THE BURNING BOWL CEREMONY by Ian Ellis-Jones THE SYDNEY UNITARIAN CHURCH SUNDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2005 I am free, I am unlimited. There are no chains that bind me. I am free, I am unlimited, Right now! Right now! Introduction The late American Protestant minister Dr Norman Vincent Peale once wrote, There is a spiritual giant within you, which is always struggling to burst its way out of the prison you have made for it. The Burning Bowl Ceremony, which is also known as the Phoenix Ceremony, is one of a number of popular rites of renewal performed in many New Thought churches, especially in the United States of America. The ceremony is often conducted as part of a Thanksgiving or New Year service. The service can also be performed privately at special symbolical times such as on New Year s Eve or your birthday or at any time when you feel the need and have the willingness to let go of something in your life that is holding you back, especially bad habits, negative thoughts and emotions, and unhealthy relationships.
Life is, or at least ought to be, a process of letting go and letting. This is the rhythm of the universe, the rhythm of life. Call it the divine rhythm, if you wish. We need continually to let go of negative beliefs, destructive emotions, unhealthy relationships, as well as any tendency to resist change. We need to continually to let to let the Spirit of Life take over in us, to fill us with new life, to recreate us in mind and body. You will be amazed how powerful this is at letting things go, individually and collectively, in particular, letting go of the past and moving into the Now with a new start. It s simple, but it s extremely transformative, especially where there is a need and a willingness to let go of negative emotions such as anger, resentment and regret as well as repetitive suffering over past experiences. These things are very bad for us. Forgiveness and release are spiritually lifeaffirming and liberating. The Burning Bowl Ceremony helps us to let go of old hurts, grudges, regrets and suffering and to relinquish anything, in fact, that burdens our minds while at the same time to identify those things in our lives that we wish to occur in your life, particularly in the coming year. In the Burning Bowl Ceremony we write down on paper whatever it is - it may be a number of things - that we wwant to free of. Then you burn the piece of paper in the Burning Bowl. The fire in the Burning Bowl is a symbol of purification and transformation. Fire, itself, is a powerful element for and means of transformation. The fire takes the paper and changes it from one form into another. If you perform this ceremony at home, you can, if you want to, bury the cold ashes as a final step. The Burning Bowl Ceremony is all about change as well as taking personal responsibility for your own life. The ceremony facilitates change, taking us outside the walled paths we ordinarily travel along. It helps to build new neural pathways in the brain, cutting across the old neural pathways that have formed as a result of repetitive negative thought forms and bad mental habits.
It was Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor, who said, Life is what our thoughts make it. The Burning Bowl Ceremony is one of a number of transformative rituals, the object being yes, inner transformation. After all, was it not Saint Paul who wrote, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom 12: 2)?
What we release The paper burning portion of the ceremony, which powerfully symbolizes letting go, is a way of releasing whatever no longer works for us as well as whatever is holding us back. We write down on paper things that we want to release in our lives. It may be old habits that no longer serve us. Maybe we have a physical or mental habit that we are tired of. Maybe it s some mistake or failure from the past. Maybe it's a limiting thought of our own worth, or a fear of some kind. Maybe we need to forgive someone or forgive ourselves for something that happened in the past. New Thought minister and author Emmet Fox wrote, It is an unbreakable mental law that you have to forgive others if you want to demonstrate over your difficulties and to make any real spiritual progress. Yes, we must forgive, not so much for the other person s sake, but for our own sake. Maybe we need to let go of a limiting relationship, or a way of doing things. Perhaps we would like to release a work situation. Preparing for the ceremony Here are some questions designed to help you clarify what you want changed in your life. Remember it s entirely up to you. You must do the work, especially the mental work, and nothing will happen unless you truly want it to. For example, in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, also entitled Alcoholics Anonymous, it is written: If you have decided that you want what we have [that is, sobriety] and are willing to go to any length to get it - then you are ready to take certain steps.
You begin by making a decision that you want what s on offer that you really want to change. There is great power in so doing. Then you must take the necessary action to effect the desired change. There is no easier, softer way. In Matthew s gospel we are told, "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened unto you" (Mt 7:7). It all starts with us, and it all starts with making a decision that you want to change. Then you must do what needs to be done. The power is in the doing. In the words of Emerson, Do the thing, and you shall have the power. Now what do you want to throw out of your life? What do you want cleansed? What do you want to give up? Let s open up a number of different suitcases. Firstly, health. Are you currently facing a health challenge? Is it physical, psychological, emotional or spiritual? What do you need to release or give up? What do you want gone from your life? Remember, you can choose your emotions; if you want to feel differently, you must make new thought choices. Secondly, relationships. Are you stuck in some co-dependent relationship that is only harming you as well as the other person? Thirdly, home. What do you desire different in you home? Less conflict and friction? Less noise? Less clutter and junk? Fourthly, finance. Do you have money worries? Few don t, but let s be sensible here. Consumerism is not the answer to our worries. It is the source of many of them as well as being the primary cause of most of the world s present malaise. Fifthly, work, school, college, university. What do you want to be different? Sixthly, leisure time. What is preventing you from enjoying good leisure time and contentment? Remember, you have the power - indeed, the responsibility - to make better choices if you want to live a happier life. Now, as the old year runs out, we
must move on, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth [we] press toward the mark (Phil 3: 13, 14). What s involved You will each be given a small piece of paper as well as something with which to write. You will then have a short time to write down those things you wish to release from your life. The act of writing down what you want gone from your life is a very important part of the letting go process. Once again, there is great power in so doing. After you ve written down whatever you want to let go and release, then spend a few moments in quite prayer or meditation by way of personal commitment and surrender. If there is anything holding you back, become aware of what it is, and let that go as well. Healing, at any level, requires release letting go surrender. To get from A to B, we must first be prepared to leave A and move on to B. It s even more so at the mental or psychological level. Before you come forward with your piece of paper, repeat any prayer or mental treatment, or get by yourself in quiet meditation for a moment or two. When you are ready to let go, then feel free to come forward. Once again, there is great power in so doing. Come forward one at a time one by one and set alight your piece of paper - best folded or rolled up - using the lighted chalice or one of the other smaller candles, and then quickly drop the paper in the bowl. Watch the paper burn, as you commit your concern to the transformative power of flame ashes to ashes. If there is someone you need to forgive, bless that person. Wish him or her well in every phase of their life. Blessing stirs up the positive, creative forces in your mind and helps to clear away any negative thoughts residing in your subconscious. Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing (1 Peter 3:9).
As you watch the paper burn, feel the sense of release. As you depart, say to yourself words such as, I am free, I am unlimited, there are no chains that bind me, or I now move on, the past is gone forever, or (in the case of forgiveness) I fully and freely forgive X (mentioning the name of the person); I loose him and let him go; He is free now, and I am free too. If you do this properly - that is, you really mean it - you will not find it necessary to repeat the business in relation to the same matter or person. Emmet Fox, in his wonderful book The Sermon on the Mount, wrote, you have done it once and for all, and to do it a second time would be tacitly to repudiate your own work. If, later, the thought of the matter or person returns, then simply acknowledge the thought but immediately dismiss it, giving it no power over you. It will return less and less often, until you forget it altogether. I finish with these words from the Book of Deuteronomy: Today, I call heaven and earth to witness against you: I am offering you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then so that you may live. (Dt 30:19) -oo0oo-