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JOY & SPIRITUAL OPTIMISM
An Inner Experience of Love, Beauty, Creativity & Truth
During the month of JULY Reverend
Glenda and Reverend Judy will help us explore the idea that we really don't need a reason to be happy. The power of happiness lies within each of us, just waiting to be unleashed.
Awakened awareness can become a powerful engine for a change of perception in which we can cultivate an internal sense of optimism, even in our challenging world.
Experiencing life with a sense of joy and spiritual optimism helps us get in touch with the idea that there is always a reason to be grateful, that every possibility holds the promise of abundance, and that obstacles are simply opportunities in disguise.
True spirituality means not taking ourselves too seriously so that our healthiest response to life is laughter from the heart, even in the face of difficulties.
Please join us at Common Ground every Sunday for our 10:30 am inspirational service.
Resources
include:Why is God Laughing?, by Deepak Chopra
Power, Freedom and Grace, by Deepak Chopra
These
titles are available in the Book Boutique. (Quantities Limited)
Sunday Morning Inspiration Service
Weekly: 10:30
am
Kids' Enrichment Program available during service for infants through 5th grade
Talk
titles for July:
July 3: Freedom: The Capacity to Exercise Choice
July 10: Laughter: The Antidote to Fear and Sorrow
July 17:Gratitude: The Antidote to Victimization
Melissa Suzanne, guest vocalist
July 24: Creating Healthy Spirituality
Reverend Leo Booth, Associate Minister
July 31: Music as Message: A Life Worth Living
Daniel Nahmod
Watch Recent Talks On Video
Robert Fields: Appearing Every
Sunday in
July.
Thank You for Your Generosity! Common
Ground is solely supported by the gracious
offerings of its spiritual community and
friends.
2010/2011 Newsletter Archives
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JULY CLASSES & EVENTS (Summer Schedule)
Sunday Morning Inspiration Service 10:30
JULY SPECIAL EVENTS
ANNUAL FOURTH OF JULY POOL PARTY ~ Monday, July 4, 3 to 6 pm ~ Off-site at Common Ground Santa Clara
COVENANT DEDICATION ~ Sunday, July 24, 12 noon
REVEREND LEO BOOTH, Associate Minister ~ Evening Recovery Celebration ~ Sunday, July 24, 7 pm
DANIEL NAHMOD ~ Music as Message ~ Sunday, July 31, 10:30 am inspirational services
KID'S CALENDAR
Kids' Enrichment Program ~ ages infant thru 5th grade ~ Weekly, Sundays, 10:30 am
OUTREACH
Standing in Peace, facilitated by Carol Marshall, Irvine Blvd @ Prospect Ave ~ Tuesdays, 4 to 5 pm
FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT
OCICE General Meeting ~ Thursday, July 7, 6:45 pm ~ Aldersgate Methodist Church
RECYCLE SUNDAY ~ Sunday, July 17
Local Farmers Markets
Local Environmental Projects
~ Zero Trash Laguna Cleanup
ROOTS, Restoration and Native Vegetation Program: Upper Newport Bay
Save Our Beach Program
ONGOING
Eckhart Tolle Book Study ~ New Earth ~ Fridays, Weekly,12:30 to 1:30 pm ~ Love Offering
Reiki Healing Circle ~ Tuesday, July 12 & 26, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ Love Offering
Way of the Bodhisattva: Training in the Six Perfections ~ Wednesday, July 6, 7 to 8:30 pm (Closed)
Women's Wisdom Circle ~ Tuesdays, July 12 & 26, 10 to 11:30 am ~ Love Offering
VENUE EVENTS
Orange County Spiritualist Gathering, with Medium Kathleen Vance ~ 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of the month, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ $10 suggested donation
Development 1: Developing your spiritual path & intuition, with Bob Lewis ~ Saturday, July 9 , 9:30 am to 12:30 pm ~ $20 per person
Development 2: Advanced students in spiritual and psychic awareness, with Bob Lewis ~ Saturday, July 30, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm ~ $20 per person
LightLovers Studio, Readings & Energy Balancing ~ Saturday, July 9, 2 to 4 pm ~ $20 per session
Intenders' Circle & Conscious Enterprise, facilitated by Judith Freyer & team ~ Thursday, July 14, 7 to 8:30 pm ~ $5 suggested
Be sure to look for updates and details of activities in weekly email notices.
