The awakening man is conscious, heartfully defined. Through his eyes, being conscious is not a cerebral construct, nor an intellectual exercise bereft of feeling. It is a felt experience, an ever-expanding awareness that moves from the heart outward. It is feeling God, not thinking God. The new man is always in process, awakening through a deepening interface with the world of feeling. He continues to strive for a more heartfelt and inclusive awareness. 

The awakening man has shifted his focus from a localized and ethnocentric perspective to a world-centric framework of perception. His community is humanity. Rooted in the relational, his sense of responsibility extends well beyond his localized self and community. Where possible, his choice-making is fuelled by an expansive vision of possibility for all of humankind. Not every man for himself, but every man for humanity.

The awakening man has reverence for the divine feminine, in all her forms. He celebrates the wonder that is woman. He is respectful, honouring and gracious. He is saddened by the horrors perpetuated against women by the malevolent masculine. He holds his brothers accountable. He makes amends for his own misdeeds. He co-creates a world where all women will feel safe to move about freely, to find their voice, to actualize their inherent magnificence. He welcomes a world where women and men stand as equal partners. Humankind.

The awakening man is not externally derived. He is authentically sourced. He does not compare himself to others. He does not adapt his personality to the dictates of the crowd. He stands in his own centre, respectful of others but not defined by them. He works diligently to liberate his consciousness from the egoic ties that bind. He has become his own benchmark, valuing authenticity over image. He is the sculptor of his own reality.

The awakening man courageously works on his emotional processes. He clears his emotional debris and sheds his armour. He faces his issues and unconscious patterns heart on. He calls himself on his self-avoidant tendencies and honours the wisdom at the heart of his pain. He communicates his feelings in a way that is respectful to others. He learns and speaks the language of the heart.

The awakening man leads a purpose-full existence. He has heard the call to a deeper life. Not satisfied with survival alone, his ambitions are rooted in higher considerations- the excavation and actualization of his sacred purpose. He is energized by his purpose, not by the machinations of the unhealthy ego. He is coated in an authenticity of purpose that sees through the veils to what really matters. His purpose is his path.

The awakening man is accountable for his actions and their effects. He does not deflect responsibility. He does not sidestep or blame. He is self-admitting and emotionally honest. He admits his errors, and makes amends. He works diligently in the deep within, crafting a more clarified awareness with every lesson.

The awakening man moves from the inside out. More interested in inner expansion than outer achievement, he cultivates and honours his intuition. He explores and develops his inner geography. He adventures deep within, integrating the treasures he excavates into his way of being. He seeks congruity between his inner life and his outer manifestation.

The awakening man seeks wholeness. He is not satisfied with a fragmented way of being. He has no attachment to archaic, linear notions of masculinity. He seeks a sacred balance between the healthy masculine and the healthy feminine. He seeks an inclusive way of being, one that reflects all of his archetypal aspects. He is role flexible, comfortable moving through life in many different ways. 

The awakening man embodies the highest standard of integrity in his words and deeds. He makes a sustained effort to work through anything that is not integrity within him. His framework of integrity is never convenient or self-serving. He honours his word, even at his own expense. He moves from a value system that is unwaveringly incorruptible. He recognizes that success without integrity is karmically unsound and meaningless.

The awakening man prioritizes conscious relationship. He values authentic co-creation. He honours relationship as spiritual practice. He seeks physical intimacy that is deeply vulnerable and heartfully connective. He is attuned, engaged and healthily boundaried. When relational challenges arise, he courageously works through any obstructions to intimacy. He stands in the heartfire.

The awakening man is a warrior of the heart. He has taken his clarifying sword inward, cutting away everything that is not compassionate. After too many lifetimes with weapon in hand, a benevolent warrior is being birthed at the core of his being. He honours the warrior capacity for assertiveness, but he is not arbitrarily aggressive. He moves from love and compassion.

