The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
SEVEN LESSONS WE NEED TO LIVE IN THREE UNIVERSES
When I meditated on the words of Philippians 2:5, I came up with these seven lessons we humans need to live in three universes (physical, mental, spiritual). I quote this from my book, The Woman Who Changed Time: Spirituality and Time. They are expanded upon in that book.
Briefly, there are seven lessons humans need to learn in order to live in three universes.
- LESSON ONE: The more complex the reality, the simpler it is. Truth is one. The purpose of your life is to discover what that truth is, and to fulfill your destiny as human being. Christ is the way, the truth and the life. How can a person be a key to life?
- LESSON TWO: The mental universe, in which human can reason, gives us the opportunity to choose a higher reality. We have reason for a reason. In all of life, humans are the only ones that know that we know. Why is that?
- LESSON THREE: There are three universes but only one reality. Truth must be the same in all three universes, to be real.
- LESSON FOUR: There are no secrets to the discovery of meaning, reserved for a privileged few. Everyone has a chance to get to Heaven. The purpose of life is to discover meaning and fulfill your destiny. The spiritual universe fulfills the physical and the mental, but not all accept that.
- LESSON FIVE: All humans are free to choose their own centers. Some centers lead to truth; some lead to destruction. You have a lifetime to discover and learn the difference. Reason alone won’t allow you to make the jump to a spiritual universe. It takes help from that spiritual universe which we call Faith.
- LESSON SIX: Relationship is a key to discovering meaning in all three universes. Learning how to love others as Christ loved us is the only command Christ gave us.
- LESSON SEVEN: Genuine spirituality is the most difficult universe to integrate into reality. It is totally in front of you right now, but it is totally invisible. You have all the help you need, if you know where and how to find it.
that God may be glorified in all things. –St. Benedict
The Center for contemplative practice 