Spiritual Awareness

Michael S Barth

Master of Spiritual Awareness Final Essay

            Humans today are experiencing a spiritual awakening.  With the technological advances made over the few centuries, the world is becoming more connected through advances such as the internet, airplanes, medicine, cell phones, faxes, etc.  These advances have allowed for speedy transmission of information allowing people to access information that would have otherwise taken a longer time to obtain.  Also, with the airplane, humans can travel to almost any place on Earth in a considerably short time which might have taken months on a ship.  People are thus able to learn more about other cultures and to actually experience the culture first hand.

            Many teachings from different cultures have made their way to places on Earth where they may not have occurred.  These teachings include such things as Transcendental Meditation which was introduced to the West in the late 1950's by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Buddhism which is becoming ever more popular in the West especially since His Holiness Dalai Lama was exiled from Tibet in the late 1970's.

            As far as the First Insight of Awareness is concerned, coincidences that occur just do not randomly happen.  People are trying to awaken themselves to the unseen power of this universe.  In the past, I have experiences where I had gone somewhere and remembered being there before.  One example is when I was in the Boy Scouts and attending the National Jamboree at Fort A. P. Hill in Virginia, just outside Washington, D. C.  Our troop was touring the area and we stopped off to tour a Navy ship.  When we started walking up to the ship, I was flabbergasted when I had memories of being there before as a child.  I asked my mom when we had been there but she told me that I had not been to the Washington, D. C. before attending this Boy Scout Jamboree.

            Also, in the West, our lives have become more complicated and more fast-paced that sometimes we do not have the time to think about what we are experiencing or what exactly we are doing.  I have lived this way for a long time as well as many people I know.  Things would happen where I did not think about it much.  Things that I experienced while living this fast-paced lifestyle is thinking about calling someone and they called me first or thinking about writing a letter or e-mail to someone I haven't talked to in a long time but I get something from them first.  For along time, I just wrote these events off as coincidences and never gave them much thought.  Now I give these events some thought onto why it occurred.  Now-a-days, my thought is that these coincidences were supposed to happen and might have been planned by unseen divine forces that humans are not consciously aware of.

            I have been incorporating this First Insight of Awareness of the last three years without realizing it.  I learned Transcendental Meditation and I have started going back to church.  Also, some attitude changes have occurred but have only realized it recently.  For many years, I partied hard and I did not care about anything or anyone, including myself.  About three years ago, I decided to quit partying because I realized that I was bored of that lifestyle since it was the same people doing the same thing over and over again.  After I quit partying, I started thinking about life and what I was supposed to be doing with my life.  Then a series of meeting the right people and some events, I got to thinking more.  This is how synchronicity has worked in my life.  I did not know this at the time but these events were the action of divine forces.

            I did not know at the time that I was starting on a new journey that I would not have considered at an earlier age.  When I was younger, I was almost obsessed with material possessions and trying to accumulate as many items as I could.  This started changing the farther down the road I got.  The items I was hording sometimes I did not even need at the time I got the item.  Now, I have either given these items away to people I know that needed these items or I donated the items to charity.  Also, I started making new friends and these friends are on their own journey.

            One of the other lessons in this course that I learned and was not aware of it until I read it was the Fourth Insight which is the tendency of humans to take or steal other people's energy.  I did not realize that I was trying to do this in my own life.  My energy level always seemed higher when I tried to force or manipulate other people to do things my way.  This was done a lot at work and at home.  I was not aware why I had more energy when I did this but I now know why.  Now, my energy level is higher when I connect to God.  I connect using the Transcendental Meditation that I learned and through prayer.  Prayer was hard at first because I learned I was not praying the right way, but now that I have learned the right way I am trying to keep do the right form of prayer.

            With connecting with God on a daily basis, I am less likely to anger problems, my attitude is better, and my mental/emotional illness is getting better.  Also, I have a lot fewer days where I am symptomatic of my mental illness.  Also, connecting with this universal energy, I feel more secure about myself and have had a lot less conflict in my life.  Before, I was always feeling insecure about myself and I was in these conflicts with people that do not happen as much now as they did before.  Today, I do not worry about how I look or if I make a mistake.  I do not worry about being corrected in front of people nor do I worry about making the right impression just to feel better.  With conflict today, I do not correct people like I did in the past.  In the past, I would correct people in front of other people in a demeaning way just to make myself look good.  I would purposefully start arguments just for the heck of it.  Now, I correct people by pulling the person to the side or if I have to do it in front of people, I do it in the most respectful way.  I do not go around starting arguments just for the heck of it.

            These results are not by accident.  When I started this course, I did not know exactly what I was going to be learning.  Going through this course was thrilling because I learned about why I was doing things like starting an argument.  It was like being in the Child state saying "I didn't do it" or "Everybody hates."  These actions (e.g. TM, prayer, etc.) have helped me realize this and I have incorporated these actions into my daily life.

