, Russian Transcendentalism.. ‘The highest wisdom and truth is like the purest dew, which we try to hold within us,’ said he. ‘Can I hold in an impure vessel that pure dew and judge of its purity? Only by the inner purification of myself can I bring that dew contained within me to some degree of purity. The highest wisdom is founded not on reason only, not on those wordly sciences, of physics, history, chemistry, etc., into which knowledge of the intellect is divided. The highest wisdom is one. The highest wisdom knows but one science; the science of the whole, the science that explains the whole creation and the place of man in it. To instill this science into one’s soul, it is needful to purify and renew one’s inner man, and so, before one can know, one must believe and be made perfect. And for the attainment of these aims there has been put into our souls the light of God, called the conscience.’
‘Look with the spiritual eye into thy inner man, and ask of they self whether thou art content with thyself. What hast thou attained with the guidance of the intellect alone? What art thou? You are young, you are wealthy, you are cultured, sir. What have you made of all the blessings vouchsafed you? Are you satisfied with yourself and your life?’ ‘Thou hatest it; then change it, purify thyself, and as thou are purified thou wilt come to know wisdom. Look at your life, sir. How have you been spending it? In riotous orgies and debauchery, taking everything from society and giving nothing in return. You have received wealth. How have you used it? What have you done for your neighbour?’ -Tolstoy, War and Peace ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Of Free Thinkers and Orthodoxy, An essay, About our Church Building in Fairfield, Iowa: Here's the history about our church which is technically called the "Church of the Holy Spirit Charitable Trust." We use the name Fellowship of the Holy Spirit because there are too many churches named "Church of the Holy Spirit." The building was built in 1913, and first served as a bridal and tack shop for horses and buggies. Like every building on the square, it is long and narrow. This allows more stores to have a storefront. The owners lived upstairs and the backspace was for inventory and workshops. Very sensible. I don't know all the stores or businesses that have used the building. My memory goes back to Simone's - a clothing store owned by Julia Marchand and Bill DeKramer. Simone was Julia's daughter. At some point Julan White, Bonnie's daughter, bought the building. (Yes, Bonnie is the unforgettable owner of 2nd Street Coffee). Julan loved the building and was remodeling it when unfortunately it burned. John Minor, a local contractor who had once gone to seminary school, bought the burned out building to keep it from being razed. He figured we didn't need another parking lot on the square like the empty space next to India Cafe - empty from another fire. I bought it from John to restore as a church building. I paid $50K for the building, and then watched in amazement when I put in another $250K at least to restore it. I've never regretted spending the money, even though the building is not at all worth $300K. For me it has become a gift to the community, giving me great satisfaction to see how so many people and groups are using it for the spiritual upliftment of our community and world. Our church history: I was the original "Ru" minister of the Unity Church in Fairfield for 12 years. We had a Unity-ordained minister for 2 or 3 years before that, but one day from the pulpit she said: "The Holy Spirit has told me I have to leave, and that you (pointing at me) are the next minister." I pulled in 3 other people to be ministers with me - including my decades' long friend Connie Huebner. After 12 years, the main Unity organization realized we had become a real church with a church building and money in the bank. They sent someone up and said we couldn't do this - we needed a real Unity minister. They sent a Unity minister up from Quincy who was a fine person but didn't have the depth of experience to inspire and teach a church full of sidhas. So we split off, and Unity church faded away. Connie started the Divine Mother church, and I started the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Joy Hirshberg became the president of the local synagogue (a good Shiksha president!) and Eleanor Fleming moved out of town. We struggled with finding a good location, so I eventually bought our current building. It had been burned out by a construction fire - one of Julan's construction workers was sneak-sleeping in the building and fell asleep with a cigaret. I was going to do a cheap Walmart's remodel, but I fell in love with the building and my business flooded me with money so I tried to do a beautiful remodel. Funnily enough, after 13 months of remodeling, I had a Jyotish reading that said: "for the past 13 months you have had temple building karma." Way cool, right? The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit was active there for 6 years, and then I took a sabbatical to get my masters degree in Vedic Science. It was so nice not writing a sermon every Saturday night that I never came back to preaching actively, and changed the nature of the church to an Inner Sanctum. Connie's church is actually a charter of our church which helps maintain our legal status with the IRS. And she doesn't have to worry about paperwork while having a 501(c)(3) status. She is a treasured trustee of our church, so if I'm not around you can check with her if there is an issue with the building. If there are other groups who could use the umbrella of a 501(c)(3), Connie and I would be happy to consider allowing them to become a charter of our church. As you know, I built an inner sanctum where the focus of my meditations and singing is to heal the wounds in the Heart of America. In 2013 my heart opened up and I could feel the national pain from the wounds in the Heart of America. It was too great for me to handle, so I shut it off. But I realized I was given the experience as an invitation to start the process of healing these wounds for the sake of the country that I love so much. My heart's guidance for this next year is to start an online group that