Category Archives: Body, Mind & Spirit

Some Edible Flowers

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Eating Edible Flowers

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The culinary use of edible flowers is not a recent trend; it can be traced back thousands of years to the Greeks, Romans, and Chinese. Flowers were traditionally incorporated into many various cuisines –from Asian and East Indian to European, Victorian English, and Middle Eastern. Think of the lush rose petals in Indian food and the bright squash blossoms in the Italian meals.

Edible flowers fell out of grace, but they are making a huge come-back, not only as a fancy garnish, but also as an effective seasoning. Of course, flowers are not everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to cooking. The secret is to learn to pick the right ones and to combine them properly with other ingredients.

The buds and blooms of different plants offer a wide range of flavour, colour, and a tinge of whimsy. Some are irresistibly fragrant and tasty, others are spicy and sharp. Some are lemony or weedy while others are floral or herbaceous. The rich palette of taste and colour make edible flowers a perfect addition to almost every dish. Spruce up the regular meal with these surprisingly delicious blooms.

Not All Flowers Are Edible

Not every flower that you have in your garden is edible. Even though the buds may not be poisonous, they don’t all taste good! Luckily, most of the blooms of fruits, veggies, and herbs work just as great as their fully-grown counterparts.  It’s advisable to consume only plants that have been grown without pesticides or with such that are suitable for edible crops. If you buy flowers from expert gardeners, a nursery or garden centres, check to see if they are labelled as edible. Make sure you are not allergic to a certain type of plant before you use it. That said, here are a couple of tips on how to harvest and store your edible flowers.

  • Pick the blooms and buds just before you use them for the best flavour
  • Harvest during the cool of the day, after the dew evaporates
  • Brush off any soil and remove any insects hiding within
  • Wash the flowers gently and let them air-dry over a paper towel
  • If not used right away, keep them in the fridge for no longer than 10 days
  • They can be dried, frozen or preserved in vinegar or oil

Some Flowers You Can Grow and Eat

You can choose from a variety of annuals, biennials, and perennials that will look gorgeous in your garden and will add unique taste to your meals. Planting some of these flowers can introduce benefits both to your garden and your cooking routine. If you are looking for your next gardening projects, here are a couple of ideas you might want to consider:

Nasturtium

nasturtium flower

There are many reasons to consider planting nasturtium in your garden. These vibrant and versatile annuals serve a double duty – as an exquisite culinary delight and as a natural pest control. The sun-loving greenery will bloom from midsummer until the first frost. Its peppery tasting flowers can be added to fresh salads or used in your favourite pesto recipe. You can also skip the mustard, and stuff the spicy petals into your sandwiches with creamy cheese and sliced tomatoes.

Squash Blossoms

male squash blossom flower

These are probably some of the most widely used edible flowers, especially in the Italian cuisine. Squash blossoms are the flowers of the late-season pumpkins, zucchini, summer squash, and winter squash. The orange and yellow buds can be used raw in a salad or stuffed with cheese. They taste like a more delicate version of squash and can be fried or cooked with creamy rice.

Dill

Dill Flower

Dill offers remarkable benefits for both your health and your garden. It contains enzymes that help reduce the free radicals and carcinogens in the human body. Plus it prevents bone loss and has anti-bacterial properties. According to the gardening experts, the blossoms can attract pollinators and beneficial insects into your backyard. The flowers have light dill flavour and are usually added to jars with cucumber pickles.

Chives Blossoms

Chive flower

Chives don’t require any garden maintenance or efforts. Your site is probably filled with these lavender-pink flowers, so why not try them out? Toss them in a fresh salad, add them in a casserole, or cook them with fresh vegetables. Their taste resembles onions so don’t use too many of these pungent flowers.

Violet

african violet flower

Viola odorata or sweet violet is an all time classic when it comes to cooking with edible flowers. It was a favourite treat of English royalty and a popular ingredient during the Victorian era. The taste of this flower pairs well with lemon and chocolate. You can use it in different recipes – from crèmes and desserts to tarts and salads.  Violets can be quite challenging when it comes to cooking, because you will need a lot of them to extract enough flavour.

from:    http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/eating-edible-flowers

Taking Charge of Your Consciousness

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The Hijacking Of Consciousness

May 9, 2016 Spiritual Awakening

The Hijacking Of Consciousness

by Elva Thompson,

Toy bewitched.
Made blind by lusts, disinherited of soul,
No common centre Man, no common sire
Knoweth! A sordid solitary thing
Mid countless brethren with a lonely heart
Through courts and cities the smooth savage roams,
Feeling himself, his own low self, the whole.
Coleridge: Religious Musings.

Frequency War

Many of us are waking up to the fact that the world we live in is being engineered into a nightmare of controlled reality. We see our planet gutted and destroyed before our eyes and there seems no end to the ongoing ecological insanity. We feel outraged when satanic corporations, protected by ‘law’, pollute the earth in pursuit of reckless greed and deranged ‘respected scientists’ test bio weapons on helpless animals.

Many horrific events in this world don’t make sense to sanity…but they do make sense in terms of frequency.

The satanic cabal of Luciferians that run the circus in this density are physical and energetic parasites. They control everything that affects our lives and to keep us addicted to self, they use the law, media and entertainment industry to target our reptile brains and keep us in the mire of the matrix.

Everything in our multiverse is in a state of vibration and we are immersed in a sea of electro-magnetic resonance, being both transmitter and receiver of vibratory information. The constant bloodbath of war, the misery of millions, animal cruelty, sexual abuse of children, human trafficking, child sacrifice at the grid points of our planet, our fascination with ego and the sense bound world, all act as spiritual anchors that compromise our divine consciousness.

Nothing happens by chance

It is no accident, we are overwhelmed with negativity, in fact, it is deliberate. Human beings run on frequency and our thoughts and feelings affect our DNA. The negatively charged environment of ‘us and them’ prevents us from vibrating faster and we are drowning in fear that is constantly created for us by our handlers. We only have to watch the news to realize we are being played….for are we not constantly bombarded with fear porn and bad news? As a result of this bombardment, most people are in a constant state of fear and stress[reptile mind] and in that state of mind, it is easy to create drama and negative scenarios.

We know so little about who we are, and when we start to observe ourselves in action, we find there’s two of us in one body. The reptile mind can completely take us over, and once we are triggered our behavior can range from insults to physical violence, even murder. Each time we are overwhelmed by these instinctual and negative emotions, we are amplifying the lower frequencies that keep us enslaved to the program of duality…the fear field of the third dimension’s beta operating system-fight/flight.

Our handlers know that if they can keep us in fear, stimulate our base instincts and keep us in the game, we will never be able to upgrade our DNA.

Glamour…the art of deception.

Glamorous and deceptive advertising target our emotions, self image and sexuality. They make us want things we don’t need, products to make us feel and look better… and our reptilian minds are constantly stimulated to want instant gratification, at whatever cost.

And the rub is, most of us don’t even realize we are being controlled.

We are caught up in the spiders web of the ‘I’ll be happy when I …..have a new car, quit drinking, move to a new location, start a new job, lose weight, start a family, get a divorce, and our excuses for our pitiful state of being carries on……ad nauseum.

We are always looking for external gratification to make us feel good about ourselves…and it may for a while…but eventually it fails every time and we are back to where we started with our unhappy lives. To mask the symptoms of our spiritual unease, we escape into the salve of false religions, so called ‘teachers and gurus’, the martyr complex, drama, indiscriminate sex, prescription drugs, recreational drugs and alcohol. And, it would seem that we have been indoctrinated to be always in the ‘rushing mode’, always in a hurry…we lose our car keys, door keys, phone, put things down and can’t find them, go to the shops for something and get everything else but the thing we wanted. We are being constantly distracted by the reptile in our divine minds, and instead of slowing down and staying in the moment, we speed here and there until we are utterly exhausted.

There can be no spiritual development while we are anchored to a negative agenda and our path to liberation lies within ourselves. Once we begin to observe the schism within our own minds, the continuous war of ‘us and them’ in ourselves and our projected selves…the world, we realize that everyone is playing the game of duality and distraction, powering the grid with negative emotions.

Until we can control our thoughts and stay mindful in a positive now, we are all the enemy of planet earth.

The Cosmic Reset

We are in the Cosmic reset, the four year period of grace that follows the end of the Grand Cosmic year of twenty-six thousand years.

At this special time that started on December 21 2012, the planetary influences controlling our lives on Earth are at their weakest, and we have a chance to leave the dense duality of this dimension. This is the ascension timeline, the evolution of the life waves…the spiritual upgrading of our DNA.