            I enjoy sharing my experience and journey with other people.  I tell them the path that I took to get to where I am today.  When telling other people about my experience/journey, I do not shove anything down their throats like I use to.  If people have questions, I give them an honest answer or point them in the direction of someone who can give them a better answer.  I also have allowed people to disagree with me and not starting an argument at the same time.  My relationships are better with people.

            In the past, I would have told people that there is only one way to get to where I am or how to do things and that was my way doing things.  Now, I let people walk their own path and I let them decide now how to walk whatever path they would like.  I just try to provide with the tools for that journey or try to help them to locate those tools.  Also, I let people know that I love them no matter what even if they make mistakes no matter how big or small or even if we disagree with each other.

            Before taking this course and others offered at the ULC Seminary, I would have thought that only losers get into this area.  But now I know that people explore courses like this to live better lives and that these people are winners.  This course was very helpful to me in many ways.  I was able to look at my behavior with a new light.  My behavior before I started this journey was less than ideal.  Now, my behavior is more ideal.  This course was time well spent.  It was laid out very well and can tell that the instructor really knows this subject well.  There are things that I am still incorporating into my life from this course.  This course has a lot of useful information in it.  Now I can share my journey better and can add new things too.  I would definitely recommend this course to anyone.

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Shamanism

Shamanic Studies
ULC Seminary

My experience reading the work about Shamanism was interesting. I felt that it covered the history of shamanism well and allowed the students to peer inside the different cultural aspects of Shamanism around the world. I was particularly intrigued by the in expansive information on the many different cultures that have been represented in reading 18.

I am very moved by the inclusiveness of all of the ancient civilizations that are a major part of our current civilizations pondering about the beginning of time, beings from other worlds, Mayans, Egyptians, Babylonians, Mesopotamia's contributions and so much more. There is one thing that I have noticed in many readings and studies is that many ethic cultures are discussed in dissociative terms with very little compassion, empathy or respect.  These bodies of work by Bishop Pat, I felt to some degree sought to dispel that.

More so, I would have liked to read more about the Asian cultures contribution and mainly African contributions, although Egypt was covered it was limited at best. More effort in my opinion should be placed on the very cradle of civilizations contribution to these predicted world events and in just our very rights to existence. Once we are truly balanced in our perception, our finding, researching and sharing of information on a truly collective level then and only then will be able to truly see how we are all cosmically connected and significant.

I enjoyed the course!

Tai` Dozier

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The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Spirituality

Michael S Barth

Doctor of Spirituality Final Essay

Working on this course was really fascinating to me.  I really enjoyed the time working on it and learned quite a bit.  Before taking this class, I had never heard of the course or book called A Course in Miracles.  While taking this class, I ended up buying the book/course at a bookstore to read and even signed up for the newsletter from Foundation for Inner Peace.

            This course is about prayer which is a tool that I realize now that I need to utilize more often to communicate with my Heavenly Father.  I realize now that through prayer, I can be one with my Father.  When I was a kid, I would attend church and I was told to pray.  I did not pray much as a kid because I felt that God was not listen or not answering my prayers.  I would also gripe at God about all the problems that my family or I were having and would tell God what should be done or what I wanted.  This course really got rid of that view which had been diminishing over the years.

            Over the years, I always had thought that God was a completely separate entity but learned in this course that God is in each and every one of us and that God is waiting for us to come back to him.  The section on free will also really changed how I viewed free will.  I had always thought that I would be happy in whatever choices I made but that turned out to be wrong.  I stopped going to church and did things my own way.  I ended up in a lot of pain.  This is when I realized that things would be a lot better if I did them God's way.

            This course really changed my view on God too.  A little piece of me always believed in God and I always feared God, but realize now that God is all encompassing and is all love.  Growing up, I was taught that if I did something wrong or bad God was going to condemn me and judge me to an eternity in Hell but realize that this is not what God is since God is all love.

            I also was taught about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ with less emphasis put on the resurrection.  After taking this course, I realize that the lesson was the resurrection of Jesus Christ because he was one with his Heavenly Father.  I have felt a lot better since taking this course which clarified a lot of misperceptions that I had held about Jesus Christ.

            The material mentioned above is just a little of what I learned from this course.  This course has also been very helpful to me.  I have suffered from mental/emotional disorders for the last 10 years.  This course has given me hope by teaching me about miracles and prayer.  Since the start of this course, I have had fewer symptoms because I have been able to take things from this course and apply them to real life.  The biggest change that this course got me to do is to listen to God and let God into my life.  I am currently reading the course/book that this course is based on.  By taking this course first, I am understanding the course/book a lot better and getting a lot out of it.

