LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT – We, at the Agape East Spiritual Center in Norfolk, Virginia, acknowledge and honor the Indigenous Peoples and traditional stewards of the land on which we gather: the Lumbee, Chesapeake, Nansemond and Kecoughtan Tribes. We pay our respect to their members and all Indigenous Peoples residing in Virginia in the past, present, and future.
welcome to agape east
Victoria J. Thomas
Spiritual Director
Welcome to the Agape East Spiritual Center! We are a spiritual community committed to personal transformation, spiritual growth and conscious awakening to our innate Oneness with all of Life. Please check out our event page to see all the classes and workshops that we offer virtually. Join me on Sundays in our Zoom Sanctuary for a teaching and a conversation, as we discuss the Absolute, the shamanic initiation, Christ Science, Vedic Science, Agape principles, affirmative prayer, plant medicine, addiction and recovery, conscious parenting, healing trauma, shadow work and more!
We gather to practice our spiritual tools of meditation, yoga, chanting, affirmative prayer, life visioning, sacred ceremony, sacred study, and sharing and healing together. All in order to clear the way for each of our lives to be lived for a greater purpose, in service to our species. We embrace all cultures, all religions, all spiritual paths, and all of humanity regardless of history, orientation, perspective, affiliation, and identity. All are welcome here.
No matter where you consider yourself on the spiritual journey, know that it is a Spirit of courage that chooses to be alive, walking a path of awakening consciousness at this time in human history, on the planet. We are so blessed to be alive at this time, when we have freedom to worship as we please, and access to what was once considered secret knowledge, esoteric gnosis. Now we live in an age where we can openly explore and practice preparing our physiology, hearts, and minds to understand this ancient wisdom of the Unified Field of Pure Potential. Gnosis from quantum theorists mirrors the knowledge of ancient Vedic science, as well as the demonstrated, repeated wisdom of what is left of our indigenous, shamanic cultures. Here at Agape East, we get to explore and celebrate that! I bow to you and welcome you to a home of heart and soul.
Welcome to Agape East.
In Love and Light,
Victoria
monthly theme
COMING HOME
Recently, I had the joy of sitting with Agape East’s new Assistant Minister, Reverend Cynthia Ambriz, as she guided us through a meditation exploring different aspects of Love. Tender. Precious. Intimate. Sacred. Safe. As she spoke these words, I felt my heart open. Something within me recognized them. This is the nature of the Love that created us. This is home.
People and institutions sometimes disappoint us. Circumstances change. In those moments, our practice is to come home to an established consciousness of Love—to deepen our awareness of the Indwelling Presence until it becomes a place we know how to return to.
We establish this home through our daily practice: becoming still, speaking Truth, listening within, and treating ourselves with tenderness. We make room for our feelings and remember our preciousness. We honor what is sacred in us through the choices we make, the care we receive, and the boundaries we keep.
Gratitude helps us recognize this Love in the simplest things. When I lie down in my own warm, safe bed, I pause to feel how grateful I am. I let myself receive the comfort. A nourishing meal, the company of my dogs, a moment of quiet—these everyday gifts become invitations to experience being tended to. As I linger in that gratitude, I feel my body soften. The knowing becomes intimate: I am cherished by the Divine.
Coming home is learning to be an intimate, loving presence with ourselves. It is allowing the Love we so freely offer others to nourish us, too. From this inner belonging, we can meet one another with greater generosity and an open heart.
This November at Agape East, we practice Coming Home. We cultivate gratitude for the small, tangible ways Love meets us each day. Wherever we find ourselves, we pause, turn within, and recognize: Love is here. I am precious. My life is sacred. I belong.
With love,
Victoria
Agape East Purpose Statement
Our purpose, as an intentional spiritual community, is to grow our collective consciousness, so that we can be a living environment of Unconditional Love, catching and living into the vision of a world that works for everyone.
Through our own individual understanding of universal spiritual principles and practices embodied in the New-Thought-Ageless Wisdom teachings, we become agents of transformation individually, in our communities, and in the world.
