Master of Metaphysics

This blog is for the comments regarding the Master of Metaphysics - Spirit Quest program offered through the Universal Life Church and their online seminary program.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Spirit Quest Course

Don Miguel Ruiz
I recently was given The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The First agreement is Be Impeccable with Your Word which echos the first course in Spirit Quest. 

I guess I just find it incredible....comforting to know that so many religions can come together with the same concerns and beliefs. It's just too bad that so many "fundamentally religious" people find fault with each other because of...political, racial and irrational ideals based on suspicion, hate and self-righteousness. The more I study, the more I see the connections and the value in such research--the coming together of like mind and spirit.

The second agreement is Don't Take Anything Personally; the third, Don't Make Assumptions; and fourth, Do Your Very Best.

I have also read the book The Law of Attraction and just recently picked up Ester and Jerry Hicks' Guided Meditations and User Guide. I would recommend this meditation CD and book to anyone wanting to fulfill the very things that are being taught in this course Spirit Quest.

Linda




Sunday, February 27, 2011

Spirit Quest

What I learned at Spirit Quest camp……

There have been so many things I have learned over the last 30 weeks that it is hard to know where to begin. The first things that impressed me about the lessons that there were words to express what I was doing. There was a means to communicate my ideas to those who wanted to understand what I believed and what I was doing.  Never before could I come up with the words, pictures, ideas that were common between us. The differences in Soul Ages could explain why it is so hard for me to explain things to some people. It is hard to help a child understand what you know as an adult. The child does not have the vocabulary or life(or many life) experience(s) to see things the same way. It is very hard to get a child to understand being one with the universe when they are still trying to understand that they are a separate individual. Thinking of things this way has made me take more patience and understanding when explaining things.

The second lesson that made an impact was the lesson on letting the anger go – Forgiveness. I can not change what others have done to me. I can not make someone apologize for hurts and wrongs I perceive. I can keep from letting them put their hooks in me. For the most part it is under my control what I energy I let in. There are ways to clear the energy for me and it is up to me to do this on a routine basis. The best way to stay healthy is to take care of your self. A personal example of this is before there is a cousin I have who before the course I could not even hear her name without becoming extremely upset. By releasing the energy I was using toward her and releasing the hooks I had allowed to be placed, I have come to a place of peace when I think of her. I was even able to have a pleasant visit with her the last time I visited my grandmother. There are still a lot of things about her that annoy me but without the angry energy there I can see that most of what annoys me is just the mistakes a young soul makes as they are trying to grow up. Not everyone is a grown up. Some people take longer than others. All we can do is offer to help and teach the rest is up to them.

The third thing was the thought of using the grounding cord on places and things. I knew I could drain energy from people and things but until the lessons I had never thought of using a grounding cord on meeting rooms or building or even the land. I work with a group of people that have a lot of alpha personalities. Since I started connecting the ground cords to the meeting rooms before the meetings we have been able to have much more productive meeting and get the issues resolved without it becoming a pissing contest.

A last thing to add is that others have noticed a difference in me. My mother has noticed that I am calmer and seem to be more in control. She said that I am more confident. My boss and coworkers have noticed a difference too but they think I am loosing weight and look better. No weight loss but I guess confidence does make one look healthier. It helps to know that there are others out there that think that every religion has a valid point and that we don’t have to agree on everything to support one another.

Terri Greer

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.


Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Spirit Quest

Master of Metaphysics by Rev. Caroline Nixon
ULC Seminary Master of Metaphysics Program

Studying this Spirit Quest course has been an interesting experience for me. I have learned and re-learned many things during the course of my studies. Funny how what you focus on presents itself out in the world. It seems that each week, I was reminded of my lessons.

I had one interesting experience that I would like to share to illustrate my point. I remember reading a paragraph that spoke of not being invited out to a gathering. You went on to ask how I would respond if it was me. I remember thinking that it would be no big deal, and why would anyone get upset about something so silly. Well you can guess what happened. A week or so later, I found out that my son and myself were not invited to his little friends birthday party. I laughed to myself because I was pissed off. I kept thinking, “Why weren’t we invited?” I let that brew for a while, and then I realized a few things. I realized that judging that passage I had read earlier, may have brought that experience to me to learn not to judge. I also realized that I didn’t really want to go to that party anyway.

I began evaluating my so-called friendships, and have since made a few changes that make me feel better. My point is that judging a situation is pretty foolish because sooner or later you may have to eat your words and go through the experience you judged.

