The Independent Faith Religion is based fundamentally on the philosophical principles of Barbequia or The Independent Nation of Barbequia – also known as Barbequianism.
The foundation of the religion’s philosophy is based on 6 tenets known as the Founding Principles.
- All life is sacred.
- God is more than a deity.
- To love God, one must love ones self – to love ones self is to love God.
- Faith creates, heals, and evolves.
- Peace in one’s heart creates peace in ones environment.
- Love & Peace are who, what and why we are.
The very far reaching, profound implications and potential these statements provide are the foundation of our religion, philosophy and our spiritual faith and strength.
We believe that ultimate self realization is the key to unlocking the full God potential in each of us. We do not pretend to have all the answers neatly wrapped up in a book nor do we believe that another human on this plane will or should even attempt to lead anyone to “salvation”.
We believe that warm and fuzzy explanations to life’s mysteries merely appease the ego and give a false sense of security that becomes spiritual complacency because we think we have everything figured out.
We believe that we don’t have everything figured out and in fact there are more questions than answers and the answers are not warm and fuzzy but open ended when we discover them. This allows the bulk of the responsibility for self-discovery and ultimate self-realization to be placed squarely on the individual.
We promote our beliefs and fundamental principles through quiet example through our daily life and humble sharing of our beliefs with others through our associations and conversations.
As a matter of church doctrine, we do not argue or attempt to impose our beliefs as we have no need to satisfy the egoic desire to be “right”. We merely share our beliefs by living them and through friendly conversation and church literature.
The Founding Principles
The Founding Principles are outlined in very general terms below to allow for personal assimilation and interpretation which will inevitably evolve in different ways in each person. The reason for not expounding further is that by so doing would be an attempt to form a perception for others rather than allow them to form an understanding for themselves.
We explore the tenets in our weekly meetings to allow the dynamics of the group to be the tool for self-discovery as interaction promotes thought, points of view are exchanged and accepted or rejected and understanding on a group and individual level takes place.
Our Ministers are Facilitators not pastors. We all share the road to self realization and anyone that attempts to guide a group or a person to “salvation” is deluded in thinking he or she knows the way for someone else. It is a trip we make alone with the loving input, sharing and interaction with those and all that is around us.
Let is not forget that our learning does not only come from other humans but also from nature in all its forms. This makes for a very large and interactive classroom if we have the humility to observe, listen and learn.
1st Tenet – All life is sacred
The Independent Faith Church and Barbequianism view all life as sacred and a part of God.
Reverence and respect for all forms of life are an integral part of our religious philosophy.
We do not view ourselves as lords or superior over any species nor do we acknowledge any right to take away that which we are incapable of returning. Therefore we do not engage in acts that take the life of any creature unless it is a true matter of self defense or preservation in which case we will exhaust all non-lethal options first.
While the lowest level of the law is to not kill, a higher level of the law which we actively promote and encourage is to not contribute to the killing, inhumane treatment or otherwise objectionable and unnatural conditions of any fellow creature on this planet we share.
A very basic part of this Founding Principle is the Barbequian commitment to non-violence.
This concept is a fundamental principle of our faith and religious philosophy.
Love can not coexist with violence of any kind. In other words, violence in any form and to any degree desecrates the sanctity of life.
The concept of non-violence is generally viewed as peaceful tolerance of aggression perpetrated against an individual as well as our outward actions towards other beings and creatures. However, that is only a small part of it and in fact the easiest part to live. Non-violence also encompasses other less obvious concepts.
Elimination of violent thoughts towards self and others – Thought is the cornerstone of reality and when mixed with feeling and emotion becomes a powerful creative force that brings about tangible results. Violent thoughts will manifest their poison in our body in the way of adrenaline and a feeing of unease and disconnect from the sacred now and thus a separation from God. The spiritual effects of violent thoughts are the results of that disconnect from the now – hell.
Non-violence encompasses the words we use with other people, creatures and objects as well as the way we refer to and interact with these things in our actions, speech and our thoughts – calm, quiet, gentle and patient are the virtues of the non-violent being.
Non-violence also implies a gentle personal intervention to stop violence when it occurs in our presence and circle of influence via peaceful means.