            This course is easy to follow and presented very well.  The instructor does a wonderful job in this course.  I loved all of the lessons and the prayer visualizations that came with it.  I would definitely recommend that people take this course.

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As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials. Many have been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and can attest to its ongoing growth and change.

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Shamansim

Michael S Barth

Master of Shamanism Final Essay

   This course was great.  When I started this course, I was fearful of taking it.  I was fearful because of my lack of knowledge about Shamanism.  Over the years, people I know had used Shaman and Shamanism in a derogatory way.  Also, I am not aware of knowing anyone who has practiced Shamanism so I had no prior knowledge or experience with Shamanism.  The only knowledge that I had was Shamanism was practiced by Native Americans and other native peoples in other countries.

            This course was presented the information well and was easy to follow for me.  Each of the lessons was full of information about Shamanism.  After taking this course, I was relieved because I no longer have that fear about Shamanism and realize that there is nothing wrong or evil about practicing Shamanism.  Going through this course helped me realize how Shamanism got started and why it is still practiced today.  I also liked how the instructor did not solely just stick to discussing Native Americans but also included native peoples from around the globe.

            All of the information in this course was new to me.  There is a lot of information that I could discuss in this final essay.  The history of Shamanism was really fascinating to me.  I did not realized that Shamans used to be primarily females up until about 600 years ago here in the United States.  I found the explanation about the difference between a medicine man/woman and a Shaman very beneficial.  If it were not for this explanation, I probably would have ended up thinking that a medicine man/woman and a Shaman as the same thing.

            I also loved learning about how Shamanism could be practiced and how it could be practiced in a lot of different ways.  I also learned that Shamanism is a primitive form of religion.  I have never before had considered Shamanism to be a religion.  This course also explained the altered states of consciousness that the Shamans obtain. 

            I could go on and on about what I learned in this course.  There was a lot of new terminology about Shamanism that I learned and so much more.  This course really opened my eyes to what Shamanism is all about.  This course was great and I now feel that I am a more well-rounded person and minister for taking this class.  I feel that this class was very worthwhile and recommend it to other ULC ministers to take.  There is a lot of information in this course and a lot practices of Shamanism that could be used.  The information in this course gave me a general background in Shamanism and I now feel comfortable talking about Shamanism with other people.

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As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials. Many have been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and can attest to its ongoing growth and change.

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Metaphysical Healing

Michael S Barth

Masters of Metaphysical Healing

            Metaphysical healing is a term and subject that I had heard people mentioned as they past by, but I did not know what metaphysical healing was.  There were some topics in this course that I had never considered in the past to be metaphysical healing such as past life regressions and soul retrieval.  I did enjoy reading about the instructors past in how she ended up being a metaphysical healer in South Africa.  I found it very interesting how metaphysical healers are used there.

            I learned that there is an association in South Africa for metaphysical healers.  I did not know beforehand that such associations existed anywhere.  I also did not know that metaphysical healing dealt with the human energy field.  I did know that humans gave off some type of energy because I could tell sometimes if someone was mad/angry or happy or sad.

            Chakras and auric fibers was something totally new to me.  I did not know that chakras and auric fibers existed or even how many someone had.  While taking this course, I had purchased some Buddhist peace flags and hung them in my bedroom.  During this course, I realized that each flag was a color of a chakra which was an amazing moment since I was just learning about chakra.

            Some of the other things that I learned during this course were how to center yourself before doing the actually healing and asking the person permission to enter into their energy field.  I like how the instructor mentioned that in the West, healers usually get centered by meditating or praying while in the East, healers usually use the beat of a drum.  I did not know that metaphysical healers worked with medical doctors.  I thought metaphysical healers would be competing against medical doctors for business instead of working alongside the doctors.  I did not know before that healing was balancing the energy field between body, mind, and spirit.

            This course also showed taught things I would never have guessed that a healer would have to do to heal.  Things that healers do that surprised me at first is asking a lot of background questions and medical history questions.  Other things like signing waivers was something I did not think about before taking this class.  This class also introduced me to a new way of thinking about how people can use metaphysical healing along with medicine to be healed from ailments that people suffer from.  I think this course was also one of the harder courses I have taken.  I took this course to learn more about metaphysical healing which I did, but after taking this class I learned something about myself and that is I do not think becoming a metaphysical healer is in the near future for me.  This class still was worth taking because I learned new things about metaphysical healing and know a little bit about it now.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Religious Philosophy

Rev. Michael S Barth

Master of Religious Philosophy Final Essay

            This was a terrific course about religious philosophy.  Prior to this course, I had never to a philosophy course at all.  This course was very interesting to me.  Some of the terminology I had knowledge of but had never considered that these terms would be in a religious philosophy class.  There was some information that I had no prior knowledge of before taking this course.