The awakening man endeavours to live in a state of perpetual gratitude. He is grateful for the gift of life. He is grateful for those ancestors who built the foundation that his expansion relies upon. He is grateful for those who encouraged him before he could encourage himself. He is grateful for those who stand beside him in this lifetime. He knows that he does not stand alone.

The awakening man is comfortable in his vulnerability. He participates in his own revealing. He is not afraid to surrender- to reality, to love, to truth. This is not a weakened form of surrender, but one that is emblazoned with courage. It takes more courage to surrender than to numb. He openly explores his capacities for receptivity and tenderness. He does not identify these capacities as distinctly feminine, but as whole human. He is strong enough at the core to live in a vast array of emotions.

The awakening man moves through the marketplace responsibly, with a vigilant eye to the ways of the unhealthy ego. He is not opportunistic in a vacuum. He does not compete for competition’s sake. He does not accumulate for the sake of accumulation. In charting his course, he is mindful of his impact on humanity. He is empowered but he does not exploit power. He derives his power from his connection to source, not from power over others. Where possible, he shares the abundance, gifting back to humanity. He works hard to bridge the world as it is with a world of divine possibility.

The awakening man has reverence for Mother Earth. He has reverence for animals. He never imagines himself superior or distinct from the natural world. He understands the interconnected and interdependent nature of reality. He knows that if he does damage to the environment, he does damage to himself. He walks carefully, with awareness, consciousness and appreciation.

The awakening man has no claims on God. His spirituality is tolerant, inclusive, respectful. He honours all paths to God, so long they are respectful of others. He accepts those who believe, and those who don’t. He condemns any path that uses religious differences as a justification for destruction.

The awakening man brings forward many of the qualities of the healthy masculine of old. He is noble. He is responsible. He is productive. He is kind-hearted. He is protective. He is unswervingly honourable. He is down to earth. He is sturdy. He is flexible. He is realistic. He is hopeful. He is sensitive, not fragile. He is healthily egoic, not self-centred. He is both practical and heightened at the same time. He ascends with both feet on the ground. He is really here.

by Jeff Brown

Gnosis is the ancient and universal knowledge at the root of all knowledge. Every form of science, philosophy, art, and religion emerged from the same root. This is why in ancient times, knowledge was taught in an integrated way, as one complete, integrated form, unlike the modern approach that attempts to divide knowledge into separate fields, thereby artificially dividing something that should not be divided.

This has resulted in all the confusion and misunderstandings that have plagued mankind for centuries, in which religion battles science, and art battle religion, etc., when the reality is that you cannot understand one without the other. Those who have understood this have been the greatest masters of their craft: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Beethoven, Wagner, just to name some Western examples. The purpose of Gnosis is to help us realize our own greatest potential.

In terms of religion, Gnosis is the source of the knowledge in every major religion. Gnosis is not limited to one specific culture, place, or time. The Gnostic wisdom is found in Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Tantra, Zoroastrianism, Paganism, and many others. And as that universal wisdom or knowledge, it is the essential science required in order to achieve the ultimate aim of all real religions, which is the religare (Latin), or in other words, "union" with the divine.

Gnosis is a method for training the consciousness (what Buddhists call the mind, and Christians call the soul). It is a universal method, which means that it is compatible with all religions and all mystical traditions, because in truth they are all founded upon the science of Gnosis anyway! So the student discovers that those who learn and apply this Gnostic Wisdom come from every culture, religion, tradition and mystical background, and they find common ground in this science.

All of the religious allegories, stories and teachings indicate that we need to change in order to achieve the goal of religare (union), religion. As we are now, we are overwhelmed by negative emotional forces and negative mental forces, which create tremendous suffering in our lives. Every human being struggles daily with unhappiness, doubt, anger, fear, and more. These states cause us to act in harmful ways toward ourselves and toward others, which in turn creates more suffering for everyone. Gnosis is a direct and very potent way of transforming these problems, because it works upon the very foundations of suffering.

