Do You Have Questions? We Have Some Answers | Rev. John Riley

Good morning. What do you guys want to talk about? Okay, we’ll get there. We’ll get there.

So this is our, you know, once a year about, we do a Q and A service and it’s a great opportunity for me to hear what’s really on your mind, in your heart.

If you have any questions about something that I have spoken about or a Unity principle or what Unity believes, you can ask me that. If you have actually a favorite Unity principle that you’d like to share with everyone else, something that really opens your heart, you can write that down as well.

What I’ll do is we’ll go – oh, and if you’re online you can go to our website unitypaloalto.org/question, question singular, and fill out a form and that will bring me to my email. So, I’ll answer as many questions as I can today and usually I get through, I don’t know, four or five, six because I’m a minister and we just can’t shut up. But besides that, what we’ll do is I’ll go through as many as possible and then I’ll continue to answer the questions in the following weeks. So, all of your questions will be answered at some point in time. Is that fair? Alright.

Spirituality is Best in Practice

First question. Oh. Oh, so first off a favorite principle — to walk the talk, principle number five. Wonderful. Yeah, you know, it doesn’t happen unless you put it into practice. It’s one thing to hear about it and know it in your head, but until you put it practice and walk the talk it’s all words so that’s wonderful. Thank you for sharing that.

Supporting Unity

Are you getting the support you need to maintain our vibrant church? You know, I think I am. I really do. It’s very interesting because when you come at it from a perspective of, you know, how most people think, or a lot of us think about it, it’s a very spiritual term we ministers use. It’s called “butts in seats”. Oh, sorry, that’s just for ministers. I wasn’t supposed to tell people that. But you’re right. So, when you look around and you think well there’s not that many people here but what you don’t realize is that we have another third who are on our livestream. And then there’s another third who watch us in the first week. So, you know, look at what you have, what’s here and then look at it from the perspective of triple that and that’s where we’re at really as a community because this is really about a spiritual community. And I think we’re just, we’re creating something new. So, we don’t need the same things that we needed or we had before but we have a fantastic greeter team, a group of people who are here to greet each other, to greet us when we arrive.

We have a fantastic hospitality team who’s willing to get here early to setup our hospitality and you’re all welcome to bring in food, prepped, ready to set on the table and when you leave take everything home with you because we don’t store it, we don’t clean it. But you can bring it.

We have a great bookstore team that helps us keep our bookstore open. If you’d like to volunteer for any of those teams, you’re welcome to.

Really, it’s about community. So, it’s like what’s next. What next as a community do we want to create? Do we want to do more inreach? Do we want to do more outreach? How do we want to, you know, how do we want to expand, and as we navigate these new times? But for me personally, you know, I feel like I have enough support. I’m doing a lot and some people think I’m doing too much, right Ian. Just let go. Yeah, thumbs up. Just let go of the technologies. Stop playing with his digital sound board. Whatever. I’m a minister.

How to Explain Unity to People

How do you explain Unity to people who have never heard of it or think it’s the same as being Unitarian? Unitarian is very similar, very often confused because of the name, the name similarities. Thanks. But we’re pretty different. I think anyways of what I know by Unitarian but what I talk about is really our five principles. What is Unity all about? We believe that there’s one presence and one power. That’s it. There’s only one presence and one power, God. There’s not a second presence or power that some call the devil or Satan. There’s just one presence and power. That leads to the question, what about evil. Well sure, evil — this isn’t on the card but we’ll get to that I’m sure — evil is, evil is simply us you know, acting poorly, forgetting that one presence and power, forgetting that the things that we do to ourselves and to each other, we do to the whole of humanity.

We’re the ones who are creating this sense of chaos as human beings but when we get back to the idea that there’s only one presence and one power and that it’s within you and as you and it flows through you, you’re never outside of it. It’s like a fish trying to figure out where the water is. It’s just all around and it’s who you are. When we start to come from that perspective then, you know, we start to live better lives. We start to do life better. We start to treat each other better.

