The original meaning of Home Religion
- This page is part of an ERW course: Home Church.
- By John Eagles, May 13, 2007.
The universe is built according to principles. We usually are more aware of the principles and laws for the external and physical world than of those for the invisible internal and spiritual aspects of life. Science tries to understand and describe the principles for the physical reality. When scientists can formulate certain laws, they are able to build technology that is based on such laws. We make computers and space ships because we have learned principles for how to do this. When these principles are applied in the correct way, we are able to construct our environment in a way that is pleasing and which opens new opportunities in daily life.
Principles and laws do also exist for the invisible world of spirit and religion. Because many people are not knowledgeable of these principles or because they don't apply them well, we live in a world in which we often experience pain, misery, conflicts and war.
Home religion is the practice of religion that tries to apply the principles and laws for internal life. Although this sounds kind of technical and abstract and cold, the reality of Home Religion is that we learn to live a life of love and harmony, which is not possible by just applying principles, but which means continuous efforts of overcoming that which causes unhappiness and of learning to practice love.
Why is it called 'Home' Religion? The word 'home' stands for the basic unit and environment in which religion is practiced. Religion is understood as the practice to reconnect to your true self, which is only possible in a relation to the origin of the cosmos, which we call God. Though religion is first of all an individual effort, it can only be fulfilling when it is exercised by an individual in relation to the environment. The fundamental and smallest unit of a person's environment, in which all beings and elements of the cosmos are represented, is called 'the home.' In the home you find God, the spiritual world, yourself, people to whom you can have all fundamental human relations, animals, plants, and things. This makes the home to the ideal learning place for your spiritual and internal development. That what you learn in the home benefits you and is your foundation for practicing spiritual life and religion in the larger society.
Though Home Religion is called 'religion,' it involves more than what is traditionally seen as religion. Religion is can be understood as the practice to restore and perfect your inner life, which means a life of love expressed into good thoughts, feelings and actions. This however is only possible when we develop as full beings. The cosmos is not just a physical place, but is also spiritual. We ourselves are not just physical people, but we also have a spirit. Therefore, original religion does necessarily include development of our spirit. Furthermore, we exist as male and female individuals. The whole universe is built as a union of male and female, positive and negative charges in the world of physics, or yang and yin.
Insofar Home Religion is religion, it focuses on love and expressing love into good actions.
Insofar Home Religion is a spiritual endeavor, it centers on creativity and eternity.
Insofar Home Religion is the effort to unite the masculine and feminine aspects of the cosmos, it is a life of harmony and peace.
To do Home Religion is first of all a life of practice of love, creativity and harmony. To do this in the right way, we need truth. The essence of Home Religion is however not in just gaining more knowledge of truth, but in bringing truth into practice in your own daily life.
What is your reward? It will not be that you get a position in a church or religious or spiritual organization. Your result will be that you make yourself and your environment more perfect, more loving, more inspiring and more harmonious. Though the home may seem to be a small place, it is actually your gate to the cosmos because all elements of the universe come together in your home.
