Mass Density

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A long time ago, in a land not so very far away, a guy named Rene dreamt up a phrase that has served us greatly and at the same time caused a major shift from which we have yet to recover. He said “I think, therefore I am”, or “Cogito ergo sum” in Latin. Dubbed the “Founder of Modern Philosophy”, Descartes certainly contributed a lot to modern thought.

However, we humans, once we get thinking, seem to have a strong tendency to over-simplify and take things to extremes. An example of this is the distortion of the text “All wrongdoing can be traced to an excessive attachment to material wealth.” which is found in the writings of the Apostle Paul and is often shortened (incorrectly) to “Money is the root of all evil.” Why the key concept is left out of the common expression, that of excessive attachment, I’ll leave to others to decipher. For now, this is an excellent example of how easy it is to lose sight of what is actually being said and how ideas can become very distorted and end up expressed in manners that are actually very different or even the opposite of what they were originally.

Another example of this is the common American expression “I could care less”, which really means “I couldn’t care less about the subject we are discussing” but has been abbreviated and has become the opposite expression. I’ve even heard it further abbreviated to “I could care”, which is another meaning altogether. And, while I’m riding this hobby horse, ponder the meaning of the organization called the “High Tech Crime Unit”. While the people who work there are actually law enforcement folks, it certainly sounds more like the title you’d give to an organization that conducts high tech crime, not one that fights it.

So, back to Descartes or more properly, his notion that if one thinks, one exists. Taken on its own, this notion is not so hard to swallow. The real problem has arisen in that westerners have taken this notion to extremes and this has gotten in the way of having healthier lives. We focus way too much on thoughts and our minds and not enough on the rest of our selves.

Much of modern psychoanalysis is based on discovering the why behind something we do or feel. It is a thinking exercise, for which one can spend many thousands of dollars and hundreds and hundreds of hours. Once one finds a “reason” for acting in a certain way or feeling “X”, one can then devote more time to reframing it, understanding it, etc. etc.

If we consider for a moment that we humans are more than just our brains / minds, then we might discover that solving problems using only our minds and thoughts is a limited approach. Yes, there has been a lot of research of late showing the mind/body connection, but most of it focuses on how we can change our body by “harnessing” the power of our “subconscious” mind. Think weight loss, stopping smoking, breaking free of addictions, and similar applications of mind over matter.

Fortunately, some research has pointed out the opposite type of effect. Putting a smile on your face, even if you do not feel like smiling at the time, will usually effect a change in mood. Try it now. Wait, before you start to smile, write down on a piece of paper how good you are feeling on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. OK - now start. Hold it on your face, the smile, that is. Notice if you are feeling more like smiling or anything else. For most people, this simple physical act will effect a mood change of some sort, usually towards a more positive frame of mind. This shows the mind/ body connection which flows in the direction of body to mind.

Other research, based in part on the theories of the much-awarded biologist Dr. Lynn Margulis, that the eukaryotic cell (basic human cell) is a symbiotic union of primitive prokaryotic cells - the cells in our body are the result of a cooperative marriage of a group of simpler cells way back in the primordial soup. These cells got together and formed a super-cell which incorporated all of them - and we can see this by looking at the specialized functions of the organelles inside the human cell. Each of the major bodily functions that we find in the human body is replicated in each and every cell - reproduction, taking in raw materials, building cell components, converting energy, and releasing by-products, etc. etc.

What’s all this biology got to do with thinking and Descartes? Quite simply, if each of our cells is actually a modern version of a compilation of what used to be separate simpler cells and if each of these cells had some level of consciousness before it joined the primordial human cell group and got absorbed, then what is stopping us from having multiple awarenesses inside ourselves? Each of these originating cellular organisms could have maintained their awareness/consciousness after they joined the human cell.

For example, have you ever noticed how “one part of you” wants to do something and “another part” doesn’t? If your heart is breaking over a loss, is your mind able to think clearly? Do you ever listen to your “gut” instinct? These are all signs that you are more than just your mind.

