How do you practice your Spirituality? An Interconnected Spirit Perspective
Introduction by Cole Goodwin
Welcome to The Spiritual Roundtable, an interfaith roundtable featuring a diverse range of spiritual belief systems in the Gorge Community.
Each week, spiritual leaders and learners will share their take on some of humanity's biggest questions, starting with: What does your spirituality mean to you? And ramping up into discussions about the nature of existence, the soul, the divine, and of course…a question as old as time itself: why are we here?
Roundtable writings will be published each Saturday and Sunday of the month. So look forward to new installments every Saturday and Sunday morning!
Take a deep breath… Meditate for a moment…And when you’re ready…keep reading to explore the diverse faiths, belief systems, and philosophies that exist in our communities.
This Month's Question: What is your belief systems basic belief structure? What are some of the major celebrations or rites of passage? What are some of the core beliefs and major practices?
Why this question was chosen: This question asks us to examine the basic principles and values that guide our Spirituality and expand our understanding of the many paths one can walk to live a Spiritual life.
About Cole Goodwin they/them/theirs
Cole is a facilitator of the CCCNews Spiritual Roundtable writers group and journalist for CCCNews. They are a deeply spiritual, genderfluid, and eclectic human, that seeks to cultivate connection where ever they go. Their spiritual beliefs center around the collective Spirit present in all beings and the Spirits ability to evolve and to connect all beings.
An Interconnected Spirit Perspective
By Cole Goodwin, CCCNews Spiritual Roundtable Facilitator
If you ask me what I believe I will tell you ‘nothing’ and ‘everything’.
Do I believe in karma?
Of course.
Do I believe in God? Hekate? Love?
Yes.
Do I believe the teachings of the Buddha?
Without question.
Do I believe that animals and plants and rivers and oceans are as full of the Spirit as you or I?
Yes, I believe that with every vibrating fiber of my being.
My belief in the Spirit is not tied to any one religion, philosophy or belief system.
For me the Spirit is a connecting point between all beings,
it is a sacred, eternal, and evolving life force.
I find my Spirit loves to be expressed through meditation,
art, poetry, music, dance, sex, and love.
I find that when I listen to the Spirit, it always knows the right thing to do.
I find that when I am held close to another’s heart,
I can feel the Spirit listening and vibrating inside of them,
Each beat in harmony with my own.
Tending to my belief system, to my Spirituality
is like tending a tapestry woven from light itself,
It is formless, yet with form,
a reflection and the mirror
meant to cherish the unexplainable experience of
the presence of the Spirit
in all things.
My core belief is simply this:
I believe in the simultaneously collective and individual nature of Spirit.
The Spirit has evolved into multiple consciousness, yet its sentient presence lies within all things. It is collectively shared and yet individually experienced. Although those that achieve enlightenment may also touch the Collective Consciousness.
I believe that the Spirit wants to experience connection…for life not only enjoys the presence of other life but needs it to survive.
The Spirit connects all beings in all of existence in order to create a state of harmony.
Therefore living in the flow of interconnectedness, and understanding our individual impact on the flow of consciousness is key to living well.
Our connectedness holds the key to the collective enlightenment of all beings.
I believe that the Spirit is always evolving and that it is neither all good nor all evil.
It simply is.
I also believe that the Spirit evolves in the direction we choose as individuals and as a collective.
I believe the individual Spirit can achieve meaningful connection with and flow within the Collective Consciousness of the Spirit. By recognizing our individual role in the collective Spirit we learn how to let others reach us…And we evolve our understanding so that we may reach for others.
Interconnected Spirit Practices
There are many means to experiencing the Spirit including meditation, prayer, magic mushroom journeying, cannabis ceremony, and dreams.
There is an infinite and expansive wisdom available to each of us in this conscious Spirit state. In this other dimension of reality and consciousness we can see our whole lives as collective and individual beings. In this state of connectedness we are capable of knowing anything that needs to be known. In this state of consciousness we can know our thoughts, our feelings, our bodies, as well as the thoughts, and feelings, of others. In this state we can expand past our lifetimes to see the beginning and end of time, and the life and the death of all things. It is through this connection that the highest wisdoms, the greatest truths, and the true nature of all things are revealed.
Accept that there are many Spiritual Paths.
I believe the highest wisdom lies in following an individual path to connection with the Spirit.
It is my core spiritual belief that each person, each unique sentient being, all 7 billion people, and 8.7 million animals, and 390,900 thousand species of plants have their own unique connection to the collective spirit. And that the only being that can decide the ‘right’ path to Spirit, enlightenment, nirvana, heaven, for each being is that unique being itself.
There are many different philosophical paths that can lead you to the same doorstep.