The steps to intervention are verbal mediation, physical interjection, separation from the event, and as last resort defensive physical deterrent. Violence to stop violence is merely more of the same and the natural consequences are emotionally, spiritually and physically devastating.
The commitment of each Barbequian to a life style of non-violence brings a sense of peace and calm that empowers through choice. This means that walking away from violence (separation) is no longer a shameful act as it is not a sign of cowardice or weakness but a choice of peace and strength far greater than is required to give in to anger and retaliation. The very choice of a non-violent lifestyle empowers us with strength through humility that only the weak will see as weakness.
While this concept is a fundamental principle of our religion, as a matter of principle, we do not force our views or grandstand them nor encourage, finance or support any who may do so in a way that is negative, offensive, or invasive of the rights of others that choose to conduct their lives or businesses in ways we may not agree with.
2nd Tenet – God is more than a deity.
All deities are subject to and part of the Universal Force (creator) of which we are all a part.
The word God is a label that has been abused, misused, slandered, maligned, blasphemed and desecrated by its association with mere deities in an attempt to make monotheistic that which is not.
Satan is referred to as the god of this world, the “I Am” god of the old testament while depicted as not much nicer than Satan and certainly less reasonable, is very different from the Father of Jesus of the New Testament and so from Zeus, Allah or any of a myriad of other deities that all have very unique attributes and have been or are worshipped by many.
The extreme dichotomy and variation in everything from personality to doctrine between deities indicates that they are a) culturally defined, b) different beings, or c) both.
We won’t pretend to know for a fact which is the truly correct answer and in fact it may be “d” but what we will state is that these deities along with all the deities of history, across the globe and throughout the Universe are all part of God – not God.
We differentiate the deities commonly referred to as god from the Omnipotent Omnipresent Creative Force we are all a part of (God) in our texts by the capitalization of the word.
God is the very force that gives power and life to these deities so many people readily hate for, kill for, die for and worship in the name of that which these deities are only a part – just like you and I.
While human attributes give an intense ability to relate to a deity and in fact deities may very well have human attributes we do not believe that God is a person, a father in a literal sense or limited to a personage of any kind. While we respect all deities and believe that those worshipped by many may very well exist and be endowed with powers and abilities we do not understand or yet master, we do not worship these deities. We worship the force that gives these deities as well as all that is existence and that is what we call God if we must label that which is all that is.
3rd Tenet – To love God, one must love ones self – to love ones self is to love God.
This Tenet is closely related to the next one yet important enough to address separately.
The concept that at an energetic or quantum level everything is connected and there is not nor can there be a separation from anything implies that we are part of God as God is part of us which in effect means we are one in the same.
To many this may seem sacrilegious and pretentious but in reality it is neither and until we can overcome the shackles of our Dark Ages based programming that somehow we are dirty lowly sinners, we can not realize our true self nor appreciate who and what we truly are. In fact, it is in the best interest of the powers of darkness to keep us subjugated by our belief that we are separate from God because it keeps us in fear and doubt and in a mode of unconscious creation – easily controlled.
When we realize that we are literally a part of God and therefore Gods children in a sense that far exceeds our concept of parent/child relationships, we begin to understand that we can not love God until we love our self because if we do not love our self, we do not love God because we are part of the same.
WE ARE ALL CONNECTED.
4th Tenet -Faith creates, heals, and evolves.
It is important to clarify the definition of the word “faith” for purposes of understanding this concept. We subscribe to the early interpretations of the word before the Dark Ages when it was convoluted with religious and sectarian based complexity with theories of fideism. In fact the word was not used in English until the 12th century.
Faith is from the Latin fides – to command, persuade, to trust – and that is the use of the word we subscribe to.
It is the knowing that what we wish to create, bring into reality or manifest is already done. It is the trust in the Laws of attraction and creation that gives focused, conscious power to our experience or reality.
Therefore, the intensity or level of that command, persuasion and trust (fides) we are able to hold present is what determines the level of our ability to consciously create our every moment, heal our imbalances (spiritual, mental, physical, in relationships of all natures,etc.) and evolve our domesticated mind into having the ability to clearly see, accept and embrace the powerful, beautiful, essence of God we are.
