by Victoria Lister, Brisbane, Australia
I’ve never thought of myself as a religious person, yet in a recent post on my experience of cyber-bullying, and in another on the media ambush of a Universal Medicine event at which I was present on 12 October, 2012, I found myself defending the five fundamental freedoms all Australians are entitled to, specifically the rights to freedom of association and religion.
This would imply Universal Medicine is a religion and I, as an attendee of Universal Medicine workshops, courses and other events, am a part of this religion and might even be a religious person.
When I first considered the notion, I baulked. ‘Religion’ is such a loaded word and like many, I’ve always been keen to distance myself from it, for all sorts of reasons. Yet a quick online search of religion reveals the word stems from the Latin re-ligare, to ‘re-connect’, ‘re-bind’ or ‘re-choose’. So if the word itself isn’t loaded or prescriptive, and infers nothing more than the making of some kind of choice or commitment – and to what, isn’t even specified – need I feel scared of it?
No, and especially not if I start with the word ‘commitment’. As I’ve listened to Universal Medicine presentations, I’ve learnt the most important thing I can commit to is me, and the more I develop love for myself, the more I can extend this love to others. This commitment is a choice I need to make over and over, day in, day out, in everything I do. It’s the difference between, say, brushing my teeth two or three times a day with love and care, or doing it on auto-pilot, thinking of everything else but that one activity and maybe even doing it harshly because of a lack of attention.
So in this sense I need to ‘re-choose’, again and again, to ‘re-connect’ to myself and how I’m living life in every single moment. It’s a re-choosing I happily make; in fact I’d go as far as to say I’ve committed or ‘bound’ myself to living life as consciously and lovingly as I possibly can, and that I ‘re-bind’ myself to that notion on a daily basis. This is akin to establishing a way of living – a way of living that Universal Medicine has presented, quite simply and sensibly, as the ‘The Way of the Livingness’.
Given this, I’m delighted to declare myself a member of an association that presents the possibility that making an on-going commitment to living life as harmoniously as possible might be a good thing, both personally and for the planet.
So yes, I am part of a religion, and I am religious. And I will continue to defend my basic right to be so, and attend what group I see fit – no matter who threatens me, or how.
The Truth about Universal Medicine 
Count me in to the newest but also ancient religion. The Ageless Wisdom has always been available in each era, and this time the words are being written by the teacher and not generations later, so there can be confusion and lies to diffuse the Truth!.
I can see more now how damaging many interpretations of a single word can be on our relationship with each other. What Universal Medicine has sought to do is bring back the original meanings of words such as you’ve highlighted here with Religion meaning to re-connect and re-bind.
When we get to understand the True meaning of words and that “the pen is mightier than the sword’ we will be empowered to write and bring Loving Integrity that shares a responsibility to the all as we all re-connect to our essences.
This word can make many people feel uncomfortable because usually it comes with dogmas and judgement. The Way of The Livingness presents that we can have a different relationship with religion and that is very much worth exploring.
That you share how brushing our teeth can be considered a religious experience brings not only a whole new dimension to daily life, but is a practical principle that can be applied to any task we do.
It was an unusual sensation reading through your blog Victoria of realising the feeling of being persecuted for being truly religious was within me and very old. I could feel how I have known true religion in another life and the persecution then has led me to feel cautious about living religiously now or in any way revealing this.
It’s no wonder that people recoil when they hear the word religion or being religious because the words have been hi jacked by forces that do not represent/contain the true meaning of these words. When I was little I knew what God was but not by the word that I had been familiar with from the outside world but from a feeling within myself. So we also know what being religious is and we know what religion is also and we need to claim these words and their true meaning back.
Thank you Matts, words are so loaded, they seem to come with beliefs and images at times and the word God is certainly one of the words that has been very polluted. “When I was little I knew what God was but not by the word”, I love this line because it shows how religion and connection to God is innate, it’s part of who we are because it’s what we are from.
The origin of words has to do with activities encapsulated by them. The evolution of the activities described by a word is what it is though, and the same word may no longer encapsulate the original intent behind it. Suddenly a word means something different and we may not like it at all. Yet, this has nothing to do with the word itself but what the word represents in the world of ours. Reclaiming words is adhering back to the movements captured by the word in its origins. It is about restoring its truth, while we restore ours.
This is a great reminder of how simple being religious really is, and yes, I am committed to that constant re-choosing as well. Applying this choice to every area of my life is a constant learning and unfolding and I really appreciate your reminder here, Victoria.
