In Lynne's books she talks about beliefs being vital to all success in intentions. I have found this to be very true in my experiences. I have found the performance and effect of my intentions are directly in relationship to my beliefs. When you have set out with a strong intention with a lot of belief and power and within a week it has withered away, it is due to the initial belief withering away and returning to a dis-empowered paradigm.
Our paradigm is our perception or mental map of reality. For our mind to make sense of what our senses are telling us about the external world, the mind must make a mental map to relate to. This mental map is usually referred to as our personal paradigm. The brain makes stimulus responses and automatic patterns to the events in our day to day lives. This unconscious act is the blueprint or mental map of which our attitude or behaviors arrive from.
From your first day as a baby you started to create and develop your map of reality. The map entails what things mean and what you should do in reaction. You experienced things and made judgments on whether something was safe or not. Babies have a fresh and new map of reality and that is why they are so curious. Curiosity is the instinct to develop your map of reality. So babies go ahead and do things that are potentially dangerous. Until they realize that doing some things mean pain an other things mean pleasure they will venture to find out. For example; if every time a baby touched the radiator and experienced pain from the heat, they would associate the radiator to pain. If the baby really enjoys fruit every time they eat it, the baby will associate pleasure to fruit. So the baby has a more developed map of what means pain and what means pleasure. Human instinct is always to go towards some kind of emotion that is pleasurable. Emotions that could come from comfort, peace, intimacy, significance, or contribution. This could be someone's idea of pleasurable emotions, but they could be very difference to someone else. Someone else could value the emotions that come from adventure, passion, romance, and creativity. These values are learned from pain-pleasure experiences the person has gone through. The same is for negative emotions. People have emotions they avoid at any cost. This drive to avoid negative or painful emotions is more dominant than the valued pleasurable emotions. This is due to human instinct. This is what causes behavioral complexes.
Our paradigm of the world is subjective due to the vast experiences that have shaped it. Your sensory experience of the world is also subjective. Our world is really not what we think it is through our senses. Your experience of the world is a thought based hologram your subconscious has produced from the electronic signals from your senses. So what you are experiencing right now is the product of your senses - not the product of objective reality. Light, sound, taste, smell, and touch are the five subjective interpretations that are best for our human experience to navigate around the world. In actual reality there is no such thing as light, or sound. They only exist in the mind of the observer. George Berkeley the Irish philosopher and his famous riddle expresses this concept well. "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" My first answer to that was "yes, because when a tree falls it causes a lot of kinetic energy which vibrates through the forest and that is called sound. So it does make a sound." What I didn't realize is that sound a sensory experience of an observer and if the observer is not present then when the tree falls there is no sound to be produced in the mind of the observer. There is only kinetic energy in reality. With no observer in the forest the tree will fall silently. Reality is a senseless world. Our experience makes it a sensory one.
What this means for us is that our paradigms of the world are not objective but rather very subjective. This is great because it means we can see reality as a beautiful one if we had a map that supported that. Because of cultural conditioning this is not common. People's paradigms are based on avoiding pain. Western cultural conformity supplies a level of comfort that many people settle for because it means being safe from pain. This is the paradox of our western lives because we want to experience more and to see the world as a mysterious, magical, and beautiful place (well.... those are my values) but the comfortable life keeps you from taking the risk to go outside the comfort zone.
In order to improve the quality of your life and the people's around you - you must change the blueprint of your mind - your personal paradigm. Remember your paradigm is your map of reality and your map of reality determines the way you perceive and react to reality. The way Stephen Covey explains it;
"The most common way to understand paradigms is to see them as maps. We know that the map is not the territory. A map is simply just an explanation of aspects of the territory. That is exactly what a paradigm is - it's a theory, an explanation, or a model of something else. For instance if you wanted to arrive somewhere is central Chicago, a street map of the city would be a great help to you in reaching your destination. But suppose you were given the wrong map. Through a printing error the map labeled Chicago was actually a map of Detroit. Can you imagine the frustration, the ineffectiveness of trying to arrive at your destination? You might try to work on your behavior, you would try harder, you would be more diligent, you'll double your speed but your efforts will only succeed in getting you to the wrong place faster. You might even work on your attitude, you might think more positively. You still wouldn't get to the right place but perhaps you wouldn't care. Your attitude would be so positive you would be happy and contented wherever you were. The point is you'll still be lost."
