We do not understand the of properties the soul or body, yet the body was given to us so that we could learn from it. The properties of the physical and the earth are meant to lead us into the nature of the soul. We create physical reality, yet without knowing how we do , so that the wondrous structure of the earth itself is meant to lead us to question our own source. Nature as we understand it is meant to be our teacher. We are not its master.
They expect that its products will be unreal or not valid in the physical world. Yet there is a great correlation between what we think of as creativity, altered states of consciousness, play, and “spiritual” development.
When we create a poem or a song or a painting we are in a state of play, of enjoyment, of freedom. We intend to make something different, to produce a new version of reality. We create out of love, for the sake of the experience. At one time or another almost everyone has that kind of experience, but children have it often. They compose songs and music and paintings in their heads. They alter the focus of their consciousness frequently. They do not stop to ask whether or not the play is real or pertinent. Physically, play develops their body mechanisms. It also flexes the great capabilities of their minds.
When we think: “Life is earnest,” and decide to put away childish things, then often we lose sight of our own creativity and become a goal that must be attained. The goal is to be achieved through hard work, and as long as we believe this we do not understand what the spirit is.
A natural analogy–plants do not work at developing their potential. They are not beautiful because they believe it is their responsibility to please our eye. They are beautiful because they love themselves and beauty. When we are so serious we almost always distort the nature of our own spirit as far as our understanding of it is concerned. We cannot let our guard down long enough to discover what it is. We keep looking for new rules or regulations, or methods of discipline.
Chromosomes are microscopic bodies into which the protoplasmic substance of a cell nucleus separating during cell division. They carry the genes, the factors or units–‘blueprints’–that determine hereditary characteristics.
There is consciousness in everything. Visible or invisible to us, each fragment, of the universe has a consciousness of its own. Pain and pleasure, the strongest aspects of all consciousnesses, are experienced by every fragment, according to its degree. Differentiation is of course various, and it is in the degree of differentiation that consciousnesses are different.
Reincarnation simply represents probabilities in a time context.
To a certain extent we do carry the knowledge of our forefathers within our cells and chromosomes, which present a pattern that is not rigid but flexible–one that in codified fashion endows us with the subjective living experience of those who, in our terms, have gone before. Some very old cultures have been aware of this. While being independent, individual members also identified with their ancestors to some extent, accepting them as portions of their selfhoods. This does not mean that the individual self was less, but was more aware of its own reality. A completely different kind of focus was presented, in which the ancestors were understood to contribute to the “new” experience of the living; one in which the physically focused consciousness clearly saw itself as perceiving the world for itself, but also for all of those who had gone before– while realizing that in those terms he or she would contribute as well as the generation past.
The animals were also accepted in the natural philosophy of selfhood as the individual plainly saw the living quality of consciousness. The characteristics of the animals were understood to continue “life,” adding their qualities to the experience of the self in a new way.
The human body would be used in earth’s great husbandry as, from it, dying and decaying new forms would arise. This was a give-and-take in which for instance, a jungle neighborhood was truly home, and all was a portion of the self psychically, spiritually, and physically.
Let those who will, laugh at tales of spirits turning into the trees–a simplistic theory, certainly, yet a symbolic statement in such societies: The dead were buried at home in the same close territory, to form in later times the very composition of the ground upon which religions grew. Again, our limited concepts of selfhood make what I am saying difficult for us to perceive.
I am not saying, that the living consciousness of each individual returned to the earth literally, but that the physical material permeated and tamped with that consciousness did, and does. Even the cells retain knowledge of all of their affiliations. In physical terms the consciousness that we understand is based upon this.
Selfhood is poorer when it does not at least intuitively understand this heritage.
Walking down the street, we expect the trees to stay in their places, and not transform themselves into buildings. All of these assumptions are taken for granted in our physical journeys. We may find different customs and languages, yet even these will be accepted in the vast, overall, basic assumptions within whose boundaries physical life occurs. We are most certainly traveling through the private and mass psyche when we so much as walk down the street. The physical world seems objective and outside of oneself, however. The idea of such outsideness is one of the assumptions upon which we build that existence. Interior traveling is no more subjective, than a journey from New York to San Francisco. We are used to projecting all destinations outside of oneself. The idea of varied inward destinations, involving motion through time and space, therefore appears strange.
Generally speaking, we have explored the physical planet enough so that we have a good idea of what to expect as we travel from country to country.
Before a trip, we can produce travel maps that outline the attractions and characteristics of a certain locale. The mode of transport has taken different folds. We used to travel by flight in economy or even rent private jet. Now, we see travelers in motor bikes and also on foot! However, much of what we explore are part of what is already discovered. We are not traveling blind folded, therefore, and while any given journey may be new to us, we are not really a pioneer: The land has been mapped and there are few basic surprises.
The inner lands have not been as well explored. To say the least, they lie in virgin territory as far as our conscious mind is concerned. Others have journeyed to some of these interior locales, but since they were indeed explorers they had to learn as they went along. Some, returning, provided guidebooks or travel folders, telling us what could be expected. We make our own reality. If we were from a foreign land and asked one person to give us a description for reality. The person might say “Las Vegas is a frightful place in which crime is rampant, gangs roam the streets, murders and rapes are the norm, and people are not only impolite but ready to attack us at a moment’s notice. There are no trees. The air is polluted, and we can expect only violence. ” If we asked someone else, this individual might say instead: “Las Vegas has the finest of casinos despite their decline since the rise of online casinos like paybyphonebillcasino.uk. Additionally, Las Vegas has open-air concerts in some of the parks, fine sculpture, theater, and probably the greatest collection of music outside the Nashville. It has a good overall climate, a great mixture of cultures. In it, millions of people go their way daily in freedom. ” Both people would be speaking of their private beliefs, and would be colored by the individual focus from which each of them viewed that City.
One person might be able to give us the city’s precise location in terms of latitude and longitude. The other might have no such knowledge, and say instead: “I take a plane at such-and-such a place, at such-and-such a time, giving Las Vegas as my destination, and if I take the proper plane I always arrive there.
Explorers traveling into inner reality, do not have the same kind of landmarks to begin with. Many have been so excited with their discoveries that they wrote guidebooks long before they even began to explore the inner landscape They did not understand that they found what they wanted to find, or that the seemingly objective phenomena originated in the reflections of the psyche.
We may, for example, have read books numbering the “inner realms,” and telling us what we can expect to encounter in each. Many of these speak of lords or gods of the realm, or of demons. In a strange way these books do provide a service, for at certain levels we will find our own ideas materialized: and if we believe in demons then in those terms we will encounter them. The authors, however, suppose that the devils have a reality outside of our belief in them, and such is not the case. The demons simply represent a state of our own mind that is seemingly out there, objectified. Therefore, whatever methods the authors used to triumph over these demons is often given as proof not only of the demons’ reality but of each method’s effectiveness.
Now if we read such books we may often program our activity along those lines, in the same way that a visitor to Las Vegas might program experience of the city in terms of what he of she had been told existed there.
That kind of structuring also does a disservice, however, for it prevents us from coming in contact with our own original concepts. There is no reason, for example, to encounter any demons or devils in any trance or out-of-body condition. In such cases our own hallucinations blind us to the environment within which they are projected. All of its dimensions are faithfully and instantly produced as experience when we learn to take our “normally alert” conscious mind with us; and when we are free of such limiting ideas, then at those levels we can glimpse the inner powers of our own psyche, and watch the interplay of beliefs and symbols as they are manifested before our eyes. Until we learn to do this we will most certainly have difficulty, for we will not be able to tell the difference between our projections and what is happening in the inner environment.
Any exploration of inner reality must necessarily involve a journey through the psyche, and these effects can be thought of as atmospheric conditions, natural, at a certain stage, through which we pass as we continue.
Our world, is the result of a certain focus of consciousness, without which that world cannot be perceived. The range of consciousness involved is obviously physically oriented, yet within it there are great varieties of consciousness, each experiencing that seemingly objective world from a private perspective. The physical environment is real in different terms to an animal, a fish, a man, or a rock, for example, and different portions of those forms. This is highly important.
