|
Yo
Yo represents the divinity
of each and every sentient self.
Every self (each
perceiver, each knower) is in relationship with the other (the perceived, the
known). Spanish for “I,” English slang for (and the first two letters of) “you,”
Yo is a single
syllable that stands for the I-Thou relationship, the relational ground of being.
Yo embodies the
fundamental mystery and paradoxes of existence. Through the miracle of
revelation, all-that-is becomes manifest as the experiential world of sentient beings.
We hold that every
human self is a sacred being whose experiential world provides direct,
divine access to the most fundamental and profound truths.
From the divinity
of all sentient beings in whose experience the known Universe itself is
manifested, we derive the first of the 10 Principles of Yoism: “That all humans are sacred
beings that come into the world with equal, unalienable Rights.” |
|
to vow.
We devote
our lives to creating Heaven on Earth.
We have committed
ourselves to this project and take upon ourselves the responsibility of
actualizing this possibility. As we surrender ourselves to this overarching, superordinate goal,
we recognize that this is the most rewarding activity in which we can engage.
In surrendering
ourselves to this service to humanity, we realize we are surrendering to our own
most profound desires, our most meaningful goals. For ourselves, for our loved ones, for our
children and our children's children, we joyfully place this service in the center of our lives.
To believe in something,
and not to live it, is dishonest.
~ Mahatma Gandhi
~
Nature [has] implanted
in our breasts a love of others, a sense
of duty to them, a moral instinct, in short, which prompts us
irresistibly to feel and to succor their distresses.
~ Thomas Jefferson
~
When you have once
seen the glow of happiness
on the face of a beloved person,
you know that [you] can have no vocation
but to awaken that light on the faces surrounding you.
~ Albert Camus
~
I slept and dreamt
that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.
~ Rabindranath
Tagore ~ |
|
to make flesh as
in: The word made flesh.
To create Heaven on Earth, we must embody
it.
We must each work
toward enabling ourselves and our communities to embody what we are
striving to create. Heaven on Earth is not an abstract goal for some future time—it begins to
come into existence in the moment we live positively.
We must struggle
to embody our goal by emanating cooperation, validation, encouragement,
courage, caring concern, generosity, attention, joy, vigor, diligence, patience, forgiveness,
integrity, wisdom, openness, intelligence, and all other forms of loving action and being.
While striving
to embody Heaven on Earth, we remind ourselves that divinity does not derive
from such loving action; human divinity is unalienable. We embrace our ongoing responsibility
to evaluate and improve our realization of Heaven on Earth, while remaining wary lest we use
such evaluations to bring into question our own or others' divinity.
In each and every
moment of every day, as we take on this responsibility to embody what we
strive to create, we become divine manifestations of actualized possibility.
Be the change you
wish to see in the world.
~ Mahatma Ghandi
~
You never enjoy
the world aright,
till the sea itself floweth in your veins,
till you are clothed with the heavens,
and crowned with the stars;
and perceive yourself to be
the sole heir of the whole world,
and more than so, because [others] are in it
who are every one sole heirs as well as you.
~ Thomas Traherne
~ |
|
to be able.
We can
create Heaven on Earth.
Rather than believing
in realms of which we have no direct evidence, we stake our claim on the
only world we all can know. The sacred form the world takes in our experience is the
manifestation we call Reality.
As the most intelligent
life forms we have encountered, our minds are capable of finding
solutions to problems, of creating fantastic wonders and delights, and of building a veritable
paradise right here, in the real world of our collective experience. Caring and working together,
there are no known limits on what the human community can achieve.
Humanity can rise
above the divisiveness of competing group identities, recognize our common
heritage and fate, and take the next great step in the development of our species, Childhood's
End.
[F]aith is essential
to success in life . . .
[A]ll that is necessary for faith is the belief that
by doing our best we shall come nearer to success
and that success in our aims
(the improvement of the lot of mankind, present and future)
is worth attaining . . . I maintain that
faith in this world is perfectly possible
without faith in another world.
~ Rosalind Franklin
~
The pioneering scientist whose work led
to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA
In the future days
. . . we look forward to a world
founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom
of speech and expression . . .
The second is freedom to worship God in [one's] own way . . .
The third is freedom from want . . .
The fourth is freedom from fear . . .
This is no vision
of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis
for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.
~ Franklin Delano
Roosevelt ~
The future belongs
to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
~
Imagine all the
people
Sharing all the world.
~ John Lennon ~ |
|
to resume possession
of land, to know again,
to get to know
The embodied, heavenly spirit will be recognized.
When we embody
the generative, loving spirit, people will recognize what we have become
and they will want to join us. Just as everyone everywhere is drawn from the cold, dark night to
sit before the warming fire, the human spirit will immediately recognize the validity of Heaven on
Earth and will be irresistibly attracted.
The deepest human
longing is to participate in a genuine embodiment of such actualized
possibility. As we radiate the light of effective, joyous, loving community, our beacon will shine
into the lives of all who come upon us. The brilliant light of love will serve as a guide to all who
seek, and will enable them to find their way.
Beware of false
prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing,
while inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Ye shall know them
by their fruits.
Do [we] gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Just so, every
good tree bringeth forth fruit;
but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit . . .
Wherefore, by their
fruits ye shall know them.
~ Matthew 7:15-20
~ |
|
to pledge
If we encounter resistance, we must engage
it.
If there is resistance
to our work or our way of being then that is a sign that we have not found
the solution. We must then engage others in pursuit of understanding what is missing from, or
wrong with, our current embodiment of Heaven on Earth.
We invite all who
are willing, to join us in a mutual engagement, as we struggle to understand
how our solution can be improved. Together, we will participate in patient listening and
exploration until we can correct the problem by co-creating a new way of being, and trying
again.
We call this process
of engagement, through which we correct errors and co-create new
solutions, “co-recognition.”
People who only
see one side of things
Engage in quarrels and disputes.
~ The Buddha ~
In the Tittha Sutta (Ud VI.4), after reciting
The Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant
Truth springs from
argument amongst friends.
~ David Hume ~
Come now, and let
us reason together . . .
~ Isaiah 1:18 ~
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. The Number
