Some thoughts on UNITY and SPIRITUALITY
My name is Rev. Ildiko Kudlik. I am the leader of Unity in Europe. I am an ordained Unity Minister with a Masters degree in Divinity in interfaith ministry form AFSI (All Faith Seminary International, USA) with particular attention to youth. UNITY IN EUROPE Spiritual Centre is the home of Unity principles and teachings with an interfaith undertone. The centre is located in Malta and it serves the entire European Union.
Please read this BLOGPOST written by one of the leaders of Unity in the USA about Unity’s origins.
What defines Unity?
- We assist people to discover and live their spiritual purpose and potential.
- We help people have a stronger connection to God/the Divine Presence every day.
- Our spiritual centres have inspiring pastors and are involved in spiritual social action and social activities.
- Unity provides a positive alternative to negative religious experiences.
- We provide a philosophy that is spiritual, not religious, and is love-based, not fear-based. We honour all paths to God.
- We believe in making a positive difference in the world.
- We believe that prayer (not miracle or beseeching) works. We use a 5-step meditation process and affirmative prayer to align ourselves with the Divine Love.
INCLUSIVE AND FREEDOM OF BEING: We are grateful for your support; you are not expected to be ‘like’ anybody but yourself in order to belong.
Approaches to spirituality
In general, there are three main ways to approach spirituality: Mystical, that for example Sufism offers, Soul Transcendence that for example San Mat offers, or Metaphysical that Unity offers.
Unity, Christianity and the Bible
Unity is not a christian church or denomination but a spiritual movement whose roots are somewhat linked with Christian ideas. For example, in Unity, we are taught that the Bible’s events are the story of man’s spiritual unfoldment. You can see similar spiritual unfoldment stories with other spiritual movements such as Hinduism, the Sikh tradition, Islam, and others. In his book Keep a True Lent, Charles Fillmore, the Co-Founder of Unity, wrote, “Every time we rise to the realisation of eternal, indwelling life, making union with the Father-Mind (the Divine Presence), the Resurrection(awakening) of Jesus takes place within us. I encourage you to embrace the personal significance of the resurrection journey (awakening journey) …“
Every major spiritual teacher like Moses, Jesus, Mohammad, Krishna, and others have a story to tell us. They all taught the same lesson: The lesson of Love. They all talked about the same ‘God’ or Divine Being who Loves us unconditionally. This is the core truth of all religions, spiritual movements and that of Unity Movement as well.
Within Unity, some ministers follow a Christian approach and call Jesus the way shower. It always depends on the members of the Temple or the Spiritual Centre. Unity welcomes everyone without an agenda. We ‘teach’ the way of Love, creating a deep personal relationship with the Divine whatever name you may call this Divine Presence.
Connection instead of separation
Unity, similar to other spiritual organisations, offers education and guidance. We embrace all the spiritual teachings that talk about connecting and unifying humanity under one Divine Source. We welcome people of all faith who are open to embrace our common spiritual ancestry and use it for our upliftment and benefit.