The Second Principle of Unity

So, for me, it’s really about those five principles and the second principle is that I AM consciousness, that consciousness that you might call the Buddha mind. You might call it the Christ consciousness. It’s that lesson that was taught to us that these things that I do in this consciousness, you will do. You are the light of the world. You’re it, so start shining.

The Third Principle of Unity

That third principle is the law of mind action, that the things that we think about and give great attention to, that’s the lens through which we see the world. And so, when we align our thoughts, our words, and our actions with that power of love then we’re expressing and creating that in our world.

So, for me, those five principles are really how I explain Unity. And we believe in the teachings that were attributed to Jesus, as Jesus is a master teacher, as Buddha was a master teacher, as Loa Tzu. And as all of the luminaries that are out there, we can pull from them because at the core are the same principles, I believe, the common human principles.

Applying the Five Unity Principles

Let’s go online. How do we apply the five principles to the current events like Roe versus Wade, like gun control, like the war in the Ukraine? How do we apply our five principles? How do we apply principles in this situation? I’m not going to make light of any of those situations but it’s the same way that we apply the principles in any upset, at any time we feel like there’s evil being done to us, anytime we feel like something is against us. It’s all there for us to learn and grow and to become better human beings. So, how do you apply the principles in daily life is really what this comes down to.

You know, I think so often we look at this idea in our vision statement, centered in God we co-create a world that works for all. Centered in spirit, centered in that energy, we are co-creating. That’s just the way it works. That’s the law. That’s how it works. It’s the “that works for all” part that we need a little work at and it’s the “that works for all” part that where we need to be able to hear each other and understand where each other is coming from so that we can find common ground and then move forward.

So often we think about it, I think, we think about it as, “Well, I’m going to pray for this and everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to be better” but the prayer is that mental capacity. And then we have to move our feet so that we can create the world, co-create the world with that energy that we want to see, be that love and that peace and that harmony that we want to see in the world, and step forward for ideas and thoughts that you think are important to help us move in that direction.

So, it really comes back to that principle, seek first that consciousness. Seek first that understanding that God is working through you, as you, and then walk. Move your feet. Make it so. For it’s you that creates that.

Spiritual Laws

How do you see the Unity principles intersecting with the current political environment in our country? Well, so, you know, we just touched on that a little bit but I think the key to remember here is that the principles, what Unity likes to call them, spiritual law, they work. Period. The law of mind action works. Period. So, what are you putting your thoughts, energy and ideas at? What energy are you putting into it? What thoughts and ideas are you creating? That’s why we are such creative beings and so powerful is that we have the choice to create thoughts that are centered around love and harmony and compassion.

So, the political environment, you can talk about it today, you could talk about it twenty years ago, you could talk about it twenty years in the future. The political environment’s going to be the political environment because there’s human beings involved in it and when we’re not coming from that center, that core, then it’s going to be difficult.

So, again, it’s getting, I think, getting grounded in your principles, getting grounded in Spirit, getting grounded in love and allowing that inner voice to guide you in how you live your life and how you move through the world and create the world that we’re in because we’re creating it and that’s the collective consciousness. That’s the collective individual minds that we all are. The more we center on that idea within us, the more we will lift the consciousness of humanity, I think.

Increasing Unity Membership

Two-part question. What is UPA doing to help increase membership? Could every member help by inviting a neighbor, a friend, a colleague or at least one per month, at least once per month? Yeah. So UPA, what are you doing to increase membership? Anybody have an answer? So, yeah, I love the question because it’s not to me, it’s to UPA and when someone says what is the church doing, well, you’re the church. What’s the spiritual center doing? Well, you’re the spiritual center of this organization. Right?

I’m here and what we’re doing as an organization is we’ve got a lot of energy pumped into social media, to take the messages that we have and just spread them around so that the people who will resonate with them, right, those who have ears to hear, will find them and will look online and see what are we all about, who might watch a service and see what are we all about, who might come just to check us out. And, of course, word of mouth is always the best way to do it. Having raving fans is really the only way for any organization to thrive. So, let’s have raving fans. If you’re a fan, rave. I think that’s the lesson you know, the idea, you’re the light of the world so shine. I think people will be attracted to you when you are living the principles, and all of a sudden you realize that you have the answers within you to overcome whatever is challenging you, that you have the strength and you have spiritual tools that we can give you to practice to help lift you up so that when you’re moving in the world and experience and expressing your beautiful and unique expression of it, people see that and really say, “Gosh, how can I get some of that?”

