Reflection: What is your calling?
WELCOME TO ST LUCIA SPIRITUALITY
AWAKEN YOUR SPIRIT,
BREATHE NEW LIFE.
WELCOME TO
OUR SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY
Our mission is to cultivate an inclusive community of spiritual seekers, fostering online dialogues and establishing intimate discussion groups in local neighbourhoods. We aim to curate a wealth of resources on diverse topics to stimulate the exploration of ideas and insights, nurturing spiritual growth along the way. Inspired by John Feehan's profound insight in "The Singing Heart of the World:"
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“When you are confronted by evidence that the faith in which you were brought up no longer provides an adequate explanation for the nature, meaning and purpose of your life, you have three choices. You can refuse to accept the evidence and continue as before. You can abandon the faith you grew up with, because it proved to be inadequate. Or third, you can accept the new knowledge and use it to develop a more mature understanding of what lies at the core of your beliefs."
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St Lucia Spirituality is a portal to an array of offerings. Browse here and settle where the Spirit leads you.
You can enter topics of interest, authors or keywords in the Search function in the main menu.
UPCOMING EVENTS
TOPIC OF DISCUSSION:
THE ABANDONMENT OF RELIGION
Why is religion being abandoned? Why are some considering themselves spiritual rather than religious?
Our next meeting will consider the interrelationships between spirituality, theology and religion, and seek to determine how religion could change for our benefit.
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The Importance of Consciousness in Spirituality​
"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Spirituality is an awareness that there is no difference between matter and spirit. Some define spirituality as human’s search for meaning and others as recognising this awareness. Mystics have long recognised spiritual growth (e.g. The Interior Castle, St Teresa of Avila) while modern authors have written about stages of faith (Stages of Faith, Fowler) and stages of spiritual growth (Integral Spirituality, Wilber). Ken Wilber proposes various levels of understanding the world. They range between Egocentric (it’s all about me), Ethnocentric (it’s all about my family, tribe, country), Worldcentric (I appreciate my commonality with all in a world beyond my tribe) and Cosmocentric (I appreciate my place within the universe, that I am related to everything, everywhere). Spiritual growth through these levels also requires growth through other levels of development such as physical, emotional and intellectual maturity. We can progress through these various levels at different rates. According to Wilber, about two thirds of the world has been identified as living in the first two levels. Nevertheless, Richard Rohr understands the importance of well-grounded formation in early stages of growth. They have a relative importance as scaffolding, but they are not the building itself. Yet, we don’t need to continue protecting the scaffolding once it’s served its purpose. In the first half of life, our task is to build a container. Eventually we realise that life isn’t primarily about the container but the contents. In the second half of our lives, we might appreciate the ladder we have been climbing all our lives is leaning against the wrong wall. We search for new meaning and understanding in our lives. Anthony de Mello acknowledged barriers to our recognising reality. Beliefs and attachments blind and restrict us. Carl Jung identified the shadow in our subconscious as restricting our personal growth. However, a clear vision reveals a wondrous world and an inner spirit that seeks to be recognised. Howard Thurman, spiritual adviser to Dr Martin Luther King, wrote about the importance of discerning what makes you come alive because the world needs people who have come alive. This emerging consciousness leads to a new freedom. Albert Einstein remarked that no problem can be solved by the same consciousness that created it. We need only listen to the language of our political leaders to recognise that conflicts within our societies are grounded in tribal outlooks. Immigration and care for our planet are other examples requiring higher consciousness to identify solutions. We need new ways of looking at each other and our world. The development of the science of quantum theory over the last hundred years is establishing a new understanding of a more coherent worldview. Past worldviews founded in patriarchal and monarchical attitudes, medieval theology and classical physics are inadequate to understand the world. The emerging worldview recognises that we are all related to each other, to everything, everywhere and even throughout time. Hence the importance to spirituality of recognising that levels of consciousness exist. We need to grow spiritually and attain a higher consciousness so that we can address the resolution of the world’s problems. As we grow, our institutions, religions and our understanding of God will inevitably change.
AWAKENING THE SPIRIT WITHIN
At St Lucia Spirituality we seek to provide articles and discussion papers for inspiration and guidance to support your journey of exploration and personal transformation. Some of these are Butterfly Series papers that form the basis of our monthly zoom meetings. Here are some recent examples, however, many more can be found in our Offerings.