Cosmology

Step 12: Having experienced a reawakening to self, to humanity, to all species, to Earth and the Universe, we try to spread awareness to others and to practice these disciplines in all phases of our lives.

Principle: Service

Communion or interrelationship is the underlying principle of the Universe. Everything in the Universe is in communion with everything else. It is all interdependent and interrelated in an unbroken bond of connectivity. There is no separation - diversity and subjectivity yes, but no separateness.

Text or Verse

The main human task of the immediate future is to assist in activating the intercommunion of all living and nonliving components of the Earth community in what can be considered the emerging ecological period of Earth development. Functionally, the great art of achieving this historical goal is the art of intimacy and distance, the capacity of beings to be totally present to each other while further affirming and enhancing the differences and identities of each.
Thomas Berry

I believe in the essential unity of humanity and, for that matter, all that lives. Therefore I believe that if one person gains spirituality, the whole world gains it, and if one person fails, the whole world fails to that extent.
Mohandas Gandhi

Integrity is wholeness, the greatest beauty is
organic wholeness, the wholeness of life and things,
the divine beauty of the universe. Love that, not man
apart from that, or else you will share man's pitiful confusions
or drown in despair when his days darken.
Robinson Jeffers

I entered. I lost the boundary of my physical body. I had my skin, of course, but I felt I was standing in the center of the cosmos...I saw people coming toward me, but all were the same man. All were myself. I had never known this world before. I had believed that I was created, but now I must change my mind. I was never created; I was the cosmos: no individual existed.
Houston Smith

Practice

This practice requires us to take the following oath of commitment to practice these principles in all our affairs:

Surrender: We give up trying to force our will through the use of ego. We surrender to being a member in the whole community of life and accept its rights, privileges and responsibilities.
Decision: We decide to turn our life purpose and our ego will over to the Originating Mystery for the good of the interdependent whole.
Confession: We release all self-centered and greedy thoughts and actions, with a sincere intention to replace them with other-centered and compassionate thoughts and actions.
Restitution: We are willing and ready to heal the harms we have caused to ourselves, to others, to other species and to the Earth.
Service: We are committed to spreading the word to others.

Resources

Berry, Thomas. The Great Work and The Sacred Universe. (go to Links menu to connect to the web site)

Cox, Karen, Spiritual Director, is a woman of passion concerning spirituality and the environment. M.A. Education - the Healing Aspects of Gardening (go to Links menu to contact)

Dowd, Michael. Thank God for Evolution. (go to Links menu to connect to the web site)

Fox, Matthew. Creation Spirituality. (go to Links menu to connect to the web site)

LaChance, Albert. Cultural Addiction: Greenspirit Guide to Recovery. (go to Links menu to connect to the web site)

Macy, Joanna. World as Lover, World as Self. (go to Links menu to connect to the web site)