If an inhabitant from another reality outside of our own physical system entirely were to visit it, and if “his” or “her” intelligence was roughly of the same degree as our own, he or she would still have to learn to focus his or her consciousness into the same way that we do, more or less, in order to perceive our world. He or she would have to alter his or her native focus and turn it in a direction that was foreign to him or her. In this way he or she could “pick up our station.” There would be distortions, because even though he or she managed such manipulations he or she might not have the same kind of native physical structure as our own, or course, through which to receive and interpret those data his altered consciousness perceived.
Our visitor would then be forced to translate that information as best he or she could through his or her own native structure, if it were to make any sense to his or her consciousness in its usual orientation. All realities are the result of certain unique focuses taken by consciousness. In those terms, there is no outside. The effect of objectivity are caused as the psyche projects its experience into inner dimensions that it has itself created.
Within, those frameworks are ever expanding, so that in our terms at least it seems that greater and greater distances are involved. Travel to any other land of physical reality must then involve alterations of consciousness.
While all of our thoughts and feelings are “somewhat” materialized, only some of them become physical in our terms. They are then accepted as physical reality. They provide the basis for the physical events, objects, and phenomena upon which we all agree. Therefore our world has a stability that works well enough for daily concerns. At that point we are tuned in precisely on our “home station.” We ignore the ghost symbols or voices, the probable actions that also occur, but that are muffled in the clear tones of our accepted reality. When we begin to travel away from that home station, we become more aware of the other frequencies that are buried within it. We move through other frequencies, but to do this we must alter our own consciousness. The probable realities connected with our own system are like the suburbs, say, surrounding a main city. If for simplicity’s sake we think of other realities as different cities, then after we leave our own we would pass through the suburbs, then into the country, then after a time into other suburbs until we reached another metro-city. Each metropolis would represent a conglomeration of consciousnesses operating within an overall general frequency of clearest focus, a high point of psychic communication and exquisite focus in the given kind of reality unless we are tuned into those particular frequencies, however, we could not pick up that reality. We might instead perceive the equivalent of jumbled sound or meaningless static, or jigsaw images. We might simply realize that some kind of activity was there, but without being able to pinpoint it.
Thus far in my blogs we have been dealing with conflicting beliefs, however — and most of those can be tackled in the context of this life alone.
These beliefs may have physical or mental repercussions, though in most cases the two do not occur at once. We have dealt with some of the numerous physical dilemmas than can result. In other instances the individual encounters the difficulties on mental or emotional levels. One portion of the personality might be wholeheartedly in favor of good expression of personal power, and be stimulated to express and use his or her energy and strength. Another portion of the personality may be just as terrified of power or its uses as the other segment exults in it.
Instead of developing physical complications, in usual terms, sometimes one portion of the personality actually does act with assurance, power, and energy, while another equally valid portion refuses to use energy or power in any way whatsoever. The ideas are so opposing, and such equal adversaries, that the conscious personality can hardly bear to be aware of both at once.
In such cases, while one portion of the personality is expressing itself, and in command of the usual conscious abilities, the other portion lies acquiescent, latent, and unexpressed.
The individual may act purposefully, with power, energy, and strength, for varying lengths of time. Then sometimes without warning the frightened, inactive portions of the personality will take over the normal abilities of consciousness — acting depressed, taciturn, and communicating very poorly with others.
One portion of the personality will carry on conscious behavior — go to work, shop, or whatever, while the other portion of the personality will not remember performing those acts at all.
Take a hypothetical case. Call Marlo A the assertive part of the personality, and Marlo B the passive partner. Marlo A may go out dancing, go to a bar, then turn the entire proceedings over to Marlo B, who finds herself in noisy surroundings, surrounded by people she does not remember, and with no idea how she reached the present destination.
Her trend of memory will go back to the last time that she was in charge of consciousness, and she will have — or may not have — any idea of the existence of Marlo A at all. Marlo A may enjoy action, sports, dancing and bodily activities, while Marlo B may prefer reading, walking, or painting.
Such personalities may even have separate sets of friends — Marlo A and B each having their own companions. Though these personalities may seem so divergent, they are connected with each other, however, and they may on occasion set up their own rather bizarre kind of communication. They may write mysterious notes to each other, leaving them where they are bound to be found — yet notes using a special code or symbols of drugs, because too clear a communication would disrupt the entire relationship.
People may actually carry on such existences for years, until some event or another shows that something is amiss: one of Marlo A’s friends might meet a friend of Marlo B, for example, or the gaps in memory might finally become so frequent that it is obvious something is wrong.
Marlo A and B represent fairly simple examples of schizophrenic behavior, and indeed I have kept the story simple to keep the issues clear. Marlo A may actually grow into a more and more assertive or belligerent personality, even displaying violent tendencies at times, while on the other hand Marlo B might become even more timid, depressed, and solitary.
On other levels, however, each one is well aware of the other’s presence, and on those levels they do react to each other’s activities. This means, of course, that the entire amnesia process, regardless of how perfect it seems, is a surface one. I have used the different beliefs about power as an example, but any belief may be involved if it and its opposite are held in nearly equal weight.
One portion may believe that sex is natural and good, while the other portion believes vehemently that sex is evil and depraved. Here we will use a man for a hypothetical case. David A may be an excellent husband, breadwinner, and father, a church-goer who believes in the beauty and goodness of sex. David B may hold the opposite viewpoint most intently — that sex is at least evil, perhaps sent by the devil, and below or beneath the dignity of a good man.
On topside David A may go to church frequently, be kind and considerate to his family, and, say, come home from work every night for supper. He may carry on a fruitful accomplished existence for varying lengths of time.
Then, however, perhaps without warning, he may suddenly refuse to make love with his wife, becoming hostile with his children, stop off for a few drinks after work, before supper, or even begin seeing a prostitute, or begin an affair — often with a woman he considers beneath his own station.
David A may be quite startled to discover bottles of whiskey lying around in his dresser drawers, when he hardly drinks liquor himself at all. David B may suddenly “come to” in a strange bedroom, in a compromising position with a woman it certainly seems to him he has never seen before in his life.
On the other hand, David B may find himself in the middle of a family picnic, or other gathering — events that bore and displease him — or worse, he may not even remember his family at all. The more complicated such dilemmas becomes, the harder they are to keep secret, however, because their very complications multiply the chances of discovery. And there are, of course, variations.
David B, while drinking, might suddenly be sent back to his David A self. The kinds of communication can be very unique and bewildering, ranging from number codes to nonsense verses, or to the hearing of imaginary voices, which serve to remind one portion of the self that there is also another seemingly alien personality involved in his or her existence.
In many instances very strong feelings of persecution and paranoia can be involved, but these will be discussed in the following blogs.
In the kind of schizophrenic behavior we have just been discussing, hypnosis is frequently used as therapy, often in an attempt not only to introduce the two levels of the personality to each other, but also to uncover the time they originally split off in such a fashion. However, one must ensure that they visit a hypnotist who has completed a significant amount of hypnotherapy training course in order to ensure that the results are positive.
While hypnosis can be of considerable value in the hands of an excellent professional hypnotist, it still has serious drawbacks as a treatment under these conditions. Because of its very nature, hypnosis can end up segmenting the personality still further.
Under such therapy it sometimes seems that news, lesser personality fragments are uncovered, but it is very possible that these instead are created by the therapy itself. The hypnotist obviously wants to cure his patient, and all forms of schizophrenia are intellectually intriguing. The segments of the personality that are involved are being given great attention, and they may seize upon that attention, seeking ways to further dazzle the hypnotist while at the same time sabotaging recovery.
It is far better to address whatever personality is in prominence during the session, to convince it of the therapist’s concern and interest, while letting it know that at other levels it is quite aware of the existence of its other segments.
People with schizophrenic difficulties often enjoy word games and puzzles, so they may well use these to confuse any therapist. The very fact that such a person considers any kind of therapy does mean that he or she is ready to tackle a considerable challenge. It can be put to each segment of the personality, then, that it will be quite a challenge for each to become aware of the other. We might compare the situation to someone who has been separated from a sister or brother for years — explaining, however, that the separation is psychological and not physical.
In a fashion, all of these activities are variations of others. Instead of forming such segmented selves, another person, as mentioned earlier, might enjoy the use of power, yet be so frightened of it that he or she experiences an epileptic episode instead of a schizophrenic one.
Many cancer patients have martyr-like characteristics, often putting up with undesirable situations or conditions for years.