Gnosis is a method to develop discipline and psychological stability. It is a means to arrive at genuine inner tranquility. And the great beauty of Gnosis is that it presents a method which uses tools that we already have within: we do not need to rely on anything or anyone other than ourselves. Truthfully, our happiness and well-being is up to us, and when we discover how to cultivate such qualities through the transformation of our own mind, we arrive at the understanding of the message that has been given by every great Saint and Prophet.

Our minds create our lives. We become what we think. - The Buddha Shakyamuni, from The Dhammapada

Just as so many wise beings have told us, we create our own reality. We reap what we sow. Therefore, if we plant good seeds through proper action, we can create a better life for ourselves and for everyone around us. This comes naturally as we realize and transform our mistaken views about life and about ourselves.

The essential root of this change is the recognition of a flawed perception that we have within. We do not see the nature of reality, and it is due to this ignorance that we grasp at illusions and act in ways which contradict the basic laws of existence, resulting in suffering for ourselves and others. In synthesis, this ignorance is a form of self-grasping, or a mistaken view of our own identity. The way to change this mistaken view is to cultivate that part of ourselves which can see things in their objective form, thereby creating within our own mind a natural antidote to ignorance and wrong action, an antidote that is already a part of our own psyche but which remains in a latent or inactive state.

To achieve this we must learn which mental states are positive and which are negative, and we must learn to discriminate between them. When we can see within ourselves how we cultivate many different states of mind and the subsequent results of those states, we arrive at the understanding of the true nature of our own life. When we see how our own anger makes us suffer, and then in turn brings suffering to others, we will be compelled to change that quality within ourselves. Likewise, when we experience the great power of gentleness and humility, we will naturally be drawn toward cultivating those qualities within ourselves. The transformation of the psyche and life is something that can only be developed by the person who wants to change, and is inspired by their perception of the truth within themselves.

This is not a change that can be rendered overnight. Real change requires the respect of certain natural laws and factors. For example, in order to grow a garden one must work with the laws of nature. The gardener must understand how the sun, moisture, the seeds and the other elements are all interrelated, and to have a successful garden there must be planning, preparation, proper effort and patience. Likewise, to transform the mind requires a great deal of proper effort and patience. You must have a good understanding of the psyche, the mind, emotion, and how all these elements interrelate with external circumstances. All of this knowledge is integral to the science of Gnosis.

It is vital that you have an expansive knowledge of things so that you do not waste time in the pursuit of only one aspect of the work. In the Gnostic tradition, we have a vast collection of spiritual writings that nourish our efforts to awaken our consciousness. To begin, we have the more than sixty books by Samael Aun Weor, and the hundreds of complimentary lectures and talks that he gave. This body of knowledge was given in order to elucidate understanding of the Christian Bible, the Torah, the Zohar, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Germanic Eddas, all the great psychological wisdom hidden in the Greek myths, the Odyssey and the Illiad of Homer, and hundreds of other volumes from our religious and classical heritage. As well, Gnosis is found in the one hundred volumes of Buddhist sutras and in the two hundred volumes of commentaries on those sutras by great masters such as Tsong Khapa and Nagarjuna. Gnosis saturates the Tibetan Tantric tradition and overflows from the teachings of Milarepa, the Dalai Lamas, and many others. So, if you were to gather the wisdom of all these traditions and incorporate them into your daily practice, you would make giant leaps forward in your comprehension of great spiritual truths. But if you were to merely respect all these writings and instead base your practice on some small text or personal selection of materials, you will probably receive some benefit, but your spiritual progress will not be that great.

There are two ways to understand this knowledge. One is on the superficial, intellectual level, which is developed by reading or listening to lectures, and through which we gradually form a conceptual understanding of the science to transform ourselves. This is primarily focused on helping us recognize the difference between positive and negative states of being and the means to control them.

The second is the experiential level, the stage at which we begin to realize the practical application of the teaching within ourselves.

The science of Gnosis is a vast and incredibly sophisticated map of the universe and the consciousness, thus to develop an intellectual understanding of it can be a daunting task. Yet the experiential knowledge is even more difficult to develop because it arrives only as a result of continuous practice.