That’s what we’re really all about because at the end of the day, we’re not here to fill butts in seats. At the end of the day, we’re here to transform lives, to help people discover that power, that spiritual nature within them and to create that in their world everyday in every way.

The Principle of Non-Resistance

What spiritual principles can I use to remind myself not to put too much pressure on myself? I think you know a great spiritual tool, it’s called the law, it’s called the principle of non-resistance. It’s a practice of non-resistance. It’s, what is showing up in life is showing up. So often what shows up in life, we then turn on ourselves. We blame, shame and guilt ourselves into oblivion because it’s like, ‘Well, why is this happening to me?” Right? We’re in our victim consciousness. “This is all happening to me.”

So, the principle of non-resistance is like, “Well, it just is. Here’s a situation.” Instead of judging it as right, wrong, or good or bad or hurtful or harmful it’s just like, “Okay, here’s the situation. Now, how can I grow from it? How can I live, be in it and not be diminished by it?”

We teach a great class, the Q class, the quantum living class that is all about looking at our shadow side because we all have a shadow side. I used to call it my evil twin Skippy but people didn’t like the word evil so my shadow twin Skippy, right. When Skippy comes out, it’s like, well, that’s not my true self. That’s John who has been triggered. That’s it. The quicker I can, the tools that I have, or the quicker I can recover from that and get back to that John as you know — divine John as a loving being, John as faith — the quicker I can be in the situation and not feel diminished by it.

So, it’s really, you know, we teach a lot of principles, a lot of practices to help us get back to that one idea, those two ideas that there is only one presence and one power and that I AM consciousness, that’s you expressing that one presence and power. So, it’s putting it into practice. It’s doing the work. And what I have found and what my family has found is that I am much easier to get along with. So they tell me.

Why is There So Much Bad in the World?

From online. We say that God is all good but there is also so much bad in the world. For example, people hurting each other in various ways. If there is no spot where God is not, how can we say that God is all good if God is also present in these bad beings? So, let’s take a moment to think about the idea of judgment. We’re judging each other. That’s what we do. We’re judging beings. We’re very creative and we’re very judgmental. Judgment is not bad. Judgment can be good. Don’t put your hand in a fire. Pretty good judgment, pretty good wisdom there. When we try to hold our own model of good or bad against someone else, we’re judging the other person. And what does that — you can hear it in the question — what does that create within you when you’re saying that person is so bad? How do you feel inside? Anybody? Yucky. Angry. Hmm. A little louder. Separate. Yeah, you feel separate from God. Forget about the other person. Don’t care about them, but all of a sudden, I am struggling.

The deep spiritual principle goes back to Genesis when we’re talking about — we know the story, right? Adam and Eve, and Eve picks something from the tree. What does she pick from the tree? An apple? Wrong. That’s what we like, that’s what we like to say because it’s easy to draw a picture of it. It’s the knowledge of good and evil. It’s the ability to judge good and evil and when we start to judge as good and evil then all of a sudden, we’re now in a dualistic thinking. We’re now in victim/victor consciousness. We’re now separate from God. There’s no chance that God can get in there because we’re looking at it as good or bad.

Now, that’s not to say that I’m going to look at a murderer and say, “Okay, that person is a good person”. The acts were not good. We, as a society, agree with that. At the same time, if I’m holding that idea of “that person is so evil”, then what is it doing to me? The law of mind action. What am I creating in my life? Evil. I’m creating a sense of evil. I’m creating a sense of anger. I can feel it in my stomach. That’s why forgiveness is such a powerful and important process. Because forgiveness is not saying, “Hey it’s okay, go ahead and kill people”. No. Forgiveness is letting go of the power that that has over you. We all agree that killing people is not good. Some might argue that under certain circumstances it’s good.

