The Swedenborg Centre for Spiritual Development is a voluntarily staffed, non-profit organisation whose sole purpose is to promote awareness of the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and associated literature. The centre provides a free lending library, and books, videos and audio tapes for sale.
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The centre provides experiential Study courses :
Spiritual Growth This is a basic thirteen week course designed to support you in your personal and spiritual growth.
This program is offered to anyone wishing to be actively involved in their own self improvement.
Meeting once a week, these groups of 6 to 12 people practice first noticing and then stopped various negative behaviour patterns.
What is it like? A typical meeting consists of greetings and "How-are-you's", a report from each member on the previous week's task, a short presentation of the philosophical basis of the current task and a short discussion by everyone on how to apply the task to our lives
Rise Above It This course is based on the time-honoured ethical code of the Ten Commandments. These Commandments are, in essence, the foundation of every true religion. They appear in one form or another in all the great religions of the world.
The Ten commandments are more that a mere collection of ethical laws. They are a heavenly curriculum "written by the finger of God," and intended for the spiritual development of humanity - a curriculum that has been prepared by the Master Teacher - the One True God of heaven and earth.
In order to get the most out of this course, we recommend you familiarise yourself with the Ten Commandments in order. They appear in the Old Testament in the book of Exodus, Chapter 20 with the story of how they were given to Moses on the top of Mt Sinai amid thunder and lightning.
In The final analysis, no amount of thunder on the mountaintop is going to convince us that the Ten Commandments are Divinely given laws. We must experience this for ourselves. We cant just study the commandments, as one would study a map, we must live them and follow where they lead.
Each session we look at one commandment and explore the spirit within it. For example, the commandment not to murder is broadened to include other ways we can commit murder, such as undermining the reputation of another through malicious gossip (character assassination) or by destroying their self esteem. As one 34 year old mother said, "I never thought of myself as a murderer until I realised how deeply my criticism hurt my daughter - how it was killing her self confidence."
While no one else can do the work of spiritual growth for us (we must do the individual, personal work ourselves), there is great benefit in getting together with others to work on these commandments. Beyond merely discussing the commandments, the group atmosphere can provide encouragement and support.
Each session ends with a practical assignment for the week ahead and suggestions for further reflection and application. Participants are encouraged to keep a journal and to share with the group some of their struggles and successes. Confidentiality is honoured.
As we apply the commandments to life, we learn to rise above the promptings of our lower nature into the clear light of higher consciousness (closer to God), where we are able to see more clearly the better choices to make in whatever situation we may find ourselves in.
To register for either of these courses please phone Richard on (09) 527 6401
