Feature Story
Agape
An Interview with Reverend Michael Bernard Beckwith
by Sydney L. Murray
Reverend Michael Bernard Beckwith is a man whose passion for living and teaching the universal laws governing the universe is apparent in every word he speaks, by the light in his eyes and by the joy that emanates from his every move. Beckwith is the founder and spiritual director of the Agape International Spiritual Center, a trans-denominational spiritual community of 10,000 members and hundreds of thousands of affiliates worldwide, located in Los Angeles.
Michael’s key word is service—being of selfless service locally by feeding the homeless, supporting incarcerated individuals and their families, and globally by building eco villages, schools, clinics, libraries, and homes for unwed mothers, and those who have been ravaged by war, AIDS and starvation. Agape’s humanitarian works in other parts of the world and the greater Los Angeles area is noteworthy because there is not a lot of fanfare about the work they do. They just do it for the joy of it.
I recently had the great opportunity to speak with Dr. Beckwith about our theme this month: freedom.
Michael Bernard Beckwith: When I think of the word freedom, I think of an individual expressing their soul’s highest potential, the gifts, talents and skills they have come to deliver on the planet. This is not only possible for everyone; it is actually a mandate, because the Spirit seeks to express itself by means of us, to release its own energy in, as, and through us. We are all here to discover we can think thoughts independent of circumstances and begin to set free the gifts of the divinity within. It’s just a matter of doing enough inner work and being committed enough for this practice to take hold.
Vision Magazine: How do you think the understanding of the concept of freedom can transform someone’s life?
MBB: Once you understand that freedom is a choice that is grounded by spiritual practice, your life begins to change and you discover you are not a victim of anything. You are not victimized by your history; hereditary patterns, social norms or what is going on in the world. This awareness of innate freedom eliminates victimhood and allows an individual to consciously participate in their spiritual evolution.
People have a tendency to think something outside of themselves controls them, such as their past, or who their parents were or were not. And once a person begins to understand that “out-there” is a projection of their inner mindset, they will be on their way to self-responsibility, which leads to freedom.
VM: What do you celebrate each year on July 4th?
MBB: Members of the Agape community celebrate the innate freedom to express the unique evolutionary impulse that is them. I don’t encourage pseudo-patriotism; I believe that we are global citizens and so I encourage an approach of global interdependence in which we are celebrating the freedom of and love for all humanity.
VM: How have the last four years changed your life?
MBB: It’s not the last four years that have changed my life; it’s that I’ve used these last four years for great change. Because the last few years have placed me and Agape more in the limelight after the release of The Secret, people are acknowledging my message and Agape’s humanitarian work throughout the world. This has forged powerful and beneficial alliances so that we can be of greater service. So these past few years have put us in a position to give more and to share more.
VM: What is your greatest joy?
MBB: Service and teaching are my greatest joys. It is watching individuals wake up to their inner empowerment and the evolutionary impulse that governs the universe, which is also within them and makes them co-creators with this power. My joy comes from being in service to an individual’s awakening. It’s a blissful experience whenever I find myself activating another dimension of my own potential. So, service and growth are my greatest joys.
VM: What is one simple thing that each one of us can do to create a better life for ourselves?
MBB: I believe it’s when an individual trains their mind to go on the hunt for something to be grateful for, making this a way of life. Gratitude allows us to see the world differently. Instead of seeing obstacles and blockages, negativity or evil, we begin to see a world that is full of opportunity and possibilities….such as opportunities to love and share. One of the simple things is to wake up spiritually so that clarity or right-seeing may occur in their everyday experiences. Right-seeing leads to right-action. And gratitude contributes to our spiritual sight, our insight.
The intention to cultivate an attitude of gratitude is a spiritual practice which leads to a way of life. And once it’s a way of life, once it’s embodied in consciousness, you automatically notice things to be grateful for throughout the day. It just opens up so many windows that we couldn’t see before because all that we could see were obstacles.
VM: What do you believe can create a stronger country here in the United States?
MBB: In order for there to be a stronger country there has to be a vision, a strongly articulated vision of the possibility of what can occur on the planet—not just in our country. There’s no strength if it just involves our country—that’s shortsighted which leads to weakness, not strength.
Quite often people get caught in a downward spiral and can articulate what doesn’t work or won’t work better than they can articulate their vision of what can work, of what the possibilities are. If America is to set the example of authentic strength, then we have to rally around a vision of possibilities. Universal law indicates that we don’t describe what’s seen, we see what’s described. As we begin to have a humanitarian vision for our country, for our world, and initiate steps for living by that vision, we will manifest it. In other words, to create a stronger country we have to have a stronger vision for creating a kind and just society that honors the dignity of all people and sees that their basic needs are met. That was the power of the Kennedy family’s political legacy; they had a power to elicit great vision in people, which is why they were loved so much by people of all races. It’s also the power of Barack Obama, because he casts a vision of what’s possible. He speaks to what is possible for us as one human family, and people are innately drawn toward that vision. Something within them is deeply stirred because harmony, peace and cross-cultural understanding—we know all of this speaks to our innate nature. When people speak and encourage negativity, causing harm to other peoples and nations, this is energy depleting and takes us down the path of our worst fears.
