My dreams have been so informative. In this chapter I’ll share what I was told about sustainable living and how this has become a “moral crisis”, and that “ecology” held the answer to this. Everything is interrelated, and every part affects the whole. We truly need to treat others and all of life the way we would like to be treated. This was especially true in the way we treat the environment. Our continued pollution of the air, water, and soil has now become a climate emergency and is the greatest threat to global health. Listen here.
Awakening and Enlightenment Presentation
Dean is the minister and featured speaker for the Florence Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (FUUF) on the first Sunday of every month. Here is the link to his April 3rd presentation, Dean’s talk begins at 32:50 Listen here
Article: Awakening and Enlightenment
Philosophers, poets, prophets, and metaphysicians throughout time have attempted to explain the nature, character, and causes of being and knowing, the existence of God, and that which is above or beyond the material world. Most people believe they are not just physical; they are also spiritual beings. Indeed, in my efforts to help people develop a will to live and reprioritize their lives, I found their spirituality is what is most important to them.
Who you are physically is determined by your genes, which theoretically goes all the way back to the origin of the human species. To consider who you are spiritually, if we use this same cause and effect logic, we would have to trace ourselves back to the origin of your spiritual nature and what is beyond or behind the physical. Most people think of this origin as God or a Supreme Being.
It’s hard for a finite mind to consider that there is an Original Cause that had no beginning. Where did this Creator come from? However you understand this infinite “Uncaused Cause”, you came from this Divine Creator.
Every major religion has attempted to explain the ultimate nature of reality and has advised people how to live. The ultimate purpose in life is to realize the Eternal Self within, to know of one’s union with this Supreme Being/God, and ways to live in harmony with all of creation. From a spiritual perspective, then, the question, “Who am I?” could be answered: one with God. We are God manifesting in human form.
Awakening is remembering our forgotten identity – realizing that we are more than our body, mind, and the physical. We are body, mind, and spirit. Some would say we are spiritual beings having a physical experience. I believe a more enlightened understanding is that we are spiritual beings having a spiritual experience. We are never separate from our Spiritual Source. We can never leave the heart of God. Enlightenment’s about your human ego transcending a finite sense of itself to an infinite sense of truth or reality.
I have learned that what most people are looking for is peace of mind. This comes when we are able to be ourself, without judgement, doing what gives us the greatest joy and meaning in our lives. From a spiritual perspective, you are most yourself what you realize you are one with your Source/God.
Enlightenment includes these deeper truths: You are perfectly safe and loved. The universe is 100% benevolent – complete harmony, order. There are no mistakes, accidents. You create your own reality with your thoughts and feelings – and take full responsibility for them. True enlightenment is “lightening up” and knowing that there is no where to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except being who you are right now, fully present.
Podcast #8: Your Life Comes With Instructions
Thank you for your interest to listen to the podcast of the eighth chapter titled “Birds, Animals, and Pets” of my new book, Your Life Comes With Instructions.
By now you can appreciate the connectedness of everything – and the love, caring, and compassion that abounds, underlies, and surrounds us. We’re all in this together. This includes all of nature. Helping each other is normal and natural. In this chapter I hope you’ll come to see birds, animals, and pets in a little different light. Even insects! Listen here.
Divine Revelation, Dreams, and Channeling Presentation
Dean is the minister and featured speaker for the Florence Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (FUUF) on the first Sunday of every month. Here is the link to his March 6th presentation, “Divine Revelation, Dreams, and Channeling”. (Dean’s talk begins at 22:34)
Divine Revelation, Dreams, and Channeling
Every culture in recorded history has used divine revelation and dreams for spiritual guidance. Indeed, this is the source of many of the world’s religions. The Arabic prophet, Muhammad, was given spiritual insights by the angel Gabriel. Most of this guidance in founding the religion of Muhammadanism and the content of the Koran was revealed to him through his dreams. Joseph Smith was ordained a prophet based on revelation from an angel, which became the Book of Mormon and the foundation of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1830. The Buddha’s birth was announced to his mother, Queen Maza, in a dream, where it was foretold that he would become a spiritual leader. And the birth of Jesus was similarly announced to his mother, Mary.
