Dear all,

The following link takes you to the song "One Family", written by Central Europe Coordinator, Bro Joe Aquilina for the Euro Conference in Milan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4anX_jDgUU

- TE

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Hi guys, what I find interesting in these lines of inquiry is the attempt to validate the intuitive. I mean, take for example what we say in many of our prayers. "Lord, I lift up to You..." Intuitively, we all look up everytime we pray. We intuitively associate a higher place to what we consider holy. In the same way we associate a higher place to what we deem good, better or best. A deeper spirituality is often called higher spirituality. Our ingrained way of thinking implies levels of "high". There is always something better than good and best is higher still. We even have what we call the best of the best. I find the idea of calibrating in levels (the numbers do not matter, they just make structuring easier) interesting, because it has the potential to trace a path of progression of what was, for me, intuitive and intangible. Have you ever wondered how far you are on the path of spirituality after all the teachings and years of walking the talk? We have heard brothers and sisters talk about "spiritual maturity". How would we know if we have reached such maturity? What constitutes such maturity? What do I have to learn to get there? There are no college credits and diplomas for this. We lack the milestones that are easily understandable. What is the decision making process in choosing a new household head? Chapter head? Area Head? Personally, what indicators do you use in gauging your level of spirituality?

Intuitively we know that to follow the Lord closer, we have to somehow raise ourselves not only beyond our limitations but in our awareness of Jesus' presence in our lives as well. What tells me that I'm on the path, that my development is in the right direction and not backwards? Some of these questions have ready answers. We have all experienced how forgiveness feels, how uplifting that was. We have all experienced that fellowship, that oneness with the Spirit when we went through our own baptism in the Holy Spirit. Such emotional states are powerful energy states. We all consider them higher states than that of pride or apathy. Again intuitively.

The other reason I have for finding the idea of calibration in levels interesting is that our human experience tells us that any statement can be true depending on the context. One person hears an old song and he remembers an old teenage romance. Another person hears the same song and he relives the most sorrowful moments of his life. Both reactions would be true but only in their own contexts. This context could also be a certain level of spiritual awareness. Frank insists his title is Servant General. He obviously takes this seriously. Others see this choice of a title as something else and laugh about it. Both see their own truths, but again, valid only in their own contexts. Some in CFC see Frank's departure as a loss while those in FFL see it as a gain. Again, their truths are only valid within their contexts.

As we grow in spritual awareness, our truths change because the spiritual context we are in changed. For example, we were all once judgmental. As we grew spiritually, we stopped making negative judgments and started focusing only on positive judgments. Then we stopped judging people and starting judging only actions and things. Hate the sin but love the sinner was the teaching. Later, we realized that positive judgments were still judgments and we begin to learn how to let that go as well. What is beyond judgment? Do you see how the spiritual outlook changes as we go up the path? At the end of it all, these things would probably lose their meanings. For example, in heaven where perfection reigns, forgiveness would not exist because there would be no need for it.

Here's another example. Many of us are in the level where we are aware that we are separate from each other. Each of us is seen as a separate entity. Say that's level 1. The truth within the context of level 1 would be: we are separate from each other. As we read scripture, though, we learn that Jesus teaches a oneness. He is the vine and we are the branches. He literally tells his disciples that He is one with the Father and through Him we are one with the Father. He teaches that doing something to someone is the same as doing it to Him, alluding to a oneness with that someone. The Lord teaches us that we are one. We are therefore not separate from each other. This is obviously a higher spiritual level than level 1. In CFC, we have talks that discuss the concept of the Sonship, which we are all a part of. Again, another level. I can imagine another higher level in which we not only understand the concept of oneness but experience it as well. How does it feel to, not believe but, know that we are all connected to each other?

Where am I in this progression of levels? I feel that being able to give some answer to that is very beneficial. You don't really think that the path to spiritual fulfllment in the Lord should be one with uncertainty and without the benefit of feedback, do you?

- TE

Has anybody here read Dr. David Hawkins' book Power vs Force? It discusses the results of a 20+ year study based on the findings of the research in Kinesiology (the study of muscles and their movements). Kinesiology research had shown that there is measureable strengthening or weakening of muscles depending on physical or mental stimuli. Moreover the strengthening occurs when the stimuli is positive and weakening occurs when it is negative. In other words thinking negative thoughts literally weakens us while positive thoughts strengthen us. The study also shows that this phenomenon occurs even if the study subject does not have in-depth knowledge regarding the stimuli. When subjects were asked whether a statement was true or false the muscular response was the same even though they didn't know anything about the statement. The study results suggest that there is something in people that seems to automatically "know" when something is positive or negative and the body responds in the same way.

There is a simple experiment. Have someone stand in front of you with his right arm hanging relaxed at his side. Ask him to raise his left arm parallel to the floor, elbow straight. Ask him to resist as you try to push his left arm from the wrist downwards. Try to gauge how strong the muscular resistance is. This is the neutral "strength". Then give him a negative statement and let him think about it for a few seconds. Then push down on his wrist as before. Gauge the relative strenght of resistance. Do the same thing with a positive thought and gauge the resistance.

I've tried this experiment with my daughter. When I was thinking about how much I love her, my daughter, the resistance was stronger. When I was thinking about the accusations that FAP continues to make against GK, it was easier for her to push down on my arm.

Dr. Hawkins, after conducting millions of calibrations, writes in his book that, using an arbitrary scale of 1-1,000, he has mapped the relative strengths of specific emotions and states of mind. Shame calibrated at 20, guilt at 30, fear at 100, and anger at 150. His calibrations shows a critical threshold of 200. Courage calibrated at 200, acceptance at 350, joy at 540 and peace at 600. Enlightenment calibrated at 700 and above. His calibrations show that the positive values calibrated from 200 upwards while the negative values calibrated all below 200.

The interesting thing about this study is that, Dr. Hawkins talks about discovering what he calls the counterbalancing effect. It seems that individuals calibrating 200 and above counterbalances the negativitiy of people who are below 200. One individual at level 300 counterbalances 90,000 individuals below level 200 while someone at level 500 counterbalances 750,000 people who are below 200. One person at level 1,000 counterbalances the negativity of the whole world. 12 individuals at level 700 is equal to one individual at level 1,000.

Has science finally found a way to validate what Scriptures have been teaching for 2 thousand years? Is level 1000 science's way of confirming Jesus as saviour of the world? And what's with the 12 individuals at level 700? Is science saying that the Lord had a specific reason for selecting 12 apostles? And what about us? I am intrigued by the possibility of using the results of Dr. Hawkins study as a way to "calibrate" my path to spirituality. In a way, it becomes easier to imagine my purpose. To do the Lord's work, I must raise myself above level 200. Because then, I can begin to counterbalance someone else, I can contribute to saving the world. Imagine being at level 300 and counterbalancing 90,000 souls! Better yet, evangelize some of them and help them to go over 200. Imagine the effect if every CFC calibrates at over 200? Wouldn't that be truly changing the face of the earth?

- TE