            The format of this course is excellent.  The way the lessons came and the way the information was presented made it real easy for me to read and learn at the same time.  Some of the new information in this course got me to think about things or put a new light on information that I already knew.  I would have never imagined that I would really enjoy this philosophy course.  In the past, I would have passed over this class and probably would have taken something else instead, but something caught my eye about this course.  I am glad that I took this course and this course got me to think about religion in general.

            The first thing I learned in this class was the difference between what a World Religion course or a Comparative Religion course and what this class was going to cover.  I thought this was going to be another Comparative Religions/World Religions type class but it was not like that.  This course looked at the very essence of religion itself.  After the first lesson, I realized I was in for a great time with this course.  I also did not know that religious philosophy is a newer field of study.  I would have thought this field of study would have been around a lot longer than it actually has been.  I did not know that religious philosophy had started in the first half of the 1800's in Germany by a philosopher by the name of Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach.

            I am glad that the instructor of this course gave definitions to terminology and the way the terms were going to be used in this class.  There were quite a few new terms for me in this course which is always helpful.  I also learned where some of the terms came from (e.g. Latin, Greek, etc.)  This I found very helpful since I had no prior knowledge of this.

            This course taught me the difference between what organized religions is versus what a cult is.  Before this course, I had always wondered how cults were defined by people and philosophers.  I found the 5 points/questions to be very helpful in helping me in how to determine a cult.  I also liked how religion was defined in this course, too.  Even with both definitions of cult and religion, I still found it very interesting that there is no fine line between cult and religion as pointed out in the case studies in Lesson #3.

            Other topics in this course that I enjoyed learning about include religious forms (e.g. individualistic, communal, shamanistic, ecclesiastical), religious classifications, and ecclesiasticism.  This course taught how religion is viewed from the philosophy point of view which is very helpful to me.  This is one of the best courses that I have had throughout my life.  I would take another course like this again.  I benefited from this course greatly.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

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Spiritual Awareness

Michael S Barth

Doctor of Spiritual Awareness Final Awareness

    This is one of the most interesting classes that I have taken.  In the first lesson, the instructor said that there would be new things we would learn and there would be old things where we would look at them in new ways.  The instructor was definitely right.  I did learn a lot of new things and I am definitely looking at old ways in a new light.  This really blew my socks off when I was going through this course.

            The first thing that got my attention was a quote by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce.  Chief Joseph said "We are not humans having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience."  This quote by Chief Joseph really hit home with me.  This was the first time I had seen this quote.  It sticks out because it really went against my thinking the first time when I had read it.  But as I went through the course, I realized that Chief Joseph is right.  We are "spiritual beings having a human experience."  We are all spiritual beings that are here to learn lessons that would take a lot longer if we just stayed as spiritual beings.  All of us, as spiritual beings, need to have this human experience to learn the lessons that we need to learn.  These lessons could be such things as dealing with anger or jealousy.

            I liked the lesson on evolution.  At first, I was trying to figure out how evolution had to deal with spiritual awareness and that thought was quickly answered.  I had never considered before that the spirit evolves into higher and higher levels of being.  I had never thought before that as a spiritual being, that we could evolve into higher beings.  In science class, I was always taught about how species evolve to adapt to new environments but never thought that spirits did the same thing to learn new lessons to evolve into higher levels of being.  In the past, I figured that I had been on this planet before because of dreams that I have had and that I have been to places and have said that I have been here before but not in this lifetime.

            I like the section about choice.  I never considered the fact before that we make choices and we can either learn or lose by our choices.  By our choices, we also decide on how we are going to learn the lessons that we have chosen.  This fact was totally new to me and I had never thought about my past and current choices that I have been making.  Over the years, I have learned many lessons through good and bad choices which I never had thought about before taking this course.  Both the good and bad choices have taught me lessons that I needed to learn as a spiritual being.

            The section about balance really got me thinking about myself.  I tend to act in extremes.  With me, there seems to be no middle ground.  One minute, I could be really happy and then the next minute, I could blow up with anger at someone for something that they said or did.  Obviously, this is just one example with me but I need to find balance and try to find that middle ground.  I have been this way as far as I can remember in this lifetime and only since I have been taking this and other courses here at the ULC Seminary has it occurred to me that I need to be more loving and find more balance in my life.

            I loved the section on Universal Laws.  I did not realize that there were so many of them but saw some that I need to apply.  The Law of Abundance is one that I need to apply and have started applying since I started taking this course.  I have started branching out more in my educational pursuits.  The Law of Action is another one I needed to apply because I kept waiting for things to happen but the things never happened.  I have been applying more of this Law of Action such as trying to understand things better and trying to learn about things that I am interested in.

            This course is one that I could keep writing about since I learned a lot of new things and look at things completely different.  This course really got me thinking about things which is great.  I know that I need keep applying the Universal Laws.  Now, I know that I am a spiritual being here learning new lessons that I need to learn so I can keep become a higher and higher level of beings.  This class was wonderful.  I wish I had taken it sooner than when I did but I am glad that I took it now.  I loved all the new things I learned and how this course got me to look at my old ways in a new light.

