by Ada Porat | Jul 21, 2016 | Cope with change, Emotional healing
Emotional healing is an organized process which goes through four distinct, orderly phases similar to physical wound healing where missing cellular structures and layers of tissue are replaced.
The four, often overlapping, phases of physical and emotional wound healing are Shock/Hemostasis, Inflammation, Proliferation/Rebuilding and Remodeling. There are tools that work best for each phase, as well as gifts to be gleaned from each phase of the process.
- Shock/Hemostasis
In the hemostasis phase of physical wound healing the flow of blood stops and vessels constrict and seal themselves off, forming a clot to stop bleeding. Emotional wounds elicit a similar response from us: we may go into shock or denial of what has happened; or shut down because of the trauma. Healthy responses during the initial phase of emotional healing include:
Face and acknowledge the pain. Recognize the impact the event had on you so you can deal with it and heal. Be sure to not avoid the issue or suppress it, because emotional healing requires brutal self-honesty.
Grieve for your loss. You may have lost someone, or your trust was betrayed. You may feel falsely judged or accused, or even abandoned. By grieving that loss, you are creating space for emotional healing to follow.
- Inflammation
Just as the second phase of physical would healing is marked by inflammation, the second phase of emotional healing is marked by a period of inflamed emotion. You may experience waves of anger, sadness, rage, blame, shame or indignation as you review the hurtful event. During this time, you may have a strong need to express your feelings and emotions to sympathetic others. You may look for validation of your feelings. Heck, you may even want to lash out in revenge!
This is a critical phase for emotional healing: too much inflamed emotion and rehashing of the situation can hold you back from the healing process; too little emotional response can indicate prolonged denial and confine you to the victim role.
Accountability: Take time to review the event from a non-judgmental perspective. What went wrong and why? Were there any red flags you ignored? How did you contribute to the outcome? What could you have done differently? What did you learn from the experience?
Forgiveness: Forgiving is not surrendering to the wrongdoing of another; it is a letting go of the bitterness you feel toward them. Anger and bitterness poison you and need to be released so you can fully heal. Perhaps you need to forgive yourself for things you did or said. If so, recognize that you can only do the best with what you know at any given time, and forgive yourself for not having known or done better. The choice to forgive is always difficult, but only this decision will bring genuine emotional healing.
- Rebuilding
In this important phase of physical healing also known as proliferation, the wound gets rebuilt with healthy tissue. Likewise, this is the phase in emotional healing where you get to choose new, healthy responses and coping mechanisms to the challenges life may send your way.
It is an exciting time of exploring new resources, finding new tools and integrating them into behaviors and strategies that can propel your emotional resilience to a new level. During this phase, choosing healthy responses to challenges will build elasticity into your life; fear-based or angry responses will delay your progress.
Responsibility: Accept responsibility for your life, and recognize that your life is ultimately the only life you are responsible for. Know that nothing another says or does to you, can change in any way the truth of your inner being as you know yourself to be. Recognize that winners stand back up when they get knocked down; losers don’t… and choose which you want to be.
Dare to dream again: Who would you be without this emotional setback? What would you do? Then start taking steps toward these goals to move you out of the stagnation of woundedness, propelling you towards emotional healing and a vibrant life.
- Remodeling
In this final phase, physical wounds are closing and may appear healed on the surface, although it will take some time for tissue at all levels to become strong and less sensitive.
In emotional healing, this phase can be challenging because people may see you as fine, not realizing that you still feel very sensitive or tentative. This is the phase where you get to put your new goals, strategies and boundaries into action. It is important to remain vigilant and avoid falling into the same pitfalls as before. Protect your emotional boundaries until you feel stronger and more resilient.
It is up to you to train people where your new emotional boundaries are, and how to treat you. Each time you respond to a challenge in a different, more empowering way, you will find yourself strengthened by the experience. Know that your new boundaries will be tested and you have the authority to enhance your coping strategies, reinforcing your emotional boundaries for long-term thriving.
Maturation: By progressing though each of the three previous phases and integrating the wisdom of the experience into your life, you reach a new level of emotional resilience and maturity. By appropriately tending to your emotional wounds, you will renew yourself to live an empowered life.
About the author
©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.
by Ada Porat | May 18, 2016 | Cope with change, Life transitions
Even though most of us resist change, it offers unique opportunities to develop physical, mental and emotional resilience. People respond to change in two major ways: those who avoid change at all cost, and those who look for constructive ways to navigate through the change.
Avoidance serves an initial purpose in the change process: it offers you the chance to gather your energy, make sense of what happened, and plan what you want to do next. When avoidance leads to stalling, however, it can make you completely miserable because it will lead to excessive rumination, disempowerment, guilt and blame.
Whether you are still in shock and avoidance over events in your life, or whether you are actively looking for ways to heal and move forward, current research offers some guidelines to help you navigate the uncertain and often uncharted landscape of personal change, and become gain more emotional resilience to boot.