I have especially enjoyed learning some techniques to help me be a more compassionate person. I love using the grounding cord for myself. I also use it for my home. Each night I imagine a huge grounding cord for my house, and I envision all the guck that has collected in our home to be washed down the cord. I then fill our house with a huge golden sun, and surround it with a beautiful white light (and angels). Another technique I have enjoyed using is the creation (and destruction) of roses. I use them all the time. I love the “Hello” rose. I have really noticed a difference when I forget to use that rose.

I could go on and on about the benefits of studying this course. The only thing I need to remember is to actually use these wonderful tools daily. I find that in the busy-ness of my day, I can forget to use the very techniques that would most certainly help me the most. But like you have said, “Be aware when you are operating out of love, and laugh at yourself when you are not”. I laugh a lot!

Thanks for this opportunity for growth.

By Rev. Caroline Nixon

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.


Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Monday, February 21, 2011

A Course In Miracles

Hi Amy,
Now I've finished Lesson 7.   Wow, so much of it is exactly what I've experienced in working for over 30 years in the profession as counselor and therapist at mental health clinics, etc.   We deal with so many difficult people only to realize that these are the perfect people to teach us about ourselves.  We are defeated and with fear until we realize that accepting the present relationship and learning from it is the way through it and not "out of it".   For, if we do not accept this, our higher selves will simply keep sending us "difficult" people until we "get it".    I love Victor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning.  This is one of the very first psychology books I studied in graduate school.  He had real purpose which is what got him through the concentration camp and out of it; I think it was Dachau, not sure.   I am enjoying the course.
Thanks!

Elizabeth  It is interesting that right now in my profession I really need this review!!!
                      Hey, I, in no way, "know it all".  There is so much to experience.

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have various classes in Christianity, one on Wicca, along with several Pagan courses, more than a few courses about Metaphysics with more being added regularly.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free, legal and lasts for life, so please take advantage of our Free Online Ordination.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and am proud to have started the Seminary.


Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar
 

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Spirit Quest

Final Essay for the Spirit Quest Course
By Travis Richardson

This was indeed a very interesting course to take; each lesson brought forth different and at times puzzling concepts to understand.  But it is in this journey of attempting to understand the differences of the paths another person walks along that greater appreciation and greater understanding is gifted onto me.  I see that there are many shared concepts that I have also explored to further my own growth and evolution. The gracious addition of you sharing how these concepts were applied to your individual life added to the enjoyment of the lessons at hand. 
The concept of Baby Beings I have not heard of before and it took me some time to become accepting of this concept as a possibility, over that of merely an overactive imagination in the respect of it being not merely being someone applying a far-fetched imagination based idea to a life event. Then I thought to myself who am I to comment on what another individual uses to explain things that happen in their lives when I am not living their life. If a person finds answers or solace in what I perceive as an imagination based concept and it helps them grow as an individual then is there really any harm in this. 
There are many forms of intelligence and many great things come from those various intelligences, just because I am lacking in fully understanding a particular thought or concept of one aspect of one particular type of intelligence does not make that thought or the concept wrong. The concept of Spirituality is an individual path a person walks; it is not easily grouped or applicable to a structured environment simply because individuals are distinctly different from each other. Granted there are many similarities that individual human beings share in, but the mind and consciousness is distinct to the individual. 
My own growth and evolution is a hard one to grasp by many people. There is a notable perceive lack of acceptance sprung forth by a lack of understanding of traumatic brain injuries. My injury was the result of a motor vehicle accident where my head struck the driver’s door pillar as well as shattering the driver’s door window. The double impact to the left side of my brain in two areas was also felt on the right side of my brain when the recoil of the impact slammed my brain up against the right side of my skull.  In my particular situation the temporal and the frontal lobes were affected.

The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex that is located beneath the Sylvian fissure on both the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

The temporal lobe is involved in auditory processing and is home to the primary auditory cortex. It is also important for the processing of semantics in both speech and vision. The temporal lobe contains the hippocampus and plays a key role in the formation of long-term memory.

Temporal Lobes: side of head above ears
·       Difficulty in recognizing faces.
·       Difficulty in understanding spoken words.
·       Disturbance with selective attention to what we see and hear.
·       Difficulty with identification of, and verbalization about objects.
·       Short term memory loss.
·       Interference with long term memory.
·       Increased and decreased interest in sexual behaviour.
·       Inability to categorize objects.
·       Right lobe damage can cause persistent talking.
·       Increased aggressive behaviour.

Frontal Lobe: Forehead
·       Loss of simple movement of various body parts.
·       Inability to plan a sequence of complex movements needed to complete multi-stepped tasks, such as making coffee.
·       Loss of spontaneity in interacting with others.
·       Loss of flexibility in thinking.
·       Persistence of a single thought.
·       Inability to focus on task.
·       Mood changes.
·       Changes in social behaviour.
·       Changes in personality.
·       Difficulty with problem solving.
·       Inability to express language.