It is a crime in itself that the true meaning of religion had been so grossly corrupted and is associated with the atrocities that have been wielded in the name of God and religion. As a result, many of us feel an instant resistance and repulsion when met with the word, and the many religions that represent this history, and with good reason for this is not what religion is truly about. What you have presented here Victoria restores the true meaning of what religion is, and how this is simply a way of living that embraces a commitment to live in connection to love, to our essence, so that we honour the responsibility we all hold to live truthfully, lovingly and respectfully with ourselves and others. In this way of living abuse has no place, and this is precisely what the religion The Way of The Livingness is all about.
Everyone is religious according to what the word truly means which is to re-connect, for example, some are religious about drinking alcohol, others are religious about sport. This changes the way we consider being religious to be, for those who have an issue with the word religion are not realising that they too are religious…
It is so true Thomas – we are all religious as is what the true meaning of the word refers, so the big question is what is it that we are choosing to be religious about?
It’s a great conversation expanding what the word religion and living religiously means, and I like your point too Carola of “what are we choosing to be religious about?” If we are naturally in reconnection or rebinding activities every day, we can then choose to continuously rebind to soul and return to our connection with God and the Universe.
The word religion is so loaded that it served to scare me away from religion and God for many years. When I first started attending Universal Medicine events and these words were used, I didn’t like it. But now, a few years on, it’s not God and religion I ever had a problem with, only the misrepresentation of these and bastardisation of the words. To keep people away from true religion and God, I can see the evil in the bastardisation.
I love how you have once again claimed being religious for yourself Victoria, a return to a natural way of living. Anything other than what true religion is cannot be called religion for it does not represent it…
Brilliant blog Victoria, Religion being a commitment to simply returning to who we are, without having to believe in anything or do anything, an absolute yes from me.
I think this is perfectly explained and many would be surprised by the simple meaning of religion in it’s origins. i was talking to someone about mainstream religions just yesterday and we were both discussing our disenchantment with how everything has been and is now. There is a commonality between people or a true connection around what religion truly is. This article clears the way for everyone and religion, after all this relationship is a very personal one. In this it would make sense for us to build or connect to what is within us first and then naturally this connection would be there in everything we touch thereafter.
I love how you share the true meaning of the word ‘religion’ in this blog Victoria, the word ‘religion’ has been misused for a very long time and I definitely avoided using the word because of the stigma attached to it. But like you now I can also say I am a deeply religious person as The Way of The Livingness is worth committing to, as it is a true religion in every way, shape and form.
The problem with re-ligare (religion) is not the action of re-ligare but what are we re-ligar(ing) with. The potenatial of re-ligare is just enormous but as the mainstream religions clearly show, we must buy into an image of what does it mean that is simply false as a result of which, people are not really re-ligar(ing). Are they truly religious?
The Way of The Livingness is religion that asks us to make a commitment to be all that we are in equalness to all.
I love the word Religion in its true sense – so simple so free so loving, a deepening connection to oneself and all those around, so different to the religion I was brought up in, a set of rules, do’s and don’t, dogma, separation, and alienation from my true self. Today I choose The Way of The Livingness as my true religion.
What a sensational blog, I have been avoiding the”R” word because of a stigma I think it carries but this blog just blows that all out of the park and reveals to me how much I have been hiding from a word that actually has a great meaning. In the past, I just hated the idea of being involved in a Religion, for some reason I thought it made me sound weird and inaccessible but when you break it down in this blog, it is so simple, so unimposing and there is nothing weird about it.
Freedom of religion is a basic human right. The Way of The Livingness is the only religion I know of that recognises this right to choose in full and acknowledges that every human being is equal in essence. There is no dogma, no preaching, no drive to ‘convert’ just support to feel and live the truth you already know.
Powerful Victoria! Yes, when you put it like that, I too don’t have any reservations about being religious, although like you in the past I was very intent on making it clear to the world that I wanted nothing to do with religion, due to my experiences of it always presenting blatant hypocrisy.
I find it incredible that one can think that they can have a say, attempt to control or have a judgement of another religion. I recently read about how in Russia some religions had recently been banned. Yet this is just crazy that one person or a group or government can come in and decide what people can think or feel. Its total arrogance and abuse of fundamental human rights.
“. . . I’ve learnt the most important thing I can commit to is me, and the more I develop love for myself, the more I can extend this love to others.” Victoria if more people would live like this I am sure most of us would know what true religion is.