Responses to crisis are guided by how you conceptualize them. If you see yourself as victim in a situation from where you’ll never recover, then that is likely how you will continue to interpret new information as well. If, on the other hand, you interpret the situation as a difficult challenge that can be overcome with time, patience, skill and effort, then you significantly increase the probability of achieving that outcome.
Accept that transitions, crises, problems, and even tragedies are a part of life. You have not been singled out for special treatment – although it may feel that way at times! Change is a constant in life: careers, relationships, family situations, nature, health, the economy… you name it! At every level of life, changes occur around the clock, and these changes carry within them the seeds of new opportunity, breakthrough and hope.
Clarify what you really want. Do you want to survive or do you want to actually thrive? If you wish to transcend the limitations of the present challenges, you need to set high, yet achievable goals that will require you to dig deep within for the resources you have buried there. Once you know what you truly want from life or from the situation you are faced with, you can break it down into smaller, manageable action steps to rebuild your life.
Commit to your dreams and take action. No matter how lofty or humble your goals, it will take effort and time to accomplish. What action can you take right now with what you know and the resources at your disposal? When you truly commit to your goals, you’ll become like a ferret: you’ll tunnel over, under, through or around the obstacles in your path because you won’t let anything discourage you from reaching your goals.
Reflect rather than ruminate. Ruminating over what might have been, what could have happened, or what you wish you could have had, serve little purpose. It is far more useful to search for meaning in your current situation. What are you learning about yourself in this situation? How could you respond to this challenge in ways that will make you stronger? What do you need to keep a healthy perspective? Reframe your problem by seeing it as a smaller part of the big scheme of life. This, too, shall pass!
Maintain optimism and hope. Sports coaches often say “Attitude is everything.” They know the importance of staying positive! During times of upheaval, developing emotional resilience requires that you look for the silver lining in each cloud. Start a gratitude journal where you can record small victories and notice things that do go well. When you look for what is going right, chances are that you will notice more of that; the same goes for looking only at what goes wrong – the choice is yours!
Reach out to others. People who report the biggest gains after life crisis and change are often those who reconnected with loved ones and bonded deeper through greater transparency, intimacy and sharing. In Africa, people say that it takes a village to help raise a child. You and I are no different – we need a tribe of like-minded people around to boost our emotional resilience and help us get thru difficult times. And there is no better time to expand your tribe than right now, so they’ll be there when you need them!
Take care of yourself. This is an area I often see people neglect most during times of change. There is a tendency to think that you first need to get over the hump and then you’ll be able to take care of yourself on the other side… not so! By doing things that nurture, strengthen and support you during times of change, you’ll develop more resilience to handle the stress of change.
Redefine yourself. Change and crises have a way of destroying dreams, but you don’t have to stop dreaming! When one dream ends, you can develop another, better vision of what you want to do with this precious gift of life in the time that you have left. When you do that, you’ll emerge from the transformational fires of change with more emotional resilience and inner strength.
About the author
©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.
by Ada Porat | Dec 21, 2015 | Conscious living, Cope with change, Life transitions, Self-awareness
Of all the things you can do to impact your future and create a meaningful life, I believe personal growth is the greatest. With personal growth, I refer to that process of improving one’s awareness and identity, developing one’s potential, and maturing emotionally, mentally and spiritually to fulfill one’s destiny. It is the primary catalyst that determines who you’ll become over the course of your life.
Have you ever had an experience where someone says something perfectly appropriate, yet their tone or body language express the very opposite of their words? The experience felt weird because you sensed a discrepancy between the person’s words and actions.
Personal growth brings to light such discrepancies in ourselves so that we can take appropriate action to become fully integrated beings.
Personal growth also paves the way to lasting joy and fulfillment. It cultivates an environment where decision-making becomes easier, because you eliminate discrepancies in your value system as soon as you become aware of them. It’s your key to living a truly meaningful life.
Here’s some more good news: This key to a meaningful life rests in your hands, because you are the catalyst. It does not depend on finding someone to love or support you; or on getting a tax break, or electing a different president, or winning the lottery, or even moving to another country. It rests with you – and that is truly empowering!
Creating a meaningful life can start right here, right now. All meaningful change starts with a baseline: the willingness to accept responsibility for where we are at, and for the actions and choices that brought us to the present. Instead of beating yourself up over past decisions or failures, you can initiate meaningful change right now by accepting that you are the key factor to creating a meaningful life.
If that statement feels a little awkward to you, it means you need to own it more fully. Post it where you can see it every day: in the bathroom, the kitchen, your car, or your computer – anywhere you can see it.
You are the key to a meaningful life!
Think about the powerful impact this has. Your potential and your future are in your hands, because you are the key to creating the very change you desire.
How does one create meaningful change?
First, you need to nurture change until it bears fruit. Surround yourself with a strong, dynamic support system; an active pursuit of personal growth; clear goals and boundaries; and the knowledge of what your value system requires from you to maintain inner peace.