They feel powerless, unable to change, yet unwilling to stay in the same position. The most important point is to arouse such a person’s belief in his or her strength and power. Even if family members or friends come to visit them regularly, maybe with gifts similar to ones you can find here, the patient might be more determined to find some motivation, even if it may seem difficult initially. Additionally, in many instances, these persons symbolically shrug their shoulders, saying. “What will happen, will happen,” but they do not physically struggle against their situation.
It is also vital that these patients are not overly medicated, for oftentimes the side effects of some cancer-eradicating drugs are dangerous in themselves. There has been some success with people who imagine that the cancer is instead some hated enemy or monster or foe, which is then banished through mental mock battles over a period of time. While the technique does have its advantages, it also pits one portion of the self against the other. It is much better to imagine, say, the cancer cells being neutralized by some imaginary wand. Know someone that is, unfortunately, battling cancer? You may want to suggest to them that they take a look into medicinal marijuana, or rather the active chemical that provides the medical side of cannabis – CBD. It is important that they get the best CBD oil, as if you want the best results you need to use the best products. There are different brands and companies who make them, and there are also different doses. The stronger the dose, generally the better the impact is. If you need more information on this, then look here for CBD 101.
Doctors might suggest that a patient relax and then ask himself or herself what kind of inner fantasy would best service the healing process. Instant images may come to mind at once, but if success is not achieved immediately, have the patient try again, for in almost all cases some inner pictures will be perceived.
Behind the entire problem, however, is the fear of using one’s full power or energy. Cancer patients most usually feel an inner impatience as they sense their own need for future expansion and development, only to feel it thwarted.
The fear that blocks that energy can indeed be dissipated if new beliefs are inserted for old ones — so again we return to those emotional attitudes and ideas that automatically promote health and healing. Each individual is a good person, an individualized portion of universal energy itself. Each person is meant to express his or her own characteristics and abilities. Life means energy, power, and expression.
Those beliefs, if taught early enough, would form the most effective system of preventive medicine ever known.
Again, we cannot generalize overmuch, but many persons know quite well that they are not sure whether they want to live or die. The overabundance of cancer cells represent nevertheless the need for expression and expansion — the only arena left open — or so it would seem.
Such a person must also contend with society’s unfortunate ideas about the disease in general, so that many cancer patients end up isolated or alone. As in almost all cases of disease, however, if it were possible to have a kind of “thought transplant” operation, the disease would quickly vanish.
Even in the most dire of instances, some patients suddenly fall in love, or something in their home environment changes, and the person also seems to change overnight — while again the disease is gone.
Healing can involve help on many levels, of course. The world of normal communication I call Frame-Mind-1, while Frame-Mind-2 represents that inner world, in which indeed all time is simultaneous, and actions that might take years in normal time can happen in the blinking of an eyelid in Frame-Mind-2.
Briefly, Frame-Mind-1 deals with all the events of which we are normally conscious.
Frame-Mind-2 involves all of those spontaneous processes that go on beneath our conscious attention. When we are young our beliefs are quite clear — that is, our conscious and unconscious leanings and expectations are harmonious. As we grow older, however, and begin to accumulate negative beliefs, then our conscious and unconscious beliefs may be quite different.
Consciously we might want to express certain abilities, while unconsciously we are afraid of doing so. The unconscious beliefs are not really unconscious, however. We are simply not as aware of them as we are of normally conscious ones. Negative beliefs can block the passageways between Frame-Mind-1 and Frame-Mind-2. It is an excellent idea for those in any kind of difficulty to do the following simple exercise.
Relax yourself as much as possible. Get comfortable in a chair or on a bed. Tell yourself mentally that we are an excellent person, and that you want to reprogram yourself, getting rid of any ideas that contradict that particular statement.
Next, gently remind yourself again: “I am an excellent person,” adding: “It is good and safe for me to express my own abilities, for in doing so I express the energy of the universe itself.”
Different phrases with the same meaning may come into our own mind. If so, substitute them for the ones I have given. There are endless exercises that can be used to advantage, but here I will only mention a few that appear most beneficial.
For another exercise, then relax yourself as much as possible once more. If you have some disease, imagine it as particles of dirt. Tell yourself that you can see inside your body. You see streets of boulevards instead of muscles and bones, but go along with the image or images that appear. You might see streets lined with dirt or garbage, for example. Then mentally see yourself sweeping the debris away. Order trucks to come and carry the garbage to a trash heap, where you may see it burn and disappear in smoke.
Instead of the drama I just outlined, you may instead see invading armies, attacking home troops. In such a case, see the invaders being driven off. The pictures you see will follow your own unique leanings and characteristics.
The unconscious levels of the self are only unconscious from our own viewpoint. They are quite conscious in actuality, and because they do deal with the spontaneous processes of the body, they are also completely familiar with our own state of health and well-being.
These portions can also be communicated with. Once again, relax yourself as much as possible. Sit comfortably in a chair or lie on a bed. A chair is probably preferable, since it is easy to fall to sleep in you are lying down. You can refer to these portions of the self altogether as the helper, the teacher, or whatever title suits you best.
Simply make a straightforward request, asking that some picture or image be presented in your inner mind, that will serve as representative of those portions of your own inner reality.
So do not be surprised, for you may see a person, an animal, an insect, or a landscape — but trust whatever image you do receive, if it seems to be that of a person, or angel, or animal, then ask it to speak to you, and to tell you how best to rid yourself of your disease or problem.
If the image of a landscape appears instead, then ask for a series of such images, that will again somehow point the way toward recovery, or toward the resolution of the problem. Then follow through with whatever reply you receive.
In all such cases, we are opening the doors of Frame-Mind-2, clearing our channels of communication. Since our physical body itself is composed of the very energy that drives the universe, then there is nothing about us which that energy is unaware of. Simply repeating these ideas to ourselves can result in release of tension, and an acceleration of the healing process.
These exercises may suggest others of our own. If so, follow through on them — but to one extent or another each blog reader should benefit from some of them.
Again, every effort should be made to insert humor into the living situation as much as possible.
The patient might begin to collect jokes, for example, or funny cartoons from magazines and newspapers. Watching comedies on television will help — and so, in fact, will any distraction that is pleasing to the patient.
Crossword puzzles and other word games will also benefit, even if only done mentally. It might also be advisable for the patient to take up some completely new field of knowledge — to learn a language, for instance, or to study whatever books possible in any field to which he or she is attracted. The patient could even combine crosswords and learning a language by asking a friend or family member to use a crossword maker to create a puzzle which will challenge knowledge of the new language. Word-Mint fully supports foreign languages in the creation of their crosswords. This also makes them ideal for use in the classroom.
The more actively and fully such a diversion can be indulged, the better, of course, and yet the mental playing of games can be quite fruitful, and serve to give the conscious mind a needed rest.
Everything should be done to insure that the patient is given a hand in whatever physical treatment is involved. He or she should be enlightened enough through doctor-patient discussions to make choices about the treatment. In some cases, however, patients will make it clear that they prefer to hand over all responsibility for treatment to the doctor, and in such instances their decisions should be followed. It is a good idea for the doctor to question the patient sometimes, to make sure that the decision is not one of the moment alone.
Whenever possible, it is far better for the patient to remain home, rather than live steadily at a hospital. When hospitalization is required, however, family members should try to act as honestly and openly as possible. It is a good idea for such family members to join other groups of people who are in the same situation, so they can express their own doubts and hesitations.
One family member, in fact, may be quite surprised by a barrage of unexpected reactions. They may find themselves furious at the patient for becoming ill, and then develop unfortunate guilt feelings over their own first reactions. They may feel that their lives are being disrupted through no cause of their own, yet be so ashamed of such feelings that they dare not express them.
A therapist or a group of other people facing the same problem can therefore be of great assistance. The patient may also feel abandoned by God or the universe, and may feel unjustly attacked by the disease, thus arousing a whole new tumult of anger, and it is most important that the anger be expressed, and not repressed.
Such a person might imagine his or her anger or fury filling up the inside of a gigantic balloon that is then pricked by a needle, exploding in pieces from the pressure within, with debris falling everywhere — out over the ocean, or caught up by the wind, but in any case dispersed in whatever way seems agreeable to the patient.
It is also vital that such people continue to receive and express love. If the person is mourning the death of a spouse or close family member, then it would be most beneficial for the individual or the family to purchase, or otherwise provide , a new small pet. The patient should be encouraged to play with the pet as much as possible, and to nourish it, to caress and fondle it.
