The university is build on solid grounds on faith and wisdom. We have faith because we trust and believe in a higher power, God. If you have a strong faith, understanding that we are children of God, and that we are conduits of light, we receive wisdom. Wisdom, that let us understand better our surroundings, and our lives allowing us to make conscious decisions rooted in love and protected by the Holy Spirit.
Based on Virtues and Individuality
- Values – We are united by high moral standards, and embrace virtues such as tolerance, compassion, kindness, empathy and love
- Mission – We have a desire to make the world a more peaceful, harmonious and united world
- Supported Universalism – Everyone has a their own unique sacred individual path to find ascension, and we are all here to support each other in this quest.
Walking the Path of Sofia to Build Faith
The founders come from Christian religion background and highly respect an study the Bible, as well as other sacred teachings. In order to build a solid life, a solid temple, one have to have faith. At the Mount of Olive sermon (Matthew 7:24), Jesus told the teaching about building your house on the rock.
24 Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 And the rain fell, and the floods came , and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
If we trust our masters, (Buddha, Jesus, …) , and their teachings, our ears open and we can hear, and we are able to build a house on the rock, a university on the mountain, a holy temple at home.
In Hinduism faith plays a crucial role, being the basis for all assumptions and beliefs. Within Hinduism, similar to other religions, having faith means one maintains trust in god, scriptures, dharma (being kind, act in love), and the path of liberation (moksha), which is the believe that we ascend, that we can reach the heavens. If not, what is the purpose of live? What is the purpose of life if we are not certain that the gates of heaven are ready for us?
Something magic happens when you have faith, when you have that feeling, that you are not alone, that the father is heaven is guiding you, protecting you, calling you. For this the happen, faith needs to be exercised. Reading sacred teaching, chanting sacred chants, or medicine music, being kind and allowing then space in your life to receive messages. Messages that we call nuggets of wisdom.
Wisdom as we understand at ParchesU comes from the heavens. In what form: understanding of the mind, unraveling the world of love, composing a song with an amazing message, creating a cream with new ingredients never done before, a business opportunity to propose to a friend, a solution to a challenging situation that is outside of the box, etc.
You feel wise, because have that feeling that you can conquer any situation in your mind. You are wise because you receive messages, which we can call intuition, bubbles of inspiration, whispers from the ancestors, or simply guidance from our father in heaven. You feel confident. You know you are not walking alone, and moreover you feel awesome because you are walking with your Parche (group of family and friends) in faith.
Faith is also the belief, the trust that there is a path to reach the heavens. Being in heaven is feeling pure bliss, pure light that emanates, that permeates any darkness.
Rituals – Practicing Faith
Rituals are important to maintain culture and beliefs, and align our body mind and spirit. This is why the university, build strategically in parches, provide the spaces to practice the faith, sacred temples to sing, dance and rejoice, embracing a diversity of beliefs.
The Catholic Church uses wine as the means to symbolically share the blood of Christ. We use other medicines, which we consider spiritual enhancers, holy plants and preparations, that have demonstrated to heal, but also to put us in high states of joy. Medicines like cacao, because of Theobromine molecule, opens our heart and allows our spirit to rejoice, experiencing gratitude for life, acceptance of God, allowing then wisdom to come.
University Public Worship gathers weekly for the Santo Daime celebration, an our practice that enhances the religious, spiritual, ethical, and moral formation of the university community. Rooted in Earth Medicines traditions we cultivate a community of faith, hope and love, as well as, a sense of belonging through singing, dancing, and engaging in gnostic teachings. A playlist of our service can be found here.
More Insights about Faith
In our podcasts we have discuss topics about faith. Here is a selection of them.