VM: So do you have hope for our future?
MBB: It’s my vision not only of hope but of utmost belief and trust in the highest vision for humanity, which is peace, prosperity, harmony, creativity, beauty and reconciliation. This is what gets me up every day to do the work that I do. My work is, so to speak, to meditate, to pray, to serve…and what I have discovered—what I have seen—is that this presence within us, this impulse will win. I have no doubt about that.
There will be, of course, some pain; there will be trials and tribulations; there will be that which is decadent, that which is not in cadence with the fundamental harmony of the universe—as we evolve into our highest potential. That which seeks to express through us individually and collectively is so beautiful and so much more powerful. So, I not only have hope, I have a vision and I have a feeling about the outcome of the human species. We are evolving. The difficulty is that most of the media are reporters of a dying paradigm. The new media is beginning to report from the emerging paradigm; media like Vision Magazine, and others. They’re beginning to report about the good that is emerging, where the corporate media is reporting from an old paradigm. If you look at the old media, you may shake your head and say, Oh my God we’re not going to make it. But if you look at what’s emerging, you see that it is more powerful than that which is dying. And there are millions of people involved in many industries including ecology, medicine, architecture, business, education and science, who are bringing forth whole new ways of being in the world. They may seem a little obscure to some people, but as they inquire into what’s trying to emerge—they will hopefully like what they discover and join the progressive movement into the next stage of our evolution. It’s here already, hiding in plain sight. It’s already happening.
VM: How do you sustain such an amazing community of people?
MBB: First of all, each member of the community sustains him/herself. I present the teaching, but only they can practice it. I teach that ever-evolving joy is realized through a blissipline of daily meditation, affirmative prayer, spiritual study, visioning, selfless service and the fellowship of the community. Individuals who attend Agape’s services and participate in the classes at our University of Transformational Studies and Leadership are encouraged to practice those modalities so that they can have their own ah-ha moments—those moments of insight into the eternal. There’s a field of energy that’s created wherein spontaneous goodness takes over, creativity takes over, and love takes over. I love the community and I love the people. I’m honored when I step into the field and see the rich diversity; the universality within the Agape community. I am humbled and honored by the way people show up, for a Sacred Service Saturday, as an example. Over 700 people showing up to do service throughout metropolitan Los Angeles, expecting nothing in return, just showing up to join with other non-profit organizations to clean up beaches, paint schools and summer camps for children and lots more, for an entire day. I’m humbled and honored by the service ethic and the ethic of study and fellowship; it’s powerful, it’s wonderful and it’s sustained through unconditional love and spiritual practice.
VM: How did A Season for Nonviolence come about with Arun Gandhi?
MBB: The Association of Global New Thought or AGNT, of which I’m a co-founder and president, is the convener of Season. Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, was talking with Barbara Fields, the Executive Director, and he brought to her attention that his grandfather’s 50th memorial anniversary—the 50th anniversary of his being assassinated—was coming up, and he wanted to do something to commemorate it. We were also reminded that it was the 30th memorial anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., so through those conversations, both commemorations were combined into A Season for Nonviolence [SNV]. AGNT had a vision to inaugurate SNV at the United Nations, to articulate the principles of ahimsa, or non-violence. On January 30th we did indeed conduct the first SNV at the United Nations. Along with myself and Arun there were other individuals who cast the vision of non-violence. We thought, at the beginning, that we might just do it for one year, but it became a campaign that has gone on for over 10 years. We’re now going on our twelfth year with hundreds of cities and other countries participating in our program that includes taking the 64 days from January 30th to April 4th—the days between the assassination of Gandhi and King—to teach, pray and have conferences around the understanding of the principles of nonviolence as a way if life. Today we have expanded to conducting celebrations and programs throughout the year with millions of worldwide participants. What started off as a conversation and an idea, became a vision and then a way of life for millions of people.
VM: What is on the horizon for the rest of the year for you?
MBB: We have some wonderful activities in September such as our music symposium retreat for musicians, artists, choir directors and people who just love music. Also in September, people enroll in our classes at Agape’s University of Transformational Studies and Leadership. In November, Agape will celebrate its 22nd anniversary. Also, my book, Spiritual Liberation, will be released by Simon & Schuster on November 11. There’s so much more that I could say, but the simplest way to catch what we’re about as a spiritual community is to visit Agape, enter our sanctuary doors and feel the unconditional love and spiritual energy that greet everyone.
For more information about Michael Bernard Beckwith and Agape, visit www.agapelive.com or call 310.348.1250