Edgar Cayce Readings Advice On Personal Spirituality, Meditation, and Prayer
The Edgar Cayce readings emphasize the spiritual nature of humankind. However, because of the demands of life we frequently overlook the truest part of ourselves, which is our connection to spirit. Although we possess physical bodies and mental attitudes, ultimately our deepest connection is to our spiritual source.
One of the most frequently mentioned concepts in the Edgar Cayce material is that Spirit is the Life, Mind is the Builder, and the Physical is the Result. In other words, spirit is the source of all life. The mind focuses that energy into creative (positive) or destructive (negative) avenues of expression. The impact of our choices will eventually find expression in the physical, affecting ourselves and our relationships with one another.
Because of the importance of working with spiritual principles in everyday life, in 1931 the Edgar Cayce readings began outlining a series of lessons on spiritual growth that are still being studied by individuals around the world from all walks of life and religious backgrounds. Today, the A.R.E. Spiritual Growth Activities/Search for God department stays in contact with hundreds of groups working with these lessons on personal spiritual growth.
In order to become more attuned to our spiritual source, for decades the Cayce readings emphasized the importance of meditation. Cayce believed that meditation was listening to God, while prayer was talking. The same year that the original Search for God program was started, Edgar Cayce began the Glad Helpers Healing Prayer Group, which is still active. Today, A.R.E. maintains an active Prayer Services department, offering individuals the opportunity to pray or to be prayed for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txTsbeuY5gM
One of the great ironies of human nature is the fact that the very structure intended to enrich our relationship with God is the one thing which divides us most as a human family. For countless eons, more wars have been fought on religious principles than for any other reason. Even to this day, wars, bloodshed, political battles, and countless examples of our inhumanity to one another are commonplace as one group tries to instill (or enforce) its belief systems, its politics, or the supremacy of its God onto the lives of others.
The first lesson for six months should be One-One-One- One; Oneness of God, oneness of man's relation, oneness of force, oneness of time, oneness of purpose, Oneness in every effort-Oneness- Oneness!
Edgar Cayce Reading 900-429
These conflicts are not simply between various religions but are also within each denomination. There are sects within Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam-within every religion!-many convinced that they are just a little more right than anyone else. Even various churches, temples, and synagogues have found differences with other members of their own sect who have somehow fallen away from the "original" or the "true" faith.
In addition to separating people from one another, these conflicts have also caused individuals to become disillusioned with religion-some even becoming convinced that religion is a waste of time. Too often, the result has been that people have given up their faith in God because of their disappointment in humankind.
Interestingly enough, the Edgar Cayce material states that part of the problem is due to our ignorance of our oneness with one another.
WHERE IS thine OWN will? One with HIS, or to the glorifying of thine own desires -- thine own selfish interests?
Edgar Cayce Reading 900-429
Cayce's information presents a hopeful and inspiring approach to spirituality and religion that inextricably weaves all of humanity together. Rather than focusing upon the form of specific religions or dogmas, the readings instead focus upon the importance of every single soul attempting to manifest an awareness of the living Spirit in the earth.
From Cayce's perspective, our goal is not to simply wait for heaven or to escape the earth; instead, we are challenged to bring an awareness of the Creator into our lives and into our surroundings wherever we may be, right now.
"what is the difference? ...Truth...is of the One source. Are there not trees of oak, of ash, of pine? There are the needs of these for meeting this or that experience...Then, all will fill their place. Find not fault with any, but rather show forth as to just how good a pine, or ash, or oak, or vine thou art!"
Edgar Cayce Reading 254-87
There is a common bond we all share as a collective humanity: There is but one God, and we are all God's children. In order to reawaken that sense of connectedness we share with one another, the readings state that the start of any spiritual journey should begin with the knowledge that the Lord God is One. Regardless of the name we call God or the religion on earth that we feel drawn to, there is but one Creator, one Source, one Law. In fact, perhaps more than anything else, this concept of "oneness" is the underlying philosophy of the Edgar Cayce readings.
Just What Is Oneness?
This notion of oneness in a world so filled with variety may, at first, seem a difficult concept to comprehend. After all, we are surrounded by a myriad of plants, trees, animals, experiences, and people. Rather than attempting to make all things the same, however, oneness suggests instead that we have the opportunity to view this rich diversity as an example of the multiple ways in which the One Spirit tries to find expression in our lives. Since there is only one God-the source of all that exists-ultimately, the universe must be composed of only one Force.
Oneness as a force implies that all things are interrelated. Every one of us has a connection to one another, the earth, the universe, and to God. This one force is a force for good which is attempting to bring the spirituality of the Creator into the earth. Unfortunately, because of our limited awareness of the power of free will, individuals are able to direct that force into selfish purposes and desires, creating "evil" in the process.
In terms of spirituality, the concept of oneness suggests that God is not limited to expressing through one religion alone. Instead, the Creator manifests in individuals' lives because of their faith and because of their relationship to the spiritual Source, not because of their specific religion. From Cayce's perspective, religion is the form in which individuals attempt to understand the manifestation of this Spirit. God can (and does!) work through every soul in the earth.
