The Boddhisattva Vow:

Robert Hunter said:

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This is a guide to our awakening to the realization that we live in Heaven right now. Nine words describing Heaven are: ABUNDANCE, JOY, WISDOM, BEAUTY, LOVE, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE and FREEDOM. I am offering ideas and resources on each of these heavenly attributes. Love is the central characteristic of Heaven. God is love. Whenever we are giving or receiving love, we are experiencing the natural state of the universe which is Heaven.

In addition to the nine words describing Heaven, I am offering ideas and resources on the twelve essential practices which are necessary purification disciplines leading to our awakening: STILLNESS, SILENCE, SOLITUDE, SIMPLICITY, DISCERNMENT, DEVOTION, DETACHMENT, DELIGHT, HUMILITY, HEALING, HOLINESS and HEAVENLINESS.

In the 60s, we often used the slogan, "There is no way to peace. Peace is the way." This is also true when it comes to Heaven: There is no way to Heaven. Heaven is the way. So, I am suggesting that we are in Heaven now and we are also trying to get there. In other words, Heaven is a process. It's constantly changing. But, paradoxically, it never changes.

Who am I to offer this resource about Heaven? What do I know? The answer is: NOT MUCH! So I offer this resource in all humility. Humility is required in Heaven. Only the humble know that they are in heaven right now, right here. When I am humble (and I'm sure I am occasionally), I become heavenly. When you are humble (and I'm sure you are occasionally), you become heavenly.

We are going through a dramatic change in our consciousness. I call this the GREAT EVOLUTIONARY LEAP FORWARD (GELF). The GELF is happening and many are figuring it out. A COURSE IN MIRACLES is about the GELF. James Redfield's THE CELESTINE PROPHECIES is about the GELF. Ken Keyes' HANDBOOK TO HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS and THE HUNDRETH MONKEY are about the GELF. Joseph Campbell's THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES is about the GELF. Aldous Huxley's THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY is about the GELF. Sanaya Roman's SPIRITUAL GROWTH (channeled by Orin) is about the GELF. Of course, there are so many more books and websites and other sources of wisdom. My website and blog offer connections galore. This outpouring of Heavenly Wisdom right here on the world wide web is a big part of the GELF. We are leaping into our rightful home -- heaven -- which is always here in every now moment. It is fantastic and fascinating. It is a feast of abundance, joy, wisdom, beauty, love, truth, peace, justice and freedom.. We are privileged to be alive at this time. Many are calling it the New Age. And so do I. But not without this caveat: Just as the church of today needs much of the wisdom that many "new agers" offer, so do "new agers" need the wisdom of the church.

One vitally important resource I am offering here is my own personal life journey. This will be useful to you in as much as my journey is your journey and your journey is my journey. I am sure that this is the case. We are in this together. We are connected. We are one. I invite you to see if my journey resonates at all with your journey. Maybe this resource isn't for you at this juncture. If so, there are other books about Heaven beginning, of course, with the sacred scriptures of your tradition and the sacred traditions of all of the other traditions found in the global village.

My sacred tradition is the way of Christ. It is not better than other ways. It is the way I know best. Jesus was humble and never said he was God and that his words had any more authority than any one else's words. What he accomplished was so fantastic that many Christians have equated him with God. There are many good reasons to do so. But we must resist the temptation to practice Jesus-olatry. The church has often made this mistake. I have come to believe that the wisdom of many "New Agers" is an important correction which the church needs to heed. So, I have coined the term "the new church for the new age" as a way to call my fellow Christians to embrace this "New Age."

My journey is ongoing. Im sure that yours is too. I am putting this resource out there in cyberspace because I want to include you and others in the process. The Holy Spirit has given me some ideas which I feel called to share with the world. The Holy Spirit also gives you important ideas. We are definitely in this together. The World Wide Web helps us share, helps us become aware of our oneness.

I offer these nine heavenly attributes with a sense of urgency about our predicament. We live in a global crisis. The Chinese use two symbols to translate our word crisis, one is the symbol for danger and the other is the symbol for opportunity. Humanity today is on the brink. We will either self-destruct or move into something new and better. Heaven is actively creating the New Age. Humanity is either cooperating or resisting.