Every being is geared to evolve, but we are regressing because our spiritual reality has been compromised by our controllers.

Frequency fences and the hijacking of DNA

There have been many modifications to our original genome, and one of them is the the placement of frequency fences in our consciousness. We are food animals farmed for our emotional distress and caught up in the electro- magnetic balance sheet of karma and, our handlers don’t want the food source they have created to escape the farm[matrix]. By stimulating our lower three ‘animal chakras’: security, sex and ego control of our environment, the powers that be can effectively control and negate the planetary grid, and this in turn keeps us anchored in the third dimension of duality.

The awakening

Many of us are waking up to the cruel realities of this dog eat dog world and are doing our best to save life and not take it. We are moving from ‘below the belt’ up to the fourth chakra of Air, the fourth dimension. No longer are we in service to self, the program of the lower three chakras, we have moved into the heart.

When we change our frequency, it’s almost like a bell rings in the matrix. The last thing our controllers want is for us to turn inward and strive to activate our divided blueprint, so when our bell rings …we can expect a distraction to knock us off course.

This attack can take many forms: psychic attacks, chronic anxiety syndrome, an accident, sudden onset of disease, divorce, eviction, emotional betrayal. The attack is to stimulate the reptile mind and keep us out of balance.

The crossroads

Humanity is at the crossroads and many do not understand that we do not have to function in this lower density. We can follow the reptile mind into the electronic slavery of transhumanism, or take the journey inwards to activate our divided blueprint and make it whole.

The choice is ours and ours alone.

from:    http://in5d.com/the-hijacking-of-consciousness/

Child, Play Outside!!!

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10 Ways Playing Outside Will Make Your Kid Smarter

Today, the average American child spends as little as 30 minutes outside in unstructured play each day.

When I was a kid, I lived outside. Most warm evenings would have me and most of the neighborhood kids riding bikes, building forts, catching lightning bugs, or just laying in the grass until the streetlights blinked on or our mothers called us for dinner. I grew up in an age when organized athletics for five year olds were rare, when parents didn’t orchestrate their children’s every waking moment, when mothers and fathers didn’t feel so pressured for their kids to perform and succeed. There was an abundance of free time and my mother didn’t want me in her hair. I am a much better person for it.

Today, the average American child spends as little as 30 minutes outside in unstructured play each day. Let’s be honest, that’s not enough time to organize a game of stickball or terrorize the neighborhood in a bicycle gang or even to get lost in thought lying in the warm spring grass. What are our kids doing with their time? Most of it is spent indoors behind a desk or dazed behind an electronic screen. The average American child spends as much as seven hours using electronics every day.

It’s a sad fact that our kids would generally rather FaceTime with their friends than actually play with them.

But aside from “free time” spent on computers and tablets and cell phones, parents are overly concerned with artificially enriching their children’s lives. Organized sports, and dance classes, and math camps, and scouts are where parents want their kids to spend their “extra” time. By organizing and carefully constructing a childhood, they hope to give their kids a leg up in the human rat race.

It’s a common thought that if a child isn’t spending time in school achieving academic excellence, then they should be studying and completing worksheets, and if there is still time left over, they should be engaged in carefully coordinated activities designed to make them better, smarter, higher-achieving people. All of this is going to have to go down on college applications one day, so we might as well start now and make it look good.

But there is no “extra” time. Kids are like us, they only have time. There’s nothing extra, and too much is sucked up by living a script someone else has created for them. Kids need to write their own scripts, just like adults. They need freedom. And quite often, they need to be outside and engaged in free play to become whole human beings.

Parents, if you’re worried about your kid getting into Harvard (and if so, I argue that you might be worried about the wrong things, but that’s a subject for another blog post), you still might want them to back away from the worksheets and violin practice and just go outside. There are a number of ways that playing outside makes kids smarter.

1. Playing outside improves focus. A 2008 study from the University of Michigan explored the cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. The study found that just walking outside, no matter the weather, and no matter whether the experience was actually enjoyable, helped improve memory and attention by 20 percent. So even when they don’t want to put down the tablet, and they complain about being miserable, just send them outside anyway.

2. Playing outside stimulates creativity. During open-ended play, kids have to make up ways to entertain themselves instead of relying on adults to do it for them. Being outdoors where there are rocks and dirt and sticks presents limitless opportunities for play experiences. No two playtimes will end up looking exactly the same. Being outside presents a plethora of opportunities for imaginative play, creative building, and inventive activities.

3. Playing outside promotes problem solving. During free outdoor play, children make up their own rules. They learn what works and what doesn’t. They learn when to keep trying and when to try something else. If playing with other children, they learn what types of interactions promote cooperation and which cause frustration. By solving their own childhood problems, they’ll be much more independent problem solvers as adults. Practice makes perfect in this area of life. If never given the chance to practice solving their own problems, how can we expect them to magically do it once they turn eighteen?

4. Playing outside develops leadership skills. Playing together outside, children must negotiate rules of games and the roles they play in them. Natural leadership skills will be developed as they play. No special workshops or lessons required.
5. Playing outside improves language skills. Children are so often told that they must be quiet indoors. “Use your quiet, indoor voice,” we often hear teachers tell their young pupils. But outside, children are free to be loud. Instead of others encouraging them to hush, they can experience a freedom to speak that the indoors doesn’t always provide. Many children (especially boys) are able to find their voices outdoors. And cooperative play, gives plenty of opportunities to communicate with one another. Children may issue instructions to each other on the building of a fort or the intricate rules of a spontaneous game.

Being outdoors always creates a lush context for vocabulary development, too. From discovering tiny animals, to expressing changing weather and seasons, to describing the texture rich environment of trees and stones, children are encouraged by the outdoors to try out new words and make them their own.

6. Playing outside is multi-sensory. During outdoor play, a child uses all of his senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, and even taste (If I had a dollar for every time I told a child, “Don’t put that in your mouth!”). Not all children learn the same way. By opening up experiences to all of a child’s senses, we help each child learn in their own unique way.

7. Playing outside relieves stress. It’s no secret that today’s kids are stressed out. As many as one in eight children and 20 percent of teens suffer from severe anxiety disorders. Modern children face pressure to perform from their parents, their teachers, and their schools. Children and their parents start thinking about colleges as early as kindergarten, and school systems place a huge emphasis on student test scores. It’s no wonder our children feel stressed out. But more than 100 research studies have shown that time spent outdoors reduces stress, anxiety, and depression. The cure for childhood depression and anxiety is literally waiting right outside our door. And a relaxed and unworried person makes a better learner.

8. Playing outside makes children healthier. You might not think that healthier equals smarter, but sick kids miss school and can easily fall behind. Besides, learning is more difficult when you don’t feel well. Spending time outdoors strengthens immune systems, making children healthier and less prone to catching common illnesses, and therefore less likely to miss school.

9. Playing outside encourages physical activity. Outside, children are free to run and jump and climb. There are opportunities to be physically active that just aren’t available in most indoor environments. There is a growing body of research that shows how physical activity positively affects brain health. Here are just a few:

  • A 2007 study from Columbia University discovered that regular exercise increased blood flow by 30 percent to the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning.
  • Psychologists at the University of of Illinois found that physically fit children scored better in a series of cognitive challenges.
  • A 2007 German study discovered that after exercise, people learned vocabulary words 20 percent faster than before they exercised.
  • A Swedish study showed that cardiovascular fitness is associated with cognition in young adulthood. The researchers hypothesize that aerobic activity produces specific growth factors and proteins that stimulate the brain.

10. Playing outside is fun. Learning is easier and longer lasting when it is fun. Being outdoors riding bikes with friends, organizing neighborhood “army” battles, and rushing to home base in impromptu games of tag are just plain fun. Those are the experiences that will stick with kids long after they’ve grown up and moved on to the “real world”.

So if you want your kid to get into Harvard, you might just want them to step away from the homework and just go outside and play. They’ll be smart for it… and certainly happier, too.

Featured image from: Source

from:    http://themindunleashed.org/2016/04/10-ways-playing-outside-will-make-your-kid-smarter.html

Consciousness Opening

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The 5 Stages of Awakening on the Path of Consciousness

By Nanice Ellis

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

What does it really mean to awaken? It is fair to say that awakening is a journey from limitation to freedom — from unconscious to conscious. Whether you intentionally choose to take this journey or an unexpected experience propels you onto the path, once you start, there is no turning back.

It is true that the journey might be quite arduous at times, but no matter how long or challenging, the extraordinary destination far exceeds any bumps and bruises along the way. The end result of full awakening is freedom from personal suffering, clarity of mind, boundless joy, inner peace and the ability to live an incredibly fulfilling life. The awakened state holds everything we have ever desired, and so much more.