Exploring this information gave me a great starting point. It also confirmed to me that I was not actually nuts or crazy. My cognitive functions were just simply altered and I had to discover new ways of making the pieces fit. To this day there are aspects that I am working on and will more than likely struggle with for the rest of my life.

I have what is called "Acquired Expressive Language Disorder". This is a situation to where I am challenged in putting sentences together coherently, using proper grammar, recalling the appropriate word to use in what is considered "Acceptable” by societal standards. The only way to overcome this situation is by actually engaging in conversations and rebuilding the ability to effectively communicate. But this is where yet another difficulty lies, we live in a society and a culture that wants instant answers, instant replies and instant gratifications. Finding someone to communicate with who understands and is patient is a huge challenge. I am often dismissed or outright ignored when it comes to chatting or communicating verbally. 

All because one individual choose to not obey traffic laws and stop for a red light. However, if it were not for that individual, this essay would have never been written, and I would not be having this honour of opening your eyes just a little bit more.

Getting back to the essay at hand many of the concepts shared in this course I have also explored, Karma being one of them, Self Awareness, meditation, and so forth. All of which are tools an individual can use to further understand not only themselves but those in their life. If the goal is to become the best possible person one can be, then what does it truly matter which path a person takes to achieve this goal. What works for one person may just not work for another.

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

A Course In Miracles

Hello Amy and/or Loretta,
I enjoyed lesson 5.     May I please mention that the instruction on breathing while Meditating does need a little attention.  I teach Meditation an am a practicing Kriyaban.

With classical Meditation there is always a pause between the inhale and exhale.  There, then, should not be a pause between the exhale and the next inhale.   If one does not pause after the inhale and just continues breathing in a circular fashion, he/sh can go into a powerful and unintended  Re-birthing process.    I am a certified Re-birther.   Yes, seated upright one can usually be safe breathing in a circle, but it is very easy for one to "get in over her head breathing this way.  Breathing in a circle needs a coach.   I AM interested to know if the Buddhists teach breathing in meditation in this way?    If they do, it needs to be done with great caution for most folks.  I know some Buddhists and have not understood that they breathe in a circle.    I would appreciate your information here.    

I will mention that I have found Rebirthing breathing to be an extremely valuable type of Meditation for me...............................all is quite complicated so I will stop here. 

I am interested in your thinking on this.

Love and Light,
Elizabeth
*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have various classes in Christianity, one on Wicca, along with several Pagan courses, more than a few courses about Metaphysics with more being added regularly.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free, legal and lasts for life, so please take advantage of our Free Online Ordination.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of minister supplies.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and am proud to have started the Seminary.


Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar
 

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Spirit-Quest

Spirit-Quest Master of Metaphysics Degree by Nancy Zilversmit

I thoroughly enjoyed these last 30 weeks receiving my lessons, although some of it I was already familiar with due to the fact I am already a practicing metaphysical based minister. There were several concepts I found very interesting that I had not heard of anywhere else.

The creating and blowing up of roses is a good practice for someone who needs to have the visuals of actually doing those exercises and placing their intent within those roses. It is also a good practice for the too logical person to learn simplicity by following these exercises.

I have practiced grounding for some years now, but found the practice of grounding the sex organs new. Definitely something to consider when dealing counseling people with focus and competition problems.

I am glad you spent several chapters on how Spirit communicates. I communicate in so many ways with Spirit and it goes far beyond just the 4 clairs that are usually taught. You covered it very well.

Asking specific questions of Spirit...oh, yea! You definitely have to be specific because your idea of something may be way different then how Spirit thinks it should be. If you ask for the gift of sight, meaning in your mind that you wish to see energy, its color and movement and bam! you end up with sight of future events instead. A greater gift, yet not specifically what you had in mind at the time
of the request. I am happy with the gifts I have and those I am yet to receive, but if you have something specific in mind, state exactly what you mean.

The concept and especially the descriptions of soul ages in the reincarnation chapter was a thumbs up. Simply put and understandable.

Time is a human concept. Spirit does not have to deal with time. I hear the word ‘patience’ a lot. Time keeps moving forward and modern man has everything divided up in time slots and deadlines. Spirit does not operate that way. So things come when Spirit thinks you are ready, not when you feel you need it. The best you can do is to live in the now because the past can not be redone and the future is
imagined until it becomes the now. So live this moment fully and completely.

