace goes to die, but the place where grace goes to be born and reborn.

The teens and their advisors, Aleisha Cloutier-Parcels and Daniel Sande, share their personal stories on how they are learning empowerment through self-discovery.

Musician and spiritual hero Amy Bishop moves us with her powerful songs and stories about being awake.

Transnarrative cognition is understanding and going beyond our story. Dr. Patrick looks at "Green", the final meme in the first tier of Spiral Dynamics, which represents community. Remember that your perception of the world is a reflection of your state of consciousness. You are not separate from it, and there is no objective world out there. Every moment, your consciousness creates the world that you inhabit. -- Eckhart Tolle

This week, Dr. Patrick looks at "Blue" and "Orange", the fourth and fifth memes in the Spiral Dynamics. Blue represents the rule of law. The establishment of order. The quest for ultimate peace. Orange represents the achiever-self. Playing the game to win. The quest for material pleasure. He then gives us three spiritual practices to help us awaken through the challenges presented by the above memes.

Dr. Patrick looks at "Red", the third meme in the Spiral Dynamics, which represents the warrior.

Dr. Patrick looks at "Purple", the second meme in the Spiral Dynamics, which represents the tribe.

Dr. Patrick looks at "Beige", the first meme in the Spiral Dynamics, which represents survival. We all rely on others for our survival.

Conflict happens in every area of life. Using Dr. Gary Simmons' book The I of the Storm, we can learn what is conflict, why embrace it, and how can we stand in the eye of the storm. We need to understand that change and movement are the heartbeat of the universe... the field of creation. Change is never ending and follows universal, predictable rules. All events have their origin in opposite, complementary forces, like yin and yang. This is our curriculum. This is how we evolve. Conflict is a tool. It brings us to the edge and gives us the chance to make a choice. Only at the edge of the abyss of our insecurities do we realize they are filled with potentialities. Conflict leads to rebirth and transformation.

The Centre is undergoing a transformation from a minister-centric community to a ministry-centric community. This is guided by the Genogram activity and our community's Shadow Card and Q Card. The Shadow Card is when we are acting outside of our integrity. The Q Card is the diamond that we are being called and shaped into. Visionary Tama Kieves says it this way, "I hate transitions. But I am black coal, and this compression is turning me into a diamond. And as much as I want to conform and just be like every other chunk of coal, I am cursed by my need for a life of meaning. I will walk or crawl through transformation because I want a life of diamonds."

Dr. Patrick presents the community's Q Card. The reverse side of the card speaks of the shadow qualities of our community, while the front side of the card speaks to our destiny as a vibrant, impactful ministry-centric spiritual community. Dr. Patrick's talk is followed by a meditative musical experience presented by Dennis Goodwill, using singing bowls, gongs, and other instruments which were not captured well by the recording, and hence not included in the podcast.

No one is against us, even our own lives. Our lives become predictable because attention and awareness continually re-frame the present moment to the context of past influences. These are our patterns. Consciousness is poured into the creative framework of attention and awareness to set in motion the forces that organize the manifest universe. If consciousness is in bondage to the past, or if attention is mesmerized according to ingrained patterns of awareness, the future is simply an extended line from here to tomorrow. In other words, we just keep repeating the past.