Faith (fides) creates, heals and evolves.
5th Tenet – Peace in one’s heart creates peace in ones environment.
Looking for peace in an “out there” that isn’t out there is like looking for love in another person – it isn’t out there.
Peace is a state of being that comes from being present in the sacred now. As we understand that the past is over and therefore does not exist, the future has not happened and therefore does not exist so the only time that exists is the now, we will become more and more present by keeping our mind where our body is. In fact, to commune with God we must be consciously present in the now because God can only be where God exists and God can not exist anywhere but the Eternal Now.
When we allow our mind to drift to the past or the future, we will inevitably feel the stress from our separation from God and consequently a lack of internal peace. While we are consciously present, we will feel the peace in our heart that comes from communion with God – in fact, we will BE the peace that is communion with God which will affect our perception of our environment.
our environment is a mish mash of perceptions but if we are peaceful through our communion with God, we will experience peace regardless of the horror or atrocity that may and does seem to surround us.
6th Tenet -Love & Peace are who, what and why we are
The spiritual entity, the ghost in the machine, the who we really are, is on this plane experiencing an existence through a mortal body with linear limitations and constraints imposed by our domestication and our acceptance and buy-in to that domestication so we can learn and grow. While on this plane, we have a free agency that gives us the power to choose every moment of every day – in other words the eternal now is a series of choices.
When we are present in the now and in communion with God, we are love and peace because that is what the now is. When we choose to step out and focus on the past or the future, we enter a realm where evil and darkness prevail.
We can choose to remain in that realm and pursue its potential which is as intense as its antithesis and like most of us do, eek out an existence based on and motivated by when I do this or when I have that. We can choose to pursue any degree of this existence we want but anyone that has experienced the stress, anxiety and emptiness of doing so knows that it is anywhere from uncomfortable to down right miserable because we are being something we are not. We are choosing to be in anger, fear, hate, frustration and lack focusing on what we do not have and wish we did and chasing that – maybe even successfully to find that it doesn’t fill the emptiness. This is because we are trying to be something we are not.
When we are in the now, in communion with God, in living prayer, etc. we experience love and peace through being love and peace and it not only feels right but it is joy because it IS who, what and why we are. And the more we learn to be in this mode, the easier it will be and the easier it becomes, the faster we will be aware of our full potential – ultimate self realization. Notice there is no reference to “become” or “reach” but rather “be aware” of that which already is.
God
The topic of most controversy in the history of humanity is that of God. This three-letter word and the attempt to define it have caused more death, destruction, pain and evil than anything in existence known to mortals and yet it is attributed with virtues of perfection, love, etc.
This dichotomy is indicative of the human ego-based need to have clearly delineated that which may not allow for clear delineation and to be “right”.
The general worldview in the Judeo-Christian and some other cultures (simplified to be sure) is that God is a deity that resides in heaven and has little better to do than sit on a throne and watch humanity with a heavenly score card to keep track of the good and bad deeds like Santa Clause to then reward or punish accordingly.
To put this issue plainly, succinctly and as honestly as possible – we do not claim to know the attributes of the deities commonly referred to as God. In fact, we have no interest in attempting to do so because deities are not God to us, they are deities. Many of these deities have been used as an excuse to perpetrate such horror, evil and destruction and then the perpetrators turn around and bless, prophecy, preach and officiate in their name. Some of these deities have characteristics that are worth emulating while others seem to have characteristics of evil, smite, vengeance and anger. It seems that in the name of monotheism, humanity has tried to lump all in as the same god yet they are very likely several deities. This is evident in the disparity between deities of the Old and New Testament for example.
We are truly monotheistic in the sense that we believe in and worship one God that is everything and everyone that is and therefore truly omnipotent and omnipresent.
We believe that God is the force that comprises and created these deities as well as all that is, including each of us. This means that God is part of us as we are part of God.