Second, you need to minimize the impact of obstacles instead of milking it for sympathy or using it as an excuse to not take charge of your life. Everybody faces challenges such as health setbacks, financial challenges and negative influences. However, none of these things can replace the most important aspect: your conscious presence as the core catalyst to creating the change you desire.
You are the key to creating a meaningful life! Imprint that concept on your mind, because it is super important. You don’t have to be perfect – you simply have to commit to your personal progress.
One of my former colleagues was a very successful entrepreneur who really understood this concept. Whenever people asked him how he became so successful, he would answer, “Simple. Just go beyond the average. Focus on becoming your best.”
How wise he was! In a world of mediocrity where the lowest common denominator usually is enough, you can surpass the norm simply by becoming more than average. You don’t have to strive for perfection; you just have to rise above the average.
Work on yourself and develop more than average enthusiasm. Develop more than average clarity. Develop more than average vision. Develop an above-average commitment to live your best life. In short, to have more, focus on becoming more. When you invest in and work on yourself, the results will follow!
One day shortly before final high school exams, my English teacher read us The Victor, a poem by C. W. Longenecker that I’ve never forgotten. It was written well before the age of gender-sensitive language, yet its message is still as powerful today as when it was penned:
“If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.
“If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will.
It’s all in the state of mind.
“If you think you are out-classed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win the prize.
“Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.”
If you were to look at the people who attended school or college with you, you may notice that each person has reached a different place in life. Given the fact that they attended the same educational system, speak the same language, and share the same culture, what accounts for the difference?
The difference is on the inside, not the outside. It lies in how well each person understands the key to creating a meaningful life.
Every day, you make choices that determine whether something is meaningful for you or not. You are the only person qualified to measure an external experience by your internal value system and give it the thumbs up or down. The better acquainted you are with your inner value system, personal goals, boundaries and dreams, the more optimal will be the choices you make.
You see, the real difference is not in the astrological signs or the family you come from; the real difference is inside you. In fact, the difference IS you. The power to makes things better is inside you, and personal growth is the catalyst that activates that power in your life.
Within you is the power to believe, to dare, to do, to persevere. Within you is the strength to love, to forgive, to grow, to heal. You are the key to creating a meaningful life and a better future.
About the author
©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.
by Ada Porat | Nov 30, 2015 | Body Mind Spirit, Conscious living, Cope with change, Spirituality
(Note: This article was authored by Claude Swanson, Ph.D. and is reprinted here with his permission.)
The tragic terrorist attacks in Paris have escalated the conflict in the Middle East, and some Western leaders are calling for a further increase in military activity. This follows an announcement by Obama two weeks earlier that the U.S. is beginning to send troops to Syria, and this follows similar moves by Russia. Although both the U.S. and Russia are calling their soldiers “advisers,” this is not very reassuring, since Americans remember that the first troops sent to Vietnam in the sixties were also called “advisers.”
Several weeks ago the Russian leader Putin met with the leader of Syria, Bashar Assad, to reaffirm support for his government. Russia and Syria are long term allies. Meanwhile the United States continues to support groups who are trying to overthrow Assad. Matters are further complicated because both sides say they oppose ISIS (ISIL), the radical Muslim group which is thought to be responsible for the Paris attacks..
To add to the complexity, Israel, a long term ally of the United States in the region, according to articles by Pulitzer prize winning reporter Seymour Hersh, has been providing military support to Kurdish rebels who control territory in Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey and who want a state of their own. Neighboring states fear a strengthening of the Kurdish rebels will lead to further instability in the region. Hersh has indicated that the additional U. S. troops may be intended to help this group. Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford pointed out that this Kurdish group itself has ties to terrorist groups and has been accused of human rights abuses.
The track record for U.S. intervention is not encouraging. The countries where the U.S. has intervened over the past fifteen years remain in states of volatile chaos: Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The refugee crisis in Europe at the present time is largely a result of these conflicts. The alliances forming are disturbingly similar to the Armageddon scenario, and matters could conceivably escalate beyond recall. It is vital that all the hostile factions step back and look earnestly for peaceful solutions. They may need to give up or compromise some of their deeply held beliefs or ambitions to find a common ground. Regardless of the details of the history of past wrongs or injuries on both sides, it is clear that matters in the Middle East are becoming increasingly dangerous and hold the potential for even greater conflict in the future.
Let us ask forgiveness for the mistakes we have made, and forgive all other parties involved, as well. The Hawaiian prayer of Ho’oponopono seems appropriate here: “I am sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. I thank you.” (One beautiful YouTube video based on this prayer is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac5SGwRPv0o )
Let us learn the lessons we came here to learn. All of us have had a role in creating these events, and we are here to learn and remember that we are all connected, we are all powerful spiritual beings, and our prayers and love and understanding can truly heal the world. We ask, and urgently pray, that everyone sends prayers for peace and wisdom to the world, that all people be guided by the highest good for all the peoples of the Earth.