Experiential knowledge is always accompanied by the presence of intuitive knowledge, or the wisdom of the consciousness as realized in the heart. This is essentially an emotional wisdom, something that one feels. For example, from time to time we may "feel" that a certain behavior is wrong, and this is a form of intuition, because it is not rational, it is emotional. Yet, this is only the most mundane level of intuitive knowledge; intuition is a deeply emotional wisdom that can be felt in a very powerful way.

From this we can understand that there are both beneficial and harmful emotional states. Emotion is a vital part of life. However, there are different types of emotions. There is the common and widespread experience of negative emotion, those feelings which are harmful and result in suffering, even when we enjoy experiencing them. Many people enjoy and cultivate pride, but objective knowledge leads us to see that pride creates suffering. Likewise, many people enjoy their anger, yet this same anger is a source of tremendous suffering. Therefore, a negative emotion is called such in part because of the results it brings, and also because of its source in the psyche.

Superior emotion includes feelings and states that are very rarely felt by modern human beings, because it arrives into the psyche through a psychological vehicle that very few human beings possess. Even still, we can experience many positive emotional states which greatly enhance and enrich our lives, and whose effects include the positive reinforcement of our longing to change for the better.

Therefore, Gnosis is about changing ourselves. It is a precise science which indicates the way to reduce afflictive emotional and mental states and instead cultivate beneficial ones. It is the means to transform our undisciplined mind into a disciplined one.

How do we know this type of change is possible?

Firstly, we know about the law of impermanence. Truly, in every moment, everything is changing. Through proper forms of action, one can influence that change. But to do so requires that you know how to act, and how to achieve the desired effect. Likewise, through discrimination and spiritual wisdom, we learn how to properly influence the continually changing psyche we have within, in order to achieve a more fruitful and beneficial result.

Secondly, it is easy to see that within nature we always find contradictory forces. Light and darkness, acid and alkaline, heat and cold, etc. are opposing forces which dance around a central point of balance. This same situation exists within our own mind.

When we begin to examine the state of our mental and emotional world, we find many opposing currents. And we see that certain forces can overwhelm others, in the same way that turning on the lights in a dark room causes the darkness to vanish. Gnosis teaches us how to accomplish this from moment to moment within ourselves, in order to achieve psychological equilibrium, a state in which we maintain a continual balance in our mental and emotional well-being.

This equilibrium is based upon an extensive understanding of our own psychological situation, and the discrimination to consciously choose how to act, think, and feel.

From all of this it is clear that in order to achieve the aim of any religion, one must have a penetrating knowledge of the mind, accompanied by a comprehensive awareness of emotional and mental states.

It is also evident that our problems and sufferings arise from a flawed perception of ourselves and the world, therefore we need to develop the capacity to question our own perceptions from moment to moment. Understanding the true nature of reality is crucial in this case, because it is our perception of reality which determines how we relate to everything: our own self, those around us, and every circumstance we pass through. By "reality" we mean the entire expanse of existence and not merely our own superficial view of our little corner of it, because a large portion of our fundamental problem is a flawed view of reality, which in turn results in suffering.

This is why the teachings of Samael Aun Weor offer so much insight into the nature of reality. Throughout his works he discusses the root of reality, the Absolute Abstract Space, the nature of matter and energy, the mathematics of creation, and more. If the achievement of in-depth Self-realization were simply a matter of faith and devotion to one God or another, then there would have been no need for him to explain the nature of reality in such detailed and comprehensive terms. The same can also be said of the deeply technical and complex psychological teachings in the Buddhist tradition, which is just another face of the same wisdom. From this we can understand that all of these explanations are necessary in order for us to eliminate our mistaken point of view.

Gnosis demands that we take an objective point of view of all phenomena. We cannot hold onto a way of seeing things merely because we like it or because it is our tradition or it satisfies our psychological tendencies. Any limiting view (such as a religious, scientific or metaphysical theory) restricts our capacity to approach objective knowledge, thereby restraining our ability to perceive the true nature of any given phenomena. It is essential that we set aside any personal preference if we wish to see the inherent truth of life.

