Te Michael Bernard Beckwith Event, which includes music by Rickie Byars Beckwith, begins Friday 7pm,
at the Montgomery Room S
piritual &
Liberation Beholding
by Michael Bernard Beckwith
Michael Bernard Beckwith—spiritual leader, one of the teachers in “The Secret,” and founder of Agape Foundation—addresses spiri- tual liberation and the importance of the process of beholding.
My central message is not about religiosity or churchianity. It is about aspiring toward spiritual liberation, which I define as becoming free from the narrow confines of fear, doubt, worry, and lack, and living instead from a conscious awareness of one’s Authentic Self, one’s true nature of wholeness.
Spiritual liberation results from discovering and expressing the intrinsic qualities of enlightened consciousness that have been ours since the moment we came into existence. Simply put, all that is required to live up to our highest potential is already inside us awaiting our conscious activation. Living up to our potential is about becoming more ourselves, more of who and what we are as awakened beings.
Growing into spiritual adulthood has to do with understanding that we are here to attune ourselves to the evolutionary impulse that governs the universe, which is infinite, conscious, and seeks to articulate itself by means of us. We live in a universe where nothing remains static. An acorn seed, when planted in good soil and provided the proper nutrients, ultimately evolves into its fullest potential as an oak tree. Likewise, in order to fully evolve, the Spirit-seed at the core of our being must be cultivated. We too must till the soil of our consciousness with spiritual tools and inner nutrients that enable us to fully deliver our gifts, talents, and skills. Trough this inner work, our consciousness becomes a fertile condition for our conscious participation in our evolution, rather than a natural selection process driven by external conditions.
Jesus the Christ, Gautama the Buddha, Bhagavan Krishna, and many others are examples of spiritually liberated beings. Tey are our way- showers. Each of them provides a unique map leading to the same destination, whether it’s defined as self-realization, enlightenment, satori, nirvana, perfect sanity, samadhi, or ecstasy. We, like them, are candidates for awakening. In fact, we have a mandate to wake up to our true nature and the nature of Reality.
As we spiritually mature, we discover that there are universal laws that can be used to accelerate our evolution. In the beginning stages, these laws are applied to get our legitimate needs met. For example, prosperity is a livelihood focus; healing the body is a health focus; and a relationship is a love focus. By aligning ourselves with the laws that govern these aspects of our humanity, our life
“Spiritual liberation results from discovering and expressing the interinsic qualities of enlightened consciousness that have been ours since the moment we came into existence.”
structures stabilize and we are free to move into deep dimensions of our being. With our energies no longer entirely focused on feeding, clothing and housing, we are free to enter the real work to discover and release what the poet Robert Browning called our “inner splendor.”
Tere is a cosmic magnet drawing each of us into an intimate exploration of the dimensions of our being. And yet, few of us have responded to this magnetic pull and intimately communed with our deepest Self. Te world intimacy comes from the Latin root intimum and refers to our innermost core. When we give our consent to this mystical adventure, we open ourselves to the wonders of existence, which are so exquisite we are metaphorically brought to our knees.
What I’m describing here is not some spiritually romantic notion. A profound inner search is an adventure for the spiritually courageous, for the spiritual warrior. It is an inner trek that takes us down roads of self-discovery we have not walked before. It is where nothing is avoided—the ecstatic and the profane—everything is faced. Tis is how we embrace the fullness of who we are and come into genuine self-acceptance. We break through the filters which we view and live life. Tose filters include our past fears, our hopes for the future, all the ego’s cherished opinions, beliefs, and concepts that we use to hold our life together. Our “yes” to participating in this journey is our entrance into a consciousness of beholding.
continued on page 36 New Visions Magazine ▪ 9
EXPO
A
t
t
h
e
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48