Where Are You and What Comes Next?

There are 5 Stages of Awakening, and when you understand each stage, and where you are on the journey, you can recognize the sign posts along the way, and the possible pitfalls to avoid.

Please use the following guide as a way to navigate the stages of awakening, but keep in mind that everyone’s experience is different. There is no right or wrong way to wake up. Like art, it is all beautiful and perfect.

Stage 1 of Awakening: The Stage of the False-Self

Subtle awareness of “something more” begins to grow.

In Stage 1 of Awakening, we are most asleep, and we do not even know that we are asleep. We are entrenched in mass consciousness and going through the motions of life, generally following the rules of culture and laws of the land.

We don’t usually question reality or seek answers beyond what is necessary for survival and maintenance of a lifestyle.

Our identities define us and we live within the construct of religion, culture and/or society.

We may even play the part of victim or perpetrator.

Unconscious programming runs us, and, as a result, we see the world in black and white – good and bad. We likely process a rigid model of the world according to our specific programming.

Because there is a great desire to fit in and be accepted, in this stage, it is common to sacrifice our needs and compromise our values in order to receive approval and be included in our desired community, be that family, culture, business, religion, etc…

Self-worth is likely conditional and attached to identity or the roles we play, or there may be other means of proving that we are worthy.

Because the ego generally runs the show, we likely believe we are the ego, with little or no awareness that there is a greater part of us.

In stage one, happiness is based on externals, therefore, in order to feel happy, we try to control reality; other people, places and experiences.

Although we attempt to control our lives, for both happiness and security, it is more than likely that our emotions rule, and our actions and reactions are based on our moment to moment feelings.

We make no connection between our thoughts/beliefs and our experiences in reality, and, therefore, we have no direct ability to consciously create our reality.

Despite our unconscious nature, the first signs of awakening happen during this stage; a “flash feeling” that there is something more, or an inkling of doubt that makes us uncertain about life or reality.

Stage 2 of Awakening – The Stage of Questioning

The doubts experienced in stage one begin to turn into meaningful questions. The first signs of movement from unconscious to conscious are experienced.

In Stage 2 of Awakening, we experience a growing discomfort in our lives. There is a feeling that something is wrong or missing. We begin to question mass consciousness and the validity of rules, beliefs and laws. Things that used to bring us comfort like religion or traditions are no longer satisfying and the places that we once found answers no longer provide relief.

We question our identity but we still hold on to it because we must continue to prove our worth, and we don’t yet know ourselves outside of our human identity. As we question the roles we play, we may feel lost, and even betrayed by others or life in general.

We may even blame religion, family, culture, government or the world for our problems, or maybe we blame specific people for our dysfunctions. As we shift responsibility onto others, we feel powerless over our lives; not yet realizing that in order to take back our power, we must take responsibility. In this stage, we might move from victim to survivor, but we are likely still blaming others and feeling powerless.

We begin to ask, “Who am I? Why am I here?”

Although we are searching for answers, we still hold on to certain limiting beliefs that keep us enslaved in the reality we have known. When we attempt to challenge these beliefs, fear brings us back, keeping us asleep a little longer.

In our discomfort with reality, and our search for answers, we may experience a great deal of confusion, overwhelm, anxiety and even depression. We “keep up” with our lives but we are secretly just “going through the motions.”

As we experience a variety of challenges designed to help us wake up, tolerable discomfort turns into pain and suffering. As our disempowering beliefs are demonstrated in real life situations and relationships, we get our first glimpse of the unconscious programs running our lives, but our desire to fit in and be accepted is likely stronger than any desires to free ourselves. Although this is the beginning of our internal programs breaking down, we are still trying to prove our worth by demonstrating our importance and seeking approval for our efforts.

We begin to understand that happiness cannot be found in the outside world, but we are still playing the game – seeking happiness in other people, places and experiences.

In this stage, there can be a great deal of emotional triggers. We may even experience trauma or remember past trauma. Emotions are generally very strong, and we may feel most fragile or vulnerable. What we do not yet realize is that our issues are coming to the surface to be healed and released.

Even though we are beginning to see the world in a whole new light, we may still possess black and white thinking – maybe more than ever. We are not ready to take responsibility for our lives and, therefore, we make little or no connection between our thoughts and our experiences in reality.

As the outside world no longer satisfies our hunger, the journey inward is about to begin.

Stage 3 of Awakening – The Stage of Introspection

Immense personal/spiritual growth and the start of conscious evolution through self-discovery.

In Stage 3 of Awakening, we begin a journey of introspection. In Stage 2, we rebelled against the external world with little or no success in relieving our pain, suffering or discomfort, so now we retreat as we begin to seek answers inside ourselves.

We start to disentangle from mass consciousness, releasing many limiting beliefs that were programmed into us by asleep parents, teachers, culture, society, religion and media. As we release these beliefs, we may experience both grief and relief. If we spent a life time imprisoned in beliefs that caused emotional suffering, physical hardship and lost happiness, we may grieve for the life we never had, and at the same time, we may feel great relief as we break free from limitation.

As we recognize how asleep we have been, we can clearly see that most people we know are still asleep. We try to wake them up, but our attempts are seen as judgmental and, therefore, met with deaf ears.

Not surprisingly, with our eyes wide open, it is common to experience greater judgment of other people (friends and strangers alike), society and the world. Others may feel our judgment and defensively respond with their own judgment of us. We are seen as different, weird and maybe even crazy. Sooner or later, we decide to keep our growing awareness to ourselves; maybe rationalizing that it’s better to be silent than be judged. At this point, we don’t have a lot of hope that others will wake up.

We are still focused on everything that is wrong in our lives, and in the world, but, at the same time, we have resistance to letting go. The process of letting go is often “the work” in this stage, and, as we learn to let go, Stage 3 is where we may leave unsatisfying jobs, intimate relationships, families, friendships, religions, organizations and any disempowering ways of life. We may disentangle from roles we played, reject our past identity, and there may even be a total withdrawal from society.

Our former model of the world is failing and we no longer see the world in black and white or good and bad. There may be a growing sense that we are all connected, but at the same time we may feel completely disconnected from every other human being. In many ways, we are faced with the dichotomy of life and existence.

The most common attribute of stage three is loneliness. In a sea of billions of people, you may feel like you are the only one awake; no one understands you, and there is no one with whom to connect. At this point, you might begin to question “the questioning” – why did you ever begin this journey? What’s the point of waking up, if you must be alone and lonely? After all, you might have been unhappy when you were asleep but at least you had friends, family and people who cared about you. Now, there is no one. You consider “going back.” You wish you could forget about everything you now know just so you can be part of a family or community. You yearn for “normalcy” in order to fit in with others, but you also know that it is too late. You cannot forget what you have remembered, and despite your loneliness and your desire to fit in, you wouldn’t go back or undo your path even if you could.

Issues of worthiness often surface in this stage, because the ways, in which, we once proved worth no longer work or are no longer available because we left the job or situation that once made us feel worthy. We may still try to seek approval, acceptance or appreciation or get other emotional needs met by those still in our lives, but it doesn’t fulfill us, as it once did, and we are left feeling empty – forced to deal with feelings of unworthiness on our own.

Our desire to fit in and be accepted is slowly being drowned out by our desire to be free and awake.

In the quest for answers and relief from emotional pain, we may embark on some sort of spiritual practice such as meditation, yoga or mindfulness. If we are not using the practice to avoid something, its purpose is likely to get us somewhere, accomplish something or wake up.

In stage three, we may experience the first real sense of power, but, if the ego claims this power, we may have challenging and humbling experiences.

By now, we may be able to see the connection between our thoughts/beliefs and the creation of our reality, and, as a result, we try to control our thoughts, but it is a difficult process because old programs are still running.

We no longer look outside ourselves for happiness, but maybe we don’t yet know how to find it within. Peace and freedom may also take precedence over happiness.

Stage three is often the longest stage and almost always the most challenging, but it is also the most important in terms of awakening.

This stage is marked by the swing between resistance and letting go, with moments of clarity and enlightenment, but they don’t last. It is very common to have multiple experiences of awakening in this stage and even to believe that each one is the final awakening; only to find yourself back in “reality”, hours, days or weeks later. With each experience of awakening, the sense of your higher self grows stronger. You are unknowingly making room for this real self to emerge in your consciousness and integrate in your life.