Ongoing weekly classes continue as scheduled. Check our At-a-Glance Calendar for information.
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SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY
Covenant Commitment
Spiritual community, known as sangha in the Buddhist tradition, is a focal point at Common Ground.
Spiritual community as a spiritual practice reminds us that what happens to us as we come together to serve in spiritual community is as important as what we accomplish.
It is in spiritual community that we have an opportunity to facilitate one another's becoming as we grow and are transformed in our own spiritual journey.
Common Ground's spiritual community is comprised of gifted persons; each with a unique gift package of interests, motivations, experiences, dreams, needs, talents, strengths and weaknesses, and much more.
Coming together in spiritual community is a practice, not just a matter of a declaration of loyalty.
Making a commitment to spiritual community is not an 'ought to' or 'have to' or 'should'. It is not a commitment someone else can make for us. It is an opportunity to respond to an invitation that encourages us to bring forth our unique and special spiritual gifts.
Now is the time to consider making this commitment.
Common Ground does not have membership. Rather, we offer an opportunity to enter into a personal Covenant with spiritual community at a heart level.
There are no requirements other than a desire to further the purpose of Common Ground, willingness to embrace religious humility, and acknowledgment of deep ecumenism that lets all spiritual traditions speak for themselves.
Indra's Net is the symbol Common Ground uses to exemplify relationships in spiritual community. Each person making a Covenant commitment to community places a unique jewel on the net in our Sanctuary.
If you are interested, please complete and return your application by July 19th and plan to attend Covenant Dedication on July 24th at 12:00 noon following Sunday service.
Answers to frequently asked questions are available on our website.
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MIND, BODY, SPIRIT
Mindful Exercising
Common Ground is pleased to host a new summer class provided by Fit4UClasses.
Curriculum is designed to introduce mindful physical fitness exercises to help increase flexibility, strength, balance, and a general sense of relaxation and well-being.
Fit4UClasses is owned by Kris and Lisa Whittington, Reverend Judy's daughter and son-in-law. Together they bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in the areas of martial arts, self defense, physical fitness, and child development .
Both Kris and Lisa are 3rd Degree Black Belts in Taekwondo, have over 12 years of instructing experience and are former owners of a martial arts studio, Tustin Martial Arts, which they operated successfully for 5 years. Kris and Lisa are Live Scanned and cleared through the California Department of Justice.
Water Fitness Exercises is a new class being developed specifically for Common Ground.
In addition to the standard benefits of any exercise, the use of water in Water Fitness Exercises supports the body and reduces the risk of muscle or joint injury. The mitigation of gravity by flotation places less stress on the joints when stretching, and can allow a greater range of motion. Exercise in water can also prevent overheating through continuous cooling of the body.
It is not necessary to be a strong swimmer to participate in Water Fitness Exercises.
Water Fitness Exercises will be offered at Common Ground Santa Clara located in North Tustin.
Classes will take place in a private saltwater pool heated at a minimum of 84 degrees in a quiet atmosphere that will provide an opportunity to relax and enjoy the experience.
Fee for the class is $10 per session. Classes will be held twice a week, Mondays and Fridays from 1 to 2 pm, for a 4-week series beginning July 8th. Classes will consist of a maximum of 10 adults. A $25 material fee applies to cover the cost of aqua barbells and floatation equipment.
Sign-ups available online or at Common Ground.