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Rev. Long, a member of ULC for many years, has created this seminary to help train our ministers. The Seminary also has a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials and free minister training. Those who have been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning have enjoyed its ongoing growth and change.

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Buddhism

            This course about Buddhism was fascinating.  I have heard people talk about it but I never knew too much about Buddhism.  I felt that this course was presented well with great explanations of Buddhism terms and ideas/concepts were.  I started learning things about Buddhism from the very first lesson that I received to the very last lesson.

            I really loved the first lesson and how Buddhism got started.  I did not know that Buddha meant the enlightened one.  I always had thought that Buddha was the actually name of the person who started and founded Buddhism.  I did not know that the Buddha's actually name was Siddhartha Gautama.  I found his early life, before founding Buddhism, very fascinating.  I was very surprised that he had never left his home until he was 29 years old.  I also learned that the Bodhi Tree- the Tree of Enlightenment- was the tree that Siddhartha Gautama was sitting/meditating under when he experienced enlightenment.  I also enjoyed how he set out to explain to people how he had found enlightenment.

            I also liked learning about the Four Noble Truths.  I had heard of the term the Four Noble Truths before taking this class but did not know what the Four Noble Truths consisted of.  I am glad that this class went into each of the Four Noble Truths and how the Buddha explained them to his first disciples.  I had also had heard the term the Eightfold Path but did not know what the eight different points were in the Eightfold Path.  I enjoyed how this course described the Eightfold Path.

            The topic of the Three Jewels was totally new to me.  I had never heard of the Three Jewels before.  I was really grateful that the Three Jewels (The Buddha, The Dharma, and The Sangha) were explained beautifully in this class.  This class went into some detail about the Three Jewels and learned quite a lot about the Three Jewels.  Also, I enjoyed the lesson about the Buddhist Councils that were held and what was discussed at these council meetings.  I liked how this course explains how the world ended up with different branches of Buddhism that came out of the Second Buddhist Council.

            I liked the section on how Buddhism spread into the different countries in Asia and then into the West.  I feel that it is too bad that some of these countries that people practice Buddhism have tried to control Buddhism or eliminate Buddhism (e.g. China, etc.).  I was surprised that the Dalai Lama had been exiled from Tibet since 1979.  I know who the Dalai Lama is but did not know he had been exiled for so long.

            Karma was covered in this class and I was glad that I learned how and what Karma is and is not.  The Wheel of Life was something totally new to me.  I did not know that there is a pig, rooster, and a snake at the very center or that the two paths around the center are the dark path and the white path.  I also did not know before about the six realms around the Wheel of Life.

            Some other topics I enjoyed learning about include enlightenment, meditation, and the different branches of Buddhism.  I did not know that the Dalai Lama was the leader of Tibetan Buddhism.  I had previously had thought that he was the leader of all Buddhists in the world.

            This was a great course for me.  I learned a lot and each lesson contained a lot of information that I had never known before and could go on much longer about all the other things that I learned in this course.  I am glad that I took this course because I think it is important for me to know about other religions/philosophies when I do my work with people.  I think this class is worth taking and I think that this course would broaden the horizons of a lot of people who do not know very much about Buddhism.

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Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials. Many have been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and can attest to its ongoing growth and change.

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The Life of St. Paul

Michael S. Barth

The Life of Saint Paul Final Essay

        After going through this course about the Life of Saint Paul, I am truly amazed at what he had to put up with when he was spreading the news about the Life of Jesus Christ.  I had no idea about the amount of geography that Paul had to cover in that day and it is amazing that Paul covered it with the transportation that was available in that day.  I was also amazed that Paul had been a Pharisees before spreading the news of Jesus.  I would have never guessed that he persecuted the early Church before helping go out and help it spread.

            I also did not know before taking this class that Paul, his Roman name, was used after his conversion and that he was called by his Jewish name of Saul.  This had caused me confusion in the past but now understand the Bible better with the clarification of his name.  I also did not know that he was a member of the Benjamin Tribe and that he had a sister and son.  I found Paul's early life very intriguing with Paul being raised in Tarsus and being a student of Gamaliel.

            I found his conversion very intriguing too.  I had not known before that he converted after seeing and talking to Jesus Christ while Paul was on the way to Damascus to persecute the early Church there.  I also learned that he was left blind and was astonished.  It surprised me to learn that he was greeted in Damascus with the salutation of Brother.  I learned that it was here in Damascus that Paul developed his approach to teaching the Gospel by entering the first Jewish synagogue.

