Walking Through Illusion: A Book Excerpt, Part 1

The series on Spirituality continues today with a guest appearance by author Betsy Otter Thompson, who has agreed to allow a chapter from her new book, Walking Through Illusion be excerpted on the Low Density Lifestyle website.

Betsy Otter Thompson is the author of a few books, including The Mirror Theory: The Way to Inner Peace, Resolution, and Transformation; Loveparent: How To Be The Parent You Hope To Be; and Lovehuman: How To Be Who You Love .

A Philadelphia native with a B.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, Betsy worked as a commercial print model and acted in television commercials in Philadelphia and New York. From 1987 to 1999, she worked in Los Angeles at the motion picture and television company Castle Rock Entertainment as the Assistant to the Chairman and CEO. In August ‘99, she followed her boss to Warner Bros. and became his Executive Assistant, as he assumed the position of President and COO, and stayed until she retired in 2005. Betsy is now writing full time.

To visit her website, and/or to order a copy, visit Betsy’s website: http://www.betsythompson.com

Today we begin with the Preface to her book. Next time will be the chapter excerpt.

Preface

The heart is a magical organ. It pumps steadily or unsteadily according to how it’s treated. If we ask too much of the heart it gives off little signals warning of strained love. When the signals are ignored, the heart simply quits; not so different from other motors that aren’t well maintained.

Science tells us that hearts depend on the whole through which they function. My instincts tell me that hearts are independent. From my conviction that hearts are free to express from the depth to which they go, Walking through Illusion was written. Jesus is the energy that comes through my conviction.

What does it mean that hearts are free to express from the depth to which they go? It means that each of us is free to love in face of reasons not to. If we decide to love, the heart goes deeper to reveal our true identity. If we decide not to love, more opportunities arrive through which to challenge us to do so.

I receive my inspiration the same way an artist receives a vision or a musician receives a melody. I can’t tell you how it happens; I’m not sure myself. But if I asked an artist how she received her visions, or a musician how he received his melodies, wouldn’t they say something like this: I open my heart, feel what I need to express, and use my talent to do so. The same is true for me. I open my heart, receive a feeling, and let it express through my gift.

Inspirational writers have different ways of explaining their experiences. Some call it channeling, some call it the joining of conscious energy with the higher self within. Another calls it “a nonphysical energy present in all things that are physical.” (Abraham-Hicks Publications–September 16, 2008)

To me, it is the merging of energy. And, in this sense, my energy is merging with that of Jesus’. When we are together, the best in me is revealed. We all have inspiration to access since we all have hearts that can feel. How it is shared is as individually defined as the individual lives we are living. From the information shared with me, I believe that a few kind words to another are just as powerfully felt as the creation of a symphony.

My particular gift forces me to acknowledge the physics of action/reaction and the power it wields emotionally in every part of my life. When I first explored these physics–or the pulling of energy back to itself–I saw how it worked in the lives of those around me, e.g., an emotional action was taken by someone I knew, and I saw how it all came back to her through another. When I asked Jesus for an explanation, he said that she was receiving the mirror of her behavior.

When it came to my life, and how this theory was playing itself out, I denied my culpability, or the possibility that I had given the pain I had received. Had I been that cruel–and even if I had been, hadn’t my reasons been justified?

It didn’t take long to realize that justification carried no weight in the science of perfect balance. Excuses couldn’t change the course of the boomerang. Once it left my aura, it was on its path to others who were justifying their cruelty. In terms of the past and the pain I had created, that was not a happy thought. In terms of the future and the love I hoped to generate, it was empowering.

For the physics of action/reaction to be a viable theory, I had to acknowledge that equal justice prevailed in both directions (whether I liked what I received or I did not). But the more I enacted in positive ways and enjoyed the results that followed, the more I tested the power of physics in areas more demanding.

To me, demanding meant the depth to which I was willing to go to admit the pain I had given. Not easy. Who wants to admit to behavior in oneself that she has criticized in another? But as I faced my actions honestly and acknowledged the pain I’d attracted, I realized that I controlled receivership–at least in terms of emotion. This put me in the powerful position of creating what I preferred.

Awareness of action/reaction deepened my exploration of unresolved emotion. I have lapses now and then–more frequently than I like to admit. They occur when I blame others for the backlash I dislike.

Walking through Illusion is not the usual format for historical reenactments, but like any novel, it is the author’s interpretation of possible emotions that might have been experienced. The message is the gift, whether the history is taken literally or not.

Why were these particular people included in the story? I’m not sure. When the idea formed, some I chose consciously; some were chosen for me. As I wrote about these characters and the stories they had lived, I received page by page information that helped me to bring my own life into balance.

Early in the writing Jesus reassured me that the people in this book had lived their lives to the best of their abilities, just as I was doing. This revelation was important to me because, when I thought of them as somehow better than I was, a wall came up between their hearts and mine. When I remembered our oneness, the wall disappeared.

Before the writing began, I believed in a world of rights and wrongs. I saw the picture–or the view I saw with my eyes–as the measure of my existence. When the picture was awful, I thought I was helpless to change it.

Gradually, I learned that all my decisions had brought me growth in one way or another. I learned that taking responsibility for the love, or the lack of love in my life, was the tool through which to create a different life. My greatest hope is that you will sense your power from reading about these people and create the world of your desires.

Walking through Illusion was not written to challenge historical facts in other worthy books; it was written to challenge me to become accountable. Where once I‘d been dealing with guilt, I was finding growth; where once I’d been dealing with hate, I was finding compassion; where once I’d been feeling resentful I was feeling autonomous.

As Jesus talked about these people and how they hoped to walk through their illusions–as he had walked through his–I asked if they were equally important to him on his journey toward enlightenment. He responded that, yes, they were equally important in the moment they entered his life.

The questions in this book arrived through the same process by which the answers came: the union of two hearts that had promised devotion to one another long before this journey into humanness began.

To introduce the format in this book, I offer the following conversation with my collaborator:

What did walking through illusion mean to you, Jesus?
It meant the process by which I brought a body into illusion to help me remember what was real: emotion, or the part of me that still remained when illusion fell away. Therefore, the challenge was to walk through every illusion with a grateful heart in the knowledge that love was the force that had gotten me here in the first place.

