Table of Contents
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Principles of Sacred Consciousness
Eighth Principle of Planetary
Transformation
Principles of Sacred Consciousness
seeks to cultivate an environment in which each individual can
achieve selfhood while striving toward selfless service.
The Eighth Principle addresses the
meaning and nature of spiritual service. Here, we come to
understand service in a larger way as we consecrate our lives
more fully to God. The more we work with this Principle, the
more it becomes clear that the deepest meaning of selfless
service can only be achieved by a self that is willing to commit
itself to others and to embrace a sanctified life with
integrity. This commitment must come from within. It develops
over time as awareness deepens and responsibility toward God
increases.
Integrity matures out of a growing
perception of ourselves as united within and centered in our own
perceptions and values. As integrity deepens, the self relates
more and more to its own center in making choices and decisions
in life and is less and less stirred by external opinion or
judgment. This development is needed in order for service to
others and a consecrated life to be most complete. For if we
choose this life from the very deepest part of ourselves, we
will be offering our whole self to our path of service, rather
than just part of ourselves while we exclude other portions. It
is out of the wholeness of selfhood and the depth of integrity
that the fullest commitment to God and to others can be made.
This development takes time, and
individuals vary greatly in where they are on the spectrum of
selfhood and the capacity for selflessness. It is for this
reason that, in defining appropriate work for individuals within
the Principles of Sacred Consciousness community, we must look
at the choice that allows for each individual's maximum
self-expression, as well as their capacity to serve in relation
to the greater whole. These two are related but are not the
same. One fosters the expansion of selfhood; the other fosters
the expansion of selflessness. Both need to be considered as
certain individuals are in need of areas which will help them
awaken integrity, while others are in need of tasks that arise
out of the pure desire to serve others. Sometimes, and for some
individuals, both directions may be pursued simultaneously.
Clarity about what is needed for each one may be felt
intuitively, or be based on what each individual naturally
gravitates toward with a feeling of comfort, satisfaction, or
joy.
The progression from work that enhances
self-expression, to work whose aim lies in the identification of
the self with the needs of the greater whole, is part of the
process of spiritual evolution. Within the purification process,
this development may be speeded up so that individuals move from
one level to another more quickly.
Within a spiritual organization there
must be a place for all who wish to serve. Not only does
awareness of self, in general, define the realm of service;
attitudes toward money also must play a part. Since each one who
seeks to serve will be at a different stage of development in
relation to their perception of money and their need for it,
opportunities for service and payment for service need to
correspond to the different levels of spiritual development that
individuals bring to the organization.
How much money a person thinks he or she
needs for the self is a matter of the evolution of
consciousness. Therefore, the question of financial remuneration
within the structure of the community needs to be based on the
fit between an individual's consciousness and the level of
consciousness that a particular position within the community
requires. Those who have the greatest commitment to the
spiritual goals of the teachings should, from the standpoint of
consciousness, have the highest level of responsibility and, at
the same time, possess the highest degree of selflessness. These
individuals would be fully supported by the community, yet would
earn (or be given) less than others might, needing only what was
necessary in order for them to do their work effectively. This
would not happen because it was spiritually incorrect to have
money, but rather because such souls would no longer seek it or
want it. Individuals who had a more conventional or ordinary
view of their relationship to money or whose commitment to the
goals of the teachings was more partial, would get paid in a
more conventional way.
Principles
of Sacred Consciousness upholds the idea that if tasks
are given to individuals according to their abilities and level
of consciousness in this way, everyone will be supported in
feeling valued for being exactly where they are in their
spiritual journey. As each person is met by the organization at
the level where the most growth can occur, a kind of Divine
power or collective alchemy can take place which allows each
part of the whole to complement all other parts. The result is
collaboration in the truest sense–all parts working together
most efficiently and enhancing each other's function and
expression.
What can be achieved by this effort at
congruence between the needs of the self and the organizational
structure should not be underestimated, for it is how God
intended us to work with each other. When our efforts are in
alignment with God's will and express the highest integrity that
we are capable of, we are empowered to exceed our previously
conceived of limitations and to realize a new vision of the
possible.
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