This is especially true of how we view ourselves. So long as we have false views of ourselves, then we cannot see ourselves as we really are. If that is that case, then we cannot begin to approach the objective view of reality itself.

The purpose of Gnosis is nothing less than the complete transformation of the individual, which in turn changes our society and our world. The achievement of this transformation is dependent only upon the effort of the individual to work on their own mind.

http://gnosticteachings.org/the-teachings-of-gnosis/introductory-information/53-the-purpose-of-gnosis.html

Riane Eisler, one of the most important writers on women's oppression and human liberation. Eisler's best-known book is The Chalice and the Blade. She has written other important books I may mention as needed. Several of them have "partnership" in the title, such as The Power of Partnership.
 

All her books since 1987 have been anchored in the distinction between Dominator relationships and Partnershiprelationships, which provides a lens for viewing and understanding societies, intimate relationships within families, religions (relations between humans and the divine), and the relationship between humanity and the earth.
 

Before turning to that idea, let me explain the title of Eisler's 1987 book, The Chalice and the Blade, which I borrowed as the title of this talk. Every Unitarian Universalist knows what a chalice is, and if you go to the Unitarian Universalist Association website you'll find an explanation of how this symbol became associated with our denomination.
 

However, in choosing the chalice as a key word in the title of her book, Eisler probably did not have UUism in mind. For Eisler the chalice is associated with the goddess religions that existed in many places in the millennia leading up to about 1500 BCE. Yet this is a nice coincidence from our perspective, because Unitarianism and Unitarian Universalism has nurtured feminists since the 19th century and has for several decades welcomed pagans, including those working to revive goddess-religion, into our broad tent.
 

1500 BCE is the approximate time when the last of the major goddess-worshipping culture, Minoancivilization centered on the Mediterranean island of Crete, ceased to exist. For Eisler, the chalice represents the peaceful gender-egalitarian societies, mostly horticultural, for whom the Goddess was the major object of religious devotion, although there were normally male and other female deities alongside her. Eisler's book relies on the research of archeologists who have distinguished this type of culture from the warlike, male-dominated cultures that seem to have supplanted them. Because these later societies were warlike, as proven by the prominence of weapons of war and fortifications in their archeological remains as compared with the absence of them in earlier, goddess-worshipping cultures, the appropriate symbol for them is the Blade. [1, 2]
 

Some of you have read Dan Brown's novel The DaVinci Code, or seen the movie of the same name starring Tom Hanks. In the novel some of Eisler's themes appear rearranged. The hero of the novel explains that V shape, which corresponds to the Cup part of the Chalice or Grail is an ancient symbol for the feminine. As you can see when you imagine a line drawing of a frontal view of a naked woman, and focus on the uniquely female part of human anatomy, this place is where new life would be carried in a pregnant woman (about where the flame is in the flaming chalice). In Brown's novel the thesis is that the Holy Grail really refers to Mary Magdalene, who was actually married to Jesus Christ and who escaped, pregnant, after the crucifixion of Christ and somehow got to France, where her child was born and went on to have descendants, the latest of whom turns out to be a main character in the novel (and the movie).
 

One difference between Eisler's book and Brown's novel is that for Eisler the chalice represents Goddess-worshipping egalitarian cultures that were overrun at least 1500 years earlier. On Eisler's account, it is not institutional Christianity that initiated the suppression of women. [3] That started much earlier, in Western Asia and India, probably with the invasion of Indo-European warrior-nomads. Goddess-worshipping cultures were defeated and their new rulers began subordinating goddesses to gods within the mythically portrayed society of deities. Homer's gods provide clear examples.
 

