Conference sheds light on the Season of Collaboration

Religious Views, by Delisa Renideo

I just returned from an amazing, inspiring, uplifting conference in Palm Springs, Calif. This conference was the combined effort of The Association For Global New Thought, (AGNT) and The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). In other words, it was a marriage of science and Spirit, which really means it was all about Spirit, but from a variety of perspectives.

I attended the AGNT conference last year as well, and even though it was very, very, good, it didn't compare to this year's event. I see the consciousness of our world rising, and this is very apparent in the world of New Thought.

Rather than giving you details of this transformative conference however, I want to talk about the magic of collaboration. We Americans have a deeply ingrained belief in individualism, personal effort and success, and competition. These qualities have taken us far in the world of science and technological advances, but they have reached their limit.

The season of competition has ended, and the season of collaboration has begun.

Competition limits us to our own personal resources, and collaboration draws from the collective wisdom and resource bank of knowledge, skills and money.

As our consciousness rises, we begin to recognize that the problems of the world are collective problems, and they need visionary solutions that draw from the best of all disciplines.

This leads to a richness which is impossible when limiting ourselves to a particular point of view.

A common thread in the conference was "spiritual activism." This could be seen by some as an oxymoron. But I see this as an example of a high level of collaboration. In the past, many spiritual traditions tended to focus on personal spiritual work and taught or implied that action in the world was a deterrent to a spiritual life. On the other hand, "activists" in our country have often operated from a position of anger and righteous indignation. Spiritual activism involves committing to the highest spiritual principles in our personal lives, and taking these principles into the world to make this world a better place for all of us.

Mother Teresa and Gandhi are two examples of spiritual activism at its best. If we aren't operating from love, our activism isn't spiritual.

We all have much to learn from each other. Those of us who have demonstrated for peace with anger in our hearts need to learn from those who have lived their lives centered in meditation upon the Loving Presence. Those of us who have isolated ourselves in our spiritual practice can learn from those who lobby in the halls of Congress, in order to pass laws which reflect love and respect for all.

Those of us who have made an effort to simplify our lives by getting off the consumer bandwagon can learn from those who design consumer products that work harmoniously with nature and empower rather than exploit the people who produce the products.

The foundation of all we do in our world needs to be love and a commitment to making choices that benefit everyone who shares this Earth, both human and nonhuman. With this foundation, we can then draw upon our own knowledge, skills, and interests to become activists in our own communities and the world. By collaborating with each other, we have the collective wisdom and ability to bring changes which will raise consciousness and heal our world.

We cannot be effective in our outer work unless we are committed to our inner work. But our inner work needs our outer work in order for Love to take form in this dimension.

The collaboration of science and Spirit, of politics and Spirit, of technology and Spirit, of education and Spirit, and of health and Spirit will transform our world while transforming each of us.

This conference demonstrated this transformative power in a very exciting and tangible way. Let's go. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

Delisa Renideo is the minister of Unity Church of the Valley.