            I am glad that Paul started teaching the Gospel to the Gentiles because if Paul had not, I do not think I would be a Christian now-a-days.  Also, I am glad that Paul put his effort into spreading the Gospel because Christianity might not be the religion it is today and may have never spread.  Paul's missionary journey's were just amazing to me like doing all that walking and sailing that Paul did to reach his destinations.  I am glad that Paul did not give up either especially after being beaten, jailed, or left for dead.  It goes to show how courageous Paul was and how Paul was dedicated to spreading the Gospel.  I do not think I would have that strength to continue even if Jesus Christ was by my side.

            I am glad that Paul's Letters are still in existence, even if they are copies now-a-days.  I think his epistles go to show what early believers went through.  The temptation the early believers put up with was amazing even if they did fall to temptation.  I am glad to see that Paul kept encouraging the early believers to stick to the path of Jesus Christ and not to give into the devil.

            Paul's trip was incredible to me because of the hardship on the ship and on the island.  I am glad that the centurion, Julius, treated Paul kindly.  I also find that Paul's poisonous viper bite is not fatal and this shows to me that God does exist and that God did not let the poison kill Paul.  It was hard for me to learn about how Paul died in Rome.  I think that Paul showed his faith in God by going to Rome and not running away from his trial and punishment.

     I think that taking this course was a great experience for me.  I liked the study questions that were at the end of the lessons.  The study questions were really helpful to me in figuring out what was important to learn.  The questions also helped me concentrate on the lesson(s) involved.  This course was very worthwhile because I learned a lot about Paul that I never knew before and this course straightened some confusion out that I had about Paul.  I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to know about the Life of Saint Paul.

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Spiritual Awareness

Insights Into Spiritual Awareness

Rev. Thomas A. Voss

My first encounter with a 'spiritual' teacher was a regular Sunday school class taught by Dorothy Johnson at Christ Church Episcopal.  I was six.  Though I really tried to be a true believer, by the time I was a teenager I was not buying into the Christian explanation of the cosmos. Now I'm not certain we could accuse the Episcopalians of being too spiritual.  

The reasons I saw for non-believing were written in the Christian Bible.  The whole of the Old Testament to me is simply Jewish folklore no different than the tales told of Gilgamesh on the cuneiform tablets from Sumer.  Many bible stories seem to be like those coming out of the cities of Akkad or Ur from where Abraham and his clan came forth to the land of Canaan. The stories of the flood, for example, are too similar to be talking about different historic events.  As the tales were told and retold by the descendants of Abraham they eventually formed the book of Genesis. In the West we inherited Adam and Eve, Noah, and his Ark – not the Mesopotamian hero with his rafts.

There is a real problem with any "god" that would tell a Jewish general like Joshua to descend upon the cities of the Canaanites (his cousins) and kill every man, woman and child therein because Canaan was the "promised land." Wow – That just sounds like a very poorly disguised justification for mass murder and stealing land from the descendants of Ishmael.  And, they're still doing it!  God doesn't tell people to kill their cousins or anyone else. Nearly everywhere on Earth nature is proactive about life. From single celled microbes to whole galaxies it is clear that Universal Intelligence is abundantly creative not destructive.

Another baffling segment of Judeo-Christianity is the tradition of sacrifice. Apparently for thousands of years their god was satisfied through the offering of bled out, burnt, dead goats, sheep, or birds even his own son - the "Sacrificial Lamb!"  Whoa!  What kind of a mind does it take to be pleased by the death of innocent beings – over and over, again and again?  Well, the truth is, I think, those "offerings" allowed the priests to eat very well and the god took all the bad press. Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tsu and others touched upon real power and experienced Universal Intelligence then, priests and scribes (the literate people) came along and wrote those experiences in a bible form so as to create a hierarchy with themselves on top.      

The memories of when I became less Christian, un-enchanted with the bible, and more eclectic are dim.  What people said back then about my change escapes me now.  I do remember that life seemed less certain because there were so many different spiritual ideas.

There is so much out there that talks about what is or is not spiritual. It could be so that from each and all these sources we are getting little bits and pieces of the Great Puzzle. The Celestine Prophecies certainly are a part of the answers and the questions we seek. Teaching people about the Insights is a good idea if only to expand their horizons.  Within Reverend King's course her discussions of the First and Fourth Insights were the most moving for me.  And, I particularly liked all the different exercises she provides such as the "Sacred Place", the "Shadow Exercise," and "Awareness through Movement."

Awareness is everything for homo-sapiens. Awareness of our awareness is the crowning attribute of the species. Without it we would've all been eaten alive long ago.  Without it we wouldn't have begun to have questions about the hereafter. We wouldn't wonder about the cosmos and there would have never been a Stonehenge or Hubble Telescope.