will join me in using the 5 Elements to heal these wounds in the heart of America. Just fyi, I had a very clear vision of seeing the 4 chambers of the heart relating to Earth Water, Fire, and Air; the pericardial sac surrounding the heart relates to Akasha, the element of Space. As we heal the wounds of our individual hearts, we heal the Heart of America. But I preach here, don't I? Imagine that... Here's who is using the church now: The Divine Mother Church: Of course it is such a great blessing to have the work Connie does happen in our building. Do you remember Maharishi's "Mother is at home" analogy? Connie's deep services and meditations make me feel like "Mother Divine is here, at home, in our church building." I fall silent when I think about the greatness of her work. Spiritus Christi: We are very happy to have Michael's church use our space. If you have ever been in the space after one of their services, you will feel the holy atmosphere they create. I once walked into the front space to show off the church to a visitor from out of town. He had been an MIU student in the 70's, and had come back for a visit. We walked in after a Wednesday morning Mass, and my friend just exclaimed: "Wow, what happened in here?" There was such great silence. I had to later thank Michael for making me look so good. It's the same with the IAM Sanctuary upstairs - they are really a group of western pundits. They have pulled together a group of very pure souls who are using their voices and awareness to create purity in Fairfield and America. It's very powerful, and I'm grateful for the work they do. Thank you, Howard Osborne, for using this space so well. The Quakers meet weekdays from 5 to 6 for an "unaffiliated" silent meditation. Maybe I shouldn't call them Quakers but this is Doug and Jennifer Hamilton's background. They will have 2 to 12 people show up to meditate every day. It's a great offering to those who do not have a dome badge. I love that they do this. Laura Wienberg has started a group that meets the 2nd Saturday morning of each month. I can't say exactly what she does yet because I haven't joined her so far. But I wish her well; may her service grow and serve many, many souls. The Community Choir uses the building, a Women Within group uses it, Brianna Delott does some of her spiritual counseling work here, and occasionally other groups use it. We are happy to provide this space. So now you have a picture of what our history is, and how we work. And of course you bless us with your extraordinary singing during the Singing Sphere's services. Why don't you do a recital for us some ArtWalk? You have such a gift, Greg. I'm cc'ing everyone I've written about here. I want you all to know how grateful I am that your groups use our church space. And I wish everyone a very successful and happy new year - filled with the joy of service that you all already experience. With love and gratitude, Rev. Steven Winn Trustee ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Dear Col. Leed, Thanks for this appreciation. I particularly enjoy the link below to the published paper that is written as a 'tongue in cheek' orthodox indictment of free thinking. The particular names of free thinkers given in its text are interesting to follow up on in context. These links could also go along with this exploration of Free Thinkers and Orthodoxy.. Separatists, In Quiet, European ancestral genealogy of transcendentalism https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FairfieldLife/conversations/messages/438032 https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FairfieldLife/conversations/messages/438032 Transcendentalist Fairfield https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FairfieldLife/conversations/messages/160262 https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FairfieldLife/conversations/messages/160262 Reference. Importing Transcendentalism (German) to America HISTORICAL NOTE German ‘Free Thinkers’ Turnvereins, American Turner Movement Records, http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/collections/german-american/mss030 http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/collections/german-american/mss030 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turners https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turners https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought William Leed writes: THANKS Doug !!! WOW! a real post TO, save , Learned insightful & a joy to learn from & grow in SPIRIT from as well!! WOW! & for me & now many others! Again in great respect! THANKS!! ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony...@yahoo.com> wrote : Freethinking and Orthodoxy.. Fundamentalism.. “We have to remember that fundamentalism is . . . a reaction to the natural progress of society. And so when I see fundamentalism surge, I know that what is really happening is that the natural progress of society is surging. And fundamentalism is reacting to it. I choose to focus on the progress, not the reaction.” Reza Aslan A great ‘freethought’ listen, on your cell phone or computer.. Manley P. Hall, an interesting 20th Century mystic freethinker. A lifelong lecturer he gave a biographical lecture presentation on 17th Century William Penn’s free thought ‘Holy Experiment’. Penn’s freethinking venture became an early founding of constitutional government and subsequently the State of Pennsylvania. Manly P. Hall - William Penn, the Quaker, and His Holy Experiment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuRD0-tTbr8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuRD0-tTbr8 . . An Orthodox Indictment of L. Mott This gives very interesting insight. A fun read as written in a voice of 'tongue in cheek'. Reguler, The Orthodox indictment of spiritual regeneration movement: The case of L Mott. http://quakertheology.org/issue-10-mott-CEF-01.htm http://quakertheology.org/issue-10-mott-CEF-01.htm . . Whitman "Whitman believed in the Inner Light. In 1890, he told Horace Traubel, who recorded Whitman's conversations from 1888 until the poet's death, that he subscribed to Hicks's views of spirituality." Anecdotes about Elias Hicks by Walt Whitman November Boughs essay "Elias Hicks" 1888 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Anecdotes_about_Elias_Hicks