The good news is that, in spite of how things may appear in the world today, the readings assert that all of Creation will eventually be brought into an awareness of this oneness and of the Law of Love which it implies. One of our challenges as individuals is to make the world a better place because we have lived in it. Perhaps the best approach to this consciousness is reflected in the Bible when it states that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and our neighbor as ourselves.
As a means of discovering the oneness of Spirit, the readings encourage comparative religious study. Through such a discipline, each of us might see beyond surface differences and, instead, find the commonalties we share with one another:
...coordinate the teachings, the philosophies of the east, and the west, the oriental and the occidental, the new truths and the old... Correlate not the differences, but where all religions meet- there is one God! "Know, O Israel, the Lord God is one!"
Edgar Cayce Reading 991-1
...consider a field of corn. In the grain of corn there is life. Man plants it in the soil, works it, and then he reaps the harvest. Not every man selects the same kind of corn. Not every man plows it alike. Not every man sows it alike. Not every man reaps it alike. Yet, in each case it brings forth the very best that there is. It is the God or the life within each grain that the man is seeking. It sustains his body, and also produces enough seed to raise more. That's religion. That's the denominations.
Edgar Cayce Reading 991-1
When the concept of reincarnation is studied, what becomes apparent is not what religion people may be in the present but rather, more important, how individuals apply the knowledge they possess. Within the cycle of reincarnation, we have all been Jewish, we have all been students of Eastern or Middle Eastern religions; we have all been agnostic or even atheistic; we have all been Christian. It's important to remember that first we are all children of the same God, and only secondly are we separated by doctrines or specific religious beliefs. We are spiritual beings manifesting in the physical world. Our religious dogmas and beliefs have changed as readily as we have. To be bigoted toward any situation, type of individual, or experience-especially with the knowledge that we will draw those same circumstances to us in the future-is not in keeping with the concept of oneness.
Religion as a Form
The work of Edgar Cayce has attracted individuals from all walks of life and religious backgrounds. In fact, Cayce's view was that if the information in the readings was helpful and hopeful, making you a better person in the process, then you should be able to bring that renewed sense of "spirit" into your own faith. If, on the other hand, working with a particular concept wasn't helpful to you (the philosophy of reincarnation being one example), then individuals were simply told to leave it alone. Individuals were never advised to change their religious beliefs because of the Cayce readings. What Cayce was most concerned with was the application of spiritual principles, not an individual's specific religion. There is a difference between spirituality and religion, although both are important.
Religion is primarily concerned with matters of religious faith, ritual, structure, and tradition. Unfortunately, too often, a specific religion has been seen as the vehicle for personal salvation rather than simply being one of the various forms in which humankind is trying to understand the manifestation of Spirit in their lives. Many individuals have somehow elevated one religion above all others, perhaps deciding that there is but one form with which to demonstrate true faith. On the other hand, at times it has been the very religious structure with which individuals have become frustrated or disappointed, perhaps even deciding that they no longer need to have religion in their lives. Neither of these responses is in keeping with the concept of oneness. It is important to remember that religion serves a purpose. Without some form, spirituality can too easily become simply a philosophical mind-game rather than having practical ramifications for daily life. A loose spirituality may be fragmented, selfishly independent, lacking community, etc. Without religious form, children can be raised without a sense of the applicability of Spirit in their lives.
One of our confusions associated with religion is that we often mistake the form for the Spirit. For example, individuals may have a particular moving religious experience while attending a certain church or a service in a specific religious denomination. These experiences may include being overwhelmed by the spirit, having a very moving (or even a "kundalini") experience, awakening to the awareness of God's presence, even speaking in tongues. Rather than seeing these experiences within the context of form, however, individuals often assume that because their experience was valid, everything else associated with that religious form contains the same degree of value-they are only forgetting that throughout the history of humankind, individuals have had similar transformational experiences in every religion.
There may be different channels of approach, yes. For not all peoples walked in the field when the wheat was ripe. Neither did all stand at the tomb when Lazarus was called forth. Neither were they all present when He walked on the water, nor when He fed the five thousand, nor when He hung on the Cross. Yet each experience answered, and does answer to something within each individual soul-entity. For each soul is a corpuscle in the body of God.
Edgar Cayce Reading 3395-2
Remember, the essential premise of the Cayce philosophy is that we are all attempting to manifest the Christ Consciousness in the earth. Although we might currently find ourselves in the physical dimension, we are not physical creatures with souls; rather, we are souls who happen to be expressing ourselves in materiality. The distinction is important because, too often, we may associate ourselves with external, temporal things such as race, sexuality, color, and religion that are not a part of our true spiritual nature. It is not so much that we go to heaven; rather, we grow in awareness of our true spiritual nature and of our relationship with God and with one another. In fact, this process of growth and unfoldment is clearly described in the New Testament (Matthew 13:31-33 KJV) when Jesus discussed, in parables, the nature of Heaven.
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
And, from the readings, "For you grow to heaven, you don't go to heaven. It is within thine own conscience that ye grow there," (reading 3409-1).