All people need to take notice of those little incidences of life (First Insight) that may in fact bring life altering adjustments on their path to enlightenment.  The more a person observes coincidence in life the more he or she understands that there is a power operating behind all the pettiness and egotism. "Becoming conscious of the reality of coincidences and developing an awareness of their message and meanings constitutes the first step to evolving consciously and more quickly." These words of Reverend King summarize the First Insight. It is the beginning of our own involvement in our own spiritual evolution.  

We need to teach the First Insight and the others to everyone. When someone is on a path to spiritual evolution it isn't likely he or she is going to go out to kill anybody, (unless, of course they're a crazed, misguided Muslim looking for heaven and a bevy of 'heavenly' virgins.) These poor sons o' Muhammad are just more proof that we need to teach the Insights to everyone. I certainly intend to teach what I can about each of the Insights along with Rev. King's exercises such as the "Sacred Place" and meditation among others. We must get people started.

It is my prayer that we do not have to wait for long to reach some sort of "critical mass" before real positive effects of spiritual cognizance can be lived here on Earth. From where I'm standing a thriving, new spiritual awakening around the world is growing, but slowly. The people dying of aids, starvation, and e-coli in Africa haven't any room to think of their spirituality; slow death owns their whole minds and souls. The Near East is at war and boys and girls blow themselves up in the name of their god!  In Western countries including the United States, people are spiritually challenged by having to live what I call "capital slavery." 

Capital slavery is a nation living under the illusion of freedom while it takes both parents working long workweeks and maybe some "side jobs" just to make ends meet.

When house payments are missed whole families are put in the street in a matter of days - their banks do pretty well, though. . . When they make mistakes the government hands them bailouts while the capital slaves get taxed more to pay for them. Over 40% of the people's time and money goes toward taxes. People barely have time to work and get their kids around to soccer practice. And, if they can make it to church on Wednesday nights and/or Sunday services that's about all the "spiritual awareness" for which they have any money or time to experience.

Most the people get a couple weeks vacation time each year. But, over three quarters of them can't afford to go anywhere entertaining or just to relax, let alone to study spiritual enlightenment. Oprah mentioned on her TV show that she has spent some time studying inner awareness and spiritual things. Evidently having complete economic security presents opportunities that most Americans do not ever see.

That's because most people in Western civilization are slaves of capitalism and fundamental to all capitalism is materialism.  So much of the time like the proverbial donkey, capital slaves have the "proverbial carrot" hanging just above their heads. They plod away their lives on paths they never see and are forever trying to catch up to their carrot; it might be a car, a new, HD, flat screen TV, it can be anything that is for sale.  Whatever it is, it keeps them deeply in debt with credit cards maxed out wondering when their life will have some meaning.

Truly, economic systems are the bane of spirituality. That's what the "Awakening" is up against. Within our beloved economic system are embedded the very power struggles that keep people shut off from Universal Energy. I hope the Celestine Prophecies and Reverend King are correct in what she wrote in Lesson 16 about the negativity over the last two thousand years being collected and will be eliminated so as to allow the cycles beginning in the new millennium to start fresh.

Perhaps in this century's fresh start will come a socio-economic system that doesn't have greed and materialism at its foundation.  I haven't a clue what that could be but it isn't Devine Right of Kings, Communism, or Socialism – these have shown their inherent weaknesses and they make real slaves of men, women, and children.  One powerful condition that will help usher in spiritual awakening and social change is that there are so many of us who want something more than extreme debt in our journey.

Through the light of the Fourth Insight we see one of the most important steps of the entire journey. Each of us must learn and then teach others about sources of energy and it's misuse. They must become aware of the "Master Addiction" and the "psychological lift" they are getting through present strategies of communication and interaction with others.  Most of all they need to know how stealing energy from others cuts them off from the truth and real energy. 

Eric Berne aside – Lesson 4 touched me more than any of the other lessons. Long ago I didn't care for Mr. Berne's book or Trans-actual Analysis simply because it isn't necessary to teach people how to divide their minds into multiple personalities in order to help them. The one personality they have is already complicated enough.

Part I and Part II of Lesson 4 are good processes for getting people to be in touch with a new path to energy. Connecting to our own "higher wisdom", understanding competition, and energy are all about the first steps to spiritual consciousness.  It was Lesson 4 that was sent to me via e-mail to show me what Reverend King's course was going to be.

When I first read it I knew she had something good to say and, I will be using it in to teach others.  The best way to show a congregant is by being. Next, the minister needs some processes as Reverend King placed in the course.  Through out the course there are wonderful exercises and process she teaches to help the reader and later, his or her flock. I would use first, as she did, the sacred place exercises.  From there she has constructed a stairway to allow us to show our people the way to becoming a Multi-sensored being in the new millennium as in the Ninth Insight.