In stage three, it is common to experience a fear of losing oneself, and you may struggle to maintain a sense of self, but ultimately, toward the end of this stage, an ego-death is inevitable. When the ego loses hold, there is often a realization that there is no point or purpose to life. This can be liberating, like a breath of fresh air, or it can be devastating, resulting in hopelessness and despair. Without point or purpose, we no longer know how to live our lives, and nothing is ever the same.

There is a foreboding sense that awakening will cost you everything, yet, at the same time, there is a greater sense that something inside you is waking up.

Stage 4 of Awakening – The Stage of Resolution

Spiritual awakening is effortlessly experienced in everyday life.

Stage 4 of Awakening is the stage of resolution where your true self has finally overshadowed your false self or ego self. The struggle that you experienced in the first three stages is over and you experience a deep peace and knowing of who you really are, and you are no longer seeking answers. This is fondly known as the Eckart Tolle Stage.

All your beliefs have been overhauled in the past two stages, and the beliefs that remain support harmony and balance. You have mastered the art of letting go, and surrendering to a higher power. You also experience and have access to the inner power you possess, without ego control.

Doubt has been replaced with faith and trust. You are able to see and understand your life in such a way that your past and present all makes sense. You have forgiven everyone for everything, including yourself.

Unconscious programming has been replaced with consciousness, and there are no emotional or mental prisons holding you captive.

You take responsibility for your entire life, no longer blaming anyone for anything. As you have freed yourself, you have freed all the people who have ever been effected by your judgment and expectations.

You are no longer trying to prove your worth. You now know and own your intrinsic worth, and, as a result, you experience unconditional self-love.

Although you might still be alone on your journey, you experience a deep and profound connection to all of life and the sense of loneliness has likely faded into all oneness. The need and desire for the old paradigm of relationships has shifted and you no longer yearn to fit in or be “normal.” You allow yourself to be exactly who you are, without needing approval or acceptance from anyone. You no longer have a need to change anyone or help those you love wake up, and you are pleasantly surprised that some people you know are actually awakening. All your relationships improve, and the new people who come into your life are better aligned with who you are.

In this stage, you integrate your insights and develop greater understanding for the journey you have been on. You may teach, mentor or share, but not because you feel you have to, or because you need to, but only because it brings you joy, and you are guided to do so. You may have a compelling desire to support others on their journey or you may have no inclination whatsoever. If you take the role of teacher, mentor, healer or coach, you do not take responsibility for others, but rather you empower them to empower themselves. You don’t take anything personally, and another’s behavior has little, or no, effect on you.

During stage four, it is common to have some sort of spiritual practice, such as meditation, yoga or mindfulness, but not because you are trying to get somewhere or accomplish something (as in the previous stage), but rather because it feels good to you, and it is a natural expression of your life.

You may also experience increased intuition and the ability to access infinite intelligence, as if, you have a direct line to unlimited information.

This stage is marked by living in the moment.

You have made peace with the realization that there is no purpose or point to life, and, as a result, it is effortless to live in the present moment. Your love for life and all living beings overflows unconditionally with gratitude and appreciation as a common state of being.

The concepts of good and bad have dissolved, and, yet, you have the full knowing that inside everyone and everything is love.

You take stock of yourself, realizing that you are still you. You are free from ego-control, and no “authentic parts” have been lost in the journey to awakening. Your personality may be quite the same, but you are likely more easy-going and light-hearted.

Either you have found a livelihood that is aligned with who you are, or you have made peace with your present day livelihood.

There is really no thought of happiness because you no longer need anything to make you happy. You have realized that the secret to happiness is living in the moment and it is now easy to be present at all times.

You have learned how to master your thoughts and beliefs, but, surprisingly, you may have no desire to change anything in your life.

Although you likely experience a full range of emotions, emotions no longer rule you or control your choices or relationships.

Your higher self has integrated in your body, and you live your life as this real self.

You are finally conscious and awake, and grateful that your past “asleep-self” had the courage and tenacity to make this journey. It was worth it – a million times over.

Stage 5 of Awakening – The Stage of Conscious Creation

The ability to consciously create one’s life from the awake state.

Many people arrive at stage four and mistakenly believe it is the final stage of awakening, but it is actually a bridge to an even greater experience of awakening.

In Stage 5 of awakening, you experience, and deepen, all the attributes of stage four, but you also step into your power as conscious creator.

Although there is no pre-ordained point or purpose to life, you now understand that the point and purpose of life can be anything that you choose, and you integrate this understanding by consciously choosing the purpose of your life, because that is the point. Work and play merge into one, and you experience peace and fulfillment equally in both.

You no longer do anything out of obligation or need, but, instead, you are guided through inspiration and pure desire.

You experience a direct connection to all of life, and you are inspired to create in a whole new manner. Through intuitive connection with Infinite Intelligence, you might develop new paradigms of community building, teaching or leadership.

At this stage, you have the ability to attract relationships and form communities that support the betterment of humanity. Since you have mastered your thoughts and beliefs, you can now consciously create the life you desire; living in the moment, while also creating for the future.

In pure connection with Prime Creator, you are channel of expression in all you do.

Whatever stage you might now be experiencing, you cannot get it wrong and there are no tests to pass. Awakening is simply a natural process, just like the caterpillar that awakens as the butterfly.

A common question is, how long does each stage take? The time we spend in each stage is not predetermined, but we can move through a stage quicker and easier when we utilize a mindfulness practice of letting go. Letting go is truly the secret of awakening.

As more and more people awaken, a threshold of awakening will be experienced, and the masses will awaken in a much a different paradigm than those of us who have already awakened or who are awakening now. The stages of awakening will be less defined and maybe even disappear altogether.

No matter where you are on your journey to awakening, you are exactly where you need to be.

from:    http://www.zengardner.com/5-stages-awakening-path-consciousness/

Belief Systems, Illusion, & Awakening

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Crossroads, Off-Ramps and the Time of Transition

by Zen Gardner
by Zen Gardner

It’s human nature to look for resting places. Naturally there’s a time to rest in many aspects of life, but when it comes to the pursuit of truth and increased awareness and conscious activation there really is no stopping place.

Awakening has its own form of peace and rest by its very nature as we’re tapping into other wondrous realms of empowerment and inspiration. Nevertheless, like swimming, our challenges to learn and grow are ever present and cannot be ignored without serious consequences.

While there’s a mistaken idea that once awakened, always awakened, and everything is clear sailing from then on, the truth is that awakening is a continual process, one which we’re only just embarking upon.

Choosing a relevant path-1

Crossroads and Off Ramps

It’s interesting watching the alternative research community evolve. Many are talking about the increased infighting and the apparent new belief system adherence that’s distracting so many. These things are bound to arise I suppose, especially with those that want to see the community implode, but it’s also endemic to the very nature of truth pursuit.

The closer one gets to the summit of any climb, the more intense the external conditions. Even the air is thinner up high, and the temptation to find an off-ramp to a road side place of comfort is strong.

However not all are simple side tracks. Some are cleverly devised and very appealing distractions. Some appear as very plausible alternatives that we think might be worth exploring, even just out of curiosity, but sometimes become a lifelong diversion. Look at any belief or religion, including materialism and scientism. The soul is aspiring to find answers and solutions and here are ready-made closed systems with seemingly all the answers.

“Ah, peace at last. Now we can lay down and camp out with no more serious worries or climbing to do, especially in that increasingly harsh weather further up the mountain. Besides, here are all these other people who feel the same as I do.

“What a comfort – this must be right. After all, we’re endorsed and accepted by the system. Peace at last.”

To Go On, or Not Go On

Most of life’s serious choices aren’t easy. That’s why so many avoid the conditions that may bring them on. However, life has a habit of getting in the way of our gravitating towards safety and security. Things go “wrong”, or so it seems. Our plans get thwarted for one reason or another, or our stability is rocked by some event or life change.

While we’re programmed to think of these as bad turns of events, they invariably lead to greater opportunities to develop what really matters in life regarding our true purpose here and our soul’s progress. However, most fight these changes or spend countless years in unnecessary anger, denial, remorse and bitterness, never getting the point life was trying to hand them.

It’s not easy in a world engineered to halter human spiritual development. But this too brings out the fighter within us and checks our determination to really progress, not just for ourselves but for the good of those around us.

It’s a sifting process. We can go on and keep learning and growing and letting go of the old, or hang on to what we find comfortable and convenient. This usually takes the form of a nice, easily justified place of compromise, with just enough truth wound in our new found chosen life fabric to keep our conscience at bay.

Or so we think. Again, life has a way of reaching into every corner of existence and testing us regardless.

