THERE IS NO 'CREED' OR 'DOCTRINE', JUST THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUALISM WHICH ARE ...

1. Fatherhood of God

2. Brotherhood of man

3. Communion of spirits and the ministry of Angels

4. Personal responsibility

5. Continuous existence of the human spirit / soul.

6. Compensation and retribution hereafter for all the good and evil deeds done here on earth. 

7. Eternal progress open to every human soul

These principles were given to us by Robert Owen through the mediumship of Emma Hardinge Britten in 1871. They were originally given as five principles but were later changed to seven for a better understanding of them.

AN INSPIRING PRINCIPLE  By Stella – revised 2010

Of all these principals that guide the organisations called Spiritualism, I find the most inspiring and even mind blowing is that of 4, Personal Responsibility, and in that principal is included all the actions that happen TO us, as well as all the actions that we ourselves cause to come FROM us.

This is the one that enabled me to go on living after all the bad things that have happened to me, both as a child and an adult, coming to terms with the things that other people do to us is so hard when the self confidence is under duress...

I must say that at first I did not fully get the “sets you free" part of it, that if we accept the self is responsible for its own actions, regardless of what and where and when, then we are liberated from all the clutter that comes with it, only when we stop blaming another, ANY outside source, God or a spirit or a person, anger dissipates and this is where the BIG idea hits us…if it’s not their fault… we are liberated from all the accompanying hang-ups / burdens of those dislikes / faults and even [I might go as so far as to say hates,] always seem to carry with them, the weight of which so slowly increases we hardly feel it - till it is lifted off us!

But gradually it came to me, that this principle is not conditional, there are no ‘get out’ clauses. Being too young to be responsible is not possible, being out of your mind - mad - insane - even, does not cancel this responsibility. The legal term, 'While the balance of the mind was disturbed' is an explanation, not a reason or an excuse.

Like true love responsibility is unconditional.

Is that a coincidence, do you think? Can it be that personal responsibility is itself a manifestation of God’s true love? There is a mind-blowing concept!

What if God said to you, “O.K, next Tuesday I’ll cancel principal 4, all responsibility is off"? How would you act any differently? Now, think about what sort of freedom this would give you…

Or would it? What would other people do? Would you feel safe? Actually is it true freedom at all?

There is another better way to gain true freedom, freedom from fear…and pain…and their close associate …anger, and if you consider that those three companions are also the root cause of all the worlds’ problems, then this principal, takes on the true greater overall important meaning, it’s group too, the circle you sit in, the town we live in, the country the world, even on the planet, in fact it’s a cosmic scale.

And here is the hard part, accepting the responsibility is what makes the difference and only then does it all make sense. How? How can we say, “yes it’s my fault that the war is going on in such-and-such a place at this time"? It all gets a bit weighty doesn’t it?

We are told by the Masters that the whole rule is scaled up or down to any level, this is the beauty of any law, nobody is exempt and all the laws of the Lord are beautiful, they all can be taken as truth at any level.

Perhaps we need a bit more faith in our Maker’s great plan. Faith is trust, and trust is freedom from fear. Can you see the loop here? Can you see that we go into an upward spiral now?

Faith = trust = freedom = trust - ad infinitum.

Actually we don’t even need faith at all, we only need to accept the possibility that God’s love is unconditional, and then when the mind is opened to God’s light of love. Through that opening it all pours over into our daily lives.

It might be wise of us to remember that: -

Fear imprisons - faith liberates,

Fear paralyses - faith empowers,

Fear disheartens - faith encourages,

Fear sickens - and faith heals,

Fear makes useless faith makes serviceable …

And … anger blows out the lamp of the mind.

What about the anger we feel when we see the dreadful things that happen to a child before it reaches the age of awareness? In our reasoning of the unconditional nature of the fifth principal we come to the question; can the child be responsible for the cruellest actions of another because it is happening to themselves? [And that’s where I found my problem lay.]