Why did your illusion seem so real if it wasn’t?
Because illusion was the game I was playing then. Compare it to an evening at the theater which, incidentally, was my entertainment of choice. Naturally, I became involved in the drama acted out on stage. In the context of that arena, the play was real. However, I knew that, eventually, I would leave the theater and carry on with my everyday reality.
The same could be said of my time here on Earth; it was a play as well. When the play was over, I left the theater in which the drama was happening and carried on with my new existence–which then became my reality.

How did the concept of illusion versus reality relate to the theater?
The theater was the illusion through which the play was happening; my response to it was real. When the drama was unfolding in the theater, I accepted that illusion for what it was. When the drama unfolded in my life, I sometimes blamed others for the way the play was progressing.
I played a role the same as my friends played a role, and the same as the actors in the theater had played their roles–and all of us had chosen the parts we played. Our roles were no more real than the ones we saw in the theater. They were illusionary experiments to expand our hearts so that when we left those dramas, we had the needed emotion for the next performance taking our hearts even deeper.

Were the plays of your friends always valuable?
Their souls must have thought so or they wouldn’t have had them in them. When the drama was over, they reviewed their scenes, found the growth from living them and moved on to the next play that would further enlighten their souls.

Did everyone achieve the growth they sought?
Some did; some didn’t. It all depended on how they viewed the play–whether they took responsibility for their autonomy, or blamed others for the scenes they didn’t enjoy.

How could they further their autonomy?
By having faith in their journey; it was designed for inspiration. Without it, their souls would have been seeking a similar production anyway. The value they gave their play was the value attracted back. If they didn’t like their audiences, they had to value differently. Each and every person had a mind that could think independently and, thus, a mind that could recreate until the mirror they loved was present.

Before they arrived to live their roles in this drama, their souls decided when to join the play and when to exit the play. If they shared the love in their hearts as they went from scene to scene, eventually they walked off stage, right into the heart of God forever.

To be continued next time…

What is Enlightenment?

The most recent articles on the Low Density Lifestyle site were a three-part video interview entitled The PETA Interviews.

They were interviews with Ashley Gonzalez of PETA, and we spoke about PETA’s mission, goals and work.

In case you were paying attention, the interviews actually interrupted a series that had recently begun on spirituality.

So now, I return back to the series on spirituality with today’s article, entitled What is Enlightenment?

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment. — Lao Tzu

Spirituality is a domain of awareness. — Deepak Chopra.

We have always been involved in spiritual evolution. We are spiritual beings, we have always been spiritual beings and we will always be spiritual beings. — Gary Zukav

And so, what is enlightenment? In a broad sense, enlightenment means wisdom or a clarity of perception. In 1784, the philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote a famous essay entitled “What is Enlightenment?” in which he attempted to answer the question.

“Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity,” Kant began the essay, and continued on for another 2,600 words. The gist of what Kant said is that immaturity is self-inflicted not from a lack of understanding, but from the lack of courage to use one’s reason, intellect, and wisdom without the guidance of another. It is “our fear of thinking for ourselves,” he proclaimed, and he exhorted the reader of his essay to “Sapere aude!”: Dare to be wise.

Enlightenment is a life of wisdom, knowledge, insight and clarity of thought. It is about functioning at peak capability, of feeling interconnected with all facets of the universe, and of understanding on a profound level how the universe operates. A person who is enlightened is also FREE: they are in the flow, they embody relaxation, calmness and stillness, and they act with effortless effort.

A person who is enlightened is also awakened from the veil of illusion, what in Hinduism is called Maya.

In theories of enlightenment, it is understood that humans go through an evolution of consciousness, and the more enlightened a person becomes in their lifetime, the higher up the evolutionary ladder of consciousness do they go. According to this, these people are capable of thinking more holistically and truly understanding the integral connection between the world of science and matter and the world of spirit.

Some of the people who experience enlightenment in this way become leaders in their community or in the greater society, while others keep a lower profile and prefer a quiet, peaceful existence; nevertheless, all of these people are teachers in one way or another.

And all of these people live (or have lived) a Low Density Lifestyle.

Connecting to the Spiritual Dimension

The secret of attraction is to love yourself. Attractive people judge neither themselves nor others. They are open to gestures of love. They think about love, and express their love in every action. They know that love is not a mere sentiment, but the ultimate truth at the heart of the universe. – Deepak Chopra

What does it mean to be spiritual, what does it mean to connect to the spiritual dimension, and how does it relate to living a Low Density Lifestyle?

When I use the term spiritual, what I mean is living a life that is connected to a divine force, to the pulse of the universe. This force, this pulse, is the field that is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of the universe.

Some may call this God—and some may give this God a specific name—and some may call it by something else: the Divine Force, Great Spirit, Soul, Universal Spirit, Universal Mind, Universal Intelligence, Universal Consciousness, Zero-Point Field, etc. However you view this, it is important to understand that there is an underlying force that is at the heart of the universe.

This force is unlimited, infinite, undying and eternal. It is both outside and within us; it is everywhere and in all things. We are connected to it at all times; the less blockages and densities you carry in your body, heart and mind, and the more readily you feel the pulse and flow of the universe within you, then the closer is that connection.

The connection is felt every time you allow yourself to relax, be silent and be still, because it is at these times that the static of unceasing noise that blocks the frequencies and signals that emanate from the Zero-Point Field is quieted. Mother Teresa said:

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence…We need silence to be able to touch souls.

When you are living a Low Density Lifestyle it is much easier to feel that connection, because the static does not overcome the silence, whereas when living a High Density Lifestyle you will have a hard time feeling that connection, because the static is always there.

People who live a High Density Lifestyle also need a way to find that connection, but unfortunately the way they do so is usually by partaking of things that are detrimental to their health and well-being.

They will ingest drugs—pharmaceutical and recreational—and drink excessive amounts of alcohol, all as a means of making themselves numb, getting away from their stresses and trying to feel a connection with something.