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Take the Challenge

Wherever we find ourselves, and in this rapidly shifting world that will be a lot of “places” and circumstances, whether brought on by our own actions or resulting from external factors, that will continue to evolve. As I’ve often said, not only is this a continually shifting landscape we’re living in, our very perspective is continually shifting as well.

All of this is ours to interpret and integrate into our lives. If we so choose. We can take the bunker mentality and try to close it all off but in the long run that won’t work, just as the death of our physical bodies is inevitable.

The challenge we’re each presented with is a beautiful one. It’s fear that freezes people into a defensive stance rather than taking life on as the challenge that it is. And as we know, that is why fear is incessantly pumped into the body politic in any and every form possible, to paralyze humanity and keep it from waking up to its true nature.

Follow the Questions

A simple remedy to stagnation is asking questions – continually. Don’t take anything at face value. Why are you feeling the way you are? What caused you to make that last decision or set some goal? Why do you value this over that, or have the attitude you do that makes you take the course of action you’ve chosen in your life, immediately or overall?

Then there’s the external world. Why is all this happening? Who or what is causing it? What information is reliable and how do I find it and discern right from wrong? And most of all, what’s my real place in all of this? Why am I here and who or what am I? What is my true purpose for being here?

It’s in the question – and our determination to pursue meaningful answers.

With courage. Then act on it. Make the sacrifices needed to do the right thing. Screw the consequences to your former paradigm.

As more do so, we’ll continue to see a major shift here and now, not just later. Don’t judge by all the zombies running around – look for the awakening. It’s alive and growing. We may not see the ultimate fulfillment of our heart’s desires for humanity and our planet in this lifetime, but this is all part of the process. Ours is simply to fulfill our rightful role.

Yes, it’s few compared to the many, but how much light does it take to light the darkness? Because the task seems so great at times, is that reason to not keep advancing? To hell with the naysayers and downers who can’t see this. They’re clearly not looking in the right places, never mind being in the right frame of mind.

Light your torch and that of as many others as you can. I’ll be there with you.

Bonfire or bust! Let that be our motto – but it happens one lit candle at a time, starting with ours. The numbers don’t really matter. It’s the intention and commitment – all else follows.

from:    http://www.zengardner.com/crossroads-off-ramps-transition/

The Universe & Vibration

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Sacred Geometry and the Unified Field of Consciousness

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Unified Field of Consciousness

Einstein believed that there was an equation for a Unified Field that could explain the reason for everything in existence.  With this knowledge, time, space and even humanity’s origin could be deeply understood.

5a69ef_91538f3019dd446ba7418401cfa401bcToday, in the world of quantum physics, there are so many mysteries that our current understanding of reality seems unequipped to grasp phenomena such as the double slit experiment, the observer effect, phantom DNA and quantum entanglement.  At the same time, there are many scholars beginning to think outside the box.

Quantum Physicist Ph.D. John Hagelin explains the foundation of the Universe is a single Universal field of intelligence.  Particles of nature are understood to be One, a Universal ocean of pure, vibrant consciousness in motion. We are just different ripples on a single ocean of existence at the basis of everything.

“Just as the waves are continuous with the ocean. Your body is continuous with the total energy system of the cosmos, and it’s all you.” — Alan Watts

New evidence is beginning to show us that everything is Energy and the result of an indiscernible sound wave or frequency. Vibrational frequency creates the energy that becomes solid matter. Galaxies, planets, plants, animals and humans are all just waves of vibration of this Unified Field. In essence, we are literally united and One at the core!

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Connected Universe

“The Universe is connected and alive and we are a part of the metric of space.” — Nassim Haramein

Nassim Haramein, the Director of Research at the Resonance Foundation, was deeply inspired by Einstein and continued to pursue Einstein’s idea that geometry held the key to creating a unified equation for the Universe. He proposes that space is not empty, but rather full of untapped energy.  This action, reaction, and connection between the energy present in space is creating a dynamic flow in the Universe.  Simply put, it could be thought of as “the Universe is dancing with energy”.

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In the Resonance Foundations various media productions, Nassim explains the idea of a Holofractographic Universe. His findings explore the fractal (infinitely repeating pattern), holographic (illusion) and geometric nature of space from the macrocosm to the microcosm, and thus how the potential of the Whole is within each piece of the Universe on every scale.

“Geometry will draw the soul toward truth and create the spirit of philosophy.” — Plato

Sacred Geometry

“Learn how to see. Realize that everything is connected to everything else.” — Leonardo da Vinci

Everything in the universe is geometrically connected.  Sacred Geometry is the source code of the Unified Field. It’s the language of nature, a fundamental blueprint of the universal creation process.

It’s not a coincidence that human hands & tree branches have the same fractal growth patterns or that our hearts & the Earth have the same toroidal-shaped electromagnetic field.  Even our embryos contain the fundamental geometries of star clusters and galaxies.

Patterns are always present when our eyes are open. Every single system in nature uses fundamental mathematical languages as a template for growth. We can find all kinds of mathematical formulas and sequences in nature, such as the Golden spiral/ratio or Fibonacci sequence/numbers in pineapples, sunflowers, tornado formations and even galaxy arms.

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When we start to see universal patterns everywhere we look, a realization of interconnection occurs deep within us. We start to see that all is intimately unified. When this occurs, we begin to simply choose Love in every aspect of our lives.

“True love is born from understanding.” — Buddha

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Ascension & Healing HeArt

5a69ef_0da913c19fae4e0ea167bc500f41086eAs our understanding of Sacred Geometry develops, we begin to see deeper connections between Science & Spirituality.  As a reminder of our interconnected & united nature with all life, interacting with Sacred Geometry on a daily basis invites harmony & balance into our experience. This idea inspired and changed my life profoundly and I found myself at the center of my passions by exploring Sacred Geometry as a communication tool with consciousness in everyday life.  I found my purpose by participating in nature’s harmony.

“Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever.”  — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I’ve learned that visualization & attention are key in 5a69ef_6fc9a828e0f64ee6bc88f7e017520a34spiritual growth.  They are fundamental in many energy practices such as Qigong, Tai-chi and Reiki. Creating designs based on Sacred Geometry help us to visualize, touch and play with Universal Energy formations, giving us direct communication with the divine.

This is a meditative art that can help us find resonance with our inner and outer lives. Eventually this intention brought me to develop my dream project, Healing HeArt, where I am able to develop and share this deep and meaningful experience with everyone by creating personal communication tools and crafts for seekers.

For the first time in human history we have technology to create precise patterns without any error or mistake. Thankfully there are laser machines available for everyone to produce any possible design from a collective digital platform to the physical world.

5a69ef_df3c0fc24bc2404aa652401179959a0fThe possibilities are infinite when it comes to creating art pieces, tools, crafts, toys or even small size constructions wherein we can meditate or experience the harmonious presence around us.

As Sacred Geometry reflects the potential of the collective, we can also create amazing innovations together and support various artists with our collaboration.

You are not here reading this by accident, you are here for a greater purpose than you could ever imagine. We are here to restore the balance and uplift humanity into the next stage of evolution; from separated duality consciousness to interconnected unity consciousness, in which all life is in equilibrium and harmony.

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”– Buddha

from:    http://themindunleashed.org/2016/03/sacred-geometry-and-the-unified-field-of-consciousness.html

Human & Not!

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19 Pieces Of Non-Human DNA Found In Human Genome

March 23, 2016 | by Robin Andrews

Photo credit: Peekaboo, we see you. Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock

Eight percent of your DNA is alien, in that it’s made up of non-human, viral fragments. In fact, viral fragments are often hiding within the genome of anything on Earth that has a jaw and a spinal cord, which is a remarkable reminder of how they’ve shaped evolution for hundreds of millions of years.

A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that we are even less “human” than previously thought: Nineteen new pieces of ancient viral DNA have been uncovered within our own genome. Perhaps most strikingly, the full genetic “recipe” for an entire virus was found within 2 percent of the people examined.

Retroviruses of all kinds have their genetic code in the form of RNA, often seen as the primitive precursor to DNA. These viruses infect their host cells by inserting a DNA-based replica of their own RNA into the genome of their host, which can include humans. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an example of a contemporary retrovirus that infects humans in this way.

Ancient retroviruses have been infecting our ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years. Fragments of this virus-manufactured DNA remained within our ancestors’ genomes, which has been copied and passed down from generation to generation. These fragments are known as human endogenous retroviruses, or HERVs.

Previous estimates put our own DNA as being at least eight percent HERV, and the authors of this study were searching for signs of new HERVs within humans. They looked carefully at the genome of 2,500 people from all around the world, and compared their genomes to a “reference” type, a digitized genetic sequence assembled by scientists that acts as a representative sample of our own species’ genome.

