Welcome - getting to know me, Wilda Spalding, and my view along Universal Spirit Path
click for more discussions fromThe Universal Spirit View thru the eyes of Wilda Spalding
What most attracts you to your chosen path?
From the time of being a very little girl, being one with ‘God’ and knowing that that meant that ‘God’ was one with everyone and everything else, too, was what I thought was just plain common sense.
Clearly, however, for many others, the ‘God’ experience is one of “attraction” and “a chosen path”. But for me, this question is outside of my personal experience of ‘God’. From earliest childhood ‘God’ was and is the Great Loving Oneness in which I and everyone are one.
What is the goal of your spiritual practice? Do you consider this the goal of life?
A personal “goal” in spiritual practice is foreign to me. It seems to imply that ones relationship with ‘God’ is about something to be personally attained. This simply is just outside my personal experience of ‘God’.
However, I know that many others are very comfortable with “goals” as their way to experience God. Many Traditions might say with Jesus, that the ultimate goal from which all individual and societal good comes (justice, peace, etc.) is “that all may be One, as you are in Me and I am in You”. Certainly, this echoes a noble goal embraced by many: that yes, at some time, everyone will consciously live in the fullness of the experience of ‘God’ and we shall all know dignity and peace.
Indeed, this could be said to be one of the goals of life. One is often told that life is about choices. We all experience the consequences of the choices for good or for evil, of yeses and of nos. How I rejoice that the existence of ‘God’, is not dependent on my or anyone else’s personal choice or personal experience. I am profoundly thankful for the Eternal Yes, and the multitudes of yeses of consciousness, praise, and thanksgiving offered throughout the centuries. As dear Julian of Norwich wrote: “Yes God! Yes God! Yes, yes and always yes.
September 21st marks the International Day of Peace being remembered again this year throughout the world. It brings to mind that the experience of ‘God’ is an experience of Peace for many. From Islam, “O God! Make good that which is between us, unite our hearts and guide us to paths of peace.” The “practice” of Peace would certainly seem to be another goal of spiritual practices. From the Jewish Chassidic Tradition of Nofeth Tzufim (Honey from the Honeycombs) comes a helpful image: “Let us be like the lines leading to the central point of the circle: all come to one point and unite there. But let us not be like parallel lines which are always separate.”
What is the predominant spiritual practice you use right now in your life and how do you see it benefiting yourself and your interactions with others?
“Spiritual Practice” or work for spiritual gain is another term rich with even more whirling wisdoms than the swirls of a dervish. However, the notion of benefiting ‘me’ is another one that is quite foreign to me personally. At this point, I would again respectfully offer that “spiritual practice” is life. The rhythms of the measured 24/7 and how they are filled with ‘God’ beg the questions: “When is it not Oneness time or God’s time”? When are we not practicing spiritually? Is it not “practice” to prepare a meal lovingly, to make beauty in the home, to speak out for justice, to give comfort in pain? Surely, this is “spiritual practice” interacting with others. In Hebrew, it is interesting to note that the same word ‘avodah’ means in conversation, “work”, and in liturgy “worship”. Perhaps, there really is no need to differentiate between what we call “work” and when we “worship”?
One of the ways I like to illustrate the practice of experiencing oneness in ‘God’, is in terms of a garden where each plant is invited to have the courage to flourish only if it also exercises the courage to have its roots reach deeply through the darkest mud life may present, through the tangles of other root systems, past jagged stones and worms. Each plant must work to plunge its roots deeply, to reach the sweetwater that is the source and sustainer of the whole garden.
What is the teaching or story from your tradition that has had the greatest impact on how you live your
life?
There are so many magnificent stories and wisdoms from so many Traditions. But one echoed my own words spoken as a vow as a child “that all may be One, as you are in Me and I am in You”. It stunned me when as a young adult I read these same words spoken by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as recorded in the Gospel according to John. I just cannot resist sharing another story that deeply touches my heart. Rumi, the 13th century precursor of Sufism, put it another way: “The lamps are different, but the light is the same: it comes from beyond.” And perhaps, one might say, “from the beyond that is within”.