The mystic tradition, sometimes called the "perennial philosophy," insists that God has no name. God is indescribable. God is. Heaven is. All that I know is that I am too! An important biblical idea about God's identity is based on the encounter of Moses with the burning bush (Exodus 15). The eternally nameless and indescribable God says: I AM WHO I AM. I have come to believe that many "New Agers" understand this idea better than many traditional Christians do. They emphasize that we are one with this "godforce." We are co-creators of Heaven in some mysterious and wonderful way. It is not only permissible but actually very important for each of us to say: I am creating the new age. Or just: I am creating. Or: I am. Or: I! I will be using many terms pretty much interchangeably to describe this ultimate reality including but not limited to: I AM, YOU ARE, WE ARE, GOD, LOVE, THE LIGHT, THE WORD, THE SPIRIT, THE TRUE SELF, THE FORCE, THE TAO, THE CREATIVE PROCESS, THE UNIVERSE, THE ALL IN ALL, THE SOURCE, THE HEAVENLY FATHER, THE HEAVENLY MOTHER, THE HEAVENLY COUNCIL or just plain HEAVEN

When Jesus says I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE, he is speaking not about Christianity as the only way but about the way of Heaven as opposed to the ways of the world. I have loved and still love the church which God has called into being as Heaven on earth. Unfortunately, much of what the institutional church has done on earth is hardly heavenly. It is important, therefore, to distinguish the old church for the old age from the new church for the new age. The new church for the new age IS Heaven. It is not an earthly institution. Every human community of faith strives to approximate it. Of course, no human community ever achieves this fully. But we can and must try!

The church on planet earth is supposed to be creating a new heavenly realm. But the sad fact is: "the old church for the old age" has not been creating nearly enough of what heaven is all about: ABUNDANCE, JOY, WISDOM, BEAUTY, LOVE, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE and FREEDOM. So, I AM "doing a new thing" now. I AM / YOU ARE / WE ARE / GOD IS (please start using this term interchangeably with all the other terms) creating "a new Heaven and a new earth" now. I AM "making all things new" now. I AM singing a "new song" of Heaven. Not much new heavenly music is coming out of the organized church these days. It is coming, instead, from the people. It is rock'n'roll, jazz, blues, reggae, world music, country, folk, new age, praise and gospel. Only the last two are connected in any significant way to the church. The old church for the old age is all too often out of tune and out of touch.

I AM not deterred, however. The beat goes on, with or without the organized church. "I AM" (meaning God and all of us are included) creating the new church for the new age in all kinds of ways, in all kinds of places. Everybody is invited to participate. It's a happening. It's a celebration of life. It's a dance. It's a movement of love embracing all of humanity and all creatures.

Wilfred Cantwell Smith, a theologian focusing on comparative religion, sees the inevitability of "something new" happening: "The comparative study of religion turns out to be far too dynamic, too profound, too human, to remain pigeon-holed within traditional categories, or to leave ancient patterns of humane understanding untouched." | "It is something new, that one civilisation should try to understand another; just as it is novel that one religious outlook should aspire to appreciate more than one. Now that we have begun to make progress in these tasks, nothing will ever be quite the same again." (TOWARD A WORLD THEOLOGY, p. 49) A contemporary scholar of comparative religion, Karen Armstrong, says something very similar: "For the first time in history, people are beginning to adopt the religion of other cultures or are finding inspiration in more than one faith....The effect of this change could be profound: It has been compared to the revolution that science produced in the consciousness of men and women during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We shall never be able to look at either our own or other people's religions in quite the same way again." (VISIONS OF GOD introduction, p. viii)

"The new church for the new age" which picks up lots of wisdom from all the great wisdom traditions is so new and fresh and vital that nobody has figured out what it looks like. We see dimly. We see fragments. We see possibilities. We see experiments. You and I are the pioneers here creating the new songs, the new dance steps, the new rhythms, the new prayers, the new relationships, the new creeds, and, yes, even the new scriptures. I realize I can be accused of heresy here. But I'm in some very good company if that's the case. No one has a monopoly on truth. It is elusive and mysterious. We have only discovered pieces of it in ages past.

I AM / YOU ARE / WE ARE / GOD IS doing a new thing now. We are invited to be co-creators of this new thing. It is not wise to reject this invitation because the world really does hang on our decision. People have responded to God's special invitations in ages past. When Jesus said "Come, follow me" and his followers created the church, that was the new church for the new age. That church led humanity to new heights. But, that age is now over. That's now the old and fading age. The church which was once so vital has lost its way. So, God is doing a new thing now. Let's join. Let's sing a new song. Let's embrace this new age.

The new church for the new age is an adventure, a journey, an invention, an experiment. Those of us who join are willing to risk life in an unfamiliar, untested, uncertain environment. We have come to believe that the new church for the new age is better, much better, than what we now have, better for me, better for you, better for all of us. We hope more and more people will join us in this fantastic and glorious movement of the Spirit.

It has begun. It is here. I see it. I feel it. I give it and I receive it. Words don't even come close to describing it. I can only point it out when I se it. Those who have eyes, see. Those who have ears, hear.

Like a phoenix, the new church for the new age is rising and what a beautiful sight it is to behold. Do you see what I see? Do you hear what I hear?

These nine words - ABUNDANCE, JOY, WISDOM, BEAUTY, LOVE, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE and FREEDOM -- are just words. Hopefully, they are helpful words, useful signs pointing to and even describing Heaven. The GELF does not depend on these words or my ideas. But maybe the GELF will be able to use this particular approach and these particular words. Only time will tell.