There are many crossroads and open doors, and winding forest paths that can take you there. Some find their path in Christianity, others in the Tao, Islam, Buddhism, Shamanism, or Wicca. Some find that their path is as multilayered as a wedding cake, and they layer teaching after teaching. One sugary, one savory, one Christian, one Taoist, one on top of the other until they reach a peak understanding of their values.
Each path is as unique as the individual that follows it, embrace this.
Be in the NOW.
Every moment matters.
Say hello to birds, to cats, to flowers and breezes.
Smile at your neighbors.
The Spirit, whatever it is, whatever it’s becoming, wherever it’s going, whatever it’s fate may eventually be, is here in the NOW.
This is how I have come to believe that celebration and awareness of the NOW, the present moment, and it’s ever shifting nature is a key practice to living in connection with the Spirit. To achieve this state, one can practice meditation. Learn how to simply sit and observe the breathe, the body, mind, and spirit. To achieve enlightenment in the present moment one must practice a state of loving kindness and non-judgmental awareness of all that is. The acceptance of that which is, increases our curiosity and understanding of the world, and puts us on the path to connection.
Live in a relationship.
The Spirit is in all beings, and therefore every relationship you have is a relationship with the Spirit. Treat yourself and others with kindness. Be curious about other beings, ask them open-ended questions and listen for their response.
Care for all beings.
Separateness is an illusion.
All beings make up a part of the Spirit.
All beings are your family.
Every human, alien, plant, animal, and ocean is a part of you.
You can never be separated from this family, even in death, even in rebirth.
They belong to you as you belong to them.
When we harm another being, we harm ourselves.
When we love another being, we love ourselves.
It is best to be gentle with other beings when we can.
Even as you float in loneliness amongst the stars
The Spirit knows the radiance of your heart.
To live in relation to others with kindness, curiosity, love and acceptance,
is to walk the true path of living as an interconnected spirit.
For all beings are truly one being,
and therefore to care for others is to care for ALL others.
And therefore to care for the self, is to care for all beings.
Each being is a part of your spirit.
They are the source from which you have sprung,
and the source to which you will return.
The Spirit is home to all beings.
Think of it like this: You are like a single cell in the body of an infinite universe bursting with possibilities. What you choose to do will impact the whole universe. And the way you choose to treat the mind, heart, spirit, and body of the universe will determine the outcome of the collective being.
Care for your mind, body, and spirit.
The Spirit is also inside you. Care for it. Notice it’s rhythms. Embody your emotions. Engage your mind. Honor your body’s limits and stretch its potential.
Care for nature.
The Spirit lives inside all beings.
It is in the rivers, the oceans and the clouds. It is is the skies. It is in the soil. It is in the forests, prairies, savannahs. Every being, every plant, every animal is a part of the Spirit. Therefore speak to your plants, your dog, and your crops with love in your heart.
To live sustainably in harmony with nature is to respect the body of the Universal Spirit. Developing a deep intimate connection with the natural world will reveal to us all the secrets of balance we need to survive and thrive in the Universe.
To willfully engage in unsustainable living is to disrespect and degrade the body of the Spirit.
Such violence poisons paradise. In the modern day world, plants and animals are disappearing from the face of the Earth forever. And for what? For money? For microchips? So that we could conveniently carry home our takeout food in a styrofoam cup? Humans must be fools, absolute fools to not see what we have done to our planet to our Spirit and to the beings on this world that once outnumbered us ten to one.
Therefore to walk the Spiritual path of an interconnected Spirit in authenticity we must care for nature.
Connect from the heart.
There is a difference between simply walking in the woods and knowing the woods in which you walk.
What is the difference?
It is having a heart connection to the world you live in and the beings you are surrounded by.
It is knowing someone not by their name, or their identity, or their achievements but by their heart.
Other beings will reach for you.
Let them.
Let your heart be known
Let the golden thread of Spirit connect you to highest wisdom.
When we neglect our connection,
we bring dementia to the Universal mind.
In forgetting what we are,
an interconnected Spirit,
we are lost to ourselves.
We lose sight of our Universal story,
one history, one face at a time.
Practice Intuitive listening.
To understand the Spirit’s wisdom, power, and purpose requires poetry beyond what I can speak. The highest wisdom is only known to me when I cease all chit chat and simply listen.
Listening intuitively will teach you how to communicate across any perceived divide of language, politics, religion, or even species. Intuitive listening teaches us that we do not need to speak the same language to understand one another.
In fact, we do not need to speak at all.
We can communicate simply by listening and attuning to one another.
To listen with your intuition means you must learn to listen with more than your ears.
You must learn to listen with your whole body, your senses, your heart, and your spirit.
When you listen intuitively the beings and people around you will tell you what they need.
So do not squander your time trying to solve things by talking.
Instead be still and listen.