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TITHING 2011
As We Give, So Shall We Receive ~ Common Ground is truly blessed and in turn becomes a blessing in the world
Common Ground
reaches
out to the global community through our
spiritual
practice of conscious giving.
Giving back
to the
world
is an important aspect of our mission and
vision. A
balanced integral approach is reflected in
conscious
selection of 501c3 qualified programs and
institutions
to which Common Ground provides tithes each
month.
Recipients of Common Ground 2011
tithes
include:
IONS
(Institute of
Noetic Sciences), advancing the science of
consciousness and human experience to serve
individual and collective transformation; Kiva,
empowering people to lift themselves out of
poverty; Disability
Rights California, affirmatively
addressing the needs of the traditionally
underserved and underrepresented disability
community; Project
HOPE School, (Homeless
Outreach Program in Education), helping
children without permanent homes transition
into the mainstream educational system;
Walking
Shield, helping to improve the
quality of life for American Indian families;
Direct
Relief International, supporting the
immediate medical needs of earthquake
victims in Haiti; Direct Relief International, supporting the immediate medical needs of earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan; and, Get on the Bus, serving as a conduit to assist children in crossing barriers that separate them from parents in prison.
The organizations to
which
Common Ground tithes are meaningful programs
where people from the spiritual community and
its
friends are already serving with heart and
hand, and
supporting with time and treasure.
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UPCOMING 2011 EVENTS ~ REVISED
Mark Your Calendar Today
CURRENTLY
SCHEDULED:
Jagadish: Sat, Aug 6 & 20
Darius Lux: Sun, Aug 14 (guest vocalist)
Backpack Outreach Project: Aug/Sept
Annual Common Ground Picnic: Sun, Sept 4
Daniel Nahmod: Sun, Sept 11
Karie Hillery: Sun, Sept 18 (guest vocalist)
Earthdance & Global Peace Prayer: Sat, Sept 24
Debra Barbre: Sun, Oct 16 (guest vocalist)
Seventh Anniversary Celebration: Fri, Nov 18
Daniel Nahmod: Sun, Nov 20
Thanksgiving Eve: Wed, Nov 23
Christmas Eve: Sat, Dec 24
Christmas: Sun, Dec 25 (CLOSED)
New Year's Eve: Sat, Dec 31
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GOD IS NOT A CHRISTIAN: AND OTHER PROVOCATIONS
Excerpts from the Archbishop Desmond Tutu's New Book
They tell the story of a drunk who crossed the street and accosted a pedestrian, asking him:
"I shay, which ish the other shide of the shtreet?" The pedestrian, somewhat nonplussed, replied, "That side, of course!" The drunk said, "Shtrange. When I wash on that shide, they shaid it wash thish shide."
Where the other side of the street is depends on where we are. Our perspective differs with our context, the things that have helped to form us; and religion is one of the most potent of these formative influences, helping to determine how and what we apprehend of reality and how we operate in our own specific context.
My first point seems overwhelmingly simple: that the accidents of birth and geography determine to a very large extent to what faith we belong. The chances are very great that if you were born in Pakistan you are a Muslim, or a Hindu if you happened to be born in India, or a Shintoist if it is Japan, and a Christian if you were born in Italy. I don't know what significant fact can be drawn from this -- perhaps that we should not succumb too easily to the temptation to exclusiveness and dogmatic claims to a monopoly of the truth of our particular faith. You could so easily have been an adherent of the faith that you are now denigrating, but for the fact that you were born here rather than there.
My second point is this: not to insult the adherents of other faiths by suggesting, as sometimes has happened, that for instance when you are a Christian the adherents of other faiths are really Christians without knowing it. We must acknowledge them for who they are in all their integrity, with their conscientiously held beliefs; we must welcome them and respect them as who they are and walk reverently on what is their holy ground, taking off our shoes, metaphorically and literally. We must hold to our particular and peculiar beliefs tenaciously, not pretending that all religions are the same, for they are patently not the same. We must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God.