Ancient wisdom proposes that life’s purpose is realizing the enduring connection to a greater whole, or oneness with God. Humans throughout history knew of this connection through personal mystical, peak, or transcendent experiences. This included mediumship or trance communication with the gods such as practiced by the Biblical prophets Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Micah. This deep sense of belonging of the individual to Spirit has been told by prophets throughout the ages. Dreams, visions, trance, prophecy, oracle, revelation, spirit communication, and inspiration of the muses were valued to such a degree, there was no urgent need to distinguish one from another.
The 14th to the 16th centuries were the Renaissance period of thought and reason and initiated the use of the scientific method to determine truth. Religious beliefs, which are the realm of faith, were going to be challenged by objectively measured fact. As the nature of the universe and the physical body came to be viewed as mechanistic, the use of intuitive means for spiritual guidance and spiritual questions such as life having meaning and purpose, came under scientific scrutiny.
This raises the question: How do we know what’s true?
Intuition by definition is knowledge based on insight or spiritual perception rather than on reasoning. In general, we allow that women can be intuitive, and men have “gut feelings”, but most people rely on their direct experience to determine what’s true. Or we rely on our collective experience such as in the jury and legal system. But the fact is that we tend to see what we expect to see, and hear what we expect to hear, which is quite subjective.
Enter the world of science where everything must be objectively measured. While science can’t answer the greatest questions such as the purpose of life, the study of quantum physics appears to have given science to religious and spiritual beliefs.
Quantum physics has determined that there is an infinite sea of energy that underlies and connects all of physical reality. Theoretical physicist Dr. David Bohm proposes that underlying all of these energy fields is a Primary Reality, which is a source of all other realities He believes that through meditation or contemplation the brain becomes quiet and sympathetic with the underlying universal frequency pattern. This allows a new means to perceive reality and an alternative way of knowing.
Bohm, along with the Indian sage Krishna Murti, believe that enlightenment is the channeling of the universal force to operate through us. This “wholeness” which links the entire universe is a force of compassion and an active concern for all of creation. They concluded that “in short, the energy itself is love…the ultimate nature of the universe is an energy of love.”
This conclusion fascinates me for numbers of reasons. People commonly think of God as love, that love is the answer to all our concerns, and no matter what the situation, God is always present and available for guidance and support. We are always loved and cared for by an omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent Source of all of life.
The bible Claims, “Ask and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). Indeed, most people use prayer for insight and guidance. In fact, prayer is an important part of the daily life of about 75% of Americans. About 60% report that faith is the most important influence in their lives. While science dominates most of our lives, an interesting statistic is that if you don’t pray, you are not normal.
Definitions of faith, knowing, knowledge, truth, and trust commonly include considerations of one’s beliefs, confidence, certainty, conviction, and enlightenment. The Greek root meaning of faith is trust.
What are your deepest beliefs, convictions, and expectations? Unfortunately, I’ve found that many people have deep beliefs of feeling powerless, hopeless, and unworthy. These beliefs keep them from having faith and knowing the truth of who we are.
All major religions (to my great surprise) believe that we are all one with God and all that is. This also is the conclusion of quantum physics. The last thing we are is “not good enough” or underserving. We are God manifesting in form. We are one with the Source of all of creation.
I’ve discovered that perhaps above all else, we’re all looking for peace of mind, and that our faith (or belief or trust or assurance) is that this faith is an ultimate source of inner and outer peace. God is. Love is. Grace is. We just have to open to it and allow it.
I have extensive personal and professional experience and knowledge about meditation, channeling, and inner guidance. Interestingly, I’m currently writing a new book Your Life Comes with Instructions. I was encouraged to write this through a channeled communication. I was to direct the reader “inside”, to look within. All of the information we could ever want, or need was already within us.
Additionally, I was asked to let my Greater Being be the source of what I wrote. No science. No research. The content is all from my dreams, meditations, or channeled information.
There is what I call a “wisdom channel” that we can tune into at any time for guidance and support. I know that God or our Greater Being/Higher Self speaks to everyone all the time. What do you believe, and are you willing to listen?