The newly discovered provirus could potentially behave like a fully working retrovirus. nobeastsofierce/Shutterstock

The researchers found 19 new HERVs, adding to the 17 previously identified by other studies. One of these new HERVs (found within 50 of the study subjects) was not a mere fragment of a viral genome, but the entire genome itself. This makes it a “provirus,” and is only the second known to exist within humans. Although it has yet to be proven, this provirus could potentially replicate and behave like a working virus, unlike the fragmented HERVs.

“This one looks like it is capable of making infectious virus, which would be very exciting if true, as it would allow us to study a viral epidemic that took place long ago,” said the study’s coordinating author John Coffin, a virologist at the Tufts University School of Medicine, in a statement.

Some HERVs have been adopted by our own bodies to serve useful purposes, including one that aids pregnancy. This particular HERV helps in constructing a protective cell layer around a fetus in order to stop toxins from the mother’s blood infiltrating it.

As they are often an integral part of our biology, hunting down these HERVs is essential for medical research. This study has added another bunch to the pack – as well as revealing how “alien” we truly are.

from:    http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/ancient-viruses-are-hiding-within-your-dna

Beliefs & Reality

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8 Limiting Beliefs That Plague the Spiritual Community

March 27, 2016 

8 Limiting Beliefs That Plague the Spiritual Community

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by Andrea Schulman,
Guest writer, In5D.com

Would you consider yourself a part of the spiritual community?

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you are probably well-aware that I am a proponent of the Law of Attraction. I know that many of my readers are spiritually-minded, kind and insightful people who care about others and who want to make the world a better place.

However, while the spiritual community is often very well-intended, at times it promotes struggle and hardship through limiting beliefs without even knowing it.

I’ve been on social media for years, and I love seeing so many spiritually-themed blog posts, memes and videos. Knowledge of spirituality and metaphysics has grown tremendously over the years.

However, not everything that glitters is gold, and not everything labeled as “spiritual” actually alleviates spiritual suffering or promotes unity, love and spiritual ascension.

Below are 8 common limiting beliefs in the spiritual community that make life harder than it needs to be. With the Law of Attraction, we create more of whatever we focus on, so focusing on the limiting beliefs below actually causes an expansion of these problems and limitations.

We live in a universe based on attraction, and we get what we believe in. When we choose to believe in the ideas below, we bind ourselves to them, and our reality reflects them in greater strength and frequency.

Common Limiting Beliefs in the Spiritual Community Today:

  1. People who have money are corrupt and/or greedy. Money erodes spirituality.
  2. You have to eat organic/gluten free/vegan in order to have a high vibration.
  3. The government is corrupt.
  4. Drugs/alcohol lower your vibration/prevent you from being “spiritual.”
  5. You must bring awareness to social problems like hunger, violence, or illness in order to find the solutions to them.
  6. Humans are destroying the planet.
  7. You need to get rid of the negative/toxic people in your life if you want to be happy.
  8. The “elites” are conspiring against the rest of us.

I know the premise of this article may be unpopular with some, and I understand why. After all, there is factual basis for these limiting beliefs. These issues and limitations do exist in our universe, and I certainly do not dispute the fact that there is evidence to support these claims.

Because these issues exist, they have been commonly debated and discussed and have ramped up a lot of momentum in the spiritual community. At the heart of these discussions are always passionate people who want to leave behind a better world for our children.

However, just because these problems and limitations exist and we want to get rid of them, our attention to them does nothing to make life easier on any of us. In fact, our attention to these issues literally makes the problems worse and the limitations more binding.

To prove my point, here are a few questions to consider:

  1. Has our attention to the problems in the government made the government less corrupt? If whistleblowing and exposing corrupt politicians was effective, wouldn’t our government be free of corruption by now?
  2. Has raging against the elite class evened the playing field at all? Have you noticed that the separation between the upper and middle class has actually widened dramatically as we’ve paid more attention to the disparity between the social classes?
  3. Have you ever noticed that what is considered “unhealthy” changes as time goes on and we can’t seem to truly pinpoint what is healthy vs. what is unhealthy? For example, in the 80s sugar was the devil, and aspartame was touted as the healthy solution. Today, though, it’s the other way around! No matter how much we figure out what is unhealthy, new nutritional “problems” keep cropping up.

In any event, you will see quickly that focusing on problems and limitations does not create lasting and effective solutions. Instead, when we focus on problems, they expand and become more commonly known and experienced.

So while many people feel they must focus on limitations and problems out of duty or responsibility, this is actually a misconception. Spreading awareness only enhances and expands limitations and problems.

Why does spreading awareness expand problems and limitations?

Well, the truth is, we live in a universe with infinite realities. There are infinite versions of this world and our life in it, some “good” and some “bad.” There is a version of the world plagued by poverty, corruption and greed, another one radiating love and light, and a version for every possible combination between the two.

We get to choose what version of the world we experience through our focus. We can choose to focus ourselves into realities where problems and limitations like these exist, or we can choose to focus ourselves into realities where these issues are relatively unheard of.

This is how the Law of Attraction works. Out of a sea of infinite outcomes, each of us gets to align with whatever outcome we are focused on through our attention and our belief.

This is why some people get cancer from smoking at a young age, and others smoke into their 80s or 90s without incident. It’s why some people can eat whatever they want and stay trim while others gain weight without eating much at all.

The truth is, there are no “rules” that apply to everyone and every situation. We get to decide which rules apply to us individually through our focus and belief.

When we insist on limitations and problems by discussing and debating them, we keep ourselves firmly rooted in a reality where we believe in them and therefore they must exist.

However, though these problems do exist in our current reality, we do not have to continue to live in a world with these issues. We always have the option to change our focus and redirect to a more wanted version of reality.

How do we redirect ourselves to a “better” version of reality?

Well, the first thing to realize is that it simply isn’t possible for us to eradicate problems and it isn’t possible for us to standardize the “right” way to live life. We live in a universe of inclusion, not exclusion.

Everything is possible and must exist in an infinite universe. The good and the bad, the popular and the unpopular, the likely and the unlikely all must exist somewhere.

It isn’t your job, or my job, or anyone else’s job to eliminate all of the problems. Additionally, it isn’t anyone’s job to define the “right” way to live or be spiritual, because these are individual choices that each of us has the ability to create in our own lives.

In other words, it’s possible to be healthy and eat junk food. It’s possible to get cancer from junk food. It’s possible to be on drugs and be very spiritual, and it’s possible to be on drugs and be extremely disconnected.

It’s possible to keep the negative people in your life and be happy, and it’s possible to be surrounded by toxic people who drag you down. It’s even possible for toxic people to change! It can go whichever way we focus it into being.

To align with the world we prefer, we just have to let go of the world we don’t prefer. We let go of the world we don’t prefer by letting go of the debates, the arguments and the discussion of all of the problems that plague humanity in the realm of the universe we would like to leave.

We don’t let go because we don’t care, or because we want to be ignorant and certainly not because it’s easier to turn a blind eye. Rather, we let go because we care and because we are enlightened to the fact that our focus aligns us to the world we live in and experience.

We let go because we want to live in a world where generosity, prosperity, health and kindness abound for everyone. We let go because we know we cannot help anyone by focusing on their problems.

Universal truths

At the end of the day, there will always be a way to negatively focus, and therefore there will always be problems when we go looking for them. There are versions of this world much worse than the one we live in, and we can focus ourselves down much further if we choose to.

However, the same is true for the opposite end: there will always be a way to positively focus, and there are versions of the world much better than this one we live in. We can reach new heights through focusing our attention into these realms.

It can always get worse, but it can also always get better.

Ascend to the next level. Release yourself from the responsibility to change things you cannot change about this corner of the universe, and instead focus yourself into into the corner you’d prefer to exist in. Allow yourself to experience what’s possible, rather than what already is.

from:    http://in5d.com/8-limiting-beliefs-that-plague-the-spiritual-community/

Ancient Wisdom & Healing

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Belief and the Healing Arts of Ancient Civilizations

byzantine hippocratic oath

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The majority of this article and all of the quotes are taken from The Healing Gods of Ancient Civilizations (1925), by Walter Addison Jayne, M.D.

The various superstitious practices of the ancients may seem strange to us, but some of the drugs and therapies that were used then have been rediscovered over the last several hundred years, and have proved to be of great value.

