What is Unity?
UNITY is a way of life that offers spiritual resources for daily living. Founded in the late 1800s, Unity is a spiritually based, educational organization, teaching practical, livable principles based on ideas taught and demonstrated by Jesus. Unity and other New Thought movements have their origins in the work of the Transcendentalists, Emerson and Thoreau, Phineas Quimby, Emma Curtis Hopkins, also the mystics of the early Christian church, and the mystical traditions and practices of many religions that are still alive today. Unity acknowledges the universal teachings of spiritual masters of all the great wisdom traditions.
UNITY's basic understandings that are the foundation of Unity are these:
- God is absolute good, everywhere present. There is only One Presence and One Power that is good.
- Human beings have the Divine Spirit within them. Their very essence is of God; therefore they are inherently good.
- Human beings create their experiences through the activity of thinking. Everything in the manifest realm has its beginning in consciousness. Thoughts held in Mind produce after their kind.
- Prayer is creative thinking that heightens the connection with God Mind and therefore brings forth wisdom, healing, prosperity and every good thing. Through meditation we quiet the mind and listen.
- Knowing and understanding the Laws of Life, also called Truth, are not enough. A person must also live the Truth that he or she knows.
UNITY seeks to relate our spiritual experience to practical everyday needs, affirming that, for every need, there is God's perfect answer. Our teachings embrace a metaphysical interpretation of the Bible for its Universal Truths that inspire and offer us practical lessons for our everyday life experiences. At Unity of Berkeley we honor and incorporate the teachings of other universal wisdom writings and focus every August during our world Wisdom Tradition Series.
UNITY celebrates One Presence, One Power, One God. We know that there are many paths to God and we acknowledge the great Master Teachers in all spiritual traditions and cultures. Different spiritual traditions are like spokes on a wheel, with the hub being God. They may seem separate and apart by their variety of beliefs and practices, but they are all seeking the One Presence, God at the hub of all life. While Unity honors all spiritual traditions and great teachers; we focus on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as our Way shower and Master Teacher. We affirm that the life and teachings of Jesus Christ are the model for our own lives. We behold the Christ in ourselves and in all beings. We see our lives as the unfolding journey of exploration as we each discover our true Divine Nature. Unity teaches that consciousness is our connecting link with God or Divine Mind. Through a deeper awareness of our consciousness we come to know that the mind affects not only health and healing in the physical body, but all the circumstances of our lives.
UNITY is dedicated to the practice of prayer and meditation as the foundation of our spiritual life. Through Prayer we seek to establish a direct communication with the Divine. Prayer is not a technique for changing God, but rather for changing us. As we deepen our awareness of the God life within and around us, we expand and transform our consciousness and our lives.
UNITY celebrates the creativity, beauty, wisdom and love in all life and in you. Our worship services are uplifting and prayerful. We seek to invite the co-creativity of the community to manifest the rich diversity of God's kingdom.
UNITY is a worldwide spiritual organization over a century old. Because of similarity in names, Unity has, on occasion, been confused with other organizations. However, there is no connection between Unity and Unitarianism or the Unification church.
Association of Unity Churches Unity School of Christianity,