Sacred Worth: The Spiritual Foundation of Internal Locus

BY NICOLE LAU

Series: Locus and Spirituality - Worth in Transcendence (Part 7 of 7 - Series Finale)

We have journeyed through seven articles exploring locus in spirituality:

• How different traditions teach inherent vs conditional worth
• Religious external locus and conditional divine love
• Mystical internal locus and inherent divinity
• Spiritual bypassing vs genuine transcendence
• Meditation as achievement vs resting in being
• Karma and merit as transactional worth vs cause and effect

This final article integrates everything. It presents the vision: sacred worth—the spiritual foundation of internal locus.

You are sacred simply because you exist. This is not earned. This is not conditional. This is truth.

What Is Sacred Worth?

The Definition

Sacred worth is the recognition that you are inherently valuable because you are a manifestation of the divine.

You are not separate from the sacred. You are not outside of God/Brahman/Buddha-nature/the Tao. You are an expression of it.

Therefore, your worth is not conditional on belief, behavior, or spiritual achievement. It is inherent in your existence.

The Spiritual Foundation of Internal Locus

Internal locus, at its deepest level, is a spiritual recognition:

"I am valuable not because of what I do, but because of what I am—a sacred being, a divine expression, a manifestation of ultimate reality."

This is not arrogance. This is truth. And it is the foundation of unshakeable worth.

Sacred Worth Across Traditions

Christianity: Made in God's Image

"So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them." (Genesis 1:27)

The teaching: You are made in God's image. You bear the divine imprint. You are sacred simply because you exist.

Mystical depth: "The kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21) - The divine is not distant but immanent, within you.

Hinduism: You Are Brahman

"Tat tvam asi" (You are That) - Chandogya Upanishad

"Aham Brahmasmi" (I am Brahman) - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

The teaching: You are not separate from ultimate reality (Brahman). You are it. Your true nature is divine.

Buddhism: Buddha-Nature

"All beings are from the very beginning Buddhas." - Hakuin Ekaku

"The nature of mind is Buddha from the beginning." - Padmasambhava

The teaching: You already have Buddha-nature. Enlightenment is not becoming Buddha—it is recognizing you already are.

Islam/Sufism: Divine Breath

"And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, 'I will create a human being out of clay. And when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration.'" (Quran 38:71-72)

"I was a hidden treasure, and I loved to be known, so I created the creation that I might be known." (Hadith Qudsi)

The teaching: You carry the divine breath. You are created to manifest the divine. You are sacred.

Taoism: One with the Tao

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao." (Tao Te Ching 1)

"Man follows the earth. Earth follows the universe. The universe follows the Tao. The Tao follows only itself." (Tao Te Ching 25)

The teaching: You are part of the Tao. You are not separate from the Way. Your nature is already aligned with ultimate reality.

Indigenous Spiritualities: Sacred Interconnection

"Mitakuye Oyasin" (All my relations) - Lakota

"Ubuntu" (I am because we are) - African philosophy

The teaching: You are sacred because you are part of the sacred web of life. All beings are related. All beings are valuable.

Spiritual Practices That Cultivate Sacred Worth

1. Contemplative Rest

Practice: Sit in silence. Do not strive. Do not achieve. Just rest in being. Rest in the awareness that you are already sacred.

Affirmation: "I am sacred simply because I exist. I do not need to earn this. I just need to remember."

2. Loving-Kindness (Metta)

Practice: Offer loving-kindness to yourself and all beings:

• "May I be happy. May I be well. May I be safe. May I be peaceful and at ease."
• "May all beings be happy. May all beings be well. May all beings be safe. May all beings be peaceful and at ease."

Teaching: You are worthy of love. All beings are worthy of love. This is inherent, not earned.

3. Gratitude for Existence

Practice: Each day, offer gratitude for the gift of existence:

"I am grateful to be alive. I am grateful to exist. I am grateful to be a manifestation of the sacred."

Teaching: Existence itself is sacred. You do not need to achieve anything to be valuable. You are valuable because you are.

4. Sacred Embodiment

Practice: Honor your body as sacred. Feel your breath. Feel your heartbeat. Feel your aliveness.