When we realize that at a quantum level we are connected to everything in existence and a part thereof, it becomes difficult to think that separation from anything – even God – is possible. In fact it is not. This concept brings to light the reasons judgment and hate are such futile emotions as they only reflect on us because we are not separate from that which we spew the judgment or emotion at. We can not harm or inflict pain without harming our self. We can not affect anything without affecting our self and consequently affecting God and when we do so we affect our personal plight for ultimate self realization through the Law of Natural Consequence.
With this understanding, we believe that we need to truly love our self first and by so doing we will inevitably love everyone else and consequently love God.
So who is God?
You are, I am, as is all that is because we are an integral part of it all.
Prayer
Prayer is communication with God.
Our views on God and the God in all of us make our every moment a form of prayer even though most of humanity is completely unaware of this ongoing prayer.
Our reality is reflecting that prayer on a daily basis as we create and materialize that which is most prevalent in our thoughts and their associated emotions.
The act of supplication or expression of gratitude to a deity (usually before asking for something) is a focused version of our life prayer. The conventional forms of prayer or what we call the ritual of prayer, are used by all religions and philosophies in some form to focus thought feeling and emotion in order to more effectively co-create.
We believe that gratitude should be the prevalent emotion of our ongoing life prayer, not just a precursor to a specific request to a deity. We strive to begrateful not become grateful. Working towards something puts that something in the future which does not exist. We teach and understand that to become is to wish, hope and leave to luck something that already is and just needs to be allowed to be. If we are grateful in the now, we will always be grateful and gratitude will invariably bring about a positive outlook and a healthy humility. This way we are focusing our energy on general qualities that help make the creation or materialization of specific things effortless – which in effect is the case.
We encourage everyone to pray always – not in the ritual of prayer but in living prayer. We also encourage everyone to make use of the ritual of prayer as needed until the ability to be in gratitude, and create effectively and CONCIOUSLY is reached at which point, the ritual (along with all rituals) becomes obsolete and unnecessary.
Does Prayer Work – and Why?
Most of us have been taught to pray from the time we were young. Be it that disturbing “now I lay my head to sleep…” and let me dream about dying tonight prayer, a word to God in a life situation, or a sincere conversation with our revered deity of choice or custom. But in some form or other we have or continue to engage in prayer.
What is interesting is the fact that every spiritual philosophy has a form of prayer and they are as varied as they are many.
As a teenager, it was fascinating to watch people get on their knees and “walk” from the gate of the Shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico City to the church – a good 2 city blocks or better in distance. I engaged some of them in conversation to understand what they were doing as they left a trail of skin and blood behind them. It was a show of devotion for favors asked or blessings received from God or the Virgin of Guadalupe.
As a member of the LDS faith, I would often pray following a specific protocol and prayer structure but inserting my own petitions and expressions of gratitude several times a day. As a missionary, I taught people the same protocol and structure and watched prayer change their lives.
As an eclectic Pagan, I have engaged in incantations and spells using charms, candles, crystals and incense and I have watched my creations flourish before my eyes.
As a non-denominational Minister, I have engaged in a variety of blessings, healings, personal and congregational supplications and again, the results have been consistently positive.
Having interacted with people of many religious backgrounds, from the nature based, Goddess based, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, to agnostic hard core What the Bleepers, everyone has a form of prayer or communication with a higher source to create a given outcome.
So, looking around at the plethora of prayer types, formats, positions, songs, etc. you have to wonder – do they work?
The short answer is of course they do!
Would people REALLY go to the trouble if it didn’t produce some kind of perceived result? Eventually, even the die-hard inertia driven zealots would figure out that something wasn’t working and give up or change their approach.
So How Does it Work?
If we take every example of prayer or communication with deity or a higher source to create a given outcome and look for the common denominators, we find the following: Faith or a confidence in the ability to produce the desired result and focus of intent.
A beautiful statement by the Shaman Dr. Serge Kahili King says “Energy flows where attention goes”. And there isn’t an easier way to sum up why prayer, or personal creation works.
The structure adhered to by Mormons is a way to stay focused on the intent of the prayer. As things become more sacred in nature, the prayers become more symbolic or ritualistic in nature. This focuses e that intention and faith at even a higher level, producing miraculous results.