Often such a procedure will reawaken new stirrings of love, and actually turn the entire affair. This is particularly true if one or two beneficial changes simply seem to happen in other areas of life.
The re-arousal of love might well activate Frame-Mind-2 to such an extent that the healing energies become unblocked, and send their threads of probable actions into the person’s living situation as well — that is, once the channels to Frame-Mind-2 are open, then new possibilities immediately open up in all of life’s living areas. And many of these, of course, have a direct bearing on health and the healing processes.
In these, and all situations, it should be remembered that the body is always trying to heal itself, and that even the most complicated relationships are trying to untangle.
For all of life’s seeming misfortunes, development, fulfillment, and accomplishment far outweigh death, diseases and disasters. Starting over can be done — by anyone in any situation, and it will bring about some beneficial effects regardless of previous conditions.
Behind all maladies, in most basic manner lies the need for expression, and when people feel that their areas of growth are being curtailed, then they instigate actions meant to clear the road, so to speak.
Before health problems show up there is almost always a loss of self-respect or expression. This loss may occur in the environment itself, in changing social conditions. In the matter of the disease called AIDS, for example, we have groups of homosexuals, many “coming out of the closet” for the first time, taking part in organizations that promote their cause, and suddenly faced by the suspicions and distrust of many other portions of the population.
The struggle to express themselves, and their own unique abilities and characteristics drives them on, and yet is all too frequently thwarted by the ignorance and misunderstanding that surrounds them. We end up with something like a psychological contagion. The people involved begin to feel even more depressed as they struggle to combat the prejudice against them. Many of them almost hate themselves. For all their seeming bravado, they fear that they are indeed unnatural members of the species.
These beliefs break down the immunity system, and bring about the symptoms so connected with the disease. AIDS is a social phenomenon to that extent, expressing the deep dissatisfactions, doubts, and angers of a prejudiced-against segment of society.
Whatever physical changes occur, happen because the will to live is weakened. AIDS is a kind of biological protest, as if symbolically the homosexuals are saying: “You may as well kill us. We might be better off than the way you treat us now,” or as if it were a kind of suicidal drama in which the message read: “See to what ends your actions have led us!”
I am not saying that AIDS victims are outright suicides — only that in many instances the will to live is so weakened and a despondency so strong sets in that such individuals often acquiesce, finally, to their own deaths, seeing no room in the future for their own further growth or development.
The attitude even of doctors and nurses toward the handling of such patients shows only too clearly not only their fear of the disease itself, but their fear of homosexuality, which has been considered evil and forbidden by many religions. Emotions run at top pace in such cases, and the AIDS patients are often shunted away, out of human society. Often even their friends desert them. Yet AIDS can be acquired by those who are not homosexuals, but who have similar problems. It is a great error to segregate some individuals, like some modern colony of lepers.
Luckily, the disease will run its course as sociological conditions change, and as man’s and woman’s inhumanity to man and woman becomes clear even to the most prejudiced.
Homosexuals can benefit from the ideas in this blog, particularly if small groups get together, examining their own beliefs, and reinforcing their will to live, their right to live, and the basic integrity of their being.
Any anger or hostility should also be expressed, however, while not being overly concentrated upon.
Many other diseases that seem to be spread by viruses or contagions are also related to the problems of society in the same manner, and when those conditions are righted the diseases themselves largely vanish. It should be remembered that it is the beliefs and feelings of the patients that largely determine the effectiveness of any medical procedures, techniques, or medications.
Unfortunately, the entire picture surrounding health and disease is a largely negative one, in which even so-called preventive medicine can have severe drawbacks, since it often recommends drugs or techniques to attack a problem not only before the problems emerge, but simply in case it may emerge.
Many of the public-health announcements routinely publicize the specific symptoms of various diseases, almost as if laying out maps of diseases for medical consumers to swallow. There are many techniques apart from medically conventional ones, such as acupuncture, the laying on of hands, or the work of people who may be known as healers. The trouble is that these other techniques cannot be monitored sufficiently so that their benefits can be honestly appraised.
The main issue is always the vital importance of the individual’s belief systems, however, and the sense of worth he or she places on body and mind.
We have dealing with quite drastic diseases, but the same concepts are true in other areas also. There are people who undergo a series of highly unsatisfactory relationships, for example, while another person might experience a series of recurrent diseases instead. In spite of all problems, the life force operates continually in each person’s life, and can bring about at any time the most profound, beneficial changes. The idea is to clear the mind as much as possible from beliefs that impede the fine, smooth workings of the life force, and to actively encourage those beliefs and attitudes that promote health and the development of all aspects of healing experience.
If you are a person who contemplates suicide often, you should indeed talk to a confidante about your problem.
This communication on our part will help clear the air to some extent. Such a person is considering an irreversible step — one certainly that should not be taken lightly. Often such people are in a very depressed state of mind, so that they have already closed their thoughts to the reasons for living, and only keep reminding themselves of the availability of death.
Often other people can make some small, seemingly innocuous comment that suddenly opens the disturbed person’s mind to new possibilities. Because the entire mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual portions of the self are always stimulated to seek further growth and development and satisfaction, then it is quite possible for the mind to seize upon even the smallest event that will spontaneously release the person at least momentarily from depression, or even despair. A momentary distraction, however, is not a cure from these dark thoughts. There needs to be a long-term way to prevent these dark thoughts from occurring in an individual’s mind. Luckily, things like CBD, a cannabinoid of the cannabis plant, is excellent at reducing this heavy cloud that hangs over many. CBD can be taken in many different forms, of which you can view at getcherrycbd.com/products/cherry-cbd-roll-on. If depression and dark thoughts are something that troubles you, it may be worth looking down this avenue of CBD.
If we are in such a situation, do remind oneself that it is far more natural and probable for any problem to be solved, and that every problem has a solution. Death is not a solution. It is an end in a very basic manner.
No matter how depressed we may feel, we do still want to live, or we would be dead by now — so there is a part of us that seeks life and vitality, and that portion also deserves expression. Natural products like CBD could go a long way to un-cloud the fog of depression that looms around the heads of those contemplating suicide due to its antidepressant qualities. There is always help on offer to anyone who suffers from depression and is contemplating suicide. To stop feeling this way, it may be in your best interest to seek out treatments if you are not yet ready to talk to a medical professional. Have a look at Canopy Botanicals who is an online vendor who distributes natural products as well as kratom supplements which should help depression sufferers to feel better. Or, read through sites like this (www.renewedfreedomcenter.com/can-depression-and-anxiety-cause-ocd-like-symptoms/) to understand better what your brain may be putting you through. But please, if you are thinking about suicide, find someone you trust to speak with. It is a good idea to put off making any decision for a while. After all, if we do choose suicide, we can always kill oneself. If we commit suicide, however, our choices for this life are over.
Tell oneself we will make no decision until after our birthday, of after the holidays, of that we will put off any decision for a month, or even a week — whatever we feel most comfortable with.
Any therapist can also follow through by making such suggestions, thus gaining the client’s cooperation at the same time by letting the individual choose the time period for which such a decision will be delayed.
It is futile to tell such a person that he or she can not, or must not, commit suicide — and indeed, such a procedure can be quite dangerous, hardening the person’s leaning toward a death decision. The idea of making choices should be stressed: to live or to die is indeed each person’s choice.
Some people might say, “I have a right to die,” when they are arguing the case for suicide. And while this is true, it is also true that the people on our planet need every bit of help and encouragement they can get from each person alive. In a certain sense, the energy of each individual does keep the world going, and commit suicide is to refuse a basic, cooperative venture.
It is also true that persons in ordinary good health who often contemplate suicide have already closed themselves away from the world to an important extent. Even their physical senses seem burred, until often they seek further and further stimulation. These same attitudes are apparent in a lesser or in unsatisfactory life situations. If we are such a person, however, there are also other steps that we can take. Project oneself into a satisfying future. Remind oneself that the future is indeed there if we want it, and that we can grow into that future as easily as we grow from the past into the present.
Many depressives concentrate almost devotedly upon the miseries of the world — the probable disasters that could bring about its end. They remind themselves that the planet is overpopulated, and project into the future the most dire of disasters, man-made and natural.