We need to send prayers to lower the rhetoric, to tone down the bellicose threats and actions in many of these areas. We have become overconfident in our ability to project military power, as we noted in the quote from General Wesley Clark regarding how we got into the Iraq war. This interview ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSL3JqorkdU ) may shed light on the viewpoint of some in government who advocate escalation. Power has limits, and eventually it is met with opposing power, sometimes in forms we did not anticipate. As the most powerful country in the world, the United States has an obligation to set a standard of behaving responsibly and with consideration, not as a bully but taking into account the aspirations and fears of others.
Therefore we ask, and urgently pray, that everyone sends prayers for peace and wisdom to the Middle East, and that our leaders be guided by the highest good for all the peoples of the world.
THE NEED FOR PEACE PRAYER
These conflicts serve to highlight the need for peace prayers. To make prayer the most powerful, we ask that everyone around the world pray simultaneously, at the same time. This will increase the power of the prayer, possibly by a factor of several hundred because more people are praying simultaneously. Prayer in each time zone is adjusted so that prayers are simultaneous all around the world. Prayers should be done EVERY DAY.
There is also a best time of day to receive prayer, a time when our receptivity is greatest (see below). This depends on where we are in the world. Prayer times are set to correspond to the hour when receptivity is greatest in the Middle East . Our prayers of peace, love and forgiveness, while directed to everyone around the world, may in this way have greatest effectiveness in calming and bringing peace to this region, which is near a flash point. Let us pray that peace, love and forgiveness penetrate the hearts of all people.
The chart below, Table 1, shows the best time to pray to accomplish this. It is slightly different (about four minutes earlier) every day. It depends on what time zone you are in and the time of year. The time zones and locations are listed in the left-hand column. Find the row which describes your time zone. Then move across to the right to find the column for the correct date. The dates are shown for every five days, but you should pray every day. On days not shown in the chart, choose a time for the closest day shown. For example, if you live in Colorado, you look down the left hand column until you find Colorado or MST for Mountain Standard Time. This describes your time zone. If it is Nov 9, you then look across the top row of the chart to find the date, Nov 9. Going down that column to the row corresponding to Colorado or MST you find the prayer time given is 9:00 AM. This is the center of the prayer period.
For a 20 minute prayer, this means beginning the prayer 10 minutes earlier than this. Since the center is 9:00 AM, you would start the prayer ten minutes earlier, at 8:50 AM. PRAYERS SHOULD BE DONE EVERY DAY. Each day the best prayer time is about four minutes earlier. The chart shows the best prayer times every five days, to help keep track of the schedule. However you should pray every day. If the day is not shown on the chart, choose a prayer time in between the times shown. If the times are inconvenient, then pray when you can but include the intention that the prayer is to be joined with others praying in the same time window.
We propose that the prayer be for world peace, forgiveness of others, healing of Mother Earth, and the awakening of love for our fellow man. This follows the lessons of the great Teachers of all religions.
TABLE 1.
BEST TIME TO PRAY
(PRAY EVERY DAY. IF THE DATE IS NOT SHOWN, LOOK AT THE PRAYER TIME FOR THE NEAREST DATE AND USE IT. )
TABLE 1. How to use it: Look down the far left-hand column to find your time zone. California, for example, is Pacific Standard Time right now, or PST. When you find the right row for your time zone, then go across to the correct column for the present date. If it is Nov 26, for example, then find the columns for Nov 24 and Nov 29, the two closest dates before and after. Your prayer time is in between these two numbers, around 10:50 PM. Choose that time for the middle of your prayer period.
THE SCIENCE
The power of prayer has been known for thousands of years. Recent scientific experiments have proven it (Ref. 1). Experiments show that when people pray together at THE SAME TIME, it has EVEN MORE IMPACT (Ref. 2). Science has also discovered there is a SPECIAL TIME OF DAY when we are MOST RECEPTIVE to spiritual and intuitive messages (Ref. 3). Prayers received at this time are likely to have the greatest effect. If everyone around the world will pray at this time the prayers can have heightened impact, both because of the time of day and because many people are praying together. Fifteen or twenty minutes of concentrated prayer everyday at this time can work miracles.
The Princeton PEAR Lab, the Global Consciousness Project, and other research institutions have discovered that consciousness affects physics and can be measured (Ref. 4). The human mind and human intention alter the behavior of devices called “random event generators,” or REGs. They measure the power of human intention to affect distant events. In scientific studies on prayer, it has been found that when many people pray together the effect is larger (Ref. 2).
The graph below shows this effect. The lower curve in blue shows the level of randomness of these REGs when no one is praying. When many people around the world pray together, the devices begin to act as though they are coupled together (the red line on the graph). This shows that synchronized prayer affects the physics of space-time around the world. Prayer has power that can be measured, and synchronized prayer can have great effectiveness.
GRAPH 1. The power of synchronized prayer. The red line shows how prayer, by millions of people around the world, affect devices called REGs. These devices have been shown to measure the power of consciousness. They are based on patterns of quantum noise which occur when many people around the world think the same thought or focus on the same idea.
