Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
Cheryl Bell

Cheryl “PHOENIX” Bell

Personal Spiritual Curriculum

And Goals

The Path of the Warrior Goddess

(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

 

    The curriculum that I have set forth for myself is to provide me with the spiritual program that I need to help me progress through life, and to reach enlightenment.  It will include forms of Wicca, Sheya, Buddhism, Hinduism (Sunaton Dharma), and Zen (including the martial arts).  Should I discover another form of spirituality that resonates with me, I will also include it in my curriculum.  This is an ever-growing program.  There is no graduation from it, as one cannot graduate from life, and spirituality is life.  One can never learn all that they need to know about a spiritual path, nor can they teach another all that they need to know, as no one really can know what another truly needs in spirituality.

 

       Goals of this curriculum:

 

1)    The first goal of this curriculum is to be able to incorporate my current lifestyle, work responsibilities, and hobbies into my spiritual path, without adding unnecessary baggage.  In the past, I have taken on the spiritual paths of others, and tried to learn from them, though ended up with a great deal of extras that were not meaningful to me.

2)  The next goal of my spiritual learning curriculum is to be able to incorporate many different aspects of my spiritual interests into one program.  Nothing can be considered truth when it is stated alone.  I intend to spend time studying these paths in order to incorporate them into my daily practice and spiritual outlook.

3)  Another goal is to provide myself with a disciplined system of study that helps me to look deeply within myself for answers that I need.  I will not look to the heavens for deities that over-power me.  Instead, I intend to work with the Goddess and God inside of myself to become a greater spiritual individual, look to the Buddha and the Dalai Lama for insight and example, and look to the energy of the universe for the magick that I can use to create in myself a better life.

 

 

Concepts that I will include:

 

Taoist concepts:

a.  emptiness

b.  yin and yang

c.  wu-wei (non-action – not indulging in calculated action, and not acting so as to exceed the very minimum required for effective results.

d.  The three jewels: compassion, balance, humility

e.    The three treasures: mind, body, breath

f.   The five elements: wood, fire, metal, water, earth

g.  The five flavors: sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter

 

Zen concepts:

a.  Suffering is caused by selfish craving; there is a way out of suffering

b.  The self is delusion

c.  Through practice we realize our own Buddha nature

d.  Fulfilling the four great vows:

The many beings are numberless, I vow to save them

Greed, hatred and ignorance rise endlessly, I vow to abandon them.

Dharma gates are countless, I vow to wake to them

Buddha's way is unsurpassed, I vow to embody it fully

e.    The eight-fold path is the way to nirvana:

a.  right understanding
is the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. In other words, it is the understanding of oneself as one really is.

b.  right thoughts are threefold. They are:

·         The thoughts of renunciation which are opposed to sense-pleasures.

·         Kind Thoughts which are opposed to ill will.

·         Thoughts of harmlessness which are opposed to cruelty. These tend to purify the mind.

c.  right speech
deals with refraining from falsehood, stealing, slandering, harsh words and frivolous talks

d.  right action
deals with refraining from killing, stealing and lack of chastity. It helps one to develop a character that is self-controlled and mindful of rights of others.

e.    right livelihood
deals with the five kinds of trades that should be avoided by a lay disciple. They are:

·         trade in deadly weapons

·         trade in animals for slaughter

·         trade in slavery

·         trade in intoxicants

·         trade in poisons

f.   right effort is fourfold, namely:

·         the endeavor to discard evil that has already arisen.

·         the endeavor to prevent the arising of evil.

·         the endeavor to develop that good which has already arisen.

·         the endeavor to promote that good which has not already arisen.

g.  right mindfulness is also fourfold:

·         mindfulness with regard to body

·         mindfulness with regard to feeling

·         mindfulness with regard to mind

·         mindfulness with regard to mental objects.

h.   right meditation
Meditation means the gradual process of training the mind to focus on a single object and to remain fixed upon the object without wavering. The constant practice of meditation helps to develop a calm and concentrated mind and helps to prepare for the ultimate attainment of Wisdom and Enlightenment.
   

f.   Karma: Karma is intentional action.  In other words it is something done deliberately through body, speech or mind. Karma means good and bad volition (kusala Akusala Centana.  Karma is the law of moral causation. It is action and reaction in the ethical realm. It is natural law that every action produces a certain effect.

 

Wiccan concepts:

a.  The Supreme Creative Force

b.  Creating a sense of balance in the individual as well as the individual’s surroundings

c.  Acceptance of magick

d.  Cycles of life; cycles of the seasons/moons/etc

 

Sheya concepts:

a.  Learning about the different aspects of myself in order to integrate all: Djanna (mother), Magha (father), Chiata (child), and Enoki

b.  Setting up temple in order to perform magick based on these aspects

c.  More will be added as I learn more of Sheya

Sonaton Dharma (Hinduism)

a.  Focus on the self and the real (Upanishadic sage)

b.  The meditative quest for the self and the real as the central spiritual practice

c.  Focus on religious learning of psychological, metaphysical, cosmological analysis