We should in humility and joyfulness acknowledge that the supernatural and divine reality we all worship in some form or other transcends all our particular categories of thought and imagining, and that because the divine -- however named, however apprehended or conceived -- is infinite and we are forever finite, we shall never comprehend the divine completely. So we should seek to share all insights we can and be ready to learn, for instance, from the techniques of the spiritual life that are available in religions other than our own. It is interesting that most religions have a transcendent reference point, a mysterium tremendum, that comes to be known by deigning to reveal itself, himself, herself, to humanity; that the transcendent reality is compassionate and concerned; that human beings are creatures of this supreme, supra mundane reality in some way, with a high destiny that hopes for an everlasting life lived in close association with the divine, either as absorbed without distinction between creature and creator, between the divine and human, or in a wonderful intimacy which still retains the distinctions between these two orders of reality.
When we read the classics of the various religions in matters of prayer, meditation, and mysticism, we find substantial convergence, and that is something to rejoice at. We have enough that conspires to separate us; let us celebrate that which unites us, that which we share in common.
Surely it is good to know that God (in the Christian tradition) created us all (not just Christians) in his image, thus investing us all with infinite worth, and that it was with all humankind that God entered into a covenant relationship, depicted in the covenant with Noah when God promised he would not destroy his creation again with water. Surely we can rejoice that the eternal word, the Logos of God, enlightens everyone -- not just Christians, but everyone who comes into the world; that what we call the Spirit of God is not a Christian preserve, for the Spirit of God existed long before there were Christians, inspiring and nurturing women and men in the ways of holiness, bringing them to fruition, bringing to fruition what was best in all. We do scant justice and honor to our God if we want, for instance, to deny that Mahatma Gandhi was a truly great soul, a holy man who walked closely with God. Our God would be too small if he was not also the God of Gandhi: if God is one, as we believe, then he is the only God of all his people, whether they acknowledge him as such or not. God does not need us to protect him. Many of us perhaps need to have our notion of God deepened and expanded. It is often said, half in jest, that God created man in his own image and man has returned the compliment, saddling God with his own narrow prejudices and exclusivity, foibles and temperamental quirks. God remains God, whether God has worshipers or not.
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COMING SOON
The Path of the Sacred Healer
Common Ground is pleased to host a new event, Sadhu, Jagadish, presenting Divine Love Transmission, beginning in August every first and third Saturday of the month from 11 am to 1 pm .
Jagadish's spiritual journey has taken him through over 40 years of concentrated spiritual practice rooted in Yoga, Hinduism, Hawaiian Spirituality, Tibetan Buddhism, Shamanism, and Mystic Christianity. He is a Lineage Holder of several of these traditions and practices as an inter-faith minister with the deepest respect for all true spiritual paths.
Jagadish's work is designed to help awaken one's heart to experience Divine Grace - the source of all transformation, healing and release from undesired patterns. His deep spiritual practice, combined with a lifetime of study and service, distinguishes him as a "healer's healer."
His intention is to divinely support those who work with him by helping to unveil their Sacred Identity of pure consciousness, joy and love while simultaneously helping them to become open to receive profound spiritual healing.
His integrated approach supports an intrinsic quickening of a person's holistic journey toward achieving a rich and fulfilling life, optimal health and well-being - and realization of True Nature in Liberated Love of God.
People report leaving Jagadish's sessions with a great feeling of empowerment. Many say they experience palpable energy and shifts in their mind, body and spirit.
Jagadish received his Bachelors Degree in Humanistic Transpersonal Psychology from Sonoma State University and completed graduate work at The Transpersonal Center of Holistic Integration in California.
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Common Ground is a Teaching-Learning
Center where people bring their very
souls
where people grow one another by sharing what
they
know where people learn spiritual
practices to
support them in working with the complex
possibilities
of today's world
May you embrace the idea that you really don't need a reason to be happy
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