https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Anecdotes_about_Elias_Hicks Elias Hicks: He preached that people could experience salvation without the aid of ordained clergy. God dwells within every person, he explained, and reveals truths to each one by means of the Inner Light. Employing their free will, people could choose salvation by submitting to the will of God revealed to them, or they could choose sin by rejecting God's will to follow their "independent will" (Hicks 336). From 1779 through 1829, the Quaker minister journeyed more than forty thousand miles to locations primarily in the Northeast; but he also made trips to Virginia (1797, 1801, 1819, 1828), to the northern shore of Lake Ontario, Canada (1803, 1810), and to Richmond, Indiana (1828). https://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_192.html https://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_192.html .. .. “And this power flowed through him -- he became its agent -- whenever he put himself in a position to receive it. It had drawn him also to the Quakers of New Bedford, who were having a schism and revival in 1828. He visited them often, especially Mary Rotch. “What is this Inner Light?” he asked her. “It is not a thing to be talked about,” she replied. But he drew her out, and she said she had been driven inward, in these years of the Quaker Schism,” The Life of Emerson, Brooks. .. .. Creeds Creed..a set of beliefs or aims that guide someone's actions, a brief authoritative formula of religious belief. a creed is a set of beliefs, principles, or opinions that strongly influence the way people live or work creed is a religion. any system, doctrine, or formula of religious belief, as of a denomination. any system or codification of belief or of opinion. an authoritative, formulated statement of the chief articles of belief, as the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, or the Athanasian Creed. . . / “In the 18th and 19th century, many thinkers regarded as freethinkers were deists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deists, arguing that the nature of God https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_nature_of_God_in_Western_theology&action=edit&redlink=1 can only be known from a study of nature rather than from religious ‘revelation’. In the 18th century, "deism" was as much of a 'dirty word' as "atheism", and deists were often stigmatized as either atheists or at least as freethinkers by their Christian opponents.[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought#cite_note-13[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought#cite_note-14 Deists today regard themselves as freethinkers, but are now arguably less prominent in the freethought movement than atheists.” . . W. E. Channing, in Channing’s sequence of time in the coming on of Emerson and others, bringing a closure to Puritanism in New England.. “The divine attributes,” Channing writes, “are first developed in ourselves and hence transferred to our Creator. The idea of God, sublime and awful as it is, is the idea of our own spiritual nature, purified and enlarged to infinity.” “When Channing whistled, if his friends had only known it, that was the end of Calvinism for Boston.” The Life of Emerson, Brooks. . . Freethought is the philosophy that man rules his own destiny, rejecting the notion that there is any kind of divine intervention in life. Belief centers on the idea that nature and Natural Law guide mankind and that the use of reason, epistemology, and science are the means by which life is validated. Freethought came to Wisconsin with the massive influx of German immigrants in the 1850s, particularly those known as "Forty-eighters" who had fled autocratic German states after the failed revolts of 1848. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1926 https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1926 1850’s.. Freethinkers refused to accept political absolutism and the authority of a church, religion, or its supposedly inspired scripture. They insisted on the freedom to form religious opinions on the basis of intellectual reasoning powers and not on blind, unquestioned faith. Freethinking became fashionable in the German state of Prussia during the reign of Frederick the Great, who ruled from 1740-53, within a period known as the "Age of Reason." "Freethinkers" Of the Early Texas.. https://ffrf.org/legacy/fttoday/1998/april98/scharf.html https://ffrf.org/legacy/fttoday/1998/april98/scharf.html Freethought, Vs. the true believer.. true believer. noun. One who is deeply, sometimes fanatically devoted to a cause, organization, or person: “a band of true believers bonded together against all those who did not agree with them” ( Theodore Draper ) : a person who professes absolute belief in something : a zealous supporter of a particular cause ..true believers who fought the good fight even when it was out of fashion. ..it's impossible to argue with those true believers, as they think any counterevidence, is proof of an evil conspiracy. True-believers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_True_Believer . . “On the other hand, according to Bertrand Russell, atheists and/or agnostics are not necessarily freethinkers. As an example, he mentions Stalin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin, whom he compares to a "pope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope": what I am concerned with is the doctrine of the modern Communistic Party, and of the Russian Government to which it owes allegiance. According to this doctrine, the world develops on the lines of a Plan called Dialectical Materialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_Materialism, first discovered by Karl Marx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx, embodied in the practice of a great state by Lenin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin, and now expounded from day to day by a Church of which Stalin is the Pope. […] Free discussion is to be prevented wherever the power to do so exists; […] If this doctrine and this organization prevail, free inquiry will become as impossible as it was in the middle ages, and the world will relapse into bigotry and obscurantism.”