Such thoughts are bound to cause depression. They are also painting a highly prejudiced view of reality, leaving out all matters concerning man’s and woman’s heroism, love of his or her fellow creatures, his or her wonder, sympathy, and the great redeeming qualities of the natural world itself. So such people must change their focus of attention.
The other creative, positive, achieving portions of life are ever present, and thoughts of them alone can bring refreshment and release from tension.
The point is that all of the world’s problems also represent great challenges. Young people in particular are needed to work for the promotion of peace and nuclear disarmament, to take up the tasks of deregulating and redistributing food sources, and of encouraging nations to join in such a creative venture. Those are indeed worthy and stirring causes, as noble as any that faced any generation in the past. The world needs every hand and eye, and cries out for expression of love and caring. To devote oneself to such a cause is far more praiseworthy than to steadily bemoan global problems with a sorrowful eye and mournful voice.
If we are lethargic, resolve to take the first small steps toward action, however small they might be. Remind oneself that life implies action and motion, and even the activity of the most despondent thought flows in great burst of rhythm.
All of the suggestions given here will also help in lesser situations, in ordinary bouts of worry, stress, or poor health. Even those with very serious diseases can always hope for improvement, so even if an individual is considering suicide because of severe health dilemma, the matter should be carefully weighed.
The most seemingly irreversible physical situations have changed even drastically for the better, so each tomorrow does offer that possibility. Again, however, the individual must take his or her own choice, and without facing the additional burden of worrying whether or not the soul itself will be condemned for such an act.
Nature does not know damnation, and damnation has no meaning in the great realm of love in which all existence is couched.
The thoughts and beliefs that we want to rearouse are those that were often predominant in childhood, as mentioned in earlier blogs. They are spiritual, mental, emotional and biological beliefs that are innately present in the birth of each creature. Children believe not only that there will be a tomorrow, and many tomorrows, but they also believe that each tomorrow will be rewarding and filled with discovery.
They fell themselves couched in an overall feeling of security and safety, even in the face of an unpleasant environment or situation. They feel drawn to other people and to other creatures, and left alone they trust their contacts with others. They have an inbred sense of self-satisfaction, and they instinctively feel that it is natural and good for them to explore and develop their capabilities.
They expect relationships to be rewarding and continuing, and expect each event will have the best possible results. They enjoy communication, the pursuit of knowledge, and they are filled with curiosity.
All of those attitudes provide the strength and mental health that promotes their physical growth and development. However simple those ideas may sound to the adult, still they carry within them the needed power and impetus that fill all of life’s parts. Later, conflicting beliefs often smother such earlier attitudes, so that by the time children have grown into adults they actually hold almost an opposite set of hypotheses. These take it for granted that any stressful situation will worsen, that communication will worsen,that communication with others is dangerous, that self-fulfillment brings about the envy and even of others, and that as individuals they live in an unsafe society, set down the middle of a natural world that is itself savage, cruel, and caring only for its survival at any cost.
Our body actually lives on large quantities of joyful expectation.
The fetus is propelled by the expectation of future growth and development. It is bad enough to anticipate that most unfortunate situations will worsen rather than improve, but it is foolhardy indeed to believe that mankind is bound to destroy itself, or that nuclear destruction in nearly inevitable.
Many people no longer believe in life after death, and so large numbers of the population are philosophically denied a spiritual or a physical future.
This deprives body and mind of the zest and purpose needed in order to enjoy any pursuits or activities. Such beliefs make any human endeavor appear futile. There are ways of reacting to the dangers of nuclear energy that are far more healthy and beneficial, and we will discuss these in later blogs.
For now, I simply want to suggest that all such beliefs should be understood and dismissed as soon as possible. We hope to show how most natural health-promoting beliefs can be applied to all mental, physical, or emotional illnesses or difficulties. I want to assure that regardless of our circumstances, age, or sex, we can indeed start over, re-arousing from within ourselves those earlier, more innocent expectations, feelings and beliefs. It is much better if we can imagine this endeavor more in the light of children’s play, in fact, rather than think of it as a deadly serious adult pursuit.
In other words, we will try to instill a somewhat playful attitude, even toward the most severe problems, for the very idea of play encourages the use of the imagination and the creative abilities.
This starting over. Again, because of simultaneous nature of time, beliefs can be changed in the present moment.
There is no need to search endlessly into the past of this life or any other, for the “original” causes for beliefs. Making a change in the present of a certain kind will automatically alter all beliefs “across the board,” so to speak. It is important, however, that we do not strain too hard to achieve results, but allow ourselves some leeway. We react to our beliefs habitually, often unthinkingly, and in usual ideas of time, and in our experience of it — we must allow oneself “some time” to change that habitual behavior.
As we do, we will discover oneself reacting to the desired beliefs as easily and automatically as we did to the undesirable ones. As we do, keep the idea of child’s play in mind, however. this will allow us to keep the entire affair in a kind of suspension.
The child plays at being an adult long before he or she is one, and so we can play with more desirable beliefs while we are still growing into that more beneficial picture.
One of the issues I want to discuss in depth is that of spontaneity in relationship to health and disease.
Our very physical existence itself is dependent upon the smooth functioning of many spontaneous processes. Our thinking, breathing, and motion are all guided by activities that are largely unconscious — at least from the standpoint of what we usually think of as the conscious mind.
Our body repairs itself constantly, and our mind thinks — all without our normally conscious attention. The same applies to all of those inner processes that make life possible. Our thoughts are conscious, but the process of thinking itself is not. Spontaneity is particularly important in the actions of children, and in the natural rhythmic motion of their limbs. Feelings also seem to come and go in a spontaneous fashion.
It is indeed as if some inner spontaneous part of the personality is far more knowledgeable than the conscious portion of which we are so rightfully proud.
Many people, however, fear spontaneity: it evokes extravagance, excesses, and dangerous freedoms. Even people who are not so fervently opposed to spontaneity often feel that it is somewhat suspect, distasteful, perhaps leading to humiliating actions. Spontaneity, however, represents the spirit of life itself, and it is the basis for the will to live, and for those impulses that stimulate action, motion, and discovery.
In the truest regard, our life is provided for us by these spontaneous processes. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, at one time the human personality was “more at one with itself.” It accommodated unconscious and conscious experience more equitably. Man and woman were more aware of his and her dreams and so-called unconscious activity.
It is only because civilized man and woman have somewhat overspecialized in the use of one kind of knowledge over another that people fear the unconscious, spontaneous portions of the self. The fear alone causes them to block out still more and more unconscious knowledge. Since the spontaneous portions are so related to bodily activity, they are very important in facilitating good health, and when people feel divorced from their spontaneous selves, they also fell divorced to the same extent from their own bodies. Such individuals become frightened of freedom itself, of choices and of changes. They try desperately to control themselves and their environment against what seems to be a raging, spontaneous mass of primitive impulses from within, and against a mindless, chaotic, ancient force of nature. In the physical world, such behavior often leads to compulsive action — stereotyped mental and physical motion and other situations with a strong repressive coloration. Here any expression becomes almost taboo. The conscious mind must be in control of all actions as much as possible, for such a person feels that only rigid, logical thought is strong enough to hold back such strong impulsive force.
These attitudes may be reflected in rather simple compulsive actions: the woman or man who cleans the house endlessly, whether it needs it or not; the man or woman who will follow certain precise, defined routes of activity — driving down certain streets only to work; washing his or her hands much more frequently than other people; the person who constantly buttons and unbuttons a sweater or vest. Many such simple actions show a stereotyped kind of behavior that results from a desperate need to gain control over oneself and the environment.
Any excessive behavior may enter in, including over-smoking, overeating, and overdrinking.
It will be difficult for some people to believe that spontaneity is to be trusted, for they may be only aware of feeling destructive or violent impulses. The idea of expressing impulses spontaneously will be most frightening under those conditions.
Actually the people involved are repressing not violent impulses but natural loving ones. They are afraid that expressions of love, or the need for dependence will only bring them scorn or punishment. Therefore, they hide those yearnings, and the destructive impulses actually serve to protect them from the expression of love that they have somehow learned to fear.
Science itself, for all of its preciseness in some areas, often equates instinctive, impulsive, chaotic, destructive activity as one and the same.
Nature and the inner nature of man and woman are both seen to contain savage, destructive forces against which civilization and the reasoning mind must firmly stand guard.