Today, the modern doctor has the snake symbol of Aesculapius. In those ancient times (as well as today), medical practitioners faced the problem of how to stimulate the recuperative powers of the afflicted patient into action. Old temple disciplines included purification, temple-sleep, and various hypnotic rest states. Bodily processes were aroused and focused through intensities of suggestion, through touching the patient, along with lifting the faith of one who was ill.

Perusing the deeper concept of the ancient healing gods, we find it focuses upon the idea of a body-mind relationship. Hippocrates believed that body and mind are a unity, and to affect one is to affect the other. Modern medicine has taken more of the viewpoint of isolating the “one cause” and prescribing a specific remedy that will bring the solution. Interestingly, although Pasteur originally held strongly onto the effect of the microbe in medicine, his dying words were, “the microbe is nothing, the terrain is everything.”

The earliest definite knowledge of Egyptian medicine is obtained from several medical papyrus manuscripts from the twelfth dynasty, about 2000 B.C. In those writings, it stated that it was the duty of the pharaohs to maintain the health of their subjects. From the ancient writer Maanetho, we read that King Athotis of the first dynasty of the Thinites practiced healing and wrote anatomical works. “Eventually all the great medical centers were located at the chief capitals along the Nile. These shrines were depositories of medical lore, and the ancient traditions are confirmed by the lists of diseases and their cures. Clement refers to forty-two Hermetic books at the temple of Hermopolis, of which six were medical texts giving formulas and remedies. On the walls of sanctuaries were inscriptions and tablets in commemoration of miraculous cures with statues and steles erected by former patients in grateful recognition of cures effected by the divinity.”

Healing methods in the ancient days consisted of religious rites, ceremonies and special formulas which brought forth the mysterious, miraculous powers of deities and other supernatural beings. The healing theme centered around the idea of expelling the unseen, malicious actions which caused disease. Appeals to the gods for the cure of disease were made orally or in writing.

The priest/doctor would make the examination and give the ceremonial form of diagnosis. The patient would then make a formal statement regarding the problem, such as, “I, (patient name), am a sufferer with (naming the disease or the problem).” Treatment consisted of incantations, prayers and possibly the giving of some remedy along with commands, spells, coaxing and threatening. All of these had some symbolic meaning which served to impress the mind of the patient.

“Egyptians assumed that the body was divided into 36 parts, each of which was under the sway of a certain god. ‘There is no limb of his without a god,’ (Leyden Papyrus, a.k.a. Leiden Papyrus) and so invoking these, they heal the diseases of the limbs.”

On some occasions the priest would put on a disguise and would appear to a patient as the god of the body part, imitating the god in voice and gesture, and utilizing relics to chase the evil spirits away.

Remedies were given to assist the spoken formulas, with many remedies given to patients, by the gods, during their dreams. Time has proven the value of many of the modalities then employed, such as castor oil, aloe, mint, myrrh, copper, lead, salt, cedar, opium, and others that are still in pharmaceutical use. “It would appear that remedies used without the magical words were valueless or failed their full effect.”

There is no question that the aspect of the mind in the healing process was a strong consideration. When we review the wording of the incantations from any of the ancient papyri, then this theory becomes very clear. The Ebers Papyrus states in its opening line, “this is a book for healing all disease.” An example of an incantation given while drinking a remedy states, “Welcome, remedy, welcome that which destroyest the trouble of this my heart and in these my limbs… the magic of Horus is victorious in the remedy.”

Another incantation for cataract of the eye reads, “come ointment, come to the patient and take from him the water, the pus, the blood, the pain in the sys, the chemosis, the blindness, the flow of matter which are being worked there from the god of inflammations, of each kind of death, of each kind of pain.”

The Greeks also believed that disease and death, like other processes of nature, were ascribed to superhuman agencies. Although there was a belief that Zeus sent disease, in a declaration attributed to Zeus in the Odyssey, we read, “Alas, how forsooth, do mortals reproach the gods! For they say that their evils are from us, whereas they themselves, through their own infatuations, suffer grief beyond what is destined.”

The Greeks looked to the power of the gods for healing, using customary rituals, hymns of praise, prayers and sacrifice. An elaborate system existed of beneficent acts of friendly deities, demigods, and heroes. These took precedent irrespective of all other means employed. Greek cures consisted of two major methods, direct and indirect.

Direct healing was through divine intervention, very commonly by the transmission of the divine power by means of some agent or sacred object. The healing power of the gods was transmitted by simple divine presence, by the laying-on of hands, through some sacred relic, or through the medium of a priest, priestess, or sacred animal.

Asklepios (Asclepius) healed Theopompos, the writer of comedies, by the laying on of hands. A man having but one good eye slept in the temple, and dreaming that Asklepios applied an ointment to the empty socket, he awoke in the morning with two sound eyes. Marinos tells of Procius, the philosopher, who suffering from arthritis, had covered the part with a cloth. A sparrow, sacred to Asklepios, plucked the cloth away, and the disease with it.

Gaining power to cure oneself by touching the image of the god, or his altar, was often used. For example, the statues of Theagenes in Thasos, Pulydamas at Olympia, and the Corinthian general Pelichos was thought to possess healing powers for fevers.

Indirect cures were obtained by following directions received through dreams and visions. Fragments from the shrine at Lebena records cures due to application of remedies indicated by the gods in visions. Therapies included mild and innocent purgatives, roots, herbs, diets, fasts, baths, rubbing with ointments, and gymnastics. “Tales of the marvelous cures effected at the healing temples spread the fame of the healing deity, Asklepios, throughout Greece. It was such common knowledge that the sick, in going to these sanctuaries for relief, were probably already imbued with a certain religious fervor, while their imagination was excited by the hope that they also might be the recipient of the divine grace.”

The dream temples were quite well known. Psychology played an important part in the healing success. “At Pergamon, patients were conducted through the sacred spot by attendants who related the legends and explained the remarkable cures recorded on the steles and tablets. The tablets and symbols that covered the walls of the temple were examined, then, the patient being properly prepared, was allowed to approach the image of the god, offer sacrifice with prayer, and allow the diseased part to come in contact with the hand or other part of the statue. An air of sanctity pervaded the temple and the sacred spot, and the sick could not fail to be deeply impressed by the majesty of the deity and the supernatural powers with which he was endowed, so that, with imagination fired by the marvels of the sanctuary, the patient awaited the mysterious events which would take place during the night of dreaming in the temple.” In the morning, the dreams and visions of the night were told to, and interpreted by, the priests, who then gave appropriate directions for any treatment that should be carried out. Belief was an integral part of the ancient healing arts. The learning of the virtues and attributes of the gods produced the activation of the healing powers within the patient. Whether it was the Egyptian, Greek, or other ancient civilization, they understood the importance of stimulating the patient’s own healing energies that surely led to the miraculous cures which did take place.

There is an important place today for the theories of healing utilized by the ancient civilizations. The mind and body have not changed significantly in the last few thousand years, only the manner in which we view and utilize their relationship.

from:    http://www.wrf.org/ancient-medicine/belief-and-the-healing-arts-of-ancient-civilizations.php

On Zen, Dogen, & No-Self

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Note to Self: There is No Self

Brad Warner

The following is excerpted from Don’t Be a Jerk by Brad Warner, published by New World Library. 

 

There probably is not one teaching in the entire Buddhist canon that causes more confusion than the teaching of no-self. The existence of a self is taken as a given by pretty much every religion and philosophy, apart from Buddhism. In fact, the idea of no-self is so difficult that there are even sects of Buddhism that find workarounds to redefine self and try to sneak it in through the back door somehow.

When I first encountered this idea of no-self, I conceived of it the way most people do when they first come across it. First off, it seemed completely absurd. It was the denial of something that I could clearly see for myself was true.

You can deny the existence of the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot. You can tell me there’s no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. But the existence of self? Come on! That’s obvious. René Descartes proved the existence of self with a simple five-word formula: “I think, therefore I am.” End of argument. Self must exist because here I myself am, thinking of things and writing them down, and here you yourself are reading them. Who else could be doing these things if it wasn’t my self and your self? How could anyone with any common sense at all deny that?

But okay. I was game to try. I respected my first Zen teacher, and I didn’t think he would tell me lies. He believed there was no self, and it seemed like this belief made his life better. My life was not going that great and I wanted some of whatever it was that seemed to make his work. Besides that, the rest of what he said about Buddhist philosophy and practice made sense. Or, when it didn’t make sense, at least it usually didn’t feel like it was denying something I could clearly see was true. So I started working with the idea of no-self.