So what is your mental map of reality made of? It is made of beliefs and values that come from your past experiences and judgments. Your beliefs can empower or dis-empower your intentions. If you set your intention to lower the crime rate by 30% (increase peace by 30%) in your community but you don't believe in the power of intention, then it is very unlikely you will be very effective. So your intentions have requirements on the behalf of your belief system. Your effectiveness of intention is dependent on your level of belief that intention works and you are doing it right.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
The plecebo effect
In Living With Intention Lynne talks about the placebo effect. This is a very popular term to describe the mind-body connection. When the mind believes at a deep level that the body is healed the body mimics or manifests that belief. It has been shown in so many studies that if the subconscious mind believes that the body is ill or well then that will be the result. Shamanism involves going massive elaborate rituals to eventually create a placebo effect in the patient's mind. When the patient has a great expectation that they will be healed or they already have been, then the body mimics that belief. It has been shown from research that the placebo effect works 30 to 70 per cent of the time (including surgery). This means that no less than 30 per cent of the time the magic of medicine is actually due to the effect of the patients mind. There are many examples of this in Living With Intention but you can find so many books on it. Belief is everything when it comes to healing. Bernie Siegel did some research on people with multiple personality disorders and what they found was that the potency of these people's beliefs changed every system in their body. Their eye colors changed as their personality changed. Markings on their bodies would appear and disappear. Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure would come and go depending on their belief of which personality they were. These are some remarkable studies but it shows the colossal affect the mind can have on the body. The opposite of placebo is the nocebo effect - to injure the self with powerful belief. The ancient aborigines could use the power of belief to kill of their rejected tribe members. They would curse them with a ritual called 'pointing the bone' which involves the tribe member pointing the bone of death at the rejected tribe member. This extreme rejection and conviction of death leads the outcast to die due to the psychological certainty that they had been cursed. They die with no physical attacks.
In a way this happens when doctors diagnose a patient with their disease. The level of the patient's trust for the doctor leaves the patient to believe anything the doctor says. It is well known that when doctors give a diagnosis the patient's subconscious mind believes them and manifests the symptoms. Medical researchers even have to be careful of the placebo effect because when they research too much into a disease they to start manifesting the symptoms. The mind-body connection is so integrated it would be like trying to separate the words from a page of a book to realize that they work together to create the reading experience. Lynne expresses her experience with her mother in law when they went to visit two doctors. The first a medical doctor who diagnosed her mother in law with severe breast cancer and she did not have much longer to live. They went to the second doctor who was an alternative doctor and he positively said that he can handle it. After some work and some vitamin c doses her mind was back on track with health and her mind started to manifesting healing due to the new set of beliefs. She healed and reported back to the first doctor and he said it was a miracle.
A belief is a feeling of certainty about what something means. If you are certain that you are dying from cancer then that belief will govern the way you feel, think, and behave. After some time the body will manifest this belief. The body will also manifest the process of healing. This way of healing is not is not positive thinking because positive thinking involves trying to think in a way that your mind usually conflicts with. If you are a cancer patient and you try to think positively with the conviction that you are dying then that is not going to do any good. To program your mind to believe the body has healed is vital, then positive thinking will not be necessary.
Disease can be manifested in many ways but the healing process is always the same. Your subconscious mind does no decision making, it is solely a mechanical mechanism. The subconscious mind is also in every cell of your body. Your body is your subconscious mind so if you embed a deep intention of healing then the subconscious will process that.
In a way this happens when doctors diagnose a patient with their disease. The level of the patient's trust for the doctor leaves the patient to believe anything the doctor says. It is well known that when doctors give a diagnosis the patient's subconscious mind believes them and manifests the symptoms. Medical researchers even have to be careful of the placebo effect because when they research too much into a disease they to start manifesting the symptoms. The mind-body connection is so integrated it would be like trying to separate the words from a page of a book to realize that they work together to create the reading experience. Lynne expresses her experience with her mother in law when they went to visit two doctors. The first a medical doctor who diagnosed her mother in law with severe breast cancer and she did not have much longer to live. They went to the second doctor who was an alternative doctor and he positively said that he can handle it. After some work and some vitamin c doses her mind was back on track with health and her mind started to manifesting healing due to the new set of beliefs. She healed and reported back to the first doctor and he said it was a miracle.
A belief is a feeling of certainty about what something means. If you are certain that you are dying from cancer then that belief will govern the way you feel, think, and behave. After some time the body will manifest this belief. The body will also manifest the process of healing. This way of healing is not is not positive thinking because positive thinking involves trying to think in a way that your mind usually conflicts with. If you are a cancer patient and you try to think positively with the conviction that you are dying then that is not going to do any good. To program your mind to believe the body has healed is vital, then positive thinking will not be necessary.