So although Goddess worship did not at first disappear completely, it tended to take back seat to the worship of male war-gods. Pre-Christian Greek and Roman civilization is already patriarchal or male-dominated, although religiously it is still pagan. Even the earlier Mycenaean society, the society that produced the early Greeks who conquered Troy, was patriarchal. In other words, the end of gender-egalitarian, Goddess-worshipping civilization occurred more than 1500 years before Christianity appeared on the scene, although pockets of goddess-worship continued to exist here and there. By the time Christianity fused with the Roman Empire under Constantine, it had accepted the Dominator culture of classical pagan antiquity, and once fused with state power it helped to consolidate it.
 

The point of Eisler's study of prehistory and ancient history is to show that the domination of the male gender over the female gender is not an eternal and inevitable feature of human social organization, that another type of society, aPartnership society rooted in gender equality, is possible. This is something that almost completely escapes Dan Brown's novel.
 

It is useful to compare Eisler's perspective with two more familiar feminist perspectives. One is associated with Nel Noddings, whose care theory of ethics, has been called a feminine theory, to distinguish it from other feminist theories. According to Noddings, the key to moral thinking is the mother-child relationship. Caring is rooted in the feeling of compassion that comes natural to most mothers. Caring is about paying close attention to the needs of another person that one knows intimately. Noddings thinks this relationship can be extended to mutual care between siblings and between spouses, and perhaps between teachers and their pupils. Most feminists find her view lacking precisely because of [her] lack of concern for questions of social justice regarding broader social patterns.
 

Another feminist perspective, which has been around since the end of the 18th century, is liberal feminism. Liberal feminists work for equal opportunity for women alongside men in the economy, government, and public life. The problem with liberal feminists, from the perspective of care theory, is that they tend to adopt the abstract language of justice and rights that prevails in already existing legal discourse, which misses the importance of caring and compassion in human relations.
 

Eisler's approach has the best of these worlds and then some. She has a place for Noddings' appreciation of the importance of caring without being indifferent to the patterns of human interaction that prevail in the larger society. Both caring and equality play a role in Eisler's conception of partnership relations. Social justice relates to partnership organization at the level of communities larger than the family. Her analysis of economics, carried out in her most recent book, The Real Wealth of Nations, makes the case that women's work is crucial for early education, language learning, survival, healing, Hospice care, and thriving of the human species in general. Yet in the United States and elsewhere it is often unpaid or poorly paid and therefore not socially valued by economists focused on money as a measuring device. We have only to think of how the work of homemakers and caregivers for sick and dying family members, childcare providers, primary school teachers and nurses, is barely recognized.
 

Let us now touch on the basic differences between the Dominator and Partnership Patterns of Organization. In The Power of Partnership, Eisler has described the basic patterns in terms of four dimensions: social structure; gender relations; the emotional dimension; and value beliefs.

1. In the domination model, social relations are typically characterized by hierarchies of domination, i.e., rankings that sharply distinguish between those who are controlled and those who control. In the partnership model, relationships tend to be egalitarian; hierarchies exist there but they are what Eisler calls hierarchies of actualization. A synonym for actualization here is empowerment. More experienced, wiser, and skilled persons try to enable the less experienced and skilled persons to acquire capacities they initially lack. 
2. In the domination model, the male half of humanity is typically ranked over the female half. Traits and activities such as control and conquest are highly valued and associated with masculinity. Gender inequality is taught at an early age and becomes the model for other inequalities, expressed in terms of, say, religious or racial rankings. In the partnership model, males and females are ranked equally. Traits such as empathy, nonviolent interaction, and care giving are valued in women and men and expressed in social policy. 
3. In the domination model the emotion of fear is prominent; violence is expected and to some extent encouraged, at least towards persons and groups considered to be inferior. In extreme forms, we see it in physical and emotional forms of spouse abuse and child abuse, and in abuse at work by superiors and even supposed peers. In the partnership model, trust is fostered. There is little emphasis on fear and little acceptance of violence against individuals or groups. 
4. In the domination model, relations of control/domination are presented as good. In the partnership model, relations of partnership, mutual respect, and processes of negotiation are presented as good.