Science itself often displays compulsive and ritualistic behavior, to the point of programming its own paths of reasoning, so that they cover safe ground, and steadfastly ignore the great inner forces of spontaneity that make science — or any discipline — possible. As I have said before, spontaneity knows its own order. Nothing is more highly organized than the physical body that spontaneously grow all of its own parts.
As our life is provided for us, so to speak, by these spontaneous processes, the life of the universe is provided in the same fashion. We see physical stars, and our instruments probe the distance of space — but the inner processes that make the universe possible are those same processes that propel our own thinking. It is erroneous, therefore, to believe that spontaneity and discipline are mere opposites. Instead, true discipline is the result of true spontaneity.
Value fulfillment of each and every element in life relies upon those spontaneous processes, and their source is the basic affirmative love and acceptance of the self, the universe, and life’s conditions.
Since ancient times religions has tried to help man and woman understand the nature of his or her own subjective reality — but religion has its own dark side, and for this reason religion unfortunately has fostered fear of the spontaneous.
Instead of promoting the idea of man’s and woman’s inner worth, it has taught people to distrust the inner self and its manifestations. Most churches preach a dogma that stresses concepts of the sinful self, and sees man and woman as creatures contaminated by original sin even before birth.
This distorted picture depicts a species of sinners innately driven by evil, sometimes demonic, forces. In this dogma man and woman needs to apologize for his or her birth, and the conditions of life are seen as a punishment set by God upon his or her erring creatures. Unfortunately such concepts are also reflected in fields of psychology, particularly in Freudianism — where, say, slips of the tongue may betray the self’s hidden, nefarious true desires.
The unconscious is understood to be a garbage heap of undesirable impulses, long ago discarded by civilization, while again much religious theory projects the image of the hidden self that must be kept in bounds by good work, prayer, and penance.
Amid such a conglomeration of negative suppositions, the idea of a good and innocent inner self seems almost scandalous. To encourage expression of that self appears foolhardy, for it seems only too clear that if the lid of consciousness were opened, so to speak, all kind of inner demons and enraged impulses would rush forth.
Again, people who have such views of the inner self usually project the same ideas upon nature at large, so that the natural world appears equally mysterious, dangerous, and threatening.
In political terms such persons also look for strong authoritative groups or governments, stress law and order above justice or equality, and tend to see the poorer, less advantaged members of society as impulse-ridden, dangerous, and always ready for revolution. It is quite frequent for persons with those beliefs to discipline their bodies overmuch, take positions as police guards, or set themselves up in one way or another in control of their fellows.
I am not here stating that all police guards, members of the military or whatever, fall into that category. Such people will, however, tend toward a strongly disciplined life. Many of their health problems will deal with eruptions — interior ulcers, skin eruptions, or in very definite mental and emotional eruptions, and great outbursts of force and temper all the more noticeable because of the usual disciplined patterns of behavior.
In most such cases there is a lack of the normal range of emotional expression. Such persons often find it extremely difficult to express love, joy, or gratitude, for example, and this lack of expression is taken for granted by others, who do not see it in its true light, but think instead that the person is simply reticent.
Secondary personalities and schizophrenic episodes are also somewhat characteristic — again appearing as sudden explosive behavior when conflicting beliefs are dammed up and held back. And when it is believed that the inner self is indeed a bed of chaotic impulses, then it becomes less and less possible for an individual to express normal range of activity. The person then feels lethargic and out of touch with work of family.
Expression is a necessity of life, however. Each person feels that drive. When one set of rigid beliefs threatens to make action appear meaningless, then another set of buried, repressed beliefs may surface, providing new impetus precisely when it is needed — but also forming a secondary personality with characteristics almost opposite to those of the primary self.
We will have more to say on all of these issues — but now I want to discuss spontaneity, or its lack, in relationship to sexuality and health. Sexual health is incredibly important for each of the partners involved but especially for women as it can cause many health problems for them if certain guidelines are not followed. If you are looking for expert advice, visit www.advancedgynecology.com by following the link.
All of the negative beliefs just mentioned touch upon sexuality in one way or another. Those with the beliefs just mentioned often think of sexuality as bestial, evil, and even humiliating.
These attitudes are intensified where the female sex is concerned. We have, of course, a strong drive toward sexuality, and if we believe that it is to be shunned at the same time, then we are in a very ambiguous position. Women with such beliefs and conflicts often wind up having hysterectomies, performed incidentally by male doctors, who hold the very same beliefs.
Many men look forward to having sons, while at the same time they revere marriage as a necessary part of respectable family life, and also feel that marriage is somewhat degrading — particularly to a male — and that the sex act itself is only justified if it brings him an heir.
Such a male will seek sex with prostitutes, or with women he considers beneath him. In a strange fashion, he may even feel that it is wrong to have sex with his own wife, believing that the sex act so degrades the both of them. In many cases these people will be great sportsmen, follow conventionalized male pursuits, and perhaps express contempt for the arts or any interest considered remotely feminine.
Many schools of religion and so-called esoteric knowledge have promoted the idea that sexuality and spirituality are diametrically opposed to each other.
People in the sports arena also often encourage the concept that sexual expression is somewhat debilitating to the male, and can weaken his constitution. Priests take vows to ensure sexual abstinence, in other words they tightly fasten the package, and any urges they may have in a form of “sexual discipline”. The fact is that sexual expression is, again, an important element in the entire range of human experience, encouraging mental and physical health and vitality.
Some people may have a stronger or weaker sex drive than others, and yet that drive is a strong part of any individual’s natural rhythm. Damned up, such sexuality still keeps trying for expression, and it is often men or women of habitual “sexual discipline” who suddenly break out in bouts of sexual promiscuity or violence.
In actuality, the combination of a philosophical stress upon discipline, physical and mental, with the belief in the sinful self, often brings about the most unfortunate human dilemmas. These ideas usually ride along with feelings that power is desirable but dangerous. To abstain from sexuality then means to store up one’s own power. People with such beliefs often have severe problems with constipation, and have retention symptoms — retaining water, for example, or salt or whatever.
They may also suffer with stomach difficulties, many being overly fond of extremely spicy foods. Some have unusually heavy appetites, even though these may be regulated by a series of diets — which are then broken by overeating.
There are so many other elements involved in human nature that I do not really want to point out any culprits, yet male-segregated communities are obviously notorious for encouraging that kind of behavior. Every individual in such institutions or societies is not affected in the same fashion, of course — yet we do have these kinds of closed societies, relatively speaking, and they can indeed serve as cradles for fanaticism and rigid stereotypes of behavior. Again, here we find that discipline, rather than free will, is stressed, so that the opportunity for choices is drastically reduced. The more open a society, the more healthy its people.
What I have said also applies to organizations segregated along feminine lines, though to a lesser degree.
In both cases the sexes are denied any true communication, and an extremely artificial framework is maintained, in which the sexes literally become strangers to each other. This also encourages various kinds of hysterical reactions, as well as a larger frequency of “contagious diseases” than is experienced by the normal population.
These conditions also occur in some varieties of religious cults, whether or not strict sexual segregation is enforced. If human relationships are highly regulated and supervised, or family members encouraged to spy upon their relatives or friends, then we have the same kind of curtailment of natural expression and communication.
People in such societies often suffer from malnourishment, frequent beatings, an excessive use of the enema, and often indulge in physical punishment. The children are strictly raised, and a lack of normal spontaneity is the rule rather than the exception. Members of such organizations often suffer maladies in which their bodies do not utilize nutrients. They are often food faddists of one kind or another, but because they do fear spontaneity to such a degree they will often become afflicted with diseases of maladies associated with the body’s unconscious processes.
We can also find single families, of course, that operate like cults — or an entire nation — that are given over to repression with its resulting violence.
The ideas that we have, then, play a large role in the way the body handles its nutrients, and utilizes its health and vitality. If we believe that the body is somehow evil, we may punish it by nearly starving to death, even though our diet might be considered normal by usual standards. For it is possible for our ideas to cause chemical reactions that impede our body’s ability to accept nourishment. If we believe that the body is evil, the purest health-food diet will or may do us little good at all, while if we have a healthy desire and respect for our physical body, a diet of TV dinners, and even of fast foods, may well keep us healthy and nourished.
If we are talking about health, it is our beliefs that we must look. We have the most efficient and beautiful physical organs, the most elegant joints and appendages, the most vibrant lungs and the most exquisite of senses. It is up to us to form a body of beliefs that is worthy of our physical image — for we are nourished by our beliefs, and those beliefs can cause our daily bread to add to our vitality, or to add to our cares and stress.