Disease can be manifested in many ways but the healing process is always the same. Your subconscious mind does no decision making, it is solely a mechanical mechanism. The subconscious mind is also in every cell of your body. Your body is your subconscious mind so if you embed a deep intention of healing then the subconscious will process that.
Intellent evolution
Q: Evolution is an intelligent process. It was never anything else. All evolves at the same time. One organism influences the other. None can live in isolation from the rest. There is a basic chain to which all is connected.
Question remains though what is the driving force behind the ever evolving manifestations. The visible is only the manifested, not the cause. I like to lead your attention to the underlying intelligence behind the manifested and find yourself in there.
Love Paul
A: When you asked the question about the drive that directs the collective evolution, I guess it is similar to asking what the meaning of life is. I personally believe there is no fixed meaning rather an exploration. I follow the Taoist teachings as inspiration and influence in my life and as you pointed out - "the visible is only the manifested, not the cause." Lao-tzu (the author of the Tao Te Ching) beliefs the same - that the 10,000 things (the visible) is the manifestation of the Tao (the invisible). When Lynne explains that reality is not 'set' like they observed in the subatomic particles in quantum physics studies, this suggests that the underlying intelligence is the 'setting' of the 'unsettled' reality. This I figured is the field, or God, or the Tao, or Rah, or any name that can be attached to the underlying intelligence.
I believe that drive for all evolution is for the manifestation of the underlying intelligence to become something more and more all the time. This can not be denied. Evolution is the progression of manifestation to become more that it was. I explained in the post that our soul purpose is to give and to grow. Growth is so fundamental - it's in every fiber in our being. We are being drawn to become better and something more. Personally or evolutionary. When you have solved a problem, or do something you never thought you could do, it makes you feel great right? Think about something you have done in your life that still makes you awe when you think it.
I also believe that competition is important for growth and I do believe there is a lot of competition in evolution but it is unified competition. For example, if you were a tennis player and you played your friends who were at the same level as you, you would stay constant at that level of playing. If one day your friends became twice as good as you are, you will instinctively want to become just as good or better than them. I believe nature does the same. It is competition that influences the other species to become more. This is movement, this is growth.
A simple example of growth - when people find themselves in a 'deadened job' then they have a desire to have freedom and a new job that they love, that is a calling of growth. Either that or they learn to love the job they have, which is growth again - personal growth. I guess what I am trying to say is that the drive for all evolving manifestations is to grow or to contribute to growth. A simple plant that has no sign to biologically evolve is still contributing to the growth of the homeostasis of earth. The underlying intelligence is a calling to growth in any possible manner, and everything you see around you is evidence of that. Your home is a growth of habitat, convenience and comfort. Your computer is growth of connection, convenience, and comfort.
A good example of innovative growth is the newly released film from James Cameron - Avatar. Although the technology and concepts of the movie are not new, the execution was. Avatar is a new type of movie in the mainstream blockbuster. For artists such as myself it was a great leap in imagination and now most blockbuster movies will want to keep up with it. It was interesting to read about people's reactions to Avatar because a lot of Americans were reported feeling 'blue' after the movie because Pandora was such a beautiful render of a world that we don't have. I don't know if you have seen the movie Paul but the people who felt sick with the way society is treating earth (or Gaia as they like to refer) had set up their own separate tribe that followed the ways of the Na'vi (the native humanoids in the movie). They lived in harmony with nature much like many native tribes around the world but the only difference is that their world was beautiful. Rich bioluminescent plants, tranquil scenes and a physical manifestation of the field that they called Eywa. The people who set up this small tribe in tribute of the Na'vi have a calling or a drive to better the well being of their lives and their relationship to the manifested. I am not sure how far this tribe effort has gone but I believe it was also the seduction of James Cameron's beautiful arty visuals. But this tribe effort was at least growth in the right direction of our survival and well being.
I am to seduced by a lot of beauty in the world, my calling or purpose in life is to enhance that beauty. I guess that is the main reason why I like it when plants grow. Being an artist I want to bring magic, beauty, mystery into the world. I see a lot my settings around me in England rather mundane. Mundanity (if I can use such a word :p) is necessary for growth. In the Tao Te Ching it says;
"Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty,
only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Being and nonbeing produce each other.
The difficult is born in the easy.
Long is defined by short, the high by the low.
Before and after go along with each other.
So the sage lives openly with apparent duality
and paradoxical unity.
The sage can act without effort
and teach without words.
Nurturing things without possessing them,
he works, but not for rewards;
be competes but not for results.