In addition, since they have a hard time being still, they will look for the thrill, for something that gives them the buzz and the adrenaline rush, something that has a sense of adventure and risk, all in the name of feeling a connection with something greater than themselves.

Now, I am not saying you shouldn’t go and have fun, it’s just that some people take it to the extreme. They feel that this is how they make the connection to the force of the universe. Because they are so caught up in the High Density Lifestyle, they don’t realize that all they need to do is stop and be still, and within that silence will come the flow that brings forth the pulse of the universe.

Feeling the connection to the spiritual dimension also means holding love in your heart—loving yourself, those close to you, and all the inhabitants of the planet. Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of the universe, and when you feel love in your heart, you create an open energy circuit that connects you to the sacred flow of the universe.

Rumi said, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

The barriers you have built within yourself that stop you from feeling love are the very same densities and blockages that stop you from living a Low Density Lifestyle. It is so important to surrender and let go of the things that hold you back from feeling love in your heart, because when you do, you can come closer to the Universal Force and be FREE – FREE stands living in a way that focuses on Flow/Relaxation/Effortless Effort.

There are many ways to feel connected to the spiritual dimension; for some it occurs from attending a church, synagogue, temple or mosque, while for others it is more personal—prayer, meditation, silence, walking in the woods, or some other way.

However you find your method of expression, one thing you need to understand is that spirituality is an everyday affair. You are not just spiritual when you go to church, synagogue, temple or mosque; or when you do the more personal way of expressing your spirituality.

Spirituality, and feeling connected to the spiritual dimension, is something that should be realized at all times. For instance, in the Zen tradition, there is no distinction between spiritual and non-spiritual moments. “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes,” is a Zen saying.

When that understanding is embedded in every cell of your body, your connection to the spiritual dimension becomes second nature, and all your actions will be directed in that way. You are in the flow and every movement you take and every achievement you make is done with effortless effort.

The River-Woman’s Daughter

The series on The Roots of Healing has ended – the last article in the series was the three-part article on Wilhelm Reich.

I now turn towards a new subject, that of Spirituality. I’ll be exploring this subject over the next few weeks.

Connecting to the spiritual dimension is something that is important, and is a key element of living a Low Density Lifestyle. You’ll learn more about this as this series unfolds.

Today, as a kick-off to this series, we have a poem by the poet David Tucker. David last graced the Low Density Lifestyle website at the beginning of the year with the article Onto a New Year, which featured a series of David’s poems.

This is what David has to say about himself:
“I am a poet who lives in Vermont where I struggle to dig from the rock of mundanity formed by the details and disappointments of life the images that will startle us and remind us how we are connected to each other and to all the universe.”

Today, here is his poem, For Goldberry, the River-Woman’s Daughter.

For Goldberry, the River-Woman’s Daughter

I love God,
passionately.
I mean,
I make a real production of it.
I walk around the house,
shouting Her name,
His name.
I weep.
My heart
jumps up
on the fence hammered
from all my ecstasy
and crows
and crows
my adoration
to the sweet presence
making love
to every cell of my body.

And now,
to the middle
of my river of bliss,
you glide on your slim bark
signal flags proclaiming peace
and intelligence,
love and compassion
smelling of herbs,
earth
and the sun
stored in the leaves of Summer.

What will I do?
I am so vulnerable
to the Daughters of River Goddesses.
Even mortal women
have been able
to unbuckle the leather
strapped around my heart
and send me chasing
down the street
after my spilled emotions.

What,
in the sweet name of heaven
will happen with you?
This is not fair.
We speak together,
connect,
and a sacred song
from the mists off Withywindle
rattles the chimes
of my soul.
Within you
I see the One I adore.
I see the One
who stirs my heart
to leap upon the backs of stars
and ride
the dark and silver sky.

I think I’m had.
I think I’m stuck.
But,
even in my bondage
may I sing loud and sweet.
I may never be allowed
to kiss the dawn
into your heart,
but,
always,
always,
will I remember Who you are.
Remember Who lives within you,
Will, always
dance my prayers
to you
over miles
or years
or death
to brighten,
at least,
a little corner
of the garden
of the River-Woman’s Daughter.

A Look at Traditional Tibetan Medicine: Part 2

In Part 1 of this 2-part article on Traditional Tibetan Medicine, I discussed the history of this ancient form of medicine.

Today I’ll take a look at how it works.

Tibet’s culture is deeply embedded in the Buddhist way. Accordingly, Traditional Tibetan Medicine is also deeply informed by Buddhism.

Because of this, Tibetan Medicine understands that good health is attained not just by being physically healthy, but also by having a healthy mind as well.

Based on the centuries-old Buddhist study of the mind, Tibetan Medicine gives priority to factors of psychological and spiritual development in its definition of health. It seeks to understand and explain the nature and reason for the suffering people experience in their lives.

It teaches acceptance of and gives meaning to the cycle of birth, sickness, old age, and death we all encounter. Common experiences such as not getting what we want, not wanting what we get, being separated from whomever or whatever is dear to us, and being joined with people and things we dislike becomes a basis of spiritual understanding and growth.

Tibetan Medicine explains how hatred, anger and aggression, ignorance and incomprehension and a materialist view of the world result in states of mind which are at the root of our suffering, and how our habitual patterns of thinking and behaving are the primary cause of illness.

It also asserts that through study and spiritual practice an understanding and awareness can gradually be achieved which transcends that suffering.

Tibetan Medicine attempts to help people become aware of the process of physiological, spiritual and psychological evolution as it originates from what people do, what people say, and what people think.

Every action sows its seed in the mind and will eventually ripen in accordance with its nature, and no experience is seen as causeless. The transient, ever-changing nature of all things is embraced. The conclusion which is reached from this view is the interdependent nature of all things. The highest value is placed on the attainment of compassion and what is termed loving kindness.

Because of this philosophy, I think it is safe to say that Traditional Tibetan Medicine is a deeply spiritual medicine.

Regarding developing good physical health, Tibetan medical theory states that it is necessary to maintain balance in the body’s three principles of function: rLüng (pron. Loong), mKhris-pa (pron. Tree-pa), and Bad-kan (pron. Pay-gen) often mistranslated as phlegm.