The second key piece is the importance of the TIME when one prays. It has been discovered in scientific experiments that there is a BEST TIME of day when intuitive messages are most accurately received. Prayer is an example of messages of this type. The graph below shows how accurately such messages are received versus TIME OF DAY. The peak in the graph shows the best time. It is found to depend on the position of the stars overhead, and is therefore called “sidereal time.” Because the peak has width of about a half hour on either side, this defines a one hour window which should be the “best time” for sending or receiving prayer. Table 1 above, labeled “Best Time to Pray,” shows how this “best time” relates to your local clock time.
GRAPH 2. The most powerful time of day to receive a psychic message. This seems to be the time of day when psychic or spiritual communication is least noisy, which means it is clearer then. If we are sending an intuitive or prayer message to others, this is the best time for it to be received. Just like channels on a radio dial, it is best to send and receive on a channel which is clear and quiet, not one that is noisy. The peak in the graph shows when this occurs. It depends on the star positions overhead, which is why it is called “sidereal time” (Ref. 3) Table 1 above translates this into your local clock time.
To have maximum effectiveness when we pray, it may be most powerful to combine these two ideas: To have many people pray TOGETHER, and also to pray at the BEST TIME for it to be received. In each time zone, when the clock reaches the BEST TIME, as shown by Table 1, everyone in that time zone should join their minds and hearts to pray together.
The times in each time zone are adjusted so everyone will pray at the same exact moment around the world. This means the largest number of people will be praying together, which will have the GREATEST EFFECT. The prayer is timed to correspond to the time during the day of best receptivity in the Middle East. This is when the peak in receptivity, shown in Graph 2, is over that region. This part of the world appears most critical at the present time. It is hoped that by directing prayers there when they are most receptive, we may help encourage peace in the region.
THE CRISIS OF OUR TIMES
We are living in a time of great change on the planet. We have built technologies which are transforming the world’s ecology and weather. Our investment in weapons of war is skyrocketing. New weapons including engineered diseases are being stockpiled. Soldiers are fighting in many countries, and it is not bringing peace but only more war. Tensions in the Middle East have erupted into “hot wars” in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Libya and Syria. Growing opposition by China and Russia to U.S. military incursions and the effort by Iran to develop nuclear power raise the potential for escalation. It only seems to bring more anger and create more terrorists, which then feeds the cycle.
In many religions and cultures, the times we are living in have been the subject of prophecy. The Hopi Indians of North America are but one of many peoples who have predicted these times. They describe Western man as having a head and body which are separated. The body represents understanding of the physical world, i.e. technology, and the head represents spiritual wisdom. In the Hopi view, the separation of head and body symbolizes that Western man is out of touch with spiritual guidance, and therefore misuses his understanding of technology. Unless we can learn to access spiritual wisdom, we will make wrong decisions leading to an extremely destructive Third World War.
We humans are at a turning point. Are we able to handle our technology to make our lives better and to spread wealth and opportunity to all? Or do we have a streak of violence, hatred and greed which will doom us to bring about the destruction of this beautiful world in which we live?
The answer does not lie in violence. This only creates more hatred in the victims who respond with greater violence toward us. The answer does not lie in more technology, for without wise and thoughtful use it just causes more environmental damage. The true answer has been given in many cultures and in many religions. We must stop the violence and hatred and greed within ourselves, and then we can help heal the world.
RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
The BBC News recently announced that the permafrost melting in the arctic is occurring much faster than predicted. In a story by Matt McGrath for the Science and Environment section of BBC News, it was reported that temperatures have risen in the permafrost from -8 degrees C to -2.5 degrees C even in the northern coastal areas of Alaska. As a result, vast areas are expected to melt in the next few years, much earlier than had been expected. This will turn the upper levels of soil into slush, making roads impassible and toppling many surface structures. Even the Alaska pipeline might be endangered. Trees have already been falling in parts of Alaska. And of course, this frozen region extends across thousands of miles of Siberia as well as Alaska, and even includes parts of the sea bottom in the north Pacific. Therefore a huge area is affected.
Another result of this melting, besides an increase in ocean levels, will be the accelerated release of the frozen methane which is trapped in the permafrost. As the methane is released it enters the atmosphere where its greenhouse effect is 25 times stronger than Carbon Dioxide. Therefore the permafrost melting will further increase the greenhouse effect. All of these effects are confirmation of the rapid global warming that is ongoing.
The Gulf Stream which is responsible for the temperate climate in Europe has been slowing in recent years because Global Warming has rapidly melted Arctic ice bringing fresh water into the North Atlantic. Ten of the twelve ocean convection cells which maintain the Gulf Stream flow have reportedly slowed or stopped on occasion, raising the possibility in the near future of drastic weather changes. Experts now project that the world’s oceans will rise more than one foot in the next century because of this same melting. The rising ocean, in turn, will likely trigger additional earthquakes, which have been increasing rapidly over the past two decades. At the same time, the extinction rate of the earth’s animal and plant species has been increasing to a level not seen since the last “Great Extinction” 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs perished. They were the dominant species then. Are we next?
