Core beliefs are our own attitudes about ourselves.

We engage with the world from our own perspective and so we have differences of opinions to outright conflict due to our beliefs.  Core beliefs that are held by youth can differ depending on the cultural context and our conditioning.  In Kansas City where I am living we have a lovely and swanky area called the Plaza.  It used to have a supermarket that was more upscale than price chopper for sure but it went out of business several years ago and not has been replaced.  A core belief that I have is that there are disparities based on race and culture and that the ones who have had the good fortune to earn the most money are ones with the cultural connections and families who inherited wealth.

We saw a rebellion in the Plaza earlier this year when a thousand young African American youths descended on the area to hang out and create conflict due to their mere presence.  A core belief held by people who are mostly white is that they have the right to shop in peace and enjoy spending their wealth on goods that are for the elite minority.  I believe that we have the right to earn money and I am all for it.  I don't like poverty and don't like it when you have to exist in a society where there are barriers to becoming wealthy.  It's called the old boy's club where depending on who you family is or who you know carries more weight than your talents.

Each generation has some distinguishing characteristics that make a statement about their core beliefs.  Generally I believe due to peer pressure individual thinking is not as common among youth as being part of a wave of new thoughts and the resulting expression of those thoughts via their behaviors.  When I was a youth just by following the Rolling Stones and The Beatles meant that you were counter culture to the older generation.  I adapted the same core beliefs as my peers that sexual freedom was a way of opening up and relating to the world of taboo and ending a systemic cultural conditioning that sex was reserved for marriage.  I for one didn't want to get married and when the time came when I felt the pressure to get married I had an opportunity to move to the Midwest, USA.

A core belief of the young people who invaded the sanctity of the Plaza where it can be viewed as sacred ground for the wealth of the area is that they deserve to be respected.  They are looking to enjoy the same freedoms as others but haven't got the doe (money) and pedigree to go along with their ideas of being free to enjoy the fruits of the good life.  They are pushing back in much the same way that I see the everyday French people who are pushing back at those who have taken over streets in Paris to kneel down and pray.  Here again we have conflict resulting from opposing sets of core beliefs and it's territorial in much the same way that the African American youth choose a territory to exhibit how they felt about the rich in Kansas City.

The Indian Spiritual Masters whom I have studied with help transform us individually through their talks which are based on philosophy and science to help us to realign our thinking and become better people.  We have all been conditioned by our families and culture and loose touch with our true identity and our  inner home of the heart which we share with God.  Through meditation and other spiritual practices such as jappa which is the repetition of a mantra, or God's name.  You can use whatever name that God is known to you and that is pure, holy and dear.  My Teacher has given a Sirnam which is a set of different names of God that are repeated silently.  The Master gives the names to the student and it is something which is kept as a sacred and significant bond and tool for the spiritual journey to sound and light meditation.  Meditation is not merely a method of using silence and stillness to feel calm and increase concentration.  It is a vehicle whereby you are enabled to connect with God and experience your own greatness. 

One of the core beliefs that most of us are taught and conditioned by our culture, is that to think of one self as great is not good and anyone who would share that personal core belief may find themselves ostracised by others.  We even have labels for people.  Big head, self centered and so on and so on.  The truth is that we are all great in God's eyes and the Bible even says that we are created in God's image.  My Teacher said during a New Year's talk that we should learn to put ourselves first because we can have all the zero's in the world, but unless there is a one first they don't amount to anything!  My Teacher's Master who came to the United States in the seventies said that we should honor, respect and love ourselves because God dwells within us as us.  A core belief that we are taught in the West is that God exists some where up in the heavens.  Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is within.  Another Saint whom I love so much said that we should go into our hearts and roam because there is no other place that is as sacred.

I believe that youths today are seeking to find happiness in much the same way that most of us start to at least, through external sources.  True joy and happiness happens on the inside and it's not necessary to have luxuries and money to feel blissful.  I personally would rather not be poor and that is the way my personality is.  I am not comfortable going to fancy places because I am more likely to align my attention and concern for those who are working in such places and I never feel comfortable being on beaches where other's can enjoy because they are isolated in some ghetto like part of the town.  I noticed a parallel town in Naples, Florida where I used to visit my sister with my daughter when she was young.  It wasn't until we went to a store in a part of town that her husband was looking for bathroom fixtures or something that I realized that there were duplexes that housed a poor African American community.