The weight of unfortunate beliefs perhaps falls heaviest on the older segments of the population, for the beliefs have had a longer period of time to operate relatively unimpeded.
Those particular beliefs actually take hold in young adults, so that it seems that all of life is meant to come to its fullest flower in young adulthood, and then from that prestigious position fall quicker and quicker into disuse and disarray.
These ideas do not inflict severe difficulties upon older members of the population, but they also have a vital part to play in the behavior of many young people who commit suicide directly or indirectly. It seems to such youngsters that the pinnacle of life is just at hand, to last upon youthful beauty and youthful achievement, so that it appears that all of the rest of life’s activities must suffer by contrast.
Knowledge through experience is not considered a practical-enough method of learning, so that the skills and understanding that come with age are seldom taken into consideration.
Again, to a certain degree, religion and science — and the medical sciences in particular — seem devoted to encouraging the most negative beliefs about human nature. It is taken for granted that all mental, physical, spiritual and emotional satisfactions become lesser with advancing age. It is taken for granted that memory fails, the body weakens, the senses stagnate, and emotional vividness dims. It is often considered scandalous to even imagine sexual activity after the age of even 40 or 50.
Faced with the kind of a projected future, no wonder many adolescents prefer to die before catching sight of the very first hint of deterioration — the first wrinkle or touch of gray in the hair. What forerunner of disaster such natural signs must seem! And at the other end of the scale, older parents are treated by their grown children as if they themselves were falling into a grotesque version of a second childhood. Many people actually speak louder to older persons, whether or not they have any hearing difficulties at all and require the help of cordless phone for hearing impaired or not.
Our entire world of commerce and advertisements, of competition and of business, prolong such attitudes. This is aside from the impact of the entertainment industry, which reflects that same glorification of youth, and that fear of growing old.
There are very definite, excellent side-effects of growing older, such as being able to use a site like www.keyadvice.co.uk/equity-release/calculator to receive equity from the value of your home. That we will also discuss in future blogs — but here I want to assure the blog reader that basically speaking there are no diseases brought about by old age alone.
The body often wears out because it has been used less and less — and that is because little study has been given to the true capabilities of the healthy physical body in the later years of life. That period also contains certain rhythms in which normal healing processes are highly accelerated, and the life force itself does not wear out or lessen within a body. Its expression may be impeded at any time, but the unique energy of each individual is not drained away because of age alone.
We will have more to say concerning older people and their ways of life, and also discuss the many beliefs and ideas that can come almost immediately to their aid. The subject of suicide will also be discussed in a different context, and when I invite my blog readers to start over, I want it understood that we can indeed start over regardless of our age or circumstances.
When children play, often the play events seem as real or even more real than ordinary physical events that are experienced outside of the play framework. Children playing at cowboys and Indians, or cops and robbers, can on occasion become quite as frightened by the pursuit or the chase as they would be if they were actually caught up in such an adventure in ordinary life.
Even watching such programs on television will almost make it feel like they are there in the scene themselves. They become engrossed. With all the latest cable TV statistics, (look at the source here), it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that more and more people are tuning in to these shows, and in turn, get to experience what they’re watching as if they were there in person. That’s the magic of television. It opens up doors to a whole new world of adventure for so many people, especially children. Alongside letting their imaginations run wild through play, there is no better feeling than being able to broaden your horizons.
Children then apply their imaginations more vividly, and even utilize all of their senses at certain times, to follow or reinforce those pictures that imagination paints. There are indeed many kinds of reality, many versions, and it is some time before human beings learn to focus into one particular package of reality. It’s important that children utilize all their senses so that they can truly pursue their imagination. There are a few things that can be done to help with this. The first is to let them play and to just have fun. The second is to let them listen to nursery songs like KLS , to help them flourish in their development. There are a few other things that you can do to help them as well, you just have to find the right thing for them.
In so doing, they then apply their imaginations in structured ways that serve to reinforce the prime reality-framework. For some time, however, young children utilize a remarkable imaginative freedom, so that, for example, they can experience “alternate” events with as much focus, strength, and vitality as that with which they experience ordinary life. A potent daydream may, in fact, appear far more real than the other daily events that surround it. When the child is playing, its sense of joy or anger is very strongly felt. The child’s body will often reflect those conditions and reflexes that would be elicited of the so-called “play” events were real.
Most of our experience happens directly, where senses, imagination, motion and physical actuality meet. In dreams, however, we often feel as if we are in another location entirely, and all of our senses seem pivoted in that location. Our experience is separated from our usual living area, in other words. We may dream that we are running or walking or flying, yet those activities are divorced enough from that area where imagination, motion, and physical actuality meet, so that our body remains quiet, relatively speaking, while we seem to be moving freely somewhere else.
In a fashion, reincarnation can partially be explained using the same kind of analogy. We have many existences at once — but each one has its own living area, upon which that portion of us focuses. In fact, that portion has its own name and selfhood and is master of its own castle, so to speak.
Each self has its own inviolate point where imagination, motion, and physical actuality intersect. Like the child play-acting, however, events occur within events, all dramatically real and vivid, all eliciting specific responses and actions, and each one possessing its own private living area.
On any given day a youngster may take a ride on a merry-go-round. The same little boy or girl might also sit astride a toy horse, and pretend that the horse is part of the merry-go-round. The same child might see the image of a merry-go-round on the television screen, or be told about another youngster’s visit to a playground, and a subsequent ride on a merry-go-round.
The child will be completely absorbed in the merry-go-round ride that was directly experienced. He or she may indeed be just as engrossed — or even more so — in the imaginary ride on the rocking horse. There will be some involvement, of course, as the child watches the images of the merry-go-round horses on the television station, while the story about the child’s visit to the playground will not take nearly as much of his interest.
In somewhat the same way, events appear and are reflected in reincarnational existences. All the lives are actually occurring at the same time, as the hypothetical youngster’s merry-go-round experiences happened all in one day.
In the reincarnational terms, however, the merry-go-round events might be experienced directly in some existences, or appear in a dream in another existence, or turn up simply as an image in another, or happen in an event involving real horses instead of merry-go-round horses. In other words, in one way or another the events of one living experience are reflected in each other living experience.
I am not saying that the events in one life cause the events on another, but that there is an overall pattern — a bank of probable events — and that in each life each individual chooses those that suit his or her overall private purposes. Yet those lives will be connected. An individual may have a serious illness in one life. That event may turn up as one uncomfortable nightmare in another existence. In still another life, the individual might have a dear friend who suffers from the same disease. In still another existence the individual might decide to be a doctor, to seek a cause and a cure for the same disease.
No one is fated, however, to suffer in one life for any crimes committed in another. The reasons and purposes for one’s own existence in any life can be found directly in the life itself.
Many proponents of reincarnation believe most firmly that an illness in one life most frequently has its roots in a past existence, and that reincarnational regression if therefore necessary to uncover the reasons for many current illnesses or dilemmas.
There is also a rather conventional stereotype version of karma that may follow such beliefs. Therefore, we may be punished in this life for errors we have committed in a past one, or we may actually be making up for a mistake made thousands of years ago. Again, all of a person’s reincarnational existences are, indeed, connected — but the events in one life do not cause the events in the next one.
I must remind once more that all time happens simultaneously, so the confused belief about punishment now, in retaliation for past action would actually be meaningless, since in simultaneous time all actions would be occurring at once.
We may have overall reasons for a particular illness, however, that have nothing to do with crime or punishment, but may instead involve an extraordinary sense of curiosity, and the desire for experience that is somewhat unconventional — usually not sought for — exotic, or in certain terms even grotesque.
Each life, regardless of its nature, possesses it own unique vantage point, and an individual may sometimes take an obscure or a long-lasting disease simply to present himself or herself with experience that most others would shun. An individual might seek such a vantage point in order to look at the universe in a different fashion, asking questions that perhaps could not be answered of asked from any other position.
Another life, for example, might deal with exquisite health and vitality, and as mentioned, still another life might be devoted to the arts of healing — but overall, few people take health problems per se as frequent reincarnational themes, though they may be implied strongly in situations where one is born into a large populace of poor, underprivileged people.