Let us send love and healing to Mother Earth and to one another, that our mistakes and mistreatment of the environment and of our fellow man may be healed, that we learn how to tread more gently on the earth, and that we be forgiven for the disturbances we have so far created.
LESSONS OF THE GREAT SPIRITUAL TEACHERS
In the West every day we see images of violence and war. War has never solved problems for very long. The defeat of Germany in World War I led to resentment and poverty and eventually to the rise of Hitler and World War II. The wisest teachers have taught a very different lesson. Jesus said:
“…if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:38-41)
Jesus taught that violence solves nothing. It only creates more violence. It hurts and angers the victim who vows and plots his revenge. Jesus realized and taught the great lesson that the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend. Jesus taught that the only way to end violence is to:
“…Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you…” (Matthew 5:44)
The alternative is to create more and more people around the world who hate us and plan and live for our demise. With the increasing power of modern weapons, nuclear, biological, and chemical, even a weak enemy can cause death and suffering on a massive scale. And we know from experience that this only leads to retaliation and escalation. It will only stop when one of two things happens.
(1) Either we destroy ourselves in a global conflict, which has been predicted by many, or
(2) We escape this fate by trying something new: forgive and send love to our enemies, and pray for peace and healing everywhere.
It is up to us to begin the forgiveness process, to love, to send prayers daily around the world to ease the anger and fear, to forgive the violence, to pray for a growing peace. Let the fires of hatred and fear and revenge burn down, let the embers cool. Remember that each of us possesses an immortal soul and is here to learn. Let us follow the teachings of the great Masters of all ages, sowing love and kindness and generosity, and extending it in prayer to all living souls around the world.
When we look beneath the external trappings of any religion, it is remarkable how similar are the underlying beliefs. We offer two examples here. The first is the “Golden Rule,” which in Christianity is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This same belief is taught in most of the world’s religions:
Buddhism (Udana-Varga): Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.
Judaism (Leviticus 19:18): You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Confucianism (Mencius VII.A.4): Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence.
Hinduism (The Mahabharata): This is the sum of duty: do naught to others which if done to thee would cause thee pain.
Christianity (Matthew 7:12): Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.
Islam (Hadith): No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.
As a second example, consider the teaching of Jesus to “turn the other cheek.” This is often considered a more unusual teaching, because it emphasizes that we should not return violence with violence. In a world torn by terrorism and war, this lesson is too seldom heeded. Yet it is not unique to Christianity. Consider the following quotes:
Buddhism (Dhammapada 201): Victory breeds hatred, for the defeated live in pain. Happily live the peaceful, giving up victory and defeat.
Judaism (Talmud, Baba Kamma 93a): One should choose to be among the persecuted, rather than the persecutors.
Confucianism (Mencius IV.A.14): In wars to gain land, the dead fill the plains; in wars to gain cities, the dead fill the cities. This is known as showing the land the way to devour human flesh. Death is too light a punishment for such men who wage war. Hence those skilled in war should suffer the most severe punishments.
Sikhism (Adi Granth, Shalok, Farid): Those who beat you with fists, do not pay them with the same coin, but go to their house and kiss their feet.
Christianity (Jesus in Matthew 5:38-41): You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well…”
Islam (Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 32): Let there be no injury and no requital.
Such correspondences can be found for almost all religions. Therefore, as the world becomes smaller it would serve us well to look at the underlying similarities in religions, rather than the differences. These similarities are not due to coincidence. They are due to a deep intuitive knowledge on the part of religious founders. These rules seem to describe important truths about how the universe works and how we should live. The alternative, in this time of nuclear and biological warfare and a seriously damaged environment, may be our destruction. A non-violent solution is to pray for global healing and peace.
OUR MISSION
TO BRING INTO REALITY THE CENTRAL MESSAGE OF ALL THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS: TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, TO TREAT OTHERS AS WE WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED, TO FORGIVE OTHERS AND RETURN LOVE FOR HATE, KINDNESS FOR ANGER, TO SPREAD THIS FEELING TO EVERYONE, TO OUR FELLOW MAN AS WELL AS THE EARTH AND ITS ENVIRONMENT.
WE ARE AT A CRUCIAL TIME WHEN MANY PROPHECIES, AND INDEED THE TIDE OF WORLD EVENTS, THREATENS A WIDER WAR AND DRASTIC CHANGES TO OUR CLIMATE AND ECOLOGY. THESE MAY THREATEN OUR WELL-BEING AND EVEN OUR EXISTENCE. THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY, MAYBE EVEN OUR “FINAL EXAM” TO SEE IF WE ARE WISE ENOUGH TO HANDLE OUR TECHNOLOGY AND TURN IT FROM DESTRUCTIVE TO CONSTRUCTIVE ENDS.