What is the ultimate expression of the highest teaching of your tradition?
Oneness.
From the time of being a very little girl, being one with ‘God’ and knowing that that meant that ‘God’ was one with everyone and everything else, too, was what I thought was just plain common sense.
Clearly, however, for many others, the ‘God’ experience is one of “attraction” and “a chosen path”. But for me, this question is outside of my personal experience of ‘God’. From earliest childhood ‘God’ was and is the Great Loving Oneness in which I and everyone are one.
What is the goal of your spiritual practice? Do you consider this the goal of life?
A personal “goal” in spiritual practice is foreign to me. It seems to imply that ones relationship with ‘God’ is about something to be personally attained. This simply is just outside my personal experience of ‘God’.
However, I know that many others are very comfortable with “goals” as their way to experience God. Many Traditions might say with Jesus, that the ultimate goal from which all individual and societal good comes (justice, peace, etc.) is “that all may be One, as you are in Me and I am in You”. Certainly, this echoes a noble goal embraced by many: that yes, at some time, everyone will consciously live in the fullness of the experience of ‘God’ and we shall all know dignity and peace.
Indeed, this could be said to be one of the goals of life. One is often told that life is about choices. We all experience the consequences of the choices for good or for evil, of yeses and of nos. How I rejoice that the existence of ‘God’, is not dependent on my or anyone else’s personal choice or personal experience. I am profoundly thankful for the Eternal Yes, and the multitudes of yeses of consciousness, praise, and thanksgiving offered throughout the centuries. As dear Julian of Norwich wrote: “Yes God! Yes God! Yes, yes and always yes.
September 21st marks the International Day of Peace being remembered again this year throughout the world. It brings to mind that the experience of ‘God’ is an experience of Peace for many. From Islam, “O God! Make good that which is between us, unite our hearts and guide us to paths of peace.” The “practice” of Peace would certainly seem to be another goal of spiritual practices. From the Jewish Chassidic Tradition of Nofeth Tzufim (Honey from the Honeycombs) comes a helpful image: “Let us be like the lines leading to the central point of the circle: all come to one point and unite there. But let us not be like parallel lines which are always separate.”
What is the predominant spiritual practice you use right now in your life and how do you see it benefiting yourself and your interactions with others?
“Spiritual Practice” or work for spiritual gain is another term rich with even more whirling wisdoms than the swirls of a dervish. However, the notion of benefiting ‘me’ is another one that is quite foreign to me personally. At this point, I would again respectfully offer that “spiritual practice” is life. The rhythms of the measured 24/7 and how they are filled with ‘God’ beg the questions: “When is it not Oneness time or God’s time”? When are we not practicing spiritually? Is it not “practice” to prepare a meal lovingly, to make beauty in the home, to speak out for justice, to give comfort in pain? Surely, this is “spiritual practice” interacting with others. In Hebrew, it is interesting to note that the same word ‘avodah’ means in conversation, “work”, and in liturgy “worship”. Perhaps, there really is no need to differentiate between what we call “work” and when we “worship”?
One of the ways I like to illustrate the practice of experiencing oneness in ‘God’, is in terms of a garden where each plant is invited to have the courage to flourish only if it also exercises the courage to have its roots reach deeply through the darkest mud life may present, through the tangles of other root systems, past jagged stones and worms. Each plant must work to plunge its roots deeply, to reach the sweetwater that is the source and sustainer of the whole garden.
What is the teaching or story from your tradition that has had the greatest impact on how you live your
life?
There are so many magnificent stories and wisdoms from so many Traditions. But one echoed my own words spoken as a vow as a child “that all may be One, as you are in Me and I am in You”. It stunned me when as a young adult I read these same words spoken by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as recorded in the Gospel according to John. I just cannot resist sharing another story that deeply touches my heart. Rumi, the 13th century precursor of Sufism, put it another way: “The lamps are different, but the light is the same: it comes from beyond.” And perhaps, one might say, “from the beyond that is within”.
What is the ultimate expression of the highest teaching of your tradition?
Oneness.
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