Quote of the day - Where did America's wealth come from?

"America would not be the wealthy country it is without slave labor. We would not have our power or wealth if we had not, for a very long time, depended on the unpaid labor of millions of human beings. I feel like I shouldn’t have to spell this out, but maybe I do. America was built by the labor of enslaved men, women, and children. Cotton wasn’t king just in the South. Many of the most productive cotton mills were in the North, as were the insurance companies and other industries that profited off those mills. Without a lot of unpaid labor, those profits would have been significantly less. And we are still depending on the unpaid or underpaid labor of millions of human beings — from prison workers to immigrants to foreign labor. The question of slavery is still with us. America has a legacy of harming other human beings and justifying that harm by glorifying the wealth it brings to a few. Thankfully America also has a legacy of resisting that impulse."

Camille Dungy, The Sun, June 2018, p.7

What do you have faith in?

Osho says,

"In fact, the moment a child is perfectly conditioned by you, you are very happy; you call it 'religious education.' You are very happy that the child has been initiated in the religion of his parents. All that you have done is you have destroyed his capacity to know on his own. You have destroyed his authenticity. You have destroyed his very precious innocence. You have closed his doors and windows. Now he will have an encapsulated existence. He will live in his inner darkness, surrounded by all kinds of stupid theories, systems of thoughts, philosophies, ideologies. He will be lost in a jungle of words and he will not be able to come out easily.

Even if he comes across a Master, if he meets a Buddha, then too it will take years for him to unlearn - because learning becomes almost your blood, you bones, you marrow. And to go against you own knowledge seems to be going against yourself, against your tradition, against your country, against your religion, It seems as if you are a traitor, as you are betraying. In fact, your society has betrayed you, has contaminated your soul." p.217 "Ah, This!"

Rev. Galen Guengerich, the pastor at All Souls Unitarian Church in New York City describes, in his book, God Revised, how when he left his conservative Mennonite community in central Delaware to go to Princeton Theological divinity school that his family and friends were afraid he would lose his faith. Guengerich said, in fact, he didn't lose "his" faith, he lost "their" faith, and now was free to find his own.

Spirituality, unlike religion, is not taught to a person, or given to a person, it must be found by the person as part of his/her own experience. Spirituality is not a creed, a set of beliefs, or the practice of special rituals, or adherence to traditional activities. Spirituality is the experience of the Divine within and among the Divine's creations.

Most of religion appears on the path of the ego. Spirituality appears on the path of the spirit.

What do you have faith in? What informs and gives your experience of your life meaning?

What does it take to be spiritual?

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and knowledge.

People are not aware that knowledge is not truth. Knowledge is borrowed. Truth is personal.

Religion is not knowledge. Religion is experience.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that knowledge is spiritual. Knowledge is counterfeit spirituality. For a true spiritual experience, knowledge has to be set aside. Knowing about swimming and actually swimming are two entirely different things. In the same way, knowing about religion and being religious are two different things.

As David Francis, the Unitarian pioneer said, we need not think alike to love alike.

Spirituality, in the Christian tradition, is walking in Love. That doesn't take knowledge. It takes forgiveness.

What books do for us

UU A Way Of Life podcast, Episode #10 - Spiritual growth

Are you a lover, a meditator, or still in the ego?

Osho says, "These are the two paths from the valley leading to the peak. One path is of awareness, meditation: the path of Zen we have been talking about these days. And the other is the path of love, the path of the devotees, the bhaktas, the Sufis. These two paths are separate when you start the journey; you have to choose. Whichever one you choose is going to lead to the same peak. As you come closer to the peak you will be surprised: the travelers on the path are coming closer to you. Slowly, slowly, the paths start merging into each other. By the time you have reached the ultimate, you are one." p.213, "Ah, This!"

We could also say that the path of mediation is the path of the Buddhists, and the path of Love is the path of Christians. Jesus said that the way to the kingdom is to "love as I have loved."

Unitarian Universalists describe what they all their "living tradition" as emanating from six sources, what has also been called the "perennial philosophy" which is what all the religions have in common which is the journey to the top of the peak.

Osho's point seems to be that if you are to journey to the peak you must choose a path. You can't walk them all at once. How can you be in two places at one time? Which route will you choose? Which route is best for you?

It's not that we can't sample them all. Indeed we can, but muddling on them all will not get us to the peak and takes a lot of time and energy.

It seems to me that walking the path of Love takes a certain amount of mindfulness and as one nears the top of the peak, as Osho points out, they become one. Lovers are meditators, and meditators become lovers.

At the very least get off the path of the ego and onto the path of the spirit.

Weekly report from the publisher, 06/10/18

It has been quite a week here on UU A Way Of Life.

We remembered Fred Rogers and his message that we all our neighbors. In the time of Trump many of us have forgotten or never realized that we are all in this thing called "Life" together and none of us gets our alive.

Camille Dunghy, in her interview in the Sun Magazine, describes how she and her husband decided to consciously and intentionally bring a child into this world as a sign of their faith and hope in our collective future. Being a victim of racism her whole life, Dr. Dunghy's decision and action is very admirable and inspiring for those of us privileged to witness them.

The work of the non profit, For Freedoms, is also inspiring and needs our help in joining artistic work and creation with the betterment of society. I hope you will make a small contribution of only $10.00.

Many of the articles this week describe the journey on the spiritual path the key to which is  identifying a Master. There aren't many Masters, if any, in the history of Unitarian Universalism and that's a shame. No one, with the exception possibly of the transcendentalists, have been able to build a spirit life on the basis of the Perennial philosophy which Unitarian Universalism espouses. Osho says that the function of the Master is to help us remember our Divine nature, and to validate it when we find it.

People who leave the path of the ego and embark on the path of the spirit appear crazy to the secular world if not threatening, Ridicule, ostracism, and assassination are the risks the spiritual seeker takes on.

Please make a donation to support the work of UU A Way of Life. You can do it through PayPal in the right hand column. Jesus said, "Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." UU A Way Of Life is God's work and your support, emotional, moral, psychological, and financial is appreciated. The work here is to remind people of their Divine nature which is their natural inheritance.