Lung is the source of the body’s ability to circulate physical substances (e.g. blood), energy (e.g. nervous system impulses), and the non-physical (e.g. thoughts). In embryological development, the mind’s expression of materialism is manifested as the system of rLüng. There are five distinct subcategories of rLüng each with specific locations and functions: Srog-’Dzin rLüng, Gyen-rGyu rLüng, Khyab-Byed rLüng, Me-mNyam rLüng, Thur-Sel rLüng.

mKhris-pa is characterized by the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of heat, and is the source of many functions such as thermoregulation, metabolism, liver function and discriminating intellect. In embryological development, the mind’s expression of aggression is manifested as the system of mKhris-pa. There are five distinct subcategories of mKhris-pa each with specific locations and functions: ‘Ju-Byed mKhris-pa, sGrub-Byed mKhris-pa, mDangs-sGyur mKhris-pa, mThong-Byed mKhris-pa, mDog-Sel mKhris-pa.

Bad-kan is characterized by the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of cold, and is the source of many functions such as aspects of digestion, the maintenance of physical structure, joint health and mental stability. In embryological development, the mind’s expression of ignorance is manifested as the system of Bad-kan. There are five distinct subcategories of Bad-kan each with specific locations and functions: rTen-Byed Bad-kan, Myag-byed Bad-kan, Myong-Byed Bad-kan, Tsim-Byed Bad-kan, ‘Byor-Byed Bad-kan.

In practice, the Tibetan Medical Doctor begins by interviewing the patient and finding out the pertinent medical history.

The doctor then does a urine analysis, in which the urine sample is examined. In the urine analysis the doctor looks for such things as the color of the specimen and its odor, and then after vigorous stirring, the size, color, amount, and persistence of bubbles, and any deposits. From this the doctor can begin to confirm the nature of the illness, the presence of infection and the localization of the illness among other things.

After that, the doctor feels the pulses in order to perform pulse diagnosis. In pulse diagnosis, the doctor is feeling twelve separate pulses – six distinct pulses at the radial artery of each wrist. The doctor feels for such things as the width, depth, strength, speed and quality of the pulse. Each of those factors when understood properly allows the doctor to clearly define the illness, its location, hidden complications and its etiology.

Once diagnosis is made, treatment can begin. The first consideration in treatment is the principle that all illness ultimately originates in the mind. This does not mean that all illness is psychological or psychosomatic.

Instead, it means that due to ignorance people misperceive the nature of reality and act in ways which create suffering such as illness. Given this basic principle, when treating an illness physicians first begin by recommending specific behavioral and lifestyle modifications.

If this is not sufficient, then physicians work at the level of dietary therapy. If these are not enough to cure the problem, physicians employ herbal medicines or, if needed, physical
therapies such as acupuncture.

Tibetan Medicine believes that the treatment ultimately must fit the patient; that is, treatment must be formulated in a manner which can and will be effective for that individual.

Behavioral and lifestyle modifications can include meditation instruction, spiritual advice, counseling, exercise, or the reorganization of habitual patterns such as sleep habits and eating schedules.

Herbal medicine is a big part of Traditional Tibetan Medicine. It utilizes up to two thousand types of plants, forty animal species, and fifty minerals. Herbal treatments range from simple to very complex, using anywhere from 3 to 150 herbs per formula. Each formula or set of formulas is prescribed to fit the manifestation of the disease and the evolving condition of the individual patient. As a result, herbal medicines often need to be modified at each visit.

If the behavioral modification, diet therapy, and herbal medicine are not sufficient to cure the illness, physicians can also employ therapies such as acupuncture, moxabustion, cupping, massage, and inhalation therapy.

A Look at Traditional Tibetan Medicine: Part 1

We are back from our two-week hiatus to continue this series on the Roots of Medicine. The last article before the break was a two-part look at Ayurvedic Medicine.

I continue today with a look at another traditional system of medicine, Traditional Tibetan Medicine.

I had my first in-depth look at traditional Tibetan Medicine a number of years ago, when I was living in San Diego and went to a presentation given by Dr. Yeshi Dhonden at the VA hospital in town.

Dr. Dhonden is a practitioner of Tibetan Medicine and the former personal physician to the Dalai Lama.

Dr. Dhonden was invited by the VA hospital to present and to do grand rounds. The grand rounds at the hospital that day took place in the auditorium, to a very large audience of health providers. The grand rounds consisted of doctors at the VA bringing some of their most difficult cases to the auditorium and having Dr. Dhonden give his professional opinion about their health status.

One of the primary tools in Tibetan Medicine is urine analysis, though not in the standard way as known in Western Medicine, as a UA. In Dr. Dhonden’s approach to urine analysis, the patient would pee into a cup, and Dr. Dhonden would then make his diagnosis by observing the urine.

I can’t remember what he diagnosed for the patients based on his urine analysis, but I recall the treating doctors, and the audience as a whole, sitting in awe of this man of such deep wisdom.

Besides his urine analysis, he also used pulse diagnosis, which is a form of diagnosis also used in Chinese Medicine. Once he formed his diagnosis, Dr. Dhonden then was able to make a prognosis and make recommendations as to what the patient could do to improve their health.

So what is Tradititonal Tibetan Medicine?

It is a centuries-old traditional medical system that employs a complex approach to diagnosis, incorporating techniques such as pulse analysis and urinalysis, and utilizes behavior and dietary modification, medicines composed of natural materials (e.g., herbs and minerals) and physical therapies (e.g. Tibetan acupuncture, moxabustion, etc.) to treat illness.

The Tibetan medical system is based upon a synthesis of the Indian (Ayurveda), Persian (Unani), Greek, indigenous Tibetan, and Chinese medical systems, and it continues to be practiced in Tibet, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Ladakh, Siberia, China and Mongolia, as well as more recently in parts of Europe and North America. It embraces the traditional Buddhist belief that all illness ultimately results from the “three poisons” of the mind: ignorance, attachment and aversion.

Traditional Tibetan Medicine addresses the well being of the whole individual in the observation, healing and prevention of physical, mental, and energetic imbalances.