GLOBAL SYNCHRONIZED PRAYER, DONE EVERY DAY BY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD, CAN TURN THIS TIDE. IT CAN HEAL HATRED AND FEAR AND TURN IT INTO PEACE AND LOVE. IT CAN EASE THE DISTRESS OF MOTHER EARTH AND BEGIN TO HEAL THE DAMAGES TO CLIMATE AND ECOSYSTEMS. IN THIS WAY WE MAY AVERT WAR AND CHOOSE A BETTER FUTURE FOR OURSELVES AND OUR CHILDREN.
WE CAN CHANGE THE FUTURE. IT IS UP TO US!
REFERENCES:
Ref. 1:
Benor, Daniel J., M.D., “Survey of Spiritual Healing Research”, Complementary Medical Research, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 9-33 (1991):
Benor, Daniel J, M.D., “Distant Healing,” Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine, Vol. 11, No. 3, p. 249 (2001)
Dossey, Larry, M.D., Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, Harper, San Francisco (1993).
Dossey, Larry, M.D., Space, Time and Medicine, New Science Library, Boston and London (1985)
Dossey, Larry, M.D., “Healing, Energy and Consciousness: Into the Future or a Retreat to the Past?,” Subtle Energies, Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 1, (1994)
Grad, Bernard, “Some Biological Effects of the ‘Laying on of Hands.’ A Review of Experiments with Animals and Plants,” Journal ASPR, April (1965)
Grad, Bernard, “The ‘Laying on of Hands’: Implications for Psychotherapy, Gentling and the Placebo Effect,” Journal ASPR, October (1967)
Swanson, Claude, The Synchronized Universe-New Science of the Paranormal, Poseidia Press, Tucson (2003), www.SynchronizedUniverse.com
Ref. 2:
Radin, Dean I., Rebman, Jannine M., and Cross, Maikwe P., “Anomalous Organization of Random Events by Group Consciousness: Two Exploratory Experiments”, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 143-168, 1996
Radin, Dean, The Conscious Universe, Harper Collins, New York (1997).
Orme-Johnson, D., Summary of Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program, Compiled and Edited, Maharishi International University.
Orme-Johnson, D., Alexander, C.N., Davies, J.L., Chandler, H.M., and Larimore, W.E., “International Peace Project in the Middle East: The Effects of the Maharishi Technology on the Unified Field”,Journal of Conflict Resolution, 32: 776-812 (1988)
Nelson, R.D., (2003) Global Harmony on Global Consciousness Project webpage, http://noosphere.princeton.edu/groupmedit.html
Twyman, James (2003), http://www.emisariesoflight.com
Ref. 3:
Spottiswood, James, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 109-122, 1997.
Ref. 4:
Dunne, Brenda J., and Jahn, Robert G., Experiments in Remote Human/Machine Interaction, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 311-332 (1992).
Dunne, Brenda J., and Jahn, Robert G., “Consciousness and Anomalous Physical Phenomena,” PEAR Lab Technical Note – PEAR 95004, May 1995.
Jahn, R.G., and Dunne, B.J., “On the Quantum Mechanics of Consciousness, with Application to Anomalous Phenomena”, Foundations of Physics, 16, p721 (1986).
Jahn, R.G., and Dunne, B.J., Margins of Reality, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1987a), New York.
Jahn, R.G., Dunne, B.J., and Nelson, R.D., “Engineering Anomalies Research,” Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.21-50 (1987b)
Nelson, R.D., Bradish, J., Dobyns, Y.H., Dunne, B.J., and Jahn, R.G., 1996. “Field REG Anomalies in Group Situations”, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 10:111-42.(1996)
Nelson, R.D., Dobyns, Y.H., Dunne, B.J., and Jahn, R.G., “Analysis of Variance of REG Experiments: Operator Intention, secondary parameters, database structure.” Technical Note PEAR 91004, Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory, Princeton University School of Engineering/Applied Science (1991)
Radin, Dean I., Rebman, Jannine M., and Cross, Maikwe P., “Anomalous Organization of Random Events by Group Consciousness: Two Exploratory Experiments”, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 143-168, 1996
Ref. 5:
Putin, Vladimir, “A Plea for Caution from Russia,” New York Times Opinion Page, www.nytimes.com, September 12, 2013
Ref. 6:
Massie, Suzanne, http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-03-07/suzanne-massie-taught-president-ronald-reagan-important-russian-phrase-trust
Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia, Suzanne Massie, Hearttree Press (1980)
Trust but Verify: Reagan, Russia and Me, Suzanne Massie, Hearttree Press (2013)
Ref. 7:
History: Beginning of the Iraq War – PBS Frontline documentary: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/view
by Ada Porat | Sep 23, 2015 | Abundance, Conscious living, Cope with change, Gratitude, Life transitions, Mindfulness, Self-awareness, Spirituality
Ask anyone in the Western world how they define abundance, and you are likely to hear them talk about material riches and prosperity. And yet, true abundance is so much more!