Another examples is when people study meditation, they are often told that “they” are not their thoughts. They are shown how to observe their thoughts. So “who” is observing their thoughts? Could it be one of the other awarenesses inside them?

This essay is about the problem of looking for cognition, so rather than go into more detail about this theory of multiple awarenesses inside us, I’ll just point you at the book on Peak States of Consciousness by Grant McFetridge that explains the theory in more detail. You can also check out the research done by the folks at HeartMath, where they have been investigating the consciousness of the human Heart. And, in yogic traditions, they talk about the five koshas, or layers (Physical, Energy, Mental, Wisdom, Bliss), which also is suggestive of different consciousnesses.

The problem of focusing on cognition first

Even when we know what was the cause of a problem, we have not actually solved it. If we “know” that we are sad about today’s situation because we never healed a wound we suffered when we were a child, this cognition/ understanding does not itself resolve the issue or heal the pain, and might be totally wrong anyway - it is just what we are able to think about the problem, at that moment in time. It is not uncommon for us to draw one conclusion about something one day, and another conclusion several weeks or months later.

If the real source of the problem was, say, the body’s fear of dying, all our mind can do about it is think about it - it cannot feel it the way our body can. The same applies to the feelings in our heart - our mind can think about these feelings, but does not experience them. If you cut your finger, thinking about the bleeding and the physical act of covering it with a bandage are not the same thing.

There is a connection, but stopping the bleeding by using only our thoughts is something beyond most of us (and I suspect that those that can do this are not using their minds to do it anyway - they are not thinking about the healing needed - they are just connected to “whatever” will actually do the healing.)

So, using only our brains / minds to “understand” a wound does not effect change, in and of itself.

On the other hand, there is a great role for the cognitions that arise, after an emotional wound has been healed. Using regression-based, fully associated healing like the Whole Hearted Healing method, as explained in the Whole Hearted Healing Manual, one can regress back to the earliest incident of a “wound” (usually starting with an emotional issue), stay fully present with that wound until it heals, wait until one feels Calm, Peaceful, and Light and then, waiting for just a little while longer, receive a cognition about the “wound”.

This cognition may take the form of a thought or a feeling. Whatever form the cognition takes, it will arise naturally, without mental effort and with less likelihood of the mind distortion that comes when we try to reason things that involve body sensations, images or emotions.

Thinking - the Booby Prize?

Our world has prized thinking for quite some time now. We are taught to seek out cognitions concerning our problems first and foremost, and then to try to fix what is wrong by somehow applying these cognitions to our lives. The best we can hope from this sort of approach is that we temporarily disassociate ourselves from a problem by escaping from the pain we feel into thoughts which may distract us. How many people who “know” that eating healthier would benefit them, for example, actually take that knowledge into account when confronted with some delectable? Given the size of the weight control industry (no pun intended), I would hazard a guess that the number is rather small.

Given that we are now becoming more and more aware that thinking about a problem is not the same as fixing it, and that we harbor inside us multiple awarenesses / consciousnesses, it may be time to modify our problem-solving approach to one that addresses the multiplicity of the elements of which we are constituted.

With the guardians of the “talk-and-think-yourself-well” brigade, therapists and counselors, being sued for lack of results and sometimes even harm caused to patients, and an ever-increasing interest in techniques that resolve issues using energy-based methods like EFT and fully associated techniques like Whole Hearted Healing, the groundswell away from Rene and his narrow focus on just one of the parts of a human whole is appearing on the horizon.

About the Author
Robert S. Vibert teaches Total Holistic Awareness, an integral program for self-enrichment and emotional wound healing based on the most advanced methods available. Copyright Robert S. Vibert January 2006 all rights reserved. First published on www.real-personal-growth.com.