By synthesizing knowledge from various medical systems, Tibetans created a approach to medical science drawn from thousands of years of accumulated empirical knowledge and intuition about the nature of health and illness.

Centuries ago, before Buddhism entered Tibet, Tibetans like all ancient people had a significant degree of medical knowledge. According to traditional sources, in the beginning of the 4th century many new ideas regarding medicine began to enter the country. At first influences came from India in the form of what is now called Ayurvedic medicine, as well as more spiritual and psychologically based systems from Buddhist and other sources.

Around the 7th-8th centuries the Tibetan government began sponsoring conferences where doctors skilled in the medical systems of China, Persia, India and Greece presented and debated their ideas regarding health and the treatment of illness. Those with superior abilities in the diagnosis, treatment and understanding of illness were invited to stay and contribute to the country’s medical knowledge base.

In the 11th century, this knowledge was codified into a unique system containing a synthesis of the principals of physical and psychological medicine imbued with a Buddhist spiritual understanding. This understanding formed a foundation for Tibetan medicine and benefited patients and doctors alike. It acknowledged how health and illness resulted both from the relationship between the mind and the body and people’s connectedness to the natural world and sense of spirituality.

Next time: A Look at how Traditional Tibetan Medicine works.

Ayurvedic Medicine: The Oldest System of Medicine, Part 2

In the last article on the roots of healing, I discussed how over the eons, the art and science of healing, as it becomes ingrained in a society’s way of being, becomes more systematized and formalized.

One such system, and the oldest system of medicine on the planet, is Ayurvedic Medicine. In the last article, Ayurvedic Medicine: The Oldest System of Medicine, Part 1, I talked about its origins and roots.

Today I will continue with the discussion, with Part 2 about Ayurvedic Medicine.

(Please note: After today’s column, I – and the Low Density Lifestyle website – will be on hiatus for the next two weeks. So this is the last article until Tuesday, Aug. 31).

As I mentioned in the previous article, Ayurveda stems from the Vedas, the ancient classical sacred texts of Hinduism. It is a medicine based on balance, and is a medicine of the body, mind and soul. It is closely associated with the other Hindu disciplines of yoga and tantra, which together are seen as the three paths of Vedic knowledge.

Ayurveda believes that building a healthy metabolic system, attaining good digestion, and proper excretion leads to vitality.

When people think of Ayurveda, they often think of the three Doshas: vatta, pita and kapha. According to Ayurveda, these three Doshas (literally that which deteriorates) are regulatory principles that are important for health, because when they are in a balanced state, the body is healthy, and when imbalanced, the body has diseases.

The three doshas stem from the five great elements: Prithvi – earth; Aap – water; Tej – fire; Vaayu – air; and Akash – ether. Ayurvedic principles hold that all of these compose the Universe, including the human body.

In addition, Chyle or plasma (called rasa dhatu), blood (rakta dhatu), flesh (mamsa dhatu), fat (medha dhatu), bone (asthi dhatu), marrow (majja dhatu), and semen or female reproductive tissue (shukra dhatu) are held to be the seven primary constituent elements of the body.

The doshas are comprised of the different elements. Vata is air and space, or wind; pitta is fire and water, or bile; and kapha is water and earth, or phlegm.

The Ayurvedic doctor uses a number of diagnostic approaches in order to determine the right diagnosis and understand which of the doshas is most predominant. This will then help the doctor to determine the best course of treatment.

This is actually standard protocol in any system of medicine, and what separates a system of medicine from just an approach or modality.

In a system of medicine, the doctor first makes a diagnosis, and from there determines what the best treatment principles and course of treatment is.

The difference between Ayurvedic, and any other traditional system of medicine, and modern/Western medicine, is that with Ayurvedic, diagnosis and treatment is both an art and science, and as an art it is known that sometimes the body will work in mysterious ways.

Whereas with modern/Western medicine, diagnosis and treatment has had the art taken out of it, and has become a technological science that attempts to reduce things down to absolutes, which then allows no room for the mysteries of healing.

In fact, in the modern/Western way of medicine, the mysteries of healing are best to be avoided at all costs.

And so, with diagnosis for the Ayurvedic doctor, the patient is to be questioned and all five senses are to be employed. Ayurvedic texts recommend a tenfold examination of the patient.

The qualities to be judged are: constitution, abnormality, essence, stability, body measurements, diet suitability, psychic strength, digestive capacity, physical fitness and age. Hearing is used to observe the condition of breathing and speech.

The study of the vital pressure points, or marma, is of special importance – it is the trauma science described in Ayurveda. There are 107 different spots described and located on the body surface which produce different signs and symptoms. With respect to the underlying anatomical structures, the symptoms vary according to blunt or penetrating trauma. The severity of the symptoms and signs also depend on whether the injury is exactly on the marma point or slightly around it.

Treatment includes diet and herbs; herbs may be a misnomer, because the Ayurvedic herbal pharmacy includes vegetables, animals and minerals.

In regards to the vegetable part of the herbal pharmacy, warming herbs such as cardamon, cinnamon, tumeric and pepper are very popular. They are said to strengthen the digestion.

Animal products include milk, bones, and gallstones. And minerals used include sulfur, arsenic, lead, copper sulfate and gold.

Some minerals employed by Ayurvedic medicine are toxic, but traditionally the toxicity of these materials are believed to be reduced through purification processes such as samskaras, which involve prayers as well as physical pharmacy techniques.

At least one scientific study has looked at the process of purification of toxic substances in Ayurveda with lab mice. The study looked at aconite, which is used in Ayurvedic pharmacy formulations, and is an extremely lethal substance in its crude and unprocessed form.

The study compared aconite in its crude and unprocessed form, versus aconite in the form where it is processed by way of the samskaras, which involve prayers as well as physical pharmacy techniques.

Unprocessed aconite was significantly toxic to mice (100% mortality at a dose of 2.6 mg/mouse) whereas the fully processed aconite was absolutely non-toxic (no mortality at a dose even 8 times as high as that of crude aconite).

