5th Tenet of The Shin Dao Philosophy
I was raised a Catholic. I attended a Catholic school, Catechism classes and attended a Catholic Church every Sunday. In that upbringing, ‘sacred’ meant “in the church”. The words ‘sacred’ and ‘holy’ referred to the Priest, the altar, the golden chalice for the blood of Christ, the golden plate body for the body of Christ, the candles…
Religion defines ‘sacred’ for many people, and this is supported by the Oxford dictionary, which defines ‘sacred’ as “connected with God or a god or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration”.
Yet, as I gained more experience and wisdom in life, I began to understand that ‘sacred’ extends well beyond religion. Webster’s Dictionary supports this by adding to the definition of sacred, “to hold reverence, or deep respect, for someone or something”. I know in my heart that “someone” doesn’t have to be God and that “something” doesn’t have to be an item in a church.
At this point I’m adding in a bit of research from Wikipedia: The English word “holy” dates back to at least the 11th century with the Old English word hālig, an adjective derived from hāl meaning “whole” and used to mean “uninjured, sound, healthy, entire, complete”.
‘Whole’ is how I feel when I am in nature. Many summers as a child were spent camping with my parents, who taught me to love, respect, and hold deep reverence for nature. Nature became Sacred to me, and was the place where I felt most connected to the energy that is the Source of All things (which some people call God, and some refer to as the Divine, or Great Spirit, or Creator, or Source, or Universe), which I also hold sacred.
The name Source of All (SoA is my shortened version) says what it means –Source of All things. SoA is the energy that makes up ALL things, all creatures, all plants, trees, all people, all life.
Think about this. SoA is sacred, which means ALL life is sacred.
Yes, each and every one of us – me, you, your neighbor, your friends, your foes – we are all made of that energy this is the Source of All, and that means we are ALL sacred.
In this moment now, breathe deeply, exhale, place your hand on your heart and declare, “I am sacred”. Pause and feel the enormity of that statement.
Now imagine what would happen in your life if you were to pause and see whomever or whatever you are in front of as Holy and Sacred. How would your life change if you held reverence and respect for everyone you encountered?
Seeing all life as sacred brings an incredible depth to your experience of the world. You can’t help but embrace life when you hold life as sacred.
It’s not complicated to embrace life. You just have to make the choice.
Faith Hill
The Nature of Unconditional Love
Unconditional love lives as the Divine core within every human heart yet must be awakened as a living reality before it can exist as vibration and be transmitted to others. The awakening of such love is based on the spiritual gravitation of the human heart toward the Heart of hearts that is SoA and begins with seeing ALL life as sacred.