I am looking forward to taking more courses in the future. Thank you for all the work you put into putting this course together and teaching it.

Rev. Nancy Zilversmit

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.


Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Spirit-Quest

Spirit-Quest Course by Ronald Owens.
Universal Life Church Seminary Metaphysics Course

This has been a fantastic course. Not only the material but the way it was put together. It’s as if this course was written to me instead of for me. I was very fortunate to have a mother and grandmother. They taught me love and respect. I had a father that taught me how to work. In his teachings he taught against negativity. The word “can’t” at least in construction meant you didn’t have the tools or the knowledge. Find out how to do the job and get the tools and you will succeed.

Strangely enough this course is designed the same way. To clear ourselves to gain full potential we must remove as much negativity as possible. All would be nice but not always possible. We are given the tools and the knowledge. The grounding cord and the various methods of using it. This is one of the most exciting things in the course. To actually feel it work and my body felt free. The golden suns collecting energy, sending messages or bringing thoughts. The protective rose grounded to the center of the planet. Creating and destroying roses to remove things from your space. These are tools. You can visualize a rose or a sun or a grounding cord. But you can’t visualize your subconscious. However if you visualize something like creating a rose a sun or a grounding cord. You create a link to you subconscious or spirit. This action causes the event to happen. When you concentrate on a grounding cord. You communicate to your spirit to release negative energy. With the power of the universe that is what it does.

These tools simplify the contact with your spirit. You create a rose. Okay you have a rose. Now you emphasize to bring something or destroy something (remove it from you) Your spirit responds. Your spirit really wants to do everything to please you. You think I can’t do that. Your spirit says okay and puts all the negative block in your way. See I told you I couldn’t do that. If you say with a positive attitude. I’m going to do this. I’m going to make it work. Your spirit gets in touch with other spirits and your golden sun brings you information. I knew that DNA was living chemistry. I never read it in a book and I have hundreds of science books. In meditation I thought how does life start? A fertile cell. Two half sets of chromosomes inner mingle to make a DNA strip. It builds a whole body from this. No brain, no heart. Just a strand of DNA chemistry. How does it work? They (Scientist) call it homeostatic feedback mechanism. We call it your spirit. It takes this zygote. Divides that first cell into 43 cells. These become layers that become the different parts of the body and produce that lovely child we love and care for. Of course the spirit stimulates genetic _expression and the genetic traits tell things where to go. As this child grows up it’s spirit talks with other spirits. We talk to our spirit but not very good. The tools in this course simplify our communication with our spirit and we have unlimited resources in anything we do. This course gives us these tools and this nice lady tells us how to use them.

Ronald M. Owens Sr.

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.


Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Spirit Quest

Spirit Quest by Rev. Donna Kruse


When I first signed up for this class, I was expecting to talk to a spirit guide and have some sort of out-of-body experience. Instead, I practiced using an amazing array of practical spiritual tools. I would subtitle this course “Practical Spirituality”. It's a course that takes 30 weeks to present, and a lifetime to learn.

My favorite lessons are on using energy. I'm a mother, wife, and teacher. Most of my time is spent responding to others' needs. I often use the grounding cord to remove the negative energy that my husband and kids generate when they complain. Their negativity doesn't affect me as much. I use the grounding cord when I'm driving in congested traffic. It's a great way to remove the frustrations of stop and go driving. I like to run energy, too. It gives me a boost when I'm feeling tired. The very last lesson talks about using personal energy versus cosmic energy in healing. So many times, I try comforting my family by using my personal energy. I wind up feeling very drained, but I want to help them. Now, I going to invite cosmic energy in to use in healing them. Of course, the hardest thing to do is remember to use these tools in a situation.

Some of the tools don't work as well for me as others do. I have trouble creating a protection rose. I can create one and sit in it, but I don't feel protected. This tells me a couple of things. One is that I probably don't need protection as much as I think. If one sees love in all of creation, why is there a need to be protected? Of course, we have a society which encourages and rewards victimhood. Why seek protection and seize controls of one's life when being a victim works so well? There is a lot to learn from our struggles with certain lessons.

I am very grateful to Amy for this course. I now have more tools in my toolbox for integrating spirituality into day to day living. I've saved all of the lessons, and I will go back to them from time to time. I'm sure that some lessons will become clearer after I've had a little more time to reflect on them. It has been a fun and interesting journey. I rather sad to see it come to an end.

Rev. Donna Kruse

*******************************

The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more.

Ordination with the Universal Life Church, is free,  and lasts for life, so use the Free Online Ordination, button.

The  ULC, run by Rev. Long, has created a chaplaincy program to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary.


Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar