What's Happening -- Newsletter from the Center
—Summer 2006 Newsletter
Blueprint for Health
Our medical system has tremendous
technological capabilities to diagnose and treat many life threatening
disease states but we fall short when it comes to advising people about
health maintenance. “What should I do to be healthy?”, we ask one
another, if we ask the question at all.
We know that it’s more than taking a
membership out at the local gym or losing weight, but it is such a
complex bewildering topic that we have no choice but to give up and do
what we have been doing all our life. Finally we elect to take better
care of our cars than our own physical mindbody.
I believe that the journey begins with the
accompanying DAY IN BALANCE which is culled from healing traditions
which I believe fill the void that the Western medical tradition cannot
address. As you can see it’s simple but it requires that as
individuals, we begin making different lifestyle choices. After
experiencing myself the benefits of following such a simple but elegant
regimen, I began seeing the same benefits for patients and participants
in classes conducted.
I would not be telling the truth if I said
that incorporating this into your life is simple. On the other hand I
would not be telling you the truth if I didn’t say that every small
step you take toward this type of lifestyle will have an immediate and
positive effect on your body, mind and consciousness. It all begins
with the first small step!
Some may argue that it’s too regimented or
they like to stay up late, or they like to sleep in, or I enjoy a big
dinner before bedtime. Even more challenge will come up when one sees
the smoke and mirrors word “meditation.” To all of these concerns, I
would suggest, “try it, it may grow on you. If not, what have you lost?”
—Spring 2006 Newsletter
Projection
In the Ayurvedic understanding of
human
and cosmic physiology the mind plays an indispensable role
in disease development. As a matter of fact all diseases stem from the
mind. Think about it. A habit such as smoking is a mind choice. Dietary
choices and psychological stresses lead to hyperacidity syndrome which
eventually creates gastroesophageal reflux, gastritis, ulcer disease.
The turbulent mind is not only responsible for the poor choices and the
stresses that we have but worst of all it leads to unarguably
physically manifested disease; some of which lead to our physical
demise.
So in order to be healthy physically we must
deal with the turbulent mind so that we can be more fully present to
appreciate the moment not only “out there” but also “in here” because
in the end they are both the same. An excellent way to quiet the
turbulent mind is through the practice of meditation. We can then start
witnessing our thoughts and the responses that we are having to the
outside world. Then we can begin appreciating ourselves in all of its
complexity and diversity.
In our last newsletter we talked about the
dark side that each of us has. It is that part of us that we do not
want to accept. We said that the signal of emotional turbulence is the
sign that a particular aspect of ourselves is not incorporated into our
psyche or we are denying in ourselves. This can be manifested in anger
or any other emotion that signals to us that the outside world we see
is not being accepted. Every time we have an emotional reaction we are
judging, making something right or wrong, good or bad. This is the true
value of emotions because they serve to help us learn more about
ourselves. Whatever we cannot accept “out there” is a clue to us that
there is something “in here” that we cannot accept. Since we represent
the totality there is nothing “out there” that is not “in here.”
Projection is a way we put our good and bad
qualities “out there.” It is an act of transferring part of us to
something else. If we cannot deal with something “in here” we extend it
beyond ourselves. There would be no hate without projection. We would
take responsibility for co-creating the universe. So when we can be
mindfully aware (that is, without a turbulent mind) of ourselves we can
note when we are projecting. There is a lot of projecting going on
right now in our social consciousness with the current terrorist
activity. Our inner terrorist inflicts internal punishment just as much
as an external terrorist.
In reality there is no distinction between
anger, projection and resentment. There is a phrase often used that
says, “You’re only as sick as your resentments.” The moment of
resentment (lack of self acceptance) is actually the moment of
projection. Resentments form one of our most common ways to enable us
to keep from looking at ourselves. When we resent something “out there”
we are actually resenting ourselves. We are judging against
ourselves.
The way out of resenting ourselves is
forgiveness, not only “out there” but realizing that “out there” is
really “in there.” When we externally forgive others we begin the self
healing “in here.” But the real value of forgiveness comes when we can
observe our own thoughts of the past and can silently say to ourselves,
“It’s alright, you just made a mistake,” without the hint of self
reprisal. Then we will be free to experience the moment without the
interfering past.
So our resentments and emotional turbulence serve as
signposts to help us find out where we do not accept ourselves. They
point the way “in here” to find out where there is a lack of self love.
Then we will be able to have compassion for the terrorist who lives not
only “in here” but also “out there.”
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