If one does have health problems, it is much better to look for their reasons in our immediate experience, rather than assigning them a cause in our distant past. The reasons for maladies are almost always present in current life experience — and even though old events from childhood may have originally activated unhealthy behavior, it is present beliefs that allow old patterns of activity to operate.
If we are concerned about any given problems — mental, emotional, or physical — there are certain facts we should hold in mind. I have mentioned most of them in previous blogs, but they are particularly vital in this context.
We must realize that we do create our own reality because of our beliefs about it. Therefore, try to understand that the particular dilemma of illness is not an event forced upon us by some other agency. Realize that to some extent or another our dilemma or our illness has been chosen by us, and that this choosing has been done in bits and pieces of small, seemingly inconsequential choices. Each, however, has led up to our current predicament, whatever its nature.
If we realize that our beliefs form our experience, then we do indeed have an excellent chance of changing our beliefs, and hence our experience.
We can discover what our own reasons are for choosing the dilemma or illness by being very honest with oneself. There is no need to feel guilty since we meant very well as we made each choice — only the choices were built upon beliefs that were beliefs and not facts.
If we are in serious difficulties of any kind, it may at first seem inconceivable, unbelievable, or even scandalous to imagine that our problems are caused by our own beliefs.
In fact, the opposite might appear to be true. We might have lost a series of jobs, for example, and it may seem quite clear that we are not to blame in any of those circumstances. We might have a very serious illness that seemed to come from nowhere, and it may strike us as most unlikely indeed, that our own beliefs had anything to do with the inception of such a frightening malady.
We may be in the middle of one or several very unsatisfactory relationships, none of which seem to be caused by us, while instead we feel as if we are an unwilling victim or participant.
We may have a dangerous drug or alcohol problem, or we may be married to someone who does. In both instances the situations will be caused by our own beliefs, even though this may at first seem most unlikely. For the purposes of this particular blog, we will discuss illnesses or situations that have arisen since childhood, so we are not including birth defects or very life-endangering childhood accidents, or most unfortunate childhood family situations. These will be discussed separately.
In most cases, even the most severe illnesses or complicated living conditions and relationships are caused by an attempt to grow, develop or expand in the face of difficulties that appear to be unsurmountable to one degree of another.
An individual will often be striving for some goal that appears blocked, and hence he or she uses all available energy and strength to circumnavigate the blockage. The blockage is usually a belief which needs to be understood or removed rather than bypassed.
In my blogs we will be involved with the nature of beliefs and with various methods that will allow us to choose beliefs that lead to a more satisfying life.
Throughout my blogs, we are not speaking of physical health alone, but of mental, spiritual, and emotional health as well. We are not healthy, for example, no matter how robust our physical condition, if our relationships are unhealthy, unsatisfying, frustrating, or hard to achieve. Whatever our situation is, it is a good idea to ask ourselves what we would do if we were free of it. An alcoholic’s wife might wish all her heart that her husband stop drinking, but if she suddenly asked herself what she would do, she might, surprisingly enough, feel a tinge of panic. On examination of her own thoughts and beliefs, she might well discover that she was so frightened of not achieving her own goals that she actually encouraged her husband’s alcoholism, so that she would not have to face her own “failure”.
Obviously this hypothetical situation is a quick example of what I mean, with no mention of the innumerable other beliefs and half-beliefs that would encircle the man’s and the woman’s relationship.
There are no doubts about it confronting substance issues can be an incredibly complex process. Harmful drinking can cause significant issues not only for the alcohol user but also for members of their family. This can appear in the form of health problems, financial worries, relationship breakdown, and even parenting difficulties. Above all, these families need and deserve support. Family interventions can play a role in this and can help to reduce overall alcohol harm.
Accordingly, if you, or someone you know, have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article there are details of organizations that offer advice and support including several different alcohol treatment center websites available online.
They will be able to provide different types of services that you can use to help support yourself if you are going in for treatment. You might find that they will offer support groups, and will have routine drug/alcohol tests (using something like this 5 panel instant drug test). All of this will be done to help you stay on your path to recovery.
Ultimately, working jointly with alcohol users and their families during treatment has been shown to be effective, particularly where the user is an adolescent.
What do you think should be done to tackle alcohol dependency issues within society? Get in touch and let me know your thoughts on this fascinating topic.
I have mentioned in previous blogs that play is essential for growth and development. Children learn through play-acting. Even getting your children singing can make a huge difference in their growth and development (however, there are plenty of other ways to help your child learn). They imagine themselves to be in all kinds of situations. They see themselves in dangerous predicaments, and then conjure up their own methods of escape. They try out the roles of other family members, imagine themselves rich and poor, old and young, male and female.
This allows children a sense of freedom, independence, and power as they are acting forcibly in all kinds of situations. It goes without saying that physical play automatically helps develop the body and its capabilities.
However, not every child grows and develops at the same pace, and it may worry some parents. It is crucial to keep track of a child’s physical and mental growth and contact a pediatric if you see any behavioral issues, mood swings, interaction issues, lack of social skills, etc. You can also explore pediatric therapy options near your location or online facilities similar to Kinspire to avail the necessary treatment at the early stage.
You could slowly indulge your child in activities with other kids to gradually teach them the concept of social interaction. To a child, play and work are often and the same thing, and parents can utilize imaginative games as a way of reinforcing ideas of health and vitality. When a child is ill-disposed or cranky, or has a headache, or another disorder that does not appear to be serious, parents can utilize this idea: have the child imagine that you are giving it a “better and better pill.” Have the child open its mouth while you place the imaginary pill on its tongue, or have the child imagine picking the pill up and placing it in its mouth. Then give the child a glass of water to wash the pill down, or have the child get the water for himself or herself. Then have the youngster chant, say, three times, “I’ve taken a better and better pill, so I will shortly feel better and better myself.”
There are other steps you can take to instill healthy habits in your child too. For example, we all know how important it is to encourage your child to look after their teeth. Remember to set a positive example for your child by brushing your teeth and using mouthwash together when you get ready in the morning and at night. Furthermore, remember to book regular check-ups with a dentist for you and your child. No one wants to need to have Dental Implants in Washington Heights due to bad oral hygiene after all.
The earlier such a game is begun the better, and as the child grows older you may explain that often an imaginary pill works quite as well — if not better — than a real one.
This does not mean that I am asking parents to substitute imaginary medicine for real medicine, though indeed, I repeat, it may be quite effective. In our society, however, it would be almost impossible to get along without medicine or medical science.
While I want to emphasize that point, I also want to remind that innately and ideally the body is quite equipped to heal itself, and certainly to cure its own momentary headache. We would have to substitute an entirely different learning system, at our present stage, for the body to show its true potentials and healing abilities.
In other cases of a child’s illness, have the child play a healing game, in which he or she playfully imagines being completely healthy again, outdoors and playing; or have the youngster imagine a conversation with a friend, describing the illness as past and gone. Play could also be used even in old people’s homes, for it could revive feelings of spontaneity and give the conscious mind a rest from worrying.
Many ancient and so-called primitive peoples utilized play — and drama, of course — for their healing values, and often their effects were quite as therapeutic as medical science. If your child believes that a particular illness is caused by a virus, then suggest a game in which the youngster imagines the virus to be a small bug that he or she triumphantly chases away with a broom, or sweeps out the door. Once a child gets the idea, the youngster will often make up his or her own game, that will prove most beneficial.
Instead of such procedures, children are often taught to believe that any situation or illness or danger will worsen, and that the least desirable, rather than most desirable, solution will be found. By such mental games, however, stressing the desirable solution, children can learn at an early age to utilize imagination and their minds in a far more beneficial manner.
One of the most disastrous ideas is the belief that illness is sent as a punishment by God.
Unfortunately, such a belief is promoted by many religions. Children who want to be good, therefore, can unfortunately strive for poor health, in the belief that it is a sign of God’s attention. To be punished by God is often seen as preferable to being ignored by God. Adults who hold such views unwittingly often let their children in for a life of turmoil and depression.
In all cases of illness, games or play should be fostered whenever possible, and in whatever form. Many dictatorial religions pointedly refuse to allow their congregations to indulge in any type of play at all, and frown upon it as sinful. Card-playing and family games such as Monopoly are actually excellent practices, and play in any form encourages spontaneity and promotes healing and peace of mind.
Play together, even if only mind games are involved — games with no particular purpose except fun.