Note: Intuitive listening also means refraining from giving advice the moment someone tells you about a problem. Rushing to a conclusion without fully hearing the other person can lead to misunderstanding and potentially even harm. Listen first and focus solely on listening. Know that there is no need to waste time formulating your advice or a solution when all you need to do is listen. When the listening is done, if there is something to say, you’ll know what it is. The Spirit will guide you to the wisdom you seek. Plain and simple. To seek Spiritual wisdom all you have to do is ask: what does Spirit want you to know?
How to do it: To listen intuitively requires taking a step back from the ego and into a non-judgemental awareness. In this state one can simply listen to another, without needing to attach any specific bias, meaning, or prior emotional state onto that being and what that being is communicating to you.
In this way you can understand the wants and needs of anyone or anything. You can know what your dog is saying, what your houseplant needs, and what kind of touch your romantic partner(s) want.
If you learn to listen intuitively, a day will come when you ask yourself why you ever thought whipping a horse and ‘breaking’ him was the way to success when you could have simply asked him…please may I ride on your back? And listened for his response.
Meditate.
There are many ways to meditate. Each individual must find the way that works best for them. I personally love transcendental meditation, body scan meditation, and moving meditation.
Practice Metta & Pray
There are many ways to pray. Each individual must find the way that makes them feel the most connected to their purpose.
I personally love to practice the following Buddhist metta prayer.
Place your hands on your heart.
Say to yourself:
May I be well.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I know love.
May I know peace.
Place your hand outstretched in front of you as if you are holding a gift and imagine a being that is easy to love (you dog, your partner, your child) hold them in your mind and say to them:
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you know love.
May you know peace.
Put your hands out wider and imagine another being that is an acquaintance (someone you passed on the street earlier, or a friend of a friend) hold them in your mind and say to them:
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you know love.
May you know peace.
Put your hands out even wider and imagine another being that you may be having some difficulty with and hold them in your mind and say to them:
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you know love.
May you know peace.
Put your hands out even wider until they are completely outstretched and imagine all the beings in all of existence and say to them
May all beings be well.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings know love.
May all beings know peace.
My Interconnected Spirit Celebrations and Rites of Passage are always evolving.
I believe that in life there must be celebration, enjoyment, suffering, mourning, and reflection to give our lives structure, meaning, and to encourage interconnectedness.
It is my belief that experiencing these cycles of spacetime, nature, ego, and the higher self can help us to find connection in the whole and ultimately will lead us to evolve into our highest selves over many millennia.
Therefore I celebrate the movements of the Spirit,
the seasons, the planets, the body and the mind.
I celebrate the first bloom of Trillium, the birth of children,
the turning of the Tamarack and the first fall of snow.
I give thanks to the sun and the moon for their unique gravitational pull.
I celebrate health and pray that sickness and suffering will cease.
I celebrate the joy of living a life in a human body with a human mind.
When death comes, I mourn the death of the individual
But celebrate the turning wheel of time,
that will return that spirit to life once more.
For I believe death is but another rebirth;
a transformational process we cannot begin to comprehend
and yet which can and will be experienced nonetheless.
The ever evolving Spirit lives forever
and even once the memory of our individual identity fades,
the Spirit endears as a golden thread
woven throughout the long memory of the quantum multiverse,
imprinted upon every dimension of space, time, and reality
carrying us with it, holding us within it, experiencing us as we have experienced it.
The Spirit is like water
It is pervasive, expansive, ever flowing, and ever transforming
from dripping iceberg, to trickling stream,
from peaceful pond, to wild river
to deepening ocean, to lake mist,
to fluffy cloud, to the falling rain,
to hurricane.
So, oh best beloved,
you might as well smile at those that pass you by on your path,
for everywhere you look,
there you are.
Want to contribute to the Spiritual Roundtable? Read this first.
The Roundtable Mission and Vision
The goal of these roundtable writings is to:
Bring the spiritual community together.
Share ideas that elevate the human spirit.
Elevate the conversation around the spirit.
Embrace what is universal to all, while honoring what is special about each spirituality.
Center inclusivity and equity.
Promote our collective enlightenment.
Nurture civility and friendship between those with diverse belief systems in the Gorge.
Engage readers and spiritual seekers.
The Spiritual Roundtable IS NOT…
This is not a place for arguing about dogma.
This is not a place for ‘hating on’ or putting other belief systems down.
This is not a place for excluding, discriminating, or promoting fear or violence towards other people based on their race, color, ethnicity, beliefs, faith, gender, sexuality, ability.
This is not a place for hatred.
This is not a place for fear.
The Spiritual Roundtable IS..
This IS a place for hope.
This IS a place for joy.
This IS a place for comfort.
This IS a place for big questions.
This IS a place for learning.
This IS a place for sharing.
This IS a place for caring.
This IS a place for sharing what is special about your beliefs.
CCC News reserves the right to not publish any content that breaks with our mission, vision and values.
If you are interested in being included in the roundtable please email cole@columbiacommunityconnection.com