Other treatment approaches include: the application of sesame oil to the body, known as snehana, abhiyanga and shirodhara; sweating, known as swedana; and panchakarma, which is a Sanskrit word that means “five actions” or “five treatments.” This is a process used to clean the body of toxic materials left by disease and poor nutrition.

Ayurvedic Medicine: The Oldest System of Medicine, Part 1

I’ve been writing about the roots of healing in this series, and in the last article I discussed sound healing. I said how sound healing is one of the oldest forms of healing known to humankind.

Now I will expand beyond discussing healing approaches and begin to discuss various systems of medicine. As medicine begins to be part of a society’s way of life, it becomes more systematized and formalized, in order that it can be used by the masses.

Ayurvedic medicine is one such system of medicine, and it is the oldest known system of medicine on the planet.

Ayurvedic medicine is native to India. The word Ayurveda comes from the Sanskrit and means, “Science of Life.” In Sanskrit the word ayurveda consists of the words āyus, meaning “longevity,” and veda, meaning “related to knowledge” or “science.”

Ayurveda springs from the Hindu tradition, although Buddhism has also had a major influence on Ayurvedic ideas.

Ayurveda traces its origins to the Vedas, the ancient classical sacred texts of Hinduism. There are four Vedas, and Ayurveda is said to stem from the Veda known as Atharvaveda, which contains 114 hymns or formulations for the treatment of diseases. Ayurveda originated in and developed from these hymns. In this sense, ayurveda is considered by some to have divine origin.

According to legend, the system of medicine was received by a man named Dhanavantari from Brahma, and Dhanavantari was deified as the god of medicine.

Dhanavantari is said to be an avatar of Vishnu from the Hindu tradition, and god of ayurvedic medicine. Dhanavantari was an early Indian medical practitioner and one of the world’s first surgeons.

Based on Vedic traditions, he is regarded as the source of ayurveda. He perfected many herbal based cures and natural remedies and was credited with the discovery of the antiseptic properties of turmeric and the preservative properties of salt, which he incorporated in his cures.

There is a quote attributed to Dhanavantri, in which he says, “I the Lord Dhanavantri brought this healing science on earth from heaven.”

Ayurveda is a medicine of the body, mind and soul, and is closely associated with the other Hindu disciplines of yoga and tantra, which together are seen as the three paths of Vedic knowledge.

According to Robert Svoboda, a doctor of Ayurvedic medicine:

“Because every embodied individual is composed of a body, a mind and a spirit, the ancient Rishis of India who developed the Science of Life organized their wisdom into three bodies of knowledge: Ayurveda, which deals mainly with the physical body; Yoga, which deals mainly with spirit; and Tantra, which is mainly concerned with the mind. The philosophy of all three is identical; their manifestations differ because of their differing emphases. Ayurveda is most concerned with the physical basis of life, concentrating on its harmony of mind and spirit. Yoga controls body and mind to enable them to harmonize with spirit, and Tantra seeks to use the mind to balance the demands of body and spirit.”

Within Ayurveda, there are eight disciplines of treatment, known as Ashtangas. They are:

* Internal medicine (Kaaya-chikitsa)
* Paediatrics (Kaumarabhrtyam)
* Surgery (Shalya-chikitsa)
* Eye and ENT (Shalakya tantra)
* Demonic possession (Bhuta vidya): Bhuta vidya has been
called psychiatry.
* Toxicology (Agadatantram)
* Prevention diseases and improving immunity and
rejuvenation (rasayana)
* Aphrodisiacs and improving health of progeny
(Vajikaranam)

Balance is a central theme in Ayurveda. Balance is emphasized; suppressing natural urges is seen to be unhealthy, and doing so may almost certainly lead to illness.

To stay within the limits of reasonable balance and measure is stressed upon. Ayurveda places an emphasis on moderation in food intake, sleep, sexual intercourse, and the intake of medicine.

Ayurveda incorporates an entire system of dietary recommendations, along with lifestyle recommendations, in order to help achieve balance.

To be continued tomorrow…

Shamanism, Mysticism, and Quantum Borders of Reality: Part 3

Today I conclude this three-part fascinating article on Shamanism. If you missed the first two parts, here are the links:

Shamanism, Mysticism, and Quantum Borders of Reality: Part 1

Shamanism, Mysticism, and Quantum Borders of Reality: Part 2

The World of the Mystic and Shaman

Once we understand this basic concept, that the mind and consciousness transcend normal boundaries and spread beyond four-dimensional space-time, we can begin to understand more fully the world of the mystic, the world of nonordinary reality and the world of the shaman. Traditional cultures, unencumbered by the weightiness of analytical thinking, have always accepted these worlds. Westerners are just coming around.

Yet at the same time, taking these traditional worldviews and synthesizing them with progressive scientific thinking can only bode well for all. We can start to get a better understanding of how the shaman operates and how he or she effects a cure.

I have undergone shamanic journeying and have been awed by the insights gained from them. Are my insights mere fragments from a fertile imagination? I don’t think so. I tend to believe that I am tapping into the larger universal field of consciousness. All it takes to reach into that field is a shifting of the mind.

Trance Ritual

The shifting of the mind in shamanism and mysticism is generally achieved through some sort of trance ritual. Drumming, dancing, chanting, singing, meditating and other modalities are often used.

A Bar Mitzvah. I remember a few years ago, attending my nephew’s Bar Mitzvah. As the service went on, the rabbi and his assistants started speaking faster and faster, repeating the same phrases over and over, building the energy in the room into a crescendo.

At a certain point, as they continued with their ritual, there was a certain shift in energy and consciousness. A few people sighed and started crying; I could feel in myself my heart opening up and a sense of lightness within. Shortly after, the ceremony ended and the rabbi declared my nephew to be blessed.

Excitation of electrons

I believe that ceremony was a trance ritual. It worked up to a feverish pitch whereby the energy in the room palpably shifted. I have speculated that what they did was excite the vibrations of the electrons in the room until they were moving at a rate that allowed them to resonate more effectively with the quantum state. Since the quantum state is akin to the state of Spirit, in essence through the ritual they were able to make us closely connected to Spirit; or perhaps for a moment we became Spirit.