Heaven is here now. I'm not pointing out an afterlife world although I'm certainly not denying its existence. But our here-and-now mission is to make earth like Heaven. Our planet needs us to be fully devoted to this mission. We live in a time of great crisis: danger and opportunity. Let's minimize the danger as much as we can and maximize the opportunity as much as we can. On with it. Let's go! Let us obey STAR TREK Captain Jean-Luc Picard's order: "make it so."

Speaking about Captain Picard (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION), let me share with you an image a friend of mine has offered to illustrate what's happening.in our world. The crew of the Enterrprise will often go to the holodeck for recreation, adventure, learning, fantasy, escape, focusing, etc. But the holodeck sometimes has a software problem and the program becomes "too real." The participants can even lose communication with the captain in the bridge. I believe this is our dilemma. We are living in a holodeck game called Life and we often forget how we got here or where we are going. We're searching for meaning. We're trying to re-establish communication with the bridge. I hope I can help you. I hope you can help me. I hope we can all help each other more and more.

But let me assure you that I really don't know what's happening. It's a mystery. A big part of me says: SHUT UP! Listen! Be still! The TAO TE CHING says: "The one who knows does not speak. The one who speaks does not know." So, I don't know and that's why I speak. Maybe, someday I will learn to be still and silent.

My image of Heaven as Home may be troublesome if your experience of home isn't safe and nurturing. A real home is very safe and nurturing, Heaven is that way.

The order of these attributes is not very important. You can begin anywhere and end anywhere. But I know most people prefer more order than that, so here's my attempt to explain the order I have chosen. The 9 heavenly words are all important but the most important ones are in the center. Love is the centering word. Love creates everything else. And is the rock upon which all the other characteristics of Heaven are built. Beauty and Truth are the two sides of Love. Beauty points to the feeling dimension of Love and Truth points to the thinking side. It is important to develop both sides. The first three words are more related to feeling. The last three words are more related to thinking. None of these words can really be understood without understanding all the others.

I only offer this order for those who are more comfortable with some kind of logical order. I do believe in a Divine Order. I'm not willing to say that I have figured it out. Go figure! So, take my order with a grain of salt. Words can only be used to point out Heaven anyway. No words can adequately describe Heaven. Music and Dance and Art come closer. But they are just words too until you do it!

Sprinkled throughout are some practical suggestions for the new church for the new age. But, basically this resource is not offered as another quick-fix resource for desperate mainline congregations. There are too many of them. There are not enough resources which insist upon a totally new perception of reality. The sense of desperation will evaporate rapidly as we embrace rather than resist the New Age. This totally new perception is not really new. It is eternal. Sages and mystics and saints of all ages perceive reality as it is. The new church for the new age is guided constantly by this holy wisdom. It is not worldly wisdom. It is not ordinarily regarded as practical wisdom. St. Paul tells us that Holy Wisdom is perceived as foolishness in the world. Thus, "the new church for the new age" is perceived as foolish in the eyes of the world. There is no practical guide to being foolish! So, don't worry about the practical suggestions if and when they occur here. Don't be burdened by them. If reading this book is a burden, put it down! If your current congregation is a burden, change it. If you can't change it, leave it. Too many church renewal books and efforts make people feel guilty. God has created us to enjoy life, not to wallow in guilt. The new church for the new age is a guilt-free zone. The old church for the old age overdosed on guilt. There is no place in the new church for the new age for the tyranny of the shoulds, the musts, the oughts. We are now called to put our energy into our hopes and our dreams. Please don't participate in the new church for the new age unless you want to, unless you are enjoying it, finding meaning, experiencing love. It's not a building or even a particular congregation. It's a global community of love humbly seeking new wisdom.

The sages of the ages all tell us that we are intimate and intricately connected to our source, to each other, to everything. We are blessed today with wisdom from many, many sources including but not limited to the great wisdom traditions of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. The core message of all of the sages of the ages is always the Perennial Philosophy, or Mysticism. Aldous Huxley was one of the great teachers of the Perennial Philosophy. He wrote a comprehensive and illuminating book called The Perennial Philosophy in the 1940s. In an introduction to a translation of the BHAGAVAD GITA, he wrote a brief summary of his ideas.

I invite you to join me on this exploration of Heaven. You can email me or, better yet, please join and participate in The New Church for the New Age egroup (a Yahoo List Serve). Your ideas are more than welcome. They are wanted. They are needed. The more we share, the more we know we really are in Heaven right now, right here. The New Church for the New Age is the vehicle God is using to create more and more heavenly experiences for us here on earth. As many contemporary sages are saying: "We are heavenly beings having human experiences."

John@abundancetrek.com