Unity Center of Reno

Thursday, July 9, 11:30am
Women’s Prayer Luncheon

Come enjoy the community of loving women. We chit/chat, we share our joys and sorrows with like-minded women. Lunch is provided and we welcome all women! (Sorry men)Contact Sybil Furman for more information. [email protected]

Reno Journal Gazette Faith Forum is produced by religious stateman Rajan Zed.
Can s*xual intimacy be a path to spiritual experience?
S*x as spiritual demonstration
Toni King, Unity Minister, Unity Center of Reno

S*xual intimacy can become a transcendent experience when a divine connection exists between partners. “To those who have a love of s*x, the feelings of romance and physical excitement are not the same thing at all. But to those who have an enlightened love of one of the [s*xes], the tender feelings of love merge into the desire to give and receive s*xual pleasure.” (Stephen Russell-Lacy .org/uk) Spiritual experiences are intimately personal with the power to transform one’s understanding of Divine Presence and the unity that exists among all beings.

S*xual intimacy is one potential path to gain such illuminating insight because our capacity for raw honesty and vulnerability can take us to higher realms. It’s the moment when that which powers the universe – Love – is demonstrated at the human level – love – that we come to share true intimacy with another, thereby experiencing the god-of-us in the here and now.

Reno Journal Gazette Faith Forum is produced by religious stateman Rajan Zed.
Does creating AI imitate, rival, or violate divine creation?
A Pale Imitation at Best
Toni King, Unity Minister, Unity Center of Reno

Divine creation is an ever-unfolding expression of Love as infinite possibility. Artificial Intelligence is a human construct, an expression of the human mind, a tool born from our own capacity to conceive and manifest. It cannot imitate divine creation in the sense of replicating the soul, but rather reflects the intelligence inherent within us. The AI available to the masses imitates creation at the level of the operator’s consciousness. When operating from love, creations serve harmony; when from fear, they manifest separation; whereas God is always Divine Love.

AI lacks the introspection necessary for spiritual growth. It operates on programmed parameters, whereas Spirit operates as Pure Potentiality. Therefore, AI neither rivals nor violates divine creation; it is simply another layer of human expression, an extension of mental capacity built upon the foundation of human ingenuity. When seeking Truth, take a beat and remember: the Divine is closer than a keystroke.

Saturday, July 11 10:00am to 2:30pm
Women Journey Together

Join with like-minded women to experience "My Soul Celebrates the Fruit of Spirit, Part I" We will be looking at the 9 qualities Paul outlines in his letter to the Galatians. Through music, journal-writing, sharing in small groups Spirit will guide us to delve into 3 each workshop. Lunch will be provided. Time: 10:00-2:30. Suggested love offering: "$25-$45". Contact Sybil Furman at [email protected] Sign up in commUnity room.

Reno Journal Gazette Faith Forum is produced by religious stateman Rajan Zed.
What makes a desire “sinful” or “virtuous”?
Desire as Divine Impulse
Toni King, Unity Minister, Unity Center of Reno

Desire, at its essence, is an impulse from Spirit that arises within our awareness from inner Stillness. It is experienced as an idea longing for expression that mirrors the Divine. When desire is recognized as being in alignment with Love — our core beingness — it remains virtuous. Such desires seek connection, communion, community, healing, and the recognition of the oneness of all beings. These impulses, when pursued, ultimately guide us toward wholeness and holiness, and peace.

Conversely, desire feels “sinful”, when it springs from a consciousness of separation — the belief that we lack something essential and must acquire it externally to be whole or safe. These desires are rooted in fear, selfishness, or the need to control or dominate. They inevitably lead to continued discord because they place fulfillment outside of one’s awareness of Presence. Virtuous desire reflects the unlimited, universal Good, rather than the perpetration of a limited, human story.

Reno Journal Gazette Faith Forum is produced by religious stateman Rajan Zed.
How would we recognize divine presence or absence?
Follow the breath
Toni King, Unity Minister, Unity Center of Reno

Divine Presence is recognized when we experience life as the Love that we are. It shows up as inner peace and the feeling of connection to all things. This recognition is evidenced by the deep, even breathing that comes with the coherence of heart and mind and is mirrored in the stillness beyond thought, where clarity and wholeness reside.

Absence is felt as separation and manifests as fear, judgment, isolation, and the belief that life is happening "to" us rather than "through" us. When we identify solely with our human story, our limitations, and our pain, we close ourselves off to the flow of Spirit. The breath becomes shallow and uneven. The path back to experiencing coherence via Divine Presence is found when we turn inward, follow the breath (the rhythmic chant of the soul), and remember . . . the Divine is always closer than the air we breathe.