Our beloved community embraces all religions and serves within all aspects of society to reveal the underlying perfection and harmony of the Universe. We embrace the transformational and evolutionary impulse of the planet through our spiritual practices, sacred service and Unconditional Love.
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Spiritual Principles
The following five principles reflect the core teachings of Agape East. Reflecting the perennial wisdom of the ages, these principles are found at the heart of the world’s spiritual traditions. When embodied and integrated into our daily spiritual practice, they are a pathway to self-realization, a conscious state of oneness with Spirit.
Cosmic Goodness is the substance, source and the supply of all existence. This aspect of the godhead is always in integrity with itself, which means that it does not contradict its own nature, laws, and relationship with its creation. There are no opposites in God. Regardless of perception or appearances, life is made of this good. We live in a friendly, supportive universe.
All existence is the activity of First Cause, or God. Ours is a holographic universe in which every facet—that which is seen and that which is unseen—is an emanation of the presence and omni-qualities of the Infinite. Any one given circumstance or situation can be viewed from multiple frames of reference.
As unique expressions of the Infinite, all beings are mandated to discover and express their inherent soul-qualities of unconditional love, intelligence, wisdom, intuition, joy, peace, compassion, abundance and creativity. Beyond deserved-ness it is our charge and purpose to experience and express the verities of God.
We live in an ever-evolving universe. Because we are made of this infinite substance, we too expand infinitely and have the capacity to become a beneficiary presence for the planet and the cosmos.
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How we chose to perceive and interpret our world and the phenomena in this third dimension is completely and only 100% our own responsibility. God is the only thing occurring in Its fullness and if we are seeing anything other than that, then we can stop, take responsibility for mis-perceiving, remember the Truth Principles above, and chose to see with consciousness of Truth and behold the Holy Observer Effect.
Agape Spiritual Practices
The following seven spiritual practices form the matrix of individual spiritual evolution. While there are many adjunct practices that assist in the expansion of consciousness, it is these seven that have proved themselves to accelerate spiritual awakening of practitioners of the world’s wisdom traditions.
In meditation practice the practitioner pays undistractible attention to Reality. All meditation techniques share a common purpose: to awaken awareness, another word for self-realization. Meditation stills the mind, expands consciousness, increases the capacity to intuitively receive the guidance of Spirit, and opens the heart’s desire to serve as a beneficial presence on the planet.
Affirmative prayer grounds the practitioner in a solid awareness of oneness with Spirit. The power of affirmative prayer sets in motion a process of healing false beliefs that prevent an individual from fully realizing their spiritual inheritance. Prayer is an intimate communion with the Spirit in the language of one’s own heart. It facilitates a realization of your oneness with God.
The Life Visioning Process™ originated by Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith, is an intuitive process for opening and sensitizing consciousness to receive the Spirit’s vision for one’s life which is one of wholeness, joy, prosperity creativity and generosity of heart. Visioning is applicable to all aspects of life—spiritual, professional, relational, communal and financial.
Service is meditation in action. As the realization of oneness with all beings is awakened, an organic, natural desire arises to be of service in such a way that nothing is asked in return because serving is its own blessing. Being of service is a freewill offering to the One that has become the all.
At every stage of growth and development on the spiritual path it is important to maintain a “beginner’s mind.” Remaining teachable acknowledges that spiritual truth is limitless, so there is always the opportunity to rise to a more profound level of understanding, wisdom and practice through spiritual study.
Committed participation in a spiritual community accelerates our spiritual evolution. When individuals gather together to meditate and pray, their united consciousness contributes to the spiritual progress of each individual. The community also offers the opportunity to cultivate patience, humility, compassion and selflessness. When we need encouragement on the path, the community is there to hold the high watch for us.
As we mature in our understanding of the law of circulation, it becomes obvious that the sharing of our financial resources, our talents and skills is at the heart of tithing. And, in grateful recognition of the teachings and teachers who have been and are our spiritual benefactors, we tithe to support the dissemination of their teaching and mission. Our tithing transforms us into generous beings and assists us in becoming more receptive to ever increasing Good.