As a catholic counts the beads of the rosary or holds a crucifix or gazes intently at the effigy of a saint, it serves the same purpose – to focus faith and intent on the desired results.
Pagans focus their attention or energy through the use of rituals, spells and incantations.
Native peoples focus their intent and energy through the use of totems and charms.
Every single person that successfully produces a desired result via some form of prayer or ritual does so by focusing their faith, energy and intent on that result, and the laws of the Universe are such that when that combination of thought, feeling and emotion are set into action, creation is inevitable – in fact, it is already done.
So, does format or protocol matter?
There is not a black and white answer to that question, but the simple answer is – it does to you, to each individual. Our social formation and background will have a huge bearing on what type of format works most effectively for each of us – at least initially or as long as we want it to.
For example, a person with a Christian background will probably not get very good results from kneeling towards Mecca and praying on a mat and by the same token a Muslim will probably not get very good results from placing their hands on someone’s head and blessing them in the name of Jesus Christ.
What is a definite and proven fact is that as we realize what the driving forces behind successful prayer or personal creation are, it becomes easier and easier to produce the results with less ritual. Positive results are 100% independent of the deity one chooses to believe in or worship too as is evident across the globe. Sorry my Christian friends, but its true – our brothers and sisters of all spiritual or religious backgrounds produce the exact same wonderfully miraculous results from the deepest parts of the Amazon to the highest Tibetan peaks to the dirtiest streets of Bombay or the most remote islands of the sea. Would anything less make sense at all in such an immense universe of such perfect balance?
As we understand the concept of “energy flows where attention goes” and we become proficient at focusing our thought, feeling and emotion on our desired results, we will create those results with less and less “effort” as our knowing of the universal laws of creation grows. Then we become powerful in our creation as we realize that it goes on even when we aren’t praying, just at a less focused intensity at times. The fact is that we are always creating – as long as we engage in thought, feeling and emotion, we will create and our daily life is the result of that very creation.
Does any religion, ethnic group, spiritual persuasion or cult have more or less access to higher power, universal energy or divine intervention on behalf of their creation or prayer?
Absolutely not. Anyone can create miracles, change their life, heal the sick or any other result they believe they can. The ones that are more proficient at it aren’t closer to “God”, they are just better at focusing the ingredients of creation and producing the desired results.
Firewalkers, snake dancers, faith healers, shaman, priests, missionaries, Gurus, Fakirs, Wayne Dyer, Rhonda Byrne, Jesus Christ, Buddha, the masses of people oblivious to this discussion, you and me – we all have access to the same creative potential. The question is – how good at manifesting the results you want do you want to be?
“Energy flows where attention goes” and as we focus our thoughts, feelings and emotions as Mr. Gregg Braden so succinctly explains in his many writings on the subject, we will become more and more conscious of our constant creation and consequently raise our proficiency to the level we are willing to pursue. The masters raised it to the level of master – what do you want to be?
Heaven and Hell
We believe that it is possible to experience Heaven as we live and are completely present in the only time that we can consciously ever known – the Sacred Now.
By being present in the now and learning to stay in that state, we are in effect communing with God and experiencing heaven or the presence of God. The now is where all that is – including God and the God in us exist.
Regardless of what happens when we shed the fascinating bio-mechanical suit we inhabit, in the degree that we are able to experience heaven NOW, we will continue to do so forever.
We believe that Hell is a state of mind, and not a place. Although many places may seem like hell, we believe that hell is the resulting consequence of separation from God and we can only be connected to God and the God in all of us by being present in the NOW – being in heaven. By the contrary, by allowing our body to be in the present with our mind obsessed in the past or the future, we create a disconnection from God and the resulting stress, anxiety and depression tend to foment the devastating condition associated with hell.
Will we be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone for our sins? We do NOT believe in such a concept of hell for a minute. However, if it were true and if there is such a deity that would allow the casting of his children in such a place, we can not recognize or be affected by that deity especially if we are present in the now and thus connected and communing with God.
What kind of deity would conceivably cast its creationinto any type of eternal punishment, isolation or fire infested resort for “the wicked”?
