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What We Believe |
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We teach that God can be called Divine Being, Being, Buddha Nature, Divine Presence, Great Spirit, Goddess, Holy Spirit, Brahma, Higher Power, Love... The name we use for the Higher Power in our lives is not as important as the belief in an ever present force for good. God is Good-all Good-and we are all created in the image of God-Good and that each of us is called to a higher purpose which is rooted in compassonate action.
We teach that together, with God, we can co-create a better world for all beings. Here in Aoteaaroa, we have a deep and wonderful relationship to nature, to the land, the sea and each other.
DivineUnity New Thought teaches us that our natural inclination to love nature, to care for our family and celebrate our friends is what God wants. Greed, destruction, lack of caring is the opposite of the Divine and thus we teach co-creation with compassion. Join us!
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DivineUnity Practices:
Since the inception of DivineUnity, we have taught Nash's Principle which can be summed up as "Do what is good for the group and what is good for yourself, do what is good for yourself and what is good for the group." This principle is rooted in social interaction and individual practice. We feel there are 5 Spiritual / Social practices which bring forth this principle
1. Responsibility / Accountability - Each soul is responsible for his or her own Spiritual Evolution. Developing a spiritual practice and using it is directly related to an individual's Spiritual Evolution. This is the first Spiritual / Social practice essential to the growth and evolution of the individual which is directly related to a person's impact on the community in which they live and the greater societies in which they are a part.
2. Service / Tithing - As stated in #4 of our Basic Beliefs, "we embody Divine Love through compassionate action." We demonstrate our consciousness through compassionate action which includes service to others. - The Law of Circulation teaches us that the universe is expanding in a spiral pattern (Fibonacci), what you give comes back to you later in an increased form. Thus we give love and back to us comes love. by sharing our resources and abilities we bring about dynamic change. By supporting the resources which are positive and supportive of life and love, we are securing our own peace and prosperity as well as the peace and prosperity of all in our community and the greater societies we are part of. This extends to the environment as well. Part of tithing is to be environmentally conscious and thus we give to the earth through minimizing our carbon footprints as an expression of love for her and respect for our descendants. Recycling and care for our environment comes back to us as part of the Law of Circulation. We can also set aside a percentage of our income or labour to tithe to the institutions that support us and are doing positive work. We lovingly spend our money in ways and with institutions which promote positive good for the community and society as a whole. We avoid spending money in ways that are harmful to our community and we refrain from supporting institutions which bring harm to our community, society, or the earth.
3. Fellowship - Fellowship (Sangha) accelerates the development of a person's Spiritual Evolution. Fellowship is very important and increasingly it is found that fellowship is essential to our health and well being. Thus we build community which is rooted in respect and compassion and demonstrate love in action by being loving and caring companions on our path of co-creation. Through the communal use of the Tools of Transformation such as Prayer, Meditation and Contemplation, we are able to enhance our life's journey and accelerate our growth. Fellowship also encourages positive social traits which contribute to overall well being, such as Humility, Patience, Acceptance and Unconditional Love. Nash's principle states: "Do what is good for the group and what is good for yourself, do what is good for yourself and what is good for the group." It is necessary to be in a community to express this spiritual truth.
4. Pilgrimage or Sacred Journeying - Many of the great world religions place a stress on the Journey of Awakening and/or pilgrimage to sacred places. We believe that first and foremost, this journey is an inward one, but outward journeys are helpful too. When you travel to other places, visiting other cultures, you can see what is positive in those places and in those people and this can bring change within. When journeying you are also spending money and this assists in the overall flow of circulation bringing positive benefits to the people in the places you visit. You are also able to exchange ideas on such outward journeys which assists in the overall world evolution of consciousness.
5. Celebration / Gratitude - The law of celebration / gratitude teaches us that by being thankful and joyful about the good things that happens in our lives, more of these things will happen. We are giving back positive energy in return for the positive energy that is bestowed upon us. We develop an attitude of gratitude. Thoughtfulness/mindfulness is part of celebration. DivineUnity celebrations stand on two legs, Science & History. We universally celebrate according to the Solar calendar and individually according to the Lunar calendar (on a monthly basis). Weekly we celebrate on three days Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We believe it is wise to set aside these days for time with the family, time focusing inward and time with friends. Science tells that we should sleep well. The Dalai Lama says that "Sleep is the best meditation." Thus work should be structured to enable one to get the proper amount of sleep as determined by science. History is filled with wonderful celebrations by various cultures around the world for different reason. We believe in celebrating all of these so long as they are not celebrations of violence.
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We teach that sin is a mistake and when we make mistakes, we are punished by them-not by God 