So, the idea of good and bad, instead of trying to look at people as good or bad. Certainly we don’t agree with everybody, otherwise you’d all be listening to me and I can’t stand listening to myself. No one would be here. Anyway. So you know, it’s really looking at if I’m judging someone as bad, as evil, as you know am I judging that person as evil and if so how is that reflecting, reflected from me? Because whatever we see out there is really a reflection of what we’re experiencing in here. So sometimes we see something right that, something that someone does — let’s not even call it evil. Just annoyance, right — leaving the seat, toilet seat up or down or whatever. It’s an annoyance. Leaving the socks in the middle of the house instead of in the hamper. Those kids. Something, a little trigger that annoys us. That’s a reflection of something about us, a reflection about something about us that we can heal so that when we heal that it’s no big deal. “Hey, there’s socks on the floor. Ethan, would you please pick up your socks and put them in the hamper?” No big whoop.

Now, it gets harder when it’s more, when we look at as worse. It gets harder when the relationships are more important to us — oh my gosh it’s already quarter to – right? It gets harder when the relationships are really important. But if we come from that perspective of there’s only one presence and power that’s everywhere present, God is good is the saying, because we’re looking at it from the perspective of God is harmony. God is love. But when we look at something and say, “Well, that’s evil inside of that good. How can that be?” that’s us forgetting that we’re good, that we are loved, that we are liked. That’s us forgetting that and we all do that at some point in time.

Self-Compassion and Self-Forgiveness

Can you have self-compassion for yourself? Can you have self-forgiveness for yourself? And at some point, you’ll need to have forgiveness for other people otherwise it will eat you up inside. Unforgiveness is — what’s the saying? It’s like, yeah, unforgiveness is poison but you’re not poisoning the other person you’re poisoning … Anyway, I’ve butchered that one. You know what I mean. You know what I’m talking about. It really, it’s an inner thing and it creates a sense of disease within you. So, the best thing to do is go back to principle. And you may not agree with what’s happening but come at it from a place of love, a place of creating harmony in the world, a place of doing good in the world. If God is good, God is love, God is harmony, Spirit is the energy through which we experience God.

We might experience God as that loving presence that’s with us and embracing us. We might experience it as that divine intelligence in the universe that holds everything together. I love how Maya Angelou put it. God is love, it’s like the harmony that holds the stars in the universe. It just is. And it’s us forgetting that that creates the suffering in the world.

So, I think that, I think that’s it. I only have eighty-four more questions. And a couple there. So, here’s what I’ll do because y’all want to go home on time right. You want to stay for another hour? Deborah says no. She has to leave. Sorry. What I’m going to do is go through the rest of the, the rest of the … Aww, “John, you are a blessing to the world”. Okay. And I’m in my little pretend McLaren. There’s another question.

I’m going to go through all the questions. Maybe I’ll make a video and put it online. I’ll definitely put it into the talks coming up. Because this is, this is what we really need to be talking about, right. This is what gets us from where our stuckness is and opens us up to that creative essence that’s within us, that creative energy, that love, that harmony that’s there waiting to be expressed. That’s the truth of who you are. Even though I sometimes call you a spiritual knucklehead. Not you, of course. Those other people. But we all have those sides to us. That shadow Skippy that comes out every once in a while. But the truth of who you are is that you’re a powerful, sparkling, energetic, beautiful person, regardless of what category that we put ourselves in, right.

All Are Welcome

We’re open and welcoming to people from all walks of life. Dare I say, even all religions? Now I don’t always agree with the anger and hatred that comes out of some, but there’s a core. At the core of it is practicing love, loving God, loving Spirit, loving whatever you want to call it, but allowing that to be your guide. How you show up in the world makes it amazing. We talk about all the bad things. There are great things you all do. Anybody here done a good thing lately? Oh, come on. In the last month. In the last year? Yeah. We are creative beings and we’re here to do more of that, centered, poised, present, powerful.