The definition of an abundant life cannot be satisfied by the presence of material things alone. Jesus knew this when he said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by the living Word or Spirit. He challenged the common assumptions of his time by pointing out that true abundance cannot be confined to merely physical terms.
The common, limited assumption of abundance as a merely physical notion prevails even today. To find lasting fulfillment in life, it is essential for us to question and redefine such limiting social beliefs. We need to understand that true abundance applies at the levels of body, mind and spirit.
In my work, I am blessed to see the power of questioning assumptions every day. Once we become aware of limiting beliefs and behaviors, we can change them. Along the way, we learn to look deeper instead of blindly repeating the same old habits to getting the same old outcomes. By identifying the hidden determinants of our behavior, our lives often shift spontaneously!
One of the primary areas where limitation shows up is in our relationship to abundance – or its opposite, scarcity. In an era of unprecedented abundance in the western world, many still struggle with feeling that there is not enough: not enough to feel complete, not enough to feel safe or secure. We keep accumulating material things that cannot fill the deep emptiness inside our souls.
During feudal times, all wealth was tied to land ownership and material prosperity was a zero-sum game. Abundance was defined by material belongings because there was only so much land, and only so many people could own it. Land owners could build fortresses and tax travelers passing across their property, leading to more wealth. This system led to separation between those who owned land and those who didn’t, the haves and the have-nots.
This belief system is still active as a powerful undercurrent in modern society. With each economic cycle, millions of individuals over-extend themselves to acquire physical assets and wealth during economic booms, only to find their fortunes evaporate when the boom turns into a bust. In some societies, cycles of war and civil unrest strip people of all forms of physical security they may have painstakingly amassed over generations.
But does the loss of physical assets really make you a loser? And does the presence of physical assets alone define you as a winner?
Enlightened teachers like Jesus and the Buddha taught that true abundance is not based on physical assets alone. They proposed that true abundance includes qualities such as integrity, honesty, service, and loving kindness to all forms of life. These teachings pointed to a higher and necessary concept of abundance that still eludes general consensus today.
Talk to people around you and you’ll find many adhering to the outdated belief of measuring abundance by material displays of wealth. Besides that, you’ll find the limiting notion of having to compete against others to secure these limited resources for survival.
Western society is predicated on this outdated assumption that there’s only so much to go around, and that we need to compete with others for these resources on a basis of win/lose. I have to get mine first before you can get yours or the limited supply runs out (think black Friday shopping mobs!)… if you win, I will lose… and on we go, pitting our limiting beliefs against others in an effort to survive. We expand scarcity consciousness to every facet of life: believing that for my faith to be right, yours has to be wrong; for my political party to win, I have to sling mud and make yours look bad; and so on.
If I believe you must lose in order for me to win, or that you must be shamed so I can have value, or that you must be wrong for me to be vindicated, or you must be suppressed for me to feel free, then my sense of happiness becomes dependent on your lack thereof. My experience of life becomes fragmented into opposites, and I end up suffering estrangement from my fellow humans and my true nature. A life lived from such outdated beliefs offers very limited love, serenity and security.
Many forms of duality-based limitations such as these cause untold suffering in the world. Turn to the news and you will find numerous examples of this scarcity-based thinking in us versus them propaganda, xenophobia, social upheaval and marginalization that pervades society.
The Buddha taught his disciples to free themselves from the vice of duality-thinking; to liberate themselves from the opposites of desire and aversion which propel the cycles of scarcity and suffering. It is only when we let go of this misguided struggle for a bit of material security at the cost of happiness, that we are able to poise our minds in peace.
How do we uncouple from the vicious cycle of chasing after material security and finding scarcity instead?
The power lies in our thoughts. Our thoughts contain the seed forms of potential; making change possible in our consciousness, our belief systems and our world.
Physical reality manifests from our imagination and ideas about how things are. As humans, we are gifted with the ability to change the way we think, and hence create different outcomes. We can change the way we look at things and thereby change the outcomes!
Instead of seeing the world as a physical pie and ourselves competing against others for a slice of it, we can consciously change our view. Perhaps it is time to recognize that energy is never destroyed; it simply changes form. We can expand our definition of true abundance to include all its myriad forms: the material as well as the mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual. And perhaps we need to acknowledge that there is enough for all of us, and then share our resources from that perspective.
Changing old mindsets for more appropriate ones may not be as clean or predictable as we’d like. Evolution is messy and uncertain. A clear outcome is not always apparent. To the minds of westerners who like control, reliability and certainty, this can be nerve-wracking. Yet, the alternative is to allow greed to destroy balance in our world and to render humanity extinct.
Times of change call us to trust on a grand level. We need to trust in our Source, ourselves and each other as we redefine true abundance. When we do so, times of upheaval can give birth to new paradigms that better fit our needs.
About the author
©Copyright Ada Porat. For more information, visit https://adaporat.com. This article may be freely distributed in whole or in part, provided there is no charge for it and this notice is attached.