The word religion brings up so much for so many people, it makes me wonder if the word itself needs to be redefined to correct the misinterpretation and many incorrect beliefs that has shadowed and tarnished the word itself courtesy the unloving actions and thoughts of some done in under the disguise of the word religion.
That is the most beautiful definition on what religion is. I am deeply religious also and follow my heart – The Way of The Livingness.
So very much has been done in the name of ‘religion’, that it is no wonder we baulk at the term, let alone may have misconstrued its fundamental place and meaning in our lives. To live a religious way can mean that we embrace a deeply personal relationship with God and what it means to live in connection with Him and oneself as you’ve shared here Victoria.
That said, to then willfully neglect and abuse the fundamental rights of another in regards to their religious expression in life, is another story.
Whatever our issues with the word ‘religion’ may be, to negate fundamental respect and decency with one’s fellow man over his or her expression of religion is an act of deep harm to us all that undermines the very bedrock of our societal relations. So long as a religious expression does no harm to others, it deserves to be allowed the space to be.
It’s interesting to consider the means of religious persecution at the disposal of our societies today. Cyber-harrassment is one, trial by media another, misrepresentation and complete bias and falsity via the media yet another (not withstanding that all at times may be intrinsically linked…).
All such means can have large-scale influence, and all reek of utter irresponsibility, disrespect for fundamental human rights and lack of care for the facts of the matter.
And what an eye-opening learning it is, to experience such means of persecution and realise that it is all of us who have allowed the state of things to be as horrendous as it actually is.
When we look around the world and examine the history of the world, it’s no surprise that a lot of people freak out by the word religion or religious. I know I certainly did. It’s been very freeing to reach an understanding on religion and being religious and what it truly means and has always meant.
Awesome unfolding Victoria. I too am delighted to claim for myself that I too am religious and am part of a religion – The Way of The Livingness.
I am totally with you, Victoria. I would have done anything to avoid being associated with ‘religion’ and what this word meant to me. But now, I wouldn’t choose anything else for my life other than to be a student of The Way of The Livingness, which has reintroduced the word religion in its original, true meaning. And it is now in our responsibility to uphold the purity of what that word means and represents by the way we live.
‘I’ve learnt the most important thing I can commit to is me, and the more I develop love for myself, the more I can extend this love to others.’ Beautifully said and very true Victoria, the more I deepen the relationship with myself all my relationships naturally deepen as well – that’s what I love about the The Way of The Livingness, it’s a win/win for everyone.
Living with self love and love is a beautiful and simple way of life, it makes perfect sense too, after all love does no harm to self or others, quite the opposite. We have to question strongly anyone who persecutes, fights or opposes The Way of the Livingness, the souls way of life on earth, because humanity has so far accepted much less in religion such as concepts of inequality, worthlessness, pedophilia and other abuses of human rights, and even genocide. So if people don’t wish to participate in the Way of the Livingness fair enough, that is their basic human right to choose, but to fight it or persecute others within it makes absolutely no sense at all.
Hearing that definition of religion, to reconnect and rebind changed the whole reaction I had to the word and allowed me to embrace anew what religion is and the fact that I am indeed religious. And each day I choose to check in and feel the quality I do things in, to as you beautifully put in Victoria, to rebind myself to a quality of love in how I am with me, others and everything around me. So yes I am religious and I live this daily with the support of the principles I’ve reconnected to with The Way of The Livingness, and daily that is my Way.
Well claimed Victoria. How naturally we find that we are religious – in the true sense of the word – for we are all actually seeking reconnection in some way. The word religion is not something to shy away from – perhaps we need to renounce the way we have abused it – but not religion in its true essence.
How different this Religion that we call The Way of The Livingness is compared to the religion I started my life out, belonging to. The meaning of Religion “to reconnect, to re bind and or re-choose!’ makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for your sharing Victoria.
Your knowing and your commitment is so tangible in this beautiful declaration of truth, Victoria. It has definitely inspired me to look even more closely as to what I consider religion to be, offering me an opportunity to release any of the old beliefs that I am still carrying about what it is to be religious. I have come to love everything that The Way of The Livingness presents; finally a true religion that encompasses all, does not judge, does not dictate, but simply welcomes each and every one of us to a true way of living, when, and if, we are ready.
By going back to the true meaning of words, you cut out all the negative associations from people who have misrepresented that word through the ages. It changes everything, and suddenly religion feels much more friendly and so important to each and every one of our lives. Of course we want to re-connect to something pure and divine, just without the whole package of 2000 years of torture and abuse that often comes with it.