Sin
The Independent Faith Church and Barbequian doctrine view sin as any event that obstructs our progress toward ultimate self-fulfillment. It is not something to “repent” of or deserving of some form of punishment or godly reprimand – worse yet being cast into some abysmal fire place – but rather something to change and do differently so that we continue to evolve towards that self-fulfillment.
Confession of “Sins”
Whether it is true human nature or just centuries of conditioning, it seems we tend to feel more at peace when we confess or share with someone else the “sins” we have committed. Traditionally in Judeo-Christian circles, these sins are violations of (selected) Old and New Testament commandments found in today’s Bible or what a particular religion may have established as “sin” for their followers.
Every action, thought or emotion has natural and inevitable consequences that are neither good nor bad, they are merely the natural consequences of said events. Nobody, deity or mortal can escape the law of natural consequence – it governs all that is.
The Independent Faith Church does not recognize a god that is waiting for his children to fail so he can inflict some form of smite on them – there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support such a sad and dismal belief. There are numerous writings about such, but none that we as a church subscribe to or choose to embrace.
God is not offended by our humanness. God is not offended by our actions because a God that is perfect love, peace and balance can not feel anger, vengeance, wrath, jealousy or any of the self-defeating, ego based emotions every Avatar in history has taught us to eliminate. It is contrary to the very law of natural consequence not to mention a simple fact that darkness cannot exist where there is light, anger can not exist where there is no fear and fear can not exist where there is understanding.
Assuming most deities regardless of religion will be attributed with a fair amount of understanding – how can they be afraid? Consequently – how can they feel anger? God is love, perfection and all that is – of which we are an integral part. How can we offend that with something we think, say or do?
The human ego will inevitably be the entity that ensures that we are punished over and over and over again for the same mistake. That is not justice, it is masochism and it is something we will benefit from actively and consciously avoiding.
Once we have recognized that we have missed the mark, we will inevitably tend to start applying guilt and self punishment via any number of ways – from self loathing, internal dialogue, and self sabotage to actual physical punishment for the perceived “sin”.
The Independent Faith Church has established an outline of what are called “Steps to Equilibrium” – steps to regain balance when we miss the mark.
Steps to Equilibrium
Step 1 – Identify How We Missed the Mark (the “sin”)
This is the easy part – just be aware of what we have done, thought or felt that is in opposition to what we want.
Step 2 – Assess Any Harm to One’s Self and Others as a Result of the Event.
The harm to one’s self is usually the most overlooked aspect as one deals with rectification of any imbalance or sin. The first and most direct target of the negative effects of any imbalance is the person that is causing the imbalance.
Next is to identify any harm that may have been done to others through the event. This does not need to be a long process, just a conscious awareness.
Step 3 – Feel The Natural Remorse of Understanding How the Event Slowed Personal Progress and Affected Others.
When we understand the concept that when we miss the mark, regardless of what the event was, it has the deepest effect on the person executing the event, it becomes easier to avoid doing it and our remorse is real – based in understanding of natural consequences – not fear of punishment.
We are all connected and regardless of who perpetrates what, we all feel the effect but no one as much as the person executing the event.
Understanding what the price of an event is will be all that is needed for the adequate amount of remorse to flow. There is no need whatsoever for emotional, spiritual or physical self-flagellation over and over by continually re-living the event to prove anything to anyone.
Step 4 – Rectify to the Best of One’s Ability Any Harm or Damage Done.
Restitution of any damage or loss is indispensable in the process. Some times it may be as simple as an apology to anyone involved for the effect the event may have had on them or they may have perceived it had on them. Other times, it may require replacement, reconstruction, or restoration of items or trust which may be a longer process.
Again, a commonly overlooked aspect of rectification or restitution is with ones self. This is the simplest concept to understand yet often the most difficult to carry out.
Nobody will punish a person more than they will punish themselves. The law of natural consequences has already started in motion and by the time it runs its course, there is no punishment or reward that is more just. It may be as simple as understanding that we have slowed our progress or as complex as the intervention of social law and its implications. Regardless, the process in itself of the law of consequence running its course is ALL we have to pay. Re-playing the event in our mind over and over is robbing us of that which is most sacred – the only time there is (the now) for something that justice has already claimed and satisfied.
