Our purpose, as an intentional spiritual community, is to be a living environment for individuals to realize that they are unique emanations of God, the Love-Intelligence governing the Universe.
We embody an understanding of our oneness with God and we consciously practice this truth in our everyday lives.
Through the New Thought Ageless Wisdom teachings and the energy of unconditional love, we are committed to individual transformation and being a beneficial presence on the planet.
SIMPLY – WE ARE HERE FOR LOVE.
Agape Mission Statement
Agape Hampton Roads Spiritual Center is a Coastal Virginia community dedicated to recognizing, honoring and nurturing the dignity and uniqueness of all peoples.
Through devoted practice of universal spiritual principles embodied in the New Thought-Ancient Wisdom teachings, we are agents of transformation.
As a transdenominational community, we serve within all levels 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 practice, sacred service and unconditional love.
Agape Spiritual Principles and Practices
The following five principles form the core teachings of the Agape Movement and its founder, Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith. 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.
1 – Life is Good. Absolute goodness is the substance, the source and the supply of all existence. This aspect of Life is always in integrity with itself, which means that it cannot contradict its own laws, nature, and relationship to its creation.
2 – God is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and omniactive. All Existence is the manifest form and activity of Spirit. This Presence is equally present in all space, time, places and in all persons, as well as beyond time, space, and manifest creation. Ours is a holographic Universe in which every part—that which is seen and that which is unseen—is an emanation of the un-manifest whole.
3 – Every person is an individualized expression of God. Every person is made in the image and likeness of God and is capable of awakening to this realization and giving expression to the qualities of unconditional love, compassion, wisdom, bliss, peace and creativity.
4 – Every person is responsible for their own evolution. Every individual has been given the power of free choice and is therefore self-responsible for their evolution, following a path suited to their individual state of evolving consciousness.
5 – The Universe, being infinite, is in a constant state of evolutionary expansion. We live in a non-static, ever-evolving Universe, which is the source of our individual evolutionary impulse and capacity to expand into our fullest potential.
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.
1 – Meditation. In meditation practice the practitioner pays un-distractible attention to Reality. All meditation techniques share a common purpose: to awaken awareness, another word for self-realization. Meditation stills the mind, 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.
2 – Affirmative Prayer. 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 prevents an individual from fully realizing their spiritual inheritance. Prayer is an intimate communion with the Spirit in the language of one’s own heart.
3 – Life Visioning. The Life Visioning ProcessTM, 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.
4 – Sacred Service. 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.
5 – Spiritual Study. 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.
6 – Spiritual Community. 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.
7 – Tithing. 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 them to support the dissemination of their teaching and mission.