We have to do some work about getting people to drop their baggage.  L. Ron Hubbard called it "getting clear."  EST called it "getting it."  What needs to happen for the client is a disassociation from their habits and new cognizant processes formed to move them toward the light. That may take a week, month, or a lifetime. Only the "congregant" will be able to say – it depends on how badly they need their problems. It is about overcoming their present personality and who they think they are and giving them the tools to move beyond their world of only five senses to the richer association between their personality and their soul.  This being will "sense" with the spirit for that which is spiritual and the normal everyday senses i.e. "the Multi-sensored Being." 

Reverend King said, "Understanding the Fourth Insight is a matter of seeing the human world as a vast competition for energy and essentially, power. When we can stop depending on control as the sole impetus for change, the Universe guides us and puts the mystery back into life and makes us feel truly alive again." I believe if we teach just the essence of Lesson 4 alone we will change the world.  People would immediately recognize their control measures and how needless they really are. When congregants do see, we can show them the process of connecting with the Universal Intelligence and its abundant energy.

The Seventh Insight tells us to focus on beauty, iridescence, and mindfulness then let these lead us to intuition.  The persons from whom we need answers and information will be placed in front of us. It teaches us our dreams and daydreams contain information and that we need to focus to glean from them what is there for us. Again, within Lesson 6 and Lesson 7 regarding the Seventh Insight Reverend King teaches exercises and processes (tools) to help her students and then, their students to focus on the environment, learn to build energy, ask the right questions, tell the difference between intellect and intuition, and then to follow intuition. 

The lesson of the Seventh Insight is all about evolving consciously and staying alert to the things the Universe provides. . . in other words – Awareness.  To teach people to be aware and open to the Universe is our mission or, at least it is my mission and Reverend King has provided some fine methodology to use every day.

"How will society change in the coming millennium as a result of the growth in awareness and conscious evolution?  What is the reason for people being here on this planet?  What is the spiritual intent and meaning of life?"

Wow!  Would that I could know all that.

I would hope that in this millennium people will stop the vicious competition for energy and power.  When that happens we will be a kinder, gentler race. We will focus more on the real things in life rather than materialism and "One upsmanship."  Perhaps 'power' will come to mean electricity and nothing else. We will come to know that, "Love is not an intellectual concept or a moral imperative. It is the background emotion that exists when one is connected to the energy available in the universe. . ."

Michael Murphy is saying that there are extraordinary human abilities in communication and the paranormal that will be far more prevalent in this millennium.  I look forward to that; there do seem to be more and more people talking about and willing to explore things like ESP and other psychic abilities  

If one is a Christian then one is on the planet to please and believe in Jesus the son of God and that will get you to "heaven." If one follows Islam then one has calloused knees and awaits Allah to take s\he to a different "heaven."  I'm not too sure exactly what awaits Gods people - Israel, but it is another heaven, I think. . .  If you are Hindu you get to keep reincarnating into new bodies until you get it right – karma and all, then, you get to join the "One" much like Lao Tsu's "Tao." At any rate, each man and woman has their own answer as to why they are on the planet.  Hopefully gaining spiritual consciousness is a big part of that.  For all we know this is already heaven and it's up to us right here to make and keep it that way.  The Ninth Insight says that, that is so and we all will learn to vibrate at a higher level and stay right here.

The spiritual intent of life is to evolve above materialism while respecting and nurturing body, mind, and spirit.  The meaning of life is to nurture and love all peoples, especially the little ones and leave our little corner of Earth a better place than we found.  

All in all I really enjoyed the course, Insights Into Awareness.  Reverend Elizabeth King did a great job in bringing the Insights to my level of understanding.  I have never read the Celestine Prophecies and I probably won't.  I am not one to readily believe in reincarnation and/or vibrating until others can't see me. But these things are only the 'frills' of Reverend King's course, not the meat – like having a 'savior' for Christians.  Just as there is so much more to Christianity in the teachings of Jesus than in some need to believe he was sort of a sacrificial lamb who was brutally murdered for my sins, there is far more in Reverend King's course than souls zipping on and off the planet gaining karmic knowledge.  It isn't likely that too many Christians will buy into the reincarnation story. So? We can teach them spiritual evolution anyway without ticking them off or alienating them. The substance of Reverend King's course is to evolve spiritually. That can be taught to any of my congregants from whatever background of faith they come. 

I mentioned earlier that I particularly liked Reverend King's use of exercises and processes along with our notebooks wherein she achieves getting her student to live within the particular Insight she was teaching in the lesson. I must say, though, I do not intend to go out and try to teach Rev. King's stuff right away.  That's because every time I re-read a lesson or do an exercise over, something else to think about pops up. It's wonderful!  Her course is still unfolding within me and probably will until I die. After awhile when I feel a bit more stable thinking within her concepts I'll be teaching them.  The world needs to know about the Insights, about energy, about evolving spiritually.  Reverend King's course is a great place to start.  

Respectfully submitted,

Thomas A. Voss

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