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There is really only one certainty in life. Life is uncertain. We often live as though nothing will change, but it does. This continuous battle between wanting things to stay the same and finding that nothing does stay the same creates something inside us. This creation of constant change is a movement, a force of nature, and a guiding path. This movement within us and outside us is the spirit of living, of which, we all take part in.

None of us can predict the future. This creates uncertainty on the human level, yet we all learn to trust and even welcome change in the deepest part of who we are. No one is perfect, we wake up each day with the opportunity to create something different in every moment. When we come to expect the unexpected, we are beginning to trust in a wisdom greater than knowledge to lead us through each day. Religious communities call this the path of God, science calls this higher consciousness, but for our purposes - let’s call this the path we were meant to follow with certainty in uncertainty.

To move toward something we cannot see creates uneasiness. This part of us is our human nature. Our human nature wants things in life to be predictable. At the same time, there are things in human existence that we are also glad to leave behind and in the past. Have you ever noticed how the heart and the mind feel like they are being pulled forward by a magnetic force when we follow what we cannot see or feel? It is as though our whole body/self is being drawn into an experience.

This pathless path is one we all take each day and each moment. Wonder what would happen if you were to live for these moments and find joy in them? I suspect you would find yourself becoming more and more living in the state of anticipated joy. This does not mean that nothing in the future will be sad, but you can begin to accept each moment with anticipated joy in knowing that the awareness of this anticipated joy will fill you. It will be the filling of your body with the joy of living. The joy of living fully in soul. And, the uncertainty of the future will be met with joyful trust that all will be known when the time is right for us to know.

Such a journey was known to us as a child. Do you remember laying on the ground and finding yourself breathing in the aroma of the ground and grass? As an adult, I suspect you don’t have such clarity with your senses. Let us never forget that child inside us that knew how to play all day and never tire. Our creativity was endless and filled with anticipated joy in knowing that what was about to be created next would be fun. Samuel Oliver, author of, “What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living”

About the Author
Sam Oliver worked with the dying for over 15 years. During that time, he wrote 4 books on grief. Visit his website: Soul and Spirit.

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We live in a world that takes us on a constant roller coaster ride, since we all have to work hard just to eat. When we must focus on making a living, it makes it difficult to find our inner peace. Some people believe they have inner peace when they find the job of their dreams. Still, they work along the path of life and later find that their inner peace was a short-lived serenity.

Life is a bundle of misery combined with an ounce of fun. When we consider life, our journey ahead and our path behind us follows us along the way. Inner peace is a quiet of the mind, yet many find it difficult to find that serenity to its entirety.

Taking time to discover inner peace is indispensable in order to arrive at your objective. A large number of individuals presume that to uncover their inner peace, entails having the tools to make more money than the next guy does.

To understand how to reach your point of inner peace, you must understand the mind to a degree. If you do not have a basic knowledge of the mind you might reach your inner peace, but it will be an uphill ride all the way through the process. Thus, emotions are part of the mind we must understand to find inner peace.

If someone came along today and told you that, they knew a way that you can make a million dollars right now. If this happens, your emotions will send a spark since a million dollars is nearly as reachable as getting inner peace. Thus, if you are smart you will sway away from the trigger that sparked your emotions, since most of these are frauds, or swindles to make profit for the other guy and not you. Thus, I presented this sentence to show you how the emotions work. Some people may respond to the question with a gleam in their eyes, which is a sign that the emotion is perking up. Others may tell the person to jump off the next bridge, which is another action distributed by the emotions.

Next, we can get an idea how the subconscious works, since understanding, the subconscious is essential to finding inner peace.

Case scenario: a man surviving the war of Vietnam, comes home to the states, and finds a place where he can rest without disturbance. The man wants people to leave him alone, since he suffers trauma from the war. During his stay, a person tells him a story about his life, and during the talk, the man makes a statement; my child blew up like a time bomb when I told him… The man explodes; get out of my face he stammers…

This man obviously does not have information pertaining to war, thus he just setoff an emotional stimuli re-enforced by the subconscious. During war, the children were utilized as decoys and strapped with bombs to get to the enemy. Therefore, the man sent a trigger to this mans subconscious (hidden memories), which triggered the emotions, which acted out of anger.

