You will already know by now that we are a Spiritual Teaching
Foundation and not a Religious Teaching Foundation. We of the Erasmus Foundation
recognise that there is a considerable difference between the two. On the
one hand Religion is specific to a particular belief system, which has a set
of values that it follows, which may or may not coincide with other Religious
groups. For example Jesus to the Christians is the Son of God, and indeed
God himself, whereas the Jewish Religion does not accept that Jesus is God,
but does believe that He was a very important Prophet. These beliefs often
do not cross-over very well from one Religion to another, and can often cause
conflict, and it is clear from our history books that this has happened many
times before.
On the other hand Spiritual Teachings transcend all Religious groups. It transcends
language and country boundaries, it is relevant to all people. This is because
Spirituality is what makes us function on a higher plane. It is the vehicle
that raises us from the physical trap that we find ourselves in. It is also
interesting to note that a belief in God is not a prerequisite - there are
many people who do not believe in the existence of God but are still considered
to be a Spiritual person by the people that know them. However I will nail
my colours firmly to the mast, and say I do believe in the existence of the
one we call The Great Mind.
In fact we all do at the Foundation, but what you believe is your own affair and I will try my hardest to respect this.
I would also like you to know that I am not claiming to be a Spiritual person. This is far to
much for anyone to lay on himself. I do however believe strongly in what I am about to tell
you, and that is the Spiritual values that I try to uphold and that I am going to impart to
you now.
Firstly, the keystone of our Spiritual Teachings is Truth. From this all other values flow. To learn to be Truthful at all times is not easy to achieve in these days as life impacts heavily on us all, and because of this it can appear to be the best option to tell a lie on some occasions to avoid awkward questions and protecting those that we love. But we have been taught that Truth is beautiful and Falsehood is ugly. There is no occasion according to our teaching where falsehood is acceptable. A so-called white lie is as bad as the so-called black lie, they are both ugly.
So why do we lie? Well, usually it is because we do not have the Spiritual Courage and inner strength to do otherwise. To give Truth both of these Spiritual values needs to be applied. For example it takes strength to stand up and say "It was me. I am the one to blame". The more cowardly approach would be to sit back and hope you wouldn't be found out. This act is not only cowardly but it is behaving disrespectfully to others, but possibly even more disrespectfully to yourself. If you cannot have Respect for yourself, which is another Spiritual value by the way, I hope you are counting; you are not being true to yourself.
So we have arrived. Truth is the keystone to Spirituality, without it we are entirely living in the physical. The foundation for building this keystone of Truth is the process of being True to ourselves. Essentially we must learn to like ourselves. We must have respect for who we are.
Once we have endeavoured to acquire this understanding of ourselves, we have then entered a higher Spiritual state which will give us a better understanding of others. In learning to respect ourselves, we have in turn learnt how to begin respecting others. Here lies the path of cooperation between all peoples. A Christian learns to understand and respect a Jew. A white man will understand what makes a black man tick and vice versa. An able-bodied person will learn to understand the lives lead by disabled people, and they in turn will begin to understand that everyone on this planet has their own problems; some of these problems may be more difficult for them to deal with than their own.
We have been taught here in the Foundation that a Spiritual person would be someone who would give and give and give, then give some more. So generosity of Spirit has to be mentioned here. To give of oneself is most important. To find time for others, to say Hello to a stranger in the street can make such a difference. To put yourself out for another human being is a good thing to do. It is always important to note however that it can be sometimes more difficult to receive than to give. It might be a more Spiritual thing sometimes to accept a gift from another. Let that person enjoy the pleasure of giving for a change.
I have only just scraped the surface of the subject of what are Spiritual values. There are many values that I haven't mentioned here, But if you give Truth at all times and give it with Graciousness (I thought I would throw this in) we as human beings on the planet Earth can't go too far wrong. If you are concerned about the planet we live on and the mental state of the people that live on it we can make a difference by changing ourselves by learning to be True to ourselves and hopefully by our example help others to follow the path that leads to Spirituality.
Copyright Paul Nugent 2005.
The Erasmus Foundation, Moat House, Banyards Green, Laxfield, Suffolk. IP13 8ER. Tel: 01986 798682.