Walking Each Other Home

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.” In the song “Closing Time” by Semisonic, the lyric reminds us that life in an unending and unbeginning continuum. In that spirit, the April 2020 issue of Guide for Spiritual Living: Science of Mind magazine celebrates the life and work of Ram Dass, included in the theme of “Bright Beginnings.”

Born Richard Alpert, he renamed himself Ram Dass after meeting Neem Karoli Baba, called Maharajji, in India in 1967. “Disillusioned by the hollowness of success,” Ram Dass wrote, “some of us have sought fulfillment in revolution, others in ‘dropping out’ and others in trying to milk more and more gratification from our environment – and some of us have sought a solution to our problems in other cultures, philosophies or religions.”

Speaking of his time in India, he wrote, “There I came to understand that I would have to approach my inner being directly to find a lasting answer.”

He continued his transformation upon his return to the United States, becoming a lecturer, speaker and author of arguably the cultural apex of the 1960s: “Be Here Now.” By the 1980s, he expanded his work to helping prisoners and spreading his message of spiritual equanimity. He wrote books, produced recordings of his lectures and devoted time to his ongoing spiritual journey.

“As I opened my heart,” he wrote, “various forms of suffering in my fellow human beings presented themselves, and I decided to do what I could to help.”

Ram Dass dedicated his life to helping others find their spiritual paths. He shared the wisdom he acquired on his journey of personal transformation and invited others to embrace a worldview and social agenda based on spiritual truth. He made his transition at age 88 on Sunday, December 22, 2019, at his home in Hawaii.

As Ram Dass taught, we are all walking each other home. We now walk our beloved teacher home, knowing he will rest in fierce grace.

Statement on Covid-19

On March 6, Centers for Spiritual Living issued a statement from Spiritual Leader Rev. Dr. Edward Viljoen about Covid-19. In his statement, Viljoen stressed the need to access reliable sources for updated and accurate information on the virus. He wrote: “There continues to be reason to believe that we can respond proactively and affirmatively by first paying attention to the power of our consciousness and, second, by taking actions recommended by health officials.”

He added: “At the heart of our teaching, the Science of Mind, is the concept of Oneness. This Oneness out-pictures as our wholeness and interconnectedness. With this in mind, there is no source of information outside us that may influence us without our agreement. Everything in the world can then be seen as arising from our shared reality, not as something to be conquered, but to be transcended and transformed through our understanding and love. …

“Acknowledging that fear of the virus is part of our shared experience, we are called to respond with both compassion and spiritual conviction, and to move forward together with deep recognition of Oneness and Wholeness.”

The message includes some spiritual resources that you might find helpful:

• Request Affirmative Prayer (Spiritual Mind Treatment)
• Build your Spiritual Mind Treatment online.
• Listen to recorded Spiritual Mind Treatment
• Contact World Ministry of Prayer
• Sit quietly daily and contemplate the Divine Wholeness as you understand It
• Take time in nature to be still

One Perfect Life

By Ernest Holmes

Health starts with the knowledge, backed by conviction and belief, that there is One Life, that Life is perfect, and that Life is our life right now. In It is the complete and whole pattern of perfection. We accept without reservation that It is the Spiritual reality of our being. It is the only source, the only cause of every perfect action and function in our body.

It alone heals and makes whole. Regardless of what the condition may be, It knows what to do, how to do it and when to do it. …

We should think of ourselves as being surrounded by perfect life and poised in eternal calm. We are in a sea of untroubled waters of life, from which we may freely drink. We must do the drinking. No one else can do this for us.

We should hold out the cup of acceptance until it is filled and overflowing with the manifestations of our desires. This chalice of the heart is held up that the heavenly flow may fill it with God’s abundant life.