| Discovering the Power Within: Carib News talks with Unity Center’s minister, Justin Epstein about his book, Super You |
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Posted: Wednesday, July 11, 2012 6:16 pm
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By: Patricia Trutescu
Justin Epstein is a minister at the Unity Center in New York. He is also the author of a book that will be released in book stores this Fall called Super You: The 7 Steps to Profound Peace & Personal Power. When Carib News talked with Mr. Epstein over the telephone about his book, Mr. Epstein happily claimed that this is book “is for people who are looking to experience the power that is within them. This book is an essential accompaniment for traveling the spiritual path… I want individuals to learn how to access the power that is within them.”
This power that Mr. Epstein refers to is the hidden potential within each person. Discovering this potential can help anybody become more successful and closer to God. In a conversation with Carib News, Mr. Epstein talks about his experiences as a minister and his book, Super You.
For Mr. Epstein, the spirit of God is present on all spiritual paths. Raised Jewish, and having received a Bar Mitzvah in an orthodox temple, it would seem that the seeds for Mr. Epstein’s spiritual journey were planted as he was growing up. However, his vision of being a minister was not realized until college. Mr. Epstein explains:
“Around the time I attended James Madison University in Virginia; I became more interested in my spiritual journey. It was then I started taking courses on religion and philosophy. During this time, I started asking myself what I should do with my life.
“I was also studying yoga philosophy and watching Robert Schuller’s television program that aired on Sunday mornings, “Hour of Power.” Then I started to wonder whether being a minister was what I wanted to do.
“Then, I started doing a practicum in college at the Unity Church in Virginia. After I completed by college education, I went to ministerial training.”
As a minister, Mr. Epstein was able to connect all he learned throughout his Jewish upbringing and the lessons that were inspired by the revered yogi sage, Paramahansa Yogananda. In Mr. Epstein’s view, God is a universal truth, and the different religions in the world, are different paths that point individuals to that universal truth. He claims:
“I believe in a universal truth. Truth is one and paths are many. Truth is God, the Great Spirit, the Dao, Yahweh and more. It is the same presence, the love, everything present. And the different paths – religions – lead to this presence.”
Mr. Epstein believes that in order to recognize this presence, one has to gain a mastery over their emotions. Mr. Epstein demonstrates this emotional mastery in a series of audio books on CDs he published called, The Enlightened Golfer. In this audio series, Mr. Epstein teaches the professional golfer how to mentally and emotionally prepare for a game by applying techniques like Guided Mediation and Visualization. The minister enumerates:
“The mind is such an important tool in playing. Once, I played golf with a really good golfer, and he made a few bad shots. Then, these bad shots started to negatively affect his emotions; and he let this negativity take over his concentration. This negative thinking and feeling eventually ruined the game.”
“So, to play one’s best golf, the player must have emotional mastery. If the player becomes overly angry and frustrated, that affects them in how they play the rest of the game.”
Emotional mastery is also a practice that can be applied to other areas in life. Mr. Epstein continues:
“In life, we have positive and negative emotions, and we have to learn how to manage them without negatively affecting ourselves; and this means learning how to not let anger and frustration affect our performance in life.” He adds, “Mediation is something that gives people a sense of inner calmness and clarity of mind and inner-strength.”
Meditation can help all people find that control over their negative emotions and achieve a sense of mastery over negative thinking. Mr. Epstein also emphasizes that once an individual clears his or her head of negative thinking, and then they can start adapting positive thoughts to help them succeed at whatever it is they want to do in their lives. He explains:
“If an individual sees, visualizes him or herself being successful in a particular field” or activity, “and does everything necessary to become successful, they eventually experience that success. But, if the individual thinks about his or her limitations, or what they feel is impossible, then they are limiting their own success; and they will probably never achieve it.”
This is why Mr. Epstein encourages his congregation at the Unity Center to practice meditation as part of their everyday.
“I lead a series of classes on ‘the art of forgiveness.’ I lead a half-hour meditation on Tuesday mornings and evenings, starting July 10th.”
While meditation can help clear one’s mind of negative thinking; how does this same technique help individuals come into closer contact with the spirit of God? Mr. Epstein elaborates:
“When you quiet your mind, you become aware of the joy, love and power within you. There is always a power within you; and your mind only begins to experience this power when you’re still.
“Afterward, that experience carries over to the rest of your day, and every day makes up a lifetime.
“[Experiencing this power] every day, becomes a part of your life. Once this experience becomes a part of your daily routine, you become calmer, you think more clearly. You are also healthier; more at peace and more sensitive to yourself and others. This helps you make better decisions. Most importantly, you become more sensitive to yourself and others.”
This last lesson is one that Mr. Epstein will teach at the Unity Center as part of his Sunday series called “Embracing your Magnificence.” In addition, attendees of the Unity Center can also expect Mr. Epstein to deliver messages that deal with similar principals that are in the book, Super You.
According to Mr. Epstein, Super You will be the go-to for those traveling the spiritual path and looking to experience the ‘power’ that is within them. He adds, “What took me 25 years to discover, through ministerial school, lectures and books, I put into 7 steps in order to save people time.
“I want them to learn how to access their greatest potential.” He adds, “In the Unity, the basic teaching says that there is a power in every person. No matter what religion, or if they don’t have a declared religion, there is a power within everyone.”
Throughout his journey as a minister, Mr. Epstein delivered sermons and messages in churches throughout many states. Some of these states include South Carolina, Virginia and finally, New York, where he has served at the Unity Center since 1999. On his journey, he’s met, “wonderful people throughout all parts of the country, who seek a greater awareness of their spirituality.” While Super You includes lessons that Mr. Epstein has learned throughout his experience as a minister; forming a relationship with members of his congregations, helped him understand what individuals needed as a literary guide on their spiritual journey.
Mr. Epstein invites everybody to visit the Unity Center website for all that will be happening at the Center in the Fall, and to learn more about the launch date for Super You.
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