My initial forays went something like this. I figured I had a self but that it was my job to eradicate it in order to feel happier and more peaceful. My understanding of self was that it included my personal jumble of likes and dislikes, attitudes, ideals, personal history, beliefs, habits, hobbies, and so on. I figured I had to somehow get rid of all that and become a clean, blank slate. If I could whitewash everything I considered to be “me,” I would be rid of self and then maybe I’d stop being such a wreck all the time. So I went about trying to do that.

But as I was doing that, I started to realize that my first teacher, Tim, didn’t appear to have erased his personality. He liked certain things and disliked others. Just like me, he adored Star Trek but thought Lost in Space was pretty dull. He had very specific opinions on politics. He had some rather peculiar habits that he didn’t seem keen to eradicate. He was, in fact, a very strong personality, a very strong self, if that’s how self was defined. This was one of the things I liked about him. So what was I doing trying to erase my personality?

Tim really liked a book called Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by  Shunryu Suzuki, which I’ve already mentioned, so I read that through a few times. In the chapter titled “Emptiness” Suzuki says, “When you study Buddhism, you should have a general house cleaning of your mind. You must take everything out of your room and clean it thoroughly. If it is necessary, you may bring everything back in again. You may want many things, so one by one you can bring them back. But if they are not necessary, there is no need to keep them.”

That actually kind of scared me. For one thing, I’m a fairly messy person. I didn’t like cleaning my room at all in those days. There are a few photos of rooms I lived in when I was younger that make me cringe when I see them now. And even today I’m probably not most people’s image of the ideal housekeeper. But that isn’t what really put me off. What made me truly scared was the idea that I’d have to do a house cleaning of my mind.

Nowadays, having lived in Japan for eleven years, I know precisely the type of house cleaning Suzuki was thinking of when he said this. In Japan there’s a tradition of doing something called osoji at least once a year. Osoji literally translates as something like “big cleaning.” It’s like what we call spring cleaning, but more extensive than what most Americans do when they spring clean. In Japan, during osoji time, you take everything out of the house. And I do mean everything! The books, the knickknacks, the dishes, the bookshelves, the furniture — everything that’s not nailed down gets taken outside. Sometimes even the stuff that is nailed down gets taken apart and moved outside. Then you clean up the house thoroughly, after which you clean up all the stuff you took out, and then you start putting it back inside. It’s a pretty massive task. When you’re putting stuff back in, you get to see how much useless junk you’ve accumulated since the last osoji and you always end up throwing a lot of it away.

Osoji usually takes place around New Year’s Day, a time during which most businesses are closed for five days, although the tradition of remaining closed for five days is slowly starting to erode. So not only is this tough work, but it’s usually cold as hell outside when you’re doing all that scrubbing. When I first encountered this tradition it seemed like madness. But once you’re done, your house feels great!

I didn’t know anything about osoji when I first read Suzuki’s book, but now that I do I get an even clearer picture of what he was saying. If I’d known then what I know now, I’m sure I would have found the prospect even scarier.

What he’s talking about is metaphorically taking everything that you think of as your self out of your head and looking at it carefully and critically to see if it’s really necessary. He does say you can bring some of it back inside. But read between the lines, and you can see that he’s implying that there’s a lot of stuff in there you won’t want to bring back.

This idea scared me because it wasn’t just paperback novels I’d finished reading or broken guitar effects boxes I finally had to admit I’d never get around to fixing that he was telling me to throw away. He was telling me to throw away pieces of me! That is a much scarier prospect. It wasn’t just scary. It sounded utterly impossible.
For me this was especially tough because I prided myself on being a true individualist. I got through high school knowing that even if I was just a nerd boy that the pretty girls ignored, at least I was truer to myself than the jocks and preppies who liked what everybody else liked and dressed the way everybody else dressed. I dared to be different and I was, I thought, justifiably conceited about it! I had to be! It was all I had going for me!

Now here I was just a couple years out of that mess, being told to clear all that stuff out. What would I have left if I did? Would I become a mindless vegetable? Would I turn into one of those culties who just stares blankly off into space all the time? Or worse, would I become just like the jocks and preppies I hated, accepting everything the mainstream media told me because I had no self and therefore no opinions of my own? Or would I be opening myself up to being brainwashed by my teachers? Would I be just like the pod people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The prospects were not attractive!

But the idea of no-self isn’t like that at all. It’s not that we have a self and we are being asked to get rid of it. There is something real that we call “self” and that we ascribe certain characteristics to. It’s just that once we call that thing “self” we are already on the wrong track, and anything else we say about it will be mistaken.

It would be ridiculous to insist that the aspects of our experience indicating that we are autonomous individuals with our unique history, personality, and point of view simply do not exist. I have my own credit cards and driver’s license, which you cannot use. I know the password to my Wi-Fi at home, and you do not. I remember things that happened in my life that I could not possibly convey to you, even if I tried my hardest. I have opinions that you do not and probably a few you couldn’t even comprehend, the same way I cannot fathom why some people hold the opinions they hold. All this and more applies to you as well and to every human being or animal who has ever lived.

When Buddhists talk about no-self they are not saying all the foregoing is false, nor are they saying it’s all true but that we have to utterly destroy these aspects of who we are. Rather, they are saying that applying the idea of self to this real stuff is a mistake.

The word used in early Buddhist writings for the concept of self is atman. Atman was an idea propagated by many Indian philosophers and is similar to the Christian idea of the soul. It starts from the sense of “I am” that all of us experience. This “I am” feeling is taken as evidence that there is a permanent abiding something in us that remains stable and constant throughout the changes we experience. Thus the soul you had as a four-year-old child is the same soul you have today. This soul is different from the body because even though the body clearly changes, the soul does not. Many philosophers further extrapolate that the soul survives the death of the body. This makes sense if we accept the basic idea of the soul. If you believe that the soul remains unchanged while the body ages, it follows that the soul is not the body and it therefore follows that the soul could go on even after the body decays and dies.

The Buddha completely rejected this idea. First of all, he noticed that what we refer to as the soul or the atman does change. Our personalities do not remain static throughout our lives. We mature internally as well as externally. The Buddha did not accept the idea that body and mind were two different kinds of substance.

Yet something experiences the world uniquely in the case of each one of us. You are reading this book. Somehow my thoughts about self are being conveyed to you across time and space. My thoughts are not exactly the same as yours, or you wouldn’t have bought this book. You are not me, and I am not you. What are we to do with that except say that you have a self, and so do I? Even if we don’t accept the idea of the immortality of the soul or the idea that mind is made of some kind of ethereal substance that is different from matter, we have to accept that your mind and my mind are not the same mind. Otherwise we wouldn’t need to have conversations or read books or watch movies or listen to music in order to access each other’s thoughts and feelings.

Most of us only ever experience that way of looking at things. No, that’s not exactly right. Most of us are taught that looking at things this way is the only correct way of understanding the world. I think everyone experiences the other side of the equation at some point in their lives. As children, our sense of self is much more fluid than it becomes later. We also have moments of transcendence when the barriers between ourselves and others fade away. Sometimes this happens during sex. Sometimes it happens in large public gatherings like concerts or sporting events. Sometimes it happens in religious services and ceremonies. We all know about this other side of human experience, but we are conditioned to disregard it. Or we imagine that it only happens at rare, special times and places. We miss the fact that this transcendence is actually continuously happening throughout every moment of every day.

Meditation practice helps make this clearer. Moments of transcendence and oneness no longer seem like anomalies. You start to notice that your individual identity and the identity of the universe itself are not two separate things.

Certain Indian philosophers who meditated took this as evidence that the individual atman was part of a supreme atman that was basically the soul of the entire universe. They called this super-atman “Brahman.” And just to confuse those of us outside India, they also called certain people who preached this idea Brahmin and named their chief god Brahma. Be that as it may, this Brahman is said to be sat-chit-ananda, or “being, consciousness, and bliss.”

Yet, like the atman, Brahman is supposed to be something apart from the material universe. The Buddha could see no reason to believe in the existence of something beyond the material universe. It’s not that he thought matter was the only thing there was. Rather, he saw that matter and the immaterial were different aspects of the same unified reality. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.

The idea of no-self means that we do not interrupt this oneness with our individuality. In the January/February 1985 issue of Matter magazine, my all-time favorite singer-songwriter, Robyn Hitchcock, told an interviewer, “Inasmuch as a mind can discuss itself — it’s a bit like a mirror looking at itself, only I don’t know how much truth there is in that. You put two mirrors up against each other, and there’s infinity, but you can never see it, ’cause your head blocks it off.” This is a remarkably astute metaphor for the problems inherent in looking at the true nature of what we call self.

 

from:   http://realitysandwich.com/319707/note-to-self-there-is-no-self/