My core belief that got me to this country was that I would be free to choose the type of lifestyle that I wanted.  I worked hard and completed my education at The Catholic University of America, Washington DC, graduating with a Master of Science Degree in nursing.  Being an entrepreneur I opened a business and then closed it due to issues with the state board of nursing.  A core belief of mine is that it is both good for your own personal development as well as helps others through volunteering.  I volunteered in prisons where I helped inmates manage their own spiritual programs and support each other as they served out their time.  Since I returned to Kansas City after working in the Bay Area, California I cleared up the issues had come up with the state boards in my absence and have found once again that the board posted something untrue about my standing on their web. 

A core belief that I may have in common with the African American youths is that they have the right to have the support and use of resources.  I think that the event caused enough of a stir that leadership has been putting their heads together to come up with some solutions.  I hope that one of the solutions is to educate everyone about respect.  I don't think that my spiritual Master's would condone behaviors that are disorderly.  However, I do note that they pay an immense amount of time and attention toward the youth and developing programs to support leadership among them.  I think that it is time that people learned to grow and expand their thinking to incorporate the whole community.

At my grandson's Christening I was moved when the Priest asked the congregation to open up to the African American community who lived just blocks away across the boulevard that seperates one section of town from the other.  I hope that their community embraces this idea and welcomes African Americans especially their youth.  It begins with each one of us to take the responsibility to stand up one by one when we experience things in our lives that aren't just and spread kindness wherever it occurs.  Just yesterday someone wrote on my facebook wall in a nasty way about children from a certain minority.  I am thinking of finding a way to keep a statement posted on my wall to the effect that I do not believe in being unkind no matter what the political issues might be.  I personally am quite conservative but I again responded to the chatter that had been going on over a picture of The First Lady taken from behind that they needed to "drop,"the thread. 

I would like you to start with yourself and write a list of what your own core beliefs about yourself are.  Negative ones that typically drive peoples self critical inner dialogue are ones such as (I'm ugly, stupid, not good at...., not likable ect.)
Once you learn to identify what they are you can then challenge your thinking that is driven by these sets of beliefs like an inner engine.

Meditation is the key to the engine so that you can turn off this useless nonsense that goes around inside peoples heads.  Meditate daily and eat a vegetarian diet.  Think good thoughts about yourself.

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Family Spiritual Responsibility

Your first spiritual responsibility is to know God and know yourself. If you are dense on the inside due to the accumulation of emotional baggage that we all manage to pack inside ourselves as a result of outside pressures and projections on us from family, society, mentors, educational institutions etc. We have to begin with Meditation and spiritual initiation when we want to know our own selves. That means incorporating a discipline into your life that allows to schedule time to meditate. I recently heard that one Spiritual Master instructed his followers to meditate for at least two and a half hours daily.  Once we are clear of all the past debris we are able to hear and see God on the inside.  My Teacher teaches us Light and Sound Meditation.  The clearer you become the more you will experience God.  The density could be represented in the Beatitudes when Christ said that with out Love we are but a langing bell!  That is what happens with our own light and sound vibrations when God's power enters it doesn't resonate at the highest freqencies with our own vibrations which makes it a clang rather that a heavenly bell.  Learn to give love and listen to God in Meditation.



I recommend that you start in small increments and be patient with yourselves. Don’t think all is lost because you slip from your daily practice from time to time. Being part of a group that is practicing is a good thing and this can be done via web. I emphasize that you need to be initiated by a Spiritual Master to begin the real work of Spiritual Enlightenment. The initiate is then under the Divine guidance of the Master to enable their spiritual advancement to be tailored to their individual needs. I will make certain that you understand that I am not here to recruit anyone to follow my path or the way I have approached spirituality. I encourage all to find their own path. Spiritual Masters do not recommend that people leave their religion. In fact you will find the true meaning of your religion once you become spiritually awakened and love your God with all your heart.



Many people of different cultures and nationalities come to the United States because we have been a nation that has given all equal opportunity. The first step and sign of enculturation into the dominant culture is English language acquisition. It is vital that parents of children coming to the US speak English in the home so that the children will naturally identify with the dominant culture. I realize now why children of immigrants from Europe quite often didn’t speak their native language because their parents and grandparents realized that being assimilated into the culture was more important for their personal, educational and career success. I am English so I didn’t have a language barrier coming to the US however there were cultural barriers. Things were done in a different way that made me feel uncomfortable. I used to belong to one English group but always thought that it is the individual whom I am interested in knowing and I don’t seek friendships purely because of a common English heritage.