So clear Victoria there is no grey area here… I’m also choosing to commit to a way of living that is loving, committed and responsible to myself, those I live with and meet everyday and those I don’t personally know yet but know how I live affects them also. On the topic of brushing our teeth I am loving brushing every tooth consciously and feeling the ripple affect this has on my next steps or activity after. I didn’t used to consider this wall, how I walked, how I stomped around or slammed a door, there was no awareness at all.
The fast pace of today’s modern world only seems to be getting more and more frantic and overwhelming with every passing year and as a consequence, we seem to be becoming more and more disconnected from ourselves and each other and this is being reflected in our increasingly loveless societies big time. Far too many of us are struggling and if you scratch the surface of most people’s lives you will see as human beings we are all feeling the burden of carrying far too many unresolved hurts, unloving patterns, ideals and beliefs that are not supporting us in our everyday lives. Universal Medicine’s philosophy is based on us healing ourselves and letting go of these hurts, patterns and behaviours and lovingly reconnecting back to ourselves first, and then from that foundation, with others. For me this process of healing represents true religion which as you shared Victoria is a word that ‘stems from the Latin re-ligare, to ‘re-connect’, ‘re-bind’ or ‘re-choose’ and in a world that is craving change we need to accept that change will only come when we realise our true strength is our unity and that us all realigning and reconnecting back to the absoluteness of love and truth is essential for this to occur.
It is such a shame that the word religion has been bastardised to the interpretations we have today that are so far from what you have shared… which is a truly gorgeous way to live. If only religions encapsulated the reconnection to God and to self that the Way of the Livingness presents, the world would be a far more beautiful and loving place to live.
Hear, hear, Victoria a beautifully stated and very powerful blog. I too am willing to claim my association with Universal Medicine and being committed to living with ‘The Way of the Livingness’ as my religion. Choosing to be “a member of an association that presents the possibility that making an on-going commitment to living life as harmoniously as possible” is definitely the best choice I have ever made and I “will continue to defend my basic right to be so, and attend what group I see fit – no matter who threatens me or how”.
” ‘Religion’ is such a loaded word ” So true and many people veer away from it because of the institutions that don’t walk their talk. Yet, as you found, “the word stems from the Latin re-ligare, to ‘re-connect’, ‘re-bind’ or ‘re-choose’” and Serge Benhayon’s presentation of true religion made so much sense to me that I can now claim I am a religious person and as you also say “a member of an association that presents the possibility that making an on-going commitment to living life as harmoniously as possible ..”
“Given this, I’m delighted to declare myself a member of an association that presents the possibility that making an on-going commitment to living life as harmoniously as possible might be a good thing, both personally and for the planet.” I love this Victoria because in making a commitment to and taking responsibility for ourselves to live as harmoniously as possible it naturally flows to everything and everyone around us.
True religion is a commitment to re-connecting to the love within our inner-heart so that love is in every move we make and as God is love we reconnect to the divinity of God by just being all the love that we are. No rule book, no dogma, no ‘musts’ no ‘must nots’ purely a yes to true love. This is the true religion presented as a Universal Medicine to the world.
Beautifully expressed Mary – Universal Medicine gives everyone an opportunity to re-connect to the truth of God and to feel the joy and love when this true religion is embraced and lived.
Truly great thought leadership here on the real meaning of religion. It begs the question though, why the word ‘religion’ brings up reaction and emotion in many. For isn’t it in fact that we balk at what we interpret the word to signify, or more specifically at the bastardised meaning of the word? The next question therefore has to be, ‘Why did the meaning of the word get bastardised in the first place? For what purpose, intent and outcome?’. If we could get behind that, then our world might quickly become a different experience.
Thank you Victoria, I can now say I am a religious person thanks to the presentation of Serge Benhayon. As a student of the Way of the Livingness as presented by Universal Medicine I now understand my religious responsibility to be love in all I do, and to always understand that to fully religious I must continue to allow myself and others through our own free choices to evolve or un-evolve.
I love this Victoria you say it all so simply and powerfully. I am still just coming to accept that I am a “religious” person because of the past associations that word has held for me. This is awesome, thank you.
This is a beautiful and strong statement, Victoria. A religion where its people commit to being who they are before anything else – how genius! I don’t even have to work towards something, because I already am who I am.
Such a beautiful blog Victoria and I can relate to much you share here. The word religion used to make me feel uncomfortable until I got to experience the true meaning of the word religion with ‘The Way of the Livingness’, and now I also can say – yes I am a religious person.