If you feel a need to confess, find the largest most beautiful tree or rock you can find and spill your guts to a true representative of God and move on to step 5.
If you feel that human ears may have a better effect for you, find someone you trust that understands the concept of true justice (a Minister of The Independent Faith Church is a good start) and do what you feel you need to do knowing that a Minister will hear you, love you unconditionally and maybe give you some counsel but NO HUMAN can absolve you or forgive you. ONLY YOU CAN.
Step 5 – Embrace the Lessons and Release the Event to the Ether.
Shake it off – literally – let it go and embrace the lessons not the guilt of the ego.
Ultimately it is not about what you did but what you learned from what you did. The event is in the past and you are in the now. Leave the event where it ceases to exist and give life to the lessons by applying them to your life in the now. Allow the memory of the past to escape to the ether. Sometimes actually visualizing this release helps it to be more permanent.
Step 6 – Be Joyous and Loving and Continue to Strive for Self-fulfillment
Onward and upward – this moment at a time.
Health and Wellness
Health and wellness extends beyond the physical aspects of our existence and in fact, the more important and relevant are the spiritual ones.
We do not pretend to place a standard of what is deemed healthy in either realm as each individual has his or her own challenges to overcome. One person may be physically fit and spiritually dead where another may be spiritually solid and physically challenged while most of us are somewhere in between. The point is not to quantify but to be aware and actively live healthy in all aspects.
It is clear that physical ailments are the body’s way of showing or dealing with disease or imbalances and we all live with some form or another of these regardless of our level of health. Our environment is one of abundance of physical, mental and spiritual pollutants that have accumulated over years of disconnection from God and our Mother Earth. The fact is that ailments, imbalances and disease in one area will have some effect on the other so it behooves us to adopt a lifestyle that actively promotes health in all areas.
While we do not mandate or require any particular lifestyle, we do advocate implementation of the temporal and spiritual aspects of Barbequianism which include elimination of habits and substances that are detrimental and assimilation of those that promote health and well being.
As the body and spirit grow healthier, the power of creation flows more consciously. This does not necessarily mean that either is directly or inversely proportional to the other as we are adaptive beings in a perfectly balanced universe.
With that said, regardless of our state of health, we advocate actively engaging in activities that promote health.
As an organization, we recognize the benefits of all kinds of medicine – conventional and “alternative”. It is undeniable that conventional medicine has its place and this is certainly the case with surgery, trauma treatment, life support, terminal illness, etc. and though it mostly treats symptoms rather than their cause it would be foolish to not avail ourselves of it in conjunction with alternative methods.
Unfortunately but undeniably, the medical/pharmaceutical industry has blatantly yet passively violated the Hippocratic Oath through greed and financial gain. This has given rise to an ever growing return to natural and alternative medicine.
In this light we not only advocate a broad spectrum of alternative practices, but we make them readily available to our members and friends through seminars, workshops, relationships with and referrals to practitioners as well as the availability of information and devices through our local congregations to supplement conventional medicine.
These include, naming just a few: Reike, massage therapy, acupuncture, acupressure, homeopathy, naturopathy, kinesiology, vegetarianism, Rife technology and electro therapies, reflexology, iridology… and the list goes on.
We are not medical doctors and we do not make claims of cures nor do we prescribe treatments for specific illnesses. We merely make the information, professionals, practitioners and devices available for each individual to use at their own discretion in their own best interest to complement conventional medicine and compensate for deficiencies inherent to the modern medical/pharmaceutical industry.
To coordinate use of Rife or electro therapy equipment, colloidal silver generators, water ozonators or for information about professional referrals and seminars, contact a local Minister or email us.
Again, we do not make any claims or representations of cures, treatments for specific ailments or otherwise indicate or infer anything along those lines. We provide equipment that is currently popular and in demand for the personal use and benefit of our members as they see fit and make available information to be used as each individual may choose.
Sadly, the preceding paragraph is resultant from the state of affairs in our medical/pharmaceutical community and the financial interests at work that make it necessary to place disclaimers like this on a church website as well as countless others to avoid prosecution by the law driven by those who took an oath to heal and not harm. How ironic.