Religion and spirituality are taught in the home and children learn certain behaviors that are influenced by the dominant culture. One such behavior is meat eating. I never liked meat as a child and once I was on the spiritual path I had an experience of one of the Masters speaking to me inside during Meditation in an intensive, giving me fatherly instructions on what I was to wear and the food I was to avoid and that left vegetarianism as the path for my health. It has been a proactive measure on my part because my father died of cancer of the colon at age forty-eight and this has a high correlation with genes that are passed down.  I have never eaten meat or fish since. It wasn't something I struggled with because I didn't have the desire for meat eating anyway. Now I rarely eat eggs but have always eaten free-range eggs. With the options for soy products on the market it makes it easier to choose. My first Teacher did not emphasize vegetarianism directly that I can recall however vegetarian meals where always served in her spiritual home/retreat. A close friend and reliable source once said that she had witnessed our Teacher telling a woman that she should eat red meat for her particular body type and needs. With the higher ethical standards and behavioral expectations toward others and creatures the spiritual path would ask you whether you to find a source that doesn’t involve violence toward the animals that are slaughtered and their lives before that should be as free as possible. These are considerations for your development and only for your to decide. You will know inside how it feels without meat. My Teacher asks people, “Why make your body into a grave-yard?”



Meat eating is a part of American culture and I live in the Midwest that has a big cattle industry. It wasn’t until 2005 that I identified the trailer trucks that ship animals on our highways. During a break as a rest area on the way to Wichita to open a Meditation program at a state prison, I happened to notice the nose and mouth of a cow trying to catch some air and discern where she was in the outside summer air. I realized that I could not just go up to the back of the trailer and open the door and let them loose as my first impulse was to do. I could only pray and repeat the Mantra my Teacher had given us to use to invoke the power of the Teacher and God. I still feel the same struggle when I pass these evil entities on the highways and feel for the animals who are being taken to slaughter houses. In France a few years ago the press followed two pigs who had escaped from being taken into the slaughter house they had been delivered to by one such vehicle. The pigs ran around in the country side and everyone followed the story hoping that they wouldn’t get caught and taken back. I follow animal rescue mission work on http://www.Twitter.com/Langata145 if you would like to join me and link with them too. The work is important and the more people who spread the word and find homes for these animals who are great characters and individuals just like our house pets. I taught at a junior college in Kansas and was called “Wacco” by a faculty member because she knew about my spiritual beliefs and by another I was told in a very abrasive way, “You are in the Midwest and we eat meat!” I found other work and have found that people who work in the medical field are sometimes the most rigid and in the box thinkers.



Children who are from homes where meat is not part of their diet should have vegetarian meals in schools. They can be role models for their peers on humane practices and healthy lifestyles. They will feel the difference during the afternoon activities when they are not trying to digest meats but rather have proteins in the form of i.e. soy dog as a substitute for hotdogs. My daughter used to say that she didn’t feel good after her father used to encourage her to eat steak as opposed to how she felt when she ate vegetarian meals with me. Sometimes children will just have to experiment and it’s not the undermining of the system or a particular parent who will win but the child’s innate intelligence and body feedback. Spirituality means empowerment. Can you imagine a world without Mahatma Gandhi? He worked on changing things that were corrupt and unjust in his society while focusing on God and being a Spiritual Leader to many. As a parent you know that you have a responsibility to speak up for your children’s needs. Meet with parent groups and school officials. Send letters to the school district administrative offices and send a carbon copy to the School Dietician. Nothing changes by itself and your children’s health and spiritual wellness is at risk due to the ignorance of others. It’s up to you as parents to take responsibility for the lives of your children.



Another area of contention for parents, particularly from cultures where sexuality and dating are taboo until the person is married. So an Indian family may have children who are in an American school system who is exposed to the same mores as the rest of the kids that includes sexually revealing school clothes and make up for girls and rap music and jeans that are worn below the hips for boys. It is just not socially acceptable. American children may not have spiritual or religious guidance in the home because some families have been led to believe that there is no God. Now we have a dummying of America in the school with lower standards of morality and educational expectations. Be aware that this movement has been alive for many years and the more people who move away from God the faster and greater the influence and power they hold over our society and culture. There are organizations and studies that support teaching high school children about sexual abstinence. Go to the following below link for more information. Take a stance and you will find that the power that you have been given will support and guide your words. Take a stand for what is right for your children.
http://www.heritage.org/Issues/Sex-Education-and-Abstinence

This is a White Paper On Sex Education and Abstinence

Teenage Sexual Abstinence and Academic Achievement

Published on October 27, 2005 by Robert Rector and Kirk Johnson, Ph.D.


I will discuss more about rearing children in a cross-cultural context and the importance of US citizenship in my next blog.


Please feel free to contact me with questions: lawrencerita511@gmail.com

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