Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Posted: 19 Sep 2010 11:38 PM PDT

Religion has, in many cases, served us well. It provides significant support and comfort in very many cases. Like all human institutions religion also has it's limitations. Most religions have also succumbed to the temptation offered by their power and experienced corruption.

The time has come to celebrate the spirituality that lies beyond religion, to recognise it, to embrace it.

Spirituality is not hierarchical. There is no chain of command that comes down the line from God. The idea of hierarchy, in the Christian church, stems from the classical image of the Christian God as a deified Roman Emperor.

The Roman Christian Church is, in very many ways, an evolution and expansion of the Roman empire. Even the title "Pontifex Maximus", the high priest of Roman religion is one shared by all Popes with pagan Roman Emperors.

As much as religion is about spirituality, it is also about control.

Spirituality is not about control. Spirituality is about connection. Connection to the whole.

Religion is about inserting an intermediary into that relationship. Some churches are even explicit, a "Vicar", from the same derivation as "vicarious" - acting in the place of another.

Intermediaries and hierarchy are not required. We all have immediate access to a direct relationship to the whole, to God.

What is God?

God is the whole.

Just as our body is made up of cells, we are cells in the body of the whole. Humans and animals and plants, all living things and natural systems. More or less conscious and correspondingly more or less responsible.

Just as brain cells are not better or more important than heart cells or lung cells, just different and with different responsibilities. So no one human or group of humans are better or more important than another, just different and with different responsibilities.

Going to war with another section of the whole, is going to war with ourselves. It is like the brain declaring war on the heart, or exploiting the toe - ultimately self defeating.

It is time to move beyond our human borders and boundaries. To move beyond petty sectarian, national and ideological divisions and to recognise that we are all part of the same organism. To embrace The Golden Rule, common to all religions, Treat others as you would like to be treated - don't do things to others you would not like done to you.

We all need loving, nurturing and support to be at our best. We all need confidence, self knowledge and self actualisation to contribute our greatest value to the whole. We are all scared and small at times. We all respond differently to our fear.

The authentic journey is, ultimately a spiritual one. Once we connect with ourselves, we inevitably connect to the whole. We have no need of someone to do it in our place. We have no need of hierarchy or theology or dogma to connect to our whole. We only have the need of the support and love of a teacher, to help us understand concepts that are often enigmatic and counter cultural.

Through Authenticis and our Authentic Business Radio Show we would love to help businesses, projects and individuals to succeed through their authenticity. If you would like to share your business, project or story on the show please let me know.

I am planning an Open Authentic Leadership event in Mallorca in October, with 15 - 20 places available. You can find out a lot more about the course here. If you are interested please let me know so I can gauge numbers for the hotel.

Join us on our Authentic Business Radio show every Thursday at 5pm UK, 6pm Euro or 12.00 EST. This week we will be discussing "Beyond Religion".

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With love

nx

Neil Crofts
Neil Crofts
authentic business

+34 646391384
neil@neilcrofts.com
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