Perhaps this is the key to entering nonordinary states of reality. If one excites their electrons in whatever way one deems appropriate, they will then be further aligned with the quantum world. By being aligned with the quantum world, they will transition from the world of everyday reality to the quantum world of nonordinary reality, a reality that exists everywhere and anywhere, at a panoramic setting of 360 degrees.

The Path of the Shaman

Technicians of the Sacred

The ability to enter a nonordinary reality is the hallmark of the mystic. A shaman fits into this definition of a mystic, for a shaman readily traverses through various worlds as a great specialist in the human soul. The path the shaman takes is first and foremost spiritual; they are technicians of the sacred.

Shamanism is the oldest and most widespread method of healing with the imagination – over 20,000 years old. Shamans induce a state of mind that transcends ordinary reality, allowing them to access inner intuitive wisdom and bring it back for the benefit of others.

The Lama as Shaman

In Tibetan Buddhism, the Lama is the shaman, the psychic healer and guide of souls. Reciting chants from ritual texts from the secret books of Guru Rinpoche, this allows the Lama to enter into an altered state of consciousness, leaving his body behind to seek passage into other worlds, the hidden lands. He returns with treasures of knowledge and power and thus is able to restore lost souls to wholeness.

Maintaining a Foot in Both Worlds

Yet at the same time, just as quantum reality and everyday reality together form the entire panoramic view of reality; the shaman must keep a foot in both worlds to understand the fullness of human existence. The shamans who completely go off, who can’t keep operating in this world while they’re in an altered state, are considered fools or incompetents, or neophytes. The shamans in the Amazon who take ayahuasca and other extremely powerful hallucinogens can actually do surgery under the influence.

Trance Surgery

Speaking of performing surgery while in an altered state (this reminds me of a story I was recently told by a retired nurse about doctors in the hospital she used to work in who performed surgery while inebriated), in Brazil there are people who perform what is called trance surgery. To perform surgery while in a trance state is a very concrete representation of maintaining a foot in both worlds. Within a manner of minutes, the surgeon (who is generally not someone trained in Western medicine or surgical techniques) goes into a trance state in which their body is used by a possessing spirit or intelligent entity as a vehicle for its own medical purposes. Healing skills supposedly unknown to the healer are manifested during trance behaviors. These trance surgeons usually perform no rituals; they work with their eyes open, conversing with those present.

One of the most incredible aspects of these phenomena is that the surgical instruments are not sterilized, nor are the patients anesthetized. Yet accounts of infection and inflammation are rare, and patients generally appear to experience little or no pain and minimal bleeding. And furthermore, many patients experience either temporary or permanent cures of their ailments.

Sai Baba

A trance surgeon who practices in England, a man by the name of Stephen Turoff, claims that his inspiration comes from the Indian mystic Sai Baba. Sai Baba is considered a “national treasure of India” and at age 13 declared himself an avatar, an incarnation of God on earth. He has performed many miracles, which he calls mere calling cards, toys and tricks to gain our interest and to demonstrate the illusion of our physical bodies and the material world to which we are all so attached.

A psychiatrist who has witnessed Sai Baba first hand reports that Sai Baba has manifested objects out of thin air, resurrected the dead, and healed people of cancer. He writes, “there is no miracle known to humankind that Sai Baba has not performed.”

The Babalawo

To the Westerner, these stories seem preposterous. There is just no way something like this can be true, as it eludes rational and linear common sense.

Phillip John Neimark is one person who can vouch for the illusion of rationality and the sanctity of the sacred. A white, Jewish middle-age businessman who lives in Chicago, he made his first million at the age of 30; now he is also a high priest, or babalawo, in the Ifa religion. As Neimark tells it, “I was totally committed to the Cartesian, Newtonian universe and I lived my life absolutely on that basis. If you couldn’t prove God, He didn’t exist. In fact, I militantly attacked and dismissed any other paradigm.” His antique Jaguar had a license plate bearing Aristotle’s empirical dictum, A is A.

Through a series of life and spiritual crises, Neimark found himself inducted into the Ifa religion and became a high priest of the religion. Now he says “I don’t care how you do it. I don’t care how anybody does it. Just connect to that divine energy. Otherwise you will not get out of this lifetime nearly what you should.”

Into the Mystic

As Phillip John Neimark has shown, one doesn’t have to be of a particular culture or background to live the life of the shaman or mystic. All it takes is an innate understanding that the world is full of Spirit, and that Spirit controls the invisible forces of nature.

Who knows the mysterious ways of the invisible forces that control our lives? This is what the shaman, the mystic and the forward thinking scientist are all trying to ascertain.

Shamanism, Mysticism and Quantum Borders of Reality: Part 2

I continue now with the second article in this multipart series on shamanism. Yesterday was the first part, Shamanism, Mysticism and Quantum Borders of Reality: Part 1.

Dreams and the Soul

Westerners do not fully understand the realm of the psyche, the soul or the transcendent; to many it is a deep, dark chasm that is best maintained with a padlock. It is better to sweep it under the rug, to not delve into it and understand it. It may rear its head in dreams, but because Westerners are not sensitized to their dreams, it will be quickly discarded.

Many traditional cultures look to their dreams for guidance, to help them shape the lives of their people. Central to the practices of many traditional cultures is the pre-dawn ritual of dream sharing. Dreams are shared and used by the entire community and individuals dream not only for themselves but also for the community as a whole. In their dreams they will find access to forces that are not revealed in everyday awareness. They believe that something akin to a soul-body leaves their physical body to travel within a parallel world.

Traditional cultures use their dreams to develop both individually and collectively, whereas Westerners have no similar protocol, as the dreams of Westerners don’t develop with age; instead their dreams stay at the level of a child. One member of an Amazon tribe said about Westerners, “I didn’t know people in the north dreamed.”

And to traditional cultures, it is understood that people are not the only ones who dream. The Bugi, who have inhabited the coasts of Sulawesi since before recorded time, sail in large wooden-hulled schooners with enormous black sails. These ships are called prahu. Prahus have no motors, navigational equipment, nor modern technology of any kind, yet they sail great distances. Their belief is that every prahu has a dream and that this dream exists before the ship is built. The prahu builders will enter the dream of the prahu to see where it will sail and what storms it will encounter, so they know how to focus their work and what parts of the prahu will need special attention.