The man has justifiable reason to feel anger. Yet, it is obvious the man has not found his inner peace, since his emotions are depending on the subconscious mind rather than the conscious mind to guide him through life.

Traits of inner peace are apparent when a person reacts to threats to the emotions logically, and skillfully. When a person controls the emotions and subconscious, thus they have a great measure of inner peace.

Now, are you still on that roller coaster? If you are then you are missing a point. If you heard what was spoken to you, you would be right now instead of reading this article taking the steps to achieve your inner peace.

Steps to achieving inner peace is getting in touch with your inner self. Lie back on the bed and relax while allowing your mind to roam the deep channels of reality. When your mind sends you information, gather it, store it, review it, and challenge it by asking your self why do you not have your inner peace?

About the Author
Tony Robinson is an International Author and Webmaster who has found inner peace. Visit his site with which he shares his tips for inner peace.

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If you were to evaluate the major influences in your life that have shaped the kind of person you are, this has to be high on the list: the people and thoughts you choose to allow into your life. Mr. Shoaff gave me a very important warning in those early days that I would like to share with you. He said, “Never underestimate the power of influence.” Indeed, the influence of those around us is so powerful! Many times we don’t even realize we’re being strongly affected because influences generally develop over an extended period of time.

Peer pressure is an especially powerful force because it is so subtle. If you’re around people who spend all they make, chances are excellent that you’ll spend all you make. If you are around people who go to more ball games than concerts, chances are excellent that you’ll do the same thing. If you are around people who don’t read, chances are excellent that you won’t read. People can keep nudging us off course a little at a time until finally, we find ourselves asking, “How did I get here?” Those subtle influences need to be studied carefully if we really want our lives to turn out the way we’ve planned.

With regard to this important point, let me give you three key questions to ask yourself. They may help you to make better analysis of your current associations.

Here is the first question: “Who am I around?” Make a mental note of the people with whom you most often associate. You’ve got to evaluate everybody who is able to influence you in any way.

The second question is: “What are these associations doing to me?” That’s a major question to ask. What have they got me doing? What have they got me listening to? What have they got me reading? Where have they got me going? What do they have me thinking? How have they got me talking? How have they got me feeling? What have they got me saying? You’ve got to make a serious study of how others are influencing you, both negatively and positively.

Here’s a final question: “Is that okay?” Maybe everyone you associate with has been a positive, energizing influence. Then again, maybe there are some bad apples in the bunch. All I’m suggesting here is that you take a close and objective look. Everything is worth a second look, especially the power of influence. Both will take you somewhere, but only one will take you in the direction you need to go.

It’s easy to just dismiss the things that influence our lives. One man say’s, “I live here, but I don’t think it matters. I’m around these people, but I don’t think it hurts.” I would take another look at that. Remember, everything matters! Sure, some things matter more than others, but everything amounts to something. You’ve got to keep checking to find out whether your associations are tipping the scales toward the positive or toward the negative. Ignorance is never the best policy. Finding out is the best policy.

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the little bird. He had his wing over his eye and he was crying. The owl said to the bird, “You are crying.” “Yes,” said the little bird, and he pulled his wing away from his eye. “Oh, I see,” said the owl. “You’re crying because the big bird pecked out your eye.” And the little bird said, “No, I’m not crying because the big bird pecked out my eye. I’m crying because I let him.”

It’s easy to let influence shape our lives, to let associations determine our direction, to let pressures overwhelm us, and to let tides take us. The big question is, are we letting ourselves become what we wish to become?

In Part II we’ll take a look at the three forms of disassociating from negative influences. Until then, ——- Article by Jim Rohn, America’s Foremost Business Philosopher. To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to here.