As Eisler indicates, these four features of the partnership model—social structure; gender relations; the emotional dimension; and value beliefs—tend to reinforce each other. That makes the Partnership model a systematic reality. But there is also a contrary dynamic in which the corresponding four main features of the Domination model tend to reinforce each other. The real world of human relations over the last four millennia is one in which the Dominator model usually prevails, but it can rarely totally extinguish elements of the Partnership model. At certain times, the Partnership model makes significant inroads in society and the Dominator model must retreat, but then its devotees may regroup and beat back the progress made by the Partnership model. In certain places at certain times, whole societies may incline mostly toward Partnership relations, at least in contrast with other societies where Dominator relationships are more prominent.
 

That is the case today with Scandinavian countries, characterized by advanced partnership patterns of social organization and gender relations, unlike, say, the U.S., not to mention Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan.

Eisler not only distinguishes these two models of relationships; she argues that they can be found at several levels:

1. Dominator and Partnership within the Family (or intimate relations): The relationship persons have with family members and potential spouses—intimate relations. She gives this a sort of primacy, because it is the basis for our understanding of all other relationships.
2. Dominator and Partnership Patterns within one's own life. Do you "beat yourself up" when you fall short of some ideal or do you work in a friendlier manner with your existing traits and try to improve them gradually?
3. Dominator and Partnership relationships within work settings and the local community.
4. Dominator and Partnership relations between citizens and government, at the city, state, or national levels.
5. Dominator and Partnership relations in the international community. The Bush Administration following September 2001 provides a model of Dominator thinking in the international community.
6. Dominator and Partnership visions of the proper relationship between human beings and nonhuman nature (the planet as a natural resource vs. a global ecological community including nonhuman species).
7. Even our relationship with the divine, with God, the Great Spirit, or the Goddess can be interpreted using this partnership vs. domination lens.

Her approach can help us recognize coherence and unity where otherwise a collection of items may appear to be randomly associated. As an illustration, let me use the seven Unitarian Universalist principles. These are, unless I am very mistaken, inspired by partnership principles, even if we don't always use explicit partnership vocabulary and don't often ask ourselves how they fit together. Let's consider the seven principles in order:

1) The inherent worth and dignity of every person

Partnership relations require as much equality as possible and therefore respect for others with whom we are in relationship. Surely that implies that we seek to recognize the inherent dignity of other people whom we try to see as potential partners in one or another context.

2) Justice, equity and compassion in human relations

Compassion for our partners, whether they are intimate partners or partners in dialogue, or fellow citizens or fellow denizens of the planet, is necessary for the promotion of partnership, as distinct from dominator relationships.

Treating other people fairly, with justice, may seem a bit impartial, but it arguably depends upon seeing other human beings as members of the same family; we are all in the same boat or at least snared in the same network of relationships. There can be no real partnership if we do not first of all aim to treat others justly.

Equity refers to the moral sensitivity that accompanies and yet goes beyond formal justice. It takes into account, so far as possible, the unique situation of others and tries to empower them to be potential partners.

3) Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations

The Partnership way [4] starts out from concrete partnership relations, say, between men and men, women and women, friends and friends, and spouses. It moves outward to a vision of partnership in larger communities. Our congregations provide a space for practicing partnership that still involves face-to-face relations, but also defines a mission relating to larger communities or partnerships, not to mention humanity's partnership with the rest of the biosphere.

4) A free and responsible search for truth and meaning

The Dominator model of religion has always tended toward imposition of Truth with a capital T from outside, handing down the tablets from Mt. Sinai. Partnership leans toward dialogue, towards mutual stimulation to deeper thought. So the search must remain uncoerced. At the same time our conclusions must be at least partly sharable. One person's theology based on her experience will remain outside all partnerships unless she is responsible enough to express the nature of her insights in a communicable form (poetry, prose, art, music, or touch).

5) The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large

Democracy is the method whereby larger partnership organizations reach collective decisions. The right of conscience corresponds to the requirement of respect for individual paths and recognizes that a minority view now may provide a needed perspective to enrich the collective wisdom of the congregational partnership later.

