Charlene Proctor, The Oneness Gospel

March seems to be my pay-it-forward month. I was invited by a friend to
write a guest blog for her site, which I did (and she’ll post it next week),
and then when my friend and former client,
Dr. Charlene Proctor, asked me to help launch her new book,

The Oneness Gospel
, which I edited, I said, “Sure!” I don’t blurb or review books I’ve
edited because it seems to me like I’m praising myself, but I’m happy to
help Char with a bit of PR. This will be mutually beneficial, which I think
is a good thing.

I’m not sure how long Char and I have been friends. I think we first “met”
on line, and then we met in person when she came to speak in Orange County,
where I lived before I moved to Long Beach. She and I had several very
interesting conversations about the Goddess, and then in December, 2008,
she phoned to ask me to edit her new book. “But it’s about God,” she said.
“Are you up for a book that talks about God and the Bible?” Well, I told
her, I’ve edited books on religion and philosophy from Calvinist theology
to New Age speculation, so, yes, I’m up for the standard-brand god, too.
We started working on
The Oneness Gospel (though it had a different title at the time)
in mid-2009. With Char’s book, I did what I do with every book I work on—I
corrected spelling and punctuation and sentence structure. For some reason,
people who write on spiritual topics like to capitalize nouns, so I also
knocked down a lot of capital letters. At one point in the year and a half
we worked together, I also advised her to use active verbs and put actors
in her sentences. While we were working, of course, we also had many conversations
that weren’t about her book—about friendships and families, about the marvelous
and heartbreaking things our sons occasionally do, about how hard it is
to find a good publisher.

Char asked me to ask her a few questions, so here goes. (And I’m not editing
her replies.) 
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1.
How did you come up with the idea for The Oneness Gospel
? I sought the teachings of the oneness movement in Fiji and India,
and discovered their congruence with the teachings of Jesus. These spiritual
lessons were simple, interfaith, and universal. I was excited to find a
way to write about them exciting given the polarized society we live in
today.

2.
What kinds of ideas are taught in the oneness movement? The purpose
of the oneness movement is to awaken the human family, offering a gift
of grace of spiritual opening (a flowering of the heart) to ALL people
rather than a few selective seekers as in the past. The movement is meant
to restore wholeness within humanity by awakening people to their true
self, which is Spirit. Originally, I became intrigued with the idea of
deeksha. Many years ago I received similar energy transmissions from
a number of spiritual masters over the years and those were healing experience.
These blessings felt like unconditional love and helped me begin to release
my personal suffering. My mind quieted. I had more clarity on matters.

The teachings in The Oneness Gospel originate from an Indian couple named
Sri Amma and Sri Bhagavan. They consider themselves one unified, avataric
consciousness. They are God-realized and for years, were initiating the
collective force of unified consciousness in the form of something called
the oneness blessing. It’s actually
deeksha, but the difference between them and all who have gone before
is that they are teaching everyone how to give it. They are interested
in creating individual change through this neurobiological event and say
it happens through grace, one you invite that into you. It’s available
for everyone.

3.
Does it matter what version of God we have or what religion we practice?
No. Bhagavan says there are 7 billion people on the planet; therefore,
there are 7 billion versions or images of the Divine. God is like a huge
TV network, and I have a hard time believing he/she would create only one
spin off series. The universe is too diverse. I think there are many unity-minded
individuals who honor many names for God, the many paths to God, and the
many ways to worship God. There really is only one power and one presence
and we are all loved equally.

With any religion, explore those teachings based on your own spiritual
understanding and know that we are spiritual beings, created in God's image.
The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently
good. Just see yourself as a reflection of Spirit. And don’t hurt anybody.




4.
What is oneness? Why did you write a book about oneness? We are all
One Spirit. Oneness is being completely aware of God within yourself. God
is Spirit, the loving source of all that is. God is the one power, all
good, everywhere present, all wisdom. God is divine energy, continually
creating, expressing and sustaining all creation. In God, we live and move
and have our being. Other ways people refer to God are love, life, the
universe, substance, or universal mind.


I enjoy encouraging people to think outside the box, challenge their perspective,
and to treat the Bible as history and allegory. I have shown readers in
The Oneness Gospel how to interpret some of its subject matter as a metaphysical
representation of humankind's evolutionary journey toward spiritual awakening,
without losing the meat of Jesus’ teachings. The Bible is a complex collection
of writings compiled over many centuries. I honor the writings as reflecting
the understanding and inspiration of the writers at the time they were
written, but I have always searched for truth between the lines. I think
the oneness teaching from India help to draw out the universal truths in
the Bible, which continues to be a spiritual resource for us.