If not, if this is not so, then it would mean the Rule of Personal Responsibility is void. How else can we reason? It's all very well to say 'show me' but perhaps we must be in the spirit to see the whole clearer picture.

Is God to blame for the weather drowning so many people at each flood? Are we so simple as to think He is on that level? Or did each and everyone choose to go back to spirit in that particular way? Could it be that Death is a cheat and all bets are off? I don't think so.

This is what the Masters teach; we know before we come here what lives we need to live to gain that special experience so we can progress, and yet still we have the personal responsibility to alter our actions.

God and our own decisions put all the circumstances here for a reason so they must have purpose.

It says in the Koran. “If not now, then when?"

This leads us onto the next subject; is there a time frame here? A time frame would take into consideration the ‘before’ as well as the ‘after’ of the time spectrum.

Consider the existence of a spirit’s life before as well as after it came here. It’s only when we bring into the equation this ‘before’ of Karma that it all begins to make sense. The possibility that the spirit is travelling means that it has travelled, but where? You don’t have to be convinced of reincarnation to accept this hypothesis to get that point.

When we read the writings of some of the Masters on this subject, we realise that we bring into this life all the good and bad ‘baggage’ (karma) of our previous existences, and that this all must be faced, one way or another, so the memory of this is hidden from us in order to start with a ‘clean slate’. What a good idea! How would knowing you had been a murderer in a past life sit with you now? I have regressed clients into some very strange lives.

The subject of abuse of any kind needs gentle handling, but can we see that we must not forget that the abuser is also a spirit that is on a path too, both the abuser and the abused have needs on a spiritual level to fulfil, and here’s a question … is it not viable that both purposes can be served together, thereby settling two things at once, both the compensation and retribution? It sounds hard but retribution and compensation time must come, and we know there is no time limit in God’s Great Design.

You might say who would come here with this burden? But how else are we to learn by our mistakes in this particular way? Remember this is the only existence that we can experience anything with a physical body. Why not get it all sorted out in the spirit world you say? The human being and the brain of the physical has so many more opportunities to learn than does the so very different world of the spirit realms, how character is formed through testing!

The incarnation of a person into the physical body is a voluntary thing, we are not conscripted into this life, because that would void the Principal 5. Don't forget the rules apply to all worlds. We are responsible not only ‘here’, but ‘there’ too, in the spirit world.

Remember that God is the Creator everything, and all is made with, and of, Love. Is He not the greatest teacher of all?

How irresponsible is it to refuse to advance? How can we, by denying ourselves, be so cruel? To be cruel to the self is to be cruel to Him also. And yet He lets us come to our own path in our own time. There is no limit.

Anyway, how can we not want to return to the Godhead? Our built in homing device never fails, that little light of the Creator that is within us all, however we try to deny it, that flame leaps up in response to the brightness of love wherever it shows, and there is no greater attraction than Himself. He is love.

When we consider the theosophical concept of reincarnation, the Principal of number 7, (eternal progress) makes it a racing certainty in my opinion, this concept is not held by everyone, only most of the world religions!

When these two principals are joined, then add the spirit teachings that all our ‘records’/experiences / characteristics go back to spirit with us too, now a logical plan begins to appear, God’s plan to take us back into his arms through the freewill of choice. [The Akashic Records, see Edgar Cayce website]

We are taught by the scientists that energy cannot be destroyed, and if the energy of an action is, 'posted' off into the cosmos, bearing in mind that 'like attracts like', then that energy is attracted to others of the same, why does it return? To act in our own interest, not short term its true, but within His long timeless plan, of eternal progress.

All are in the faithful plan of our Great Redeemer God. There are no exceptions to that!

Conclusion: Because the principal of personal responsibility is of necessity limitless, from the dawn of time into eternity, this makes it not only a global principal, worthy of all who come here to our beautiful planet, but also a cosmic one!

End.