"This body is sacred. This breath is sacred. This life is sacred."

Teaching: You are not just spirit—you are embodied spirit. Your flesh is sacred. Your humanity is sacred.

5. Service as Expression

Practice: Serve others not to earn merit, but to express your inherent worth and recognize theirs.

"I serve because I am sacred and you are sacred. This is not transaction—this is recognition."

Teaching: Service flows from fullness, not need. You give because you are already whole.

6. Forgiveness as Release

Practice: Forgive yourself and others not because you must, but because you recognize inherent worth.

"I forgive because I am sacred and you are sacred. Our worth is not diminished by mistakes."

Teaching: Forgiveness is not condoning harm. It is recognizing that worth is inherent, not dependent on perfection.

The Integration: Spirit, Psychology, and Embodiment

Sacred Worth Includes All Dimensions

Sacred worth is not just spiritual—it is integrated:

1. Spiritual Dimension

You are a manifestation of the divine. You are sacred.

2. Psychological Dimension

You have inherent worth. You do not need to earn it. This is internal locus.

3. Embodied Dimension

Your body is sacred. Your emotions are sacred. Your humanity is sacred.

4. Relational Dimension

All beings are sacred. You recognize your worth and theirs. This is compassion.

5. Ethical Dimension

You act from love, not fear. You take responsibility without shame. You serve from fullness.

The Wholeness

Sacred worth is not bypassing the psychological or the embodied. It is including everything.

You are sacred in your joy and in your pain. You are sacred in your strength and in your vulnerability. You are sacred in your enlightenment and in your confusion.

All of it is sacred. All of you is sacred.

The Vision: A World of Sacred Worth

Imagine a world where:

• Every person knows they are sacred simply because they exist
• Children are raised with the teaching: "You are valuable. You are sacred. You do not need to earn this."
• Spirituality cultivates inherent worth, not conditional worth
• Religion is love-based, not fear-based
• People act from fullness, not need
• Compassion flows naturally because everyone recognizes everyone's inherent worth
• Systems of oppression crumble because they cannot survive when people know they are sacred

This is not utopian. This is what happens when people recognize sacred worth.

This is the spiritual foundation of internal locus at scale.

The Invitation

This series has explored locus in spirituality. But knowledge without practice is just theory.

The invitation is this:

For You

• Know you are sacred. Not because you are good, not because you are enlightened, but because you exist.
• Rest in this truth. You do not need to earn worth. You need to remember it.
• Practice from love, not fear. Serve from fullness, not need.
• Honor your body, your emotions, your humanity. All of you is sacred.
• Forgive yourself. You are learning. You are valuable.

For Your Spiritual Practice

• Practice without transaction. Meditate, pray, or serve to express devotion, not to earn worth.
• Integrate spirit and psychology. Do not bypass the embodied. Include everything.
• Cultivate compassion. Recognize your worth and others' worth.
• Act from love. Take responsibility without shame.

For the World

• Teach children they are sacred simply because they exist
• Build spiritual communities that cultivate inherent worth
• Challenge systems that teach conditional worth
• Offer compassion to all beings, recognizing their inherent sacredness

The Final Word

Spirituality, at its best, teaches the deepest truth about worth:

You are sacred simply because you exist.

This is not earned through belief, behavior, or spiritual achievement. This is inherent.

You are made in God's image. You are Brahman. You are Buddha-nature. You carry the divine breath. You are one with the Tao. You are part of the sacred web of life.

This is not metaphor. This is truth.

And when you know this—deeply, not just intellectually—everything changes.

You do not need to prove yourself. You do not need to earn love. You do not need to achieve enlightenment to be worthy.

You are already whole. You are already sacred. You are already free.

The spiritual path is not about becoming worthy. It is about remembering that you already are.

This is the spiritual foundation of internal locus. This is sacred worth.

And it begins with you. With your recognition. With your choice to know, deeply, that you are sacred simply because you exist.

The rest will follow. And it will be real.

The Locus and Spirituality series is complete. May you know your sacred worth. May you rest in it. May you live from it.