Westerners consider the waking state the only reality and dreams to be unreal and unimportant. Traditional cultures believe the dream state to have greater potential for understanding and spiritual progress than the so-called waking state, and both states to be equally real or unreal.

In Tibetan Buddhism there is a form of yoga called Tibetan dream yoga. It consists of four stages:

1. Comprehending the nature of the dream (i.e., that it is a dream and thus, a construction of the mind)

2. Practicing the transformation of dream content until one experientially understands that all of the contents of dreaming consciousness can be changed by will and that dreams are essentially unstable

3. Realizing that the sensory experiences of waking consciousness are just as illusory as dreams and that, in a sense, “it’s all a dream.”

4. Meditating on the “thatness” of the dream state, which results in union with a “clear light.”

The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science

Logical Empiricism

Within Western society there are certain precepts, which we can call metaphysical foundations. These are assumptions of the way the world operates that are based not on research or scientific theory, yet are neither articulated nor brought into question during the course of modern research. These assumptions do not reside within the material world as such, nor can they be proven by empirical experiments, but they form the ground out of which all our conceptual ideas about the physical world reside.

Like Ken Wilber’s Flatland, which you read about in Part 1, these metaphysical foundations are based on the premise that if you can’t experience it with your senses, it doesn’t exist.

The most important of the metaphysical foundations are objectivism, positivism and reductionism. These lead to the assumption of logical empiricism, which is the belief in the premise that the basic stuff of the universe is what physicists study: namely, matter and physical energy – ultimately, “fundamental particles,” their associated fields and interrelationships.

Anomalies

Yet as science studies things large and small, from the depths of the submicroscopic to the infinite expanse of the cosmos (and everything in between), there are areas that do not easily fit into these metaphysical assumptions. These are such concepts as non-local causality, self-organizing systems, nonlinear dynamics, turbulence, consciousness, synchronicity, superpositioning, and more. There is even some evidence that the speed of light is capable of going faster than what Einstein has postulated to be an absolute.

Some would point to all these areas as anomalies, statistical warts that fall outside the normal purview. But the reality is that these so-called anomalies are not so much demonstrations of shortfalls in our knowledge of mechanisms as much as indicators of the inadequacy of the present day scientific approach and the metaphysical foundations and principles it adheres to.

The Incorporation of Quantum Thought

When we extend our borders of everyday reality to include quantum thought, much of the anomalous areas then begin to make sense and can be explained through scientific terms. Science can then be used to help us probe deeper, to question, to analyze, to criticize, to synthesize. Instead of a science that thinks in an exclusionary manner, quick to dismiss that which doesn’t fit into its narrow paradigm, we can have a science that can think in an inclusive manner, that can help to explain things which seem to be beyond comprehension.

Zombies.
For instance, in the country of Haiti, in the year 1962, a man by the name of Clairvius Narcisse died. Eighteen years later, in 1980, Narcisse was found walking in a marketplace, claiming to be a zombie. There was no doubt that he had died, nor was there any doubt that he was who he said he was. Because of the publicity surrounding Narcisse, other Haitians surfaced with similar tales, also claiming to be zombies.

Scientists from the U.S. researched the matter and determined that Voodoo priests and sorcerers created herbal decoctions that could paralyze a person’s central nervous system; after the person was buried the priest would come and give them the antidote, which would revive them, yet keep them in a drugged state. The priest then would give periodic doses of the decoction to the person to maintain the drugged state. Thus the person perceived of themselves as zombies, controlled by someone they considered being their master.

360 degrees.
Not all scenarios can be explained so readily; yet there can still be open-minded scientific discussions on them. As long as science starts with the assumption that reality goes far beyond our senses, then our metaphysical foundations can be much broader. With the understandings of superpositioning, coherence and decoherence, non-local causality, and nonlinear dynamics, the scope, depth and breadth of science can virtually cover all areas considered anomalous.

What these modern sciences tell us is that true reality exhibits a 360-degree nature. What this means is that reality exists twofold: both in a linear fashion, neatly laid out from past to present to future; and in a nonlinear fashion, with the past, present and future all around us, occurring at all times, in many dimensions.

Superpositioning has shown us that in the quantum realm, electrons exist in all possible states at all times and communicate to one another about their positions. Although in our macroscopic world the electron takes just one position of density, the communication continues, non-locally, between the electrons of the macroscopic world and the quantum world.

The electrons of the quantum world inform the electrons of the macroscopic world that it is possible to continue to move and be in many places at once.

Gravity and thermodynamics offset this information by informing the macroscopic electrons that they cannot move and that they are dense and absolute. Yet what the macroscopic electrons do, in its attempt to mirror the quantum electrons, is follow a path of nonlinear dynamics, of creating fractals and strange attractors.

In this way, the electrons of our everyday world open the floodgates of uncertainty, to show that even in our everyday reality there are movements that happen that are beyond linear mathematical formulation. Thus, all around us, at all times, exists a world of each and every possibility.

Non-local Causality

Electrons talk in an indigenous language of wavelengths and frequencies in the superpositioned state. And as I said above, the communication continues even when electrons transition into density. The ability for electrons to communicate across boundaries of space and time is considered non-local causality.

Even consciousness follows these rules. It is a quantum system that decoheres into density. Each of us has our own mind, with its own level of consciousness – this is the result of quantum decoherence into density. At this level we experience ourselves as separate from others.

Yet at the root of our individual consciousness is a non-local mind, a universal consciousness, in which our thoughts are ultimately connected into a universal mind. It is most probable that the electrons of local and non-local consciousness, or individual and universal mind, communicate in the same indigenous language as all other electrons.

As physicist Arthur Eddington said, “The stuff of the world is mind-stuff…The mind-stuff is not spread in space and time…Recognizing that the physical world is entirely abstract and without ‘actuality’ apart from its linkage to consciousness, we restore consciousness to the fundamental position.”

To be continued next time…

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