"I AM" Activity

<h2 >Teachings[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%22I_AM%22_Activity&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Teachings" >edit</a>]</h2>

According to the group's teachings, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascended_Master" title="Ascended Master" class="mw-redirect" >Ascended Masters</a> are believed to be individuals who have left the cycle of reembodiment.

The "I AM" Activity calls itself Christian, because <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Jesus" title="Master Jesus" >Jesus</a> is considered to be one of the more important Ascended Masters. It also refers to itself as patriotic because Ascended Master <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain" title="Count of St. Germain" >St. Germain</a> is believed to have inspired and guided the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Followers claim that St. Germain belonged to the same <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasons" title="Freemasons" class="mw-redirect" >Masonic Lodge</a> as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington" title="George Washington" >George Washington</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin" title="Benjamin Franklin" >Benjamin Franklin</a>. However, Guy Ballard tended to downplay any relation of his ideas to Freemasonry because of his great discordance with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt" title="Franklin Delano Roosevelt" class="mw-redirect" >Franklin Delano Roosevelt</a>, a famous Freemason. Thus the notion that Saint-Germain belonged to a Masonic Lodge was more part of general occult lore than part of Ballard's emphasis.,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22I_AM%22_Activity#cite_note-19" >[19]</a>

The movement teaches that the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent creator God ('I AM' – Exodus 3:14) is in all of us as a spark from the Divine Flame, and that we can experience this presence, love, power and light – and its power of the Violet Consuming Flame of Divine Love – through quiet contemplation and by repeating 'affirmations' and 'decrees'. By affirming something one desires, one may cause it to happen. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22I_AM%22_Activity#cite_note-barrett-3" >[3]</a>

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The group teaches that the "Mighty I AM Presence," is God existing in and as each person's Higher Self, and that a light known as the "Violet Flame" is generated by the "I AM Presence" and may surround each person who calls forth the action of the Holy Spirit for expression of mercy or forgiveness. The group believes that by tapping into these internalized powers in accordance with the teachings of the Ascended Masters, one can use one's relationship to the "Presence" to amplify the expressions of virtue such as justice, peace, harmony, and love; and to displace or abate the expression of evil (relative absence of good) in the world; also to minimize personal difficulties in one's life. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22I_AM%22_Activity#cite_note-20" >[20]</a>

The spiritual goal of the teachings is that, through a process of self-purification, the believer may attain the perfected condition of the saints, or become an Ascended Master when leaving their body, contrasted to common concepts of 'ordinary death'. The process of attaining these results includes one or another of interior practices to facilitate resonance and alignment with the "I AM Presence": self-assessment in light of saintly exemplars such as Jesus, care in the use of language, devotion (to the Divine), gratitude, meditation, affirmations; and external practices such as "decrees" (repeated prayers given aloud with conviction) and invocations such as for the Violet Flame, all of which amplify the energetic presence of the divine in one's experience, resulting in the desired positive changes.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22I_AM%22_Activity#cite_note-UnivVirginia-6" >[6]</a> The science behind decrees and affirmations has received extensive attention in medical and other fields. The 'hidden side' of human life is explored, largely with the view of releasing consciousness from burden and error so that it may seek to be more fully engaged in higher purpose, inspired by divine guidance, to serve the Greater Good of All. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22I_AM%22_Activity#cite_note-21" >[21]</a>

The group also emphasizes personal freedom, embracing patriotic symbols, and often displays American flags in its Temples or other offices.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22I_AM%22_Activity#cite_note-UnivVirginia-6" >[6]</a>

These "positive thinking" beliefs overlap with several other New Age movements such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Science" title="Religious Science" >Religious Science</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Potential_Movement" title="Human Potential Movement" >Human Potential Movement</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22I_AM%22_Activity#cite_note-barrett-3" >[3]</a>