Talking About Truth

The Unity movement first had its origins in the physical healing of Myrtle Fillmore, which then influenced her husband Charles to seriously consider the meaning of her personal experience, and to apply it in his own life. From there, others who were interested in experiencing healing in their own lives began to meet with Myrtle and Charles, in order to understand and to incorporate the same truth principles that had transformed the Fillmores, into their own lives.  And so the work of teaching the healing principles as set forth by Jesus Christ (and as interpreted by the Fillmores) began as small discussion groups, which met regularly to pray and to learn for themselves how to apply Divine truths to shape their own life experiences. The small discussion groups focused on ideas, new ideas, revolutionary ideas; ideas that challenged the prevailing thought of the time, and one idea in particular: the belief that divinity lies within each and every one of us.

Sound familiar?  Well it should, for a little over two generations before; the New England Transcendentalists were meeting in small groups and discussing very similar ideas; especially the idea of an open pursuit of the Truth and the idea of Spirit as our inherent personal nature. Quite arguably, the Unity movement would not exist without the foundational work and groundbreaking reforms advocated by the Transcendentalists. What you say? Unity has its own uniquely original ideas of God and the nature of mankind? Well, let's see.

The Transcendental movement did not develop a creed or dogma (there is no Thoreauian Creed, however similar the individualism of Thoreau may seem to be to the rugged individualism of the cowboy movies of the old West), and it can be better understood as a cluster of groundbreaking ideas, that attracted to and were centered around a group of great thinkers (sound familiar?). What were they talking about? Anything and everything, yet centered on the personal experience of the Divine in their lives (are we getting warm?). The Transcendental discussion groups were ongoing groups, for they understood the seeking of Truth to be a discovery process; one that continues for a lifetime (is there an echo in here?).   The Transcendentalists read and studied many of the sacred texts of the East, and these Eastern teachings greatly influenced the direction of their thought (You mean Charles wasn't first?).

Last, and certainly not least, the Transcendentalists were willing to challenge the prevailing religious doctrines and many of the social conventions of their day, and actively and widely published their ideas to bring about change; not only in New England but in all of the world (do we seem to have a trend here?). So if you see yourself as a devoted Unity person and you haven't yet met the Transcendentalists, you must do so soon, for what awaits you is a delightful discovery of the rich heritage that the Transcendentalists brought forth and with which they poured a foundation that much of Unity and New Thought was built upon.