6) The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all

This principle describes in outline the necessary conditions for global human partnership.

7) Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part

This principle points to the need for right relations, including respect, for the life forms and ecosystems that make up a biologically diverse planet. Those who are on the Partnership way, which include most UUs, aim to live in partnership with Nature, not as tyrant or monarch over it.

Dr. Jan Garrett, Professor of Philosophy at Western Kentucky University, delivered this talk at the Unitarian Univeralist Church of Bowling Green, KY on March 28, 2010

Emotions are essentially explosions of misunderstanding that you can clearly perceive in the body. Feelings, on the other hand, are of a different nature and are perceived differently as well. Feelings are more quiet than emotions. They are the whispers of the soul that reach you through gentle nudges, an inner knowingness or a sudden intuitive action that later appears to have been very wise.
 

Emotions always have something very intense and dramatic to them. Consider anxiety attacks, fear, rage or deep sadness. Emotions take hold of you completely and pull you away from your spiritual center. In the moment you are highly emotional, you are full of a kind of energy that pulls you away from your center, your inner clarity. In that sense, emotions are like clouds hovering before the sun.
 

Emotions should not be repressed; they are very valuable as a means to get to know yourself more intimately. But I do want to state what the nature of emotional energy is: it is an explosion of misunderstanding. Emotions essentially take you out of your center.
 

Feelings, on the other hand, bring you deeper into yourself, into your center. Feelings are closely associated with what you call intuition. Feelings express a higher understanding, a kind of understanding that transcends both the emotions and the mind.
 

Feelings originate in a non-physical realm, outside of the body. That is why they are not so clearly located within one spot of the physical body. Consider what happens when you sense something, an atmosphere or a mood, or when you have presentiments about a situation. There is a kind of knowingness within you then that seems to come from the outside and that is not a reaction from you to something external. It comes “out of nothing” (“out of the blue” as you so beautifully put it). In such a moment, you may feel something open up in your heart chakra.
 

You are able to truly give your light to others only if you are also able to not give it. If you cannot say ‘no’ to people, your ‘yes’ has no meaning. Learning to set boundaries and to stand up for yourself is crucial. If you don’t do this, your energy flows into a bottomless pit and you will permanently feel weak and drained.
 

To prevent this from happening, you need to get in touch with your masculine energy. Many people who are inclined towards the spiritual, have a negative image of the masculine energy. It is associated with violence, oppression and aggression and considered to be not spiritual. As a result of this negative attitude towards the masculine energy, many spiritually inclined and hypersensitive people feel disempowered and unable to stand up for themselves.
 

The solution is to understand that there’s nothing wrong with the masculine energy per se; it is the imbalance between the masculine and the feminine which causes the problem. By regarding the masculine energy to be inferior, many people weaken their own strength. This happens particularly in sensitive women. Especially when you go through a process of spiritual growth, it is of prime importance to connect with your masculine energy.
 

As soon as you take step 1 and become more aware of who you really are, you will distinguish yourself energetically from your environment. Your light will be noticed. This will attract to you what I call energy leeches. These are people or other entities, for instance the organization you work in, who will feed themselves with your energy. They deprive you of energy without giving something back to you. If you’re not able to protect yourself in such an environment, you get stuck.

At this point, you need to use your masculine strength. Embrace the masculine part of you, your inner man, and trust him. Let him take the shape of a sword in your hand which severs the bonds between you and everything that deprives you of energy.
 

A common pitfall in using the sword of your masculine energy proficiently is the notion of equality. “We are all equal and therefore I should not distinguish myself from others, and share what I have with them.” The idea of equality is right to some extent. At the level of the soul we are equal. At the level of manifestation however we are not. Some people are more able to let their inner light shine through than others. By not acknowledging this, we give energy leeches free range. Especially people who radiate much light and who have much to give, should protect themselves. Be aware of who or what you give your energy to. Not everyone is ready to receive what you have to offer. Do not let your most precious gift be dragged down by people or organizations who do not match your vibration. Use your masculine energy for this purpose.