When the work is done, it is forgotten.
That is why it lasts forever."
This verse brings my point together. Because there is evil, stupidity, and mandanity in the world there is a lot of space for good, intelligence, and adventure. This is the paradoxical unity. Our drive in life is to live through this paradox to grow and leverage towards a greater outcome. When one has succeeded something, it is forgotten to then become succeeded again, and again but that is why it lasts forever.
I have been writing for a while now so I will leave it at that :)
Question remains though what is the driving force behind the ever evolving manifestations. The visible is only the manifested, not the cause. I like to lead your attention to the underlying intelligence behind the manifested and find yourself in there.
Love Paul
A: When you asked the question about the drive that directs the collective evolution, I guess it is similar to asking what the meaning of life is. I personally believe there is no fixed meaning rather an exploration. I follow the Taoist teachings as inspiration and influence in my life and as you pointed out - "the visible is only the manifested, not the cause." Lao-tzu (the author of the Tao Te Ching) beliefs the same - that the 10,000 things (the visible) is the manifestation of the Tao (the invisible). When Lynne explains that reality is not 'set' like they observed in the subatomic particles in quantum physics studies, this suggests that the underlying intelligence is the 'setting' of the 'unsettled' reality. This I figured is the field, or God, or the Tao, or Rah, or any name that can be attached to the underlying intelligence.
I believe that drive for all evolution is for the manifestation of the underlying intelligence to become something more and more all the time. This can not be denied. Evolution is the progression of manifestation to become more that it was. I explained in the post that our soul purpose is to give and to grow. Growth is so fundamental - it's in every fiber in our being. We are being drawn to become better and something more. Personally or evolutionary. When you have solved a problem, or do something you never thought you could do, it makes you feel great right? Think about something you have done in your life that still makes you awe when you think it.
I also believe that competition is important for growth and I do believe there is a lot of competition in evolution but it is unified competition. For example, if you were a tennis player and you played your friends who were at the same level as you, you would stay constant at that level of playing. If one day your friends became twice as good as you are, you will instinctively want to become just as good or better than them. I believe nature does the same. It is competition that influences the other species to become more. This is movement, this is growth.
A simple example of growth - when people find themselves in a 'deadened job' then they have a desire to have freedom and a new job that they love, that is a calling of growth. Either that or they learn to love the job they have, which is growth again - personal growth. I guess what I am trying to say is that the drive for all evolving manifestations is to grow or to contribute to growth. A simple plant that has no sign to biologically evolve is still contributing to the growth of the homeostasis of earth. The underlying intelligence is a calling to growth in any possible manner, and everything you see around you is evidence of that. Your home is a growth of habitat, convenience and comfort. Your computer is growth of connection, convenience, and comfort.
A good example of innovative growth is the newly released film from James Cameron - Avatar. Although the technology and concepts of the movie are not new, the execution was. Avatar is a new type of movie in the mainstream blockbuster. For artists such as myself it was a great leap in imagination and now most blockbuster movies will want to keep up with it. It was interesting to read about people's reactions to Avatar because a lot of Americans were reported feeling 'blue' after the movie because Pandora was such a beautiful render of a world that we don't have. I don't know if you have seen the movie Paul but the people who felt sick with the way society is treating earth (or Gaia as they like to refer) had set up their own separate tribe that followed the ways of the Na'vi (the native humanoids in the movie). They lived in harmony with nature much like many native tribes around the world but the only difference is that their world was beautiful. Rich bioluminescent plants, tranquil scenes and a physical manifestation of the field that they called Eywa. The people who set up this small tribe in tribute of the Na'vi have a calling or a drive to better the well being of their lives and their relationship to the manifested. I am not sure how far this tribe effort has gone but I believe it was also the seduction of James Cameron's beautiful arty visuals. But this tribe effort was at least growth in the right direction of our survival and well being.
I am to seduced by a lot of beauty in the world, my calling or purpose in life is to enhance that beauty. I guess that is the main reason why I like it when plants grow. Being an artist I want to bring magic, beauty, mystery into the world. I see a lot my settings around me in England rather mundane. Mundanity (if I can use such a word :p) is necessary for growth. In the Tao Te Ching it says;
"Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty,
only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Being and nonbeing produce each other.
The difficult is born in the easy.
Long is defined by short, the high by the low.
Before and after go along with each other.
So the sage lives openly with apparent duality
and paradoxical unity.
The sage can act without effort
and teach without words.
Nurturing things without possessing them,
he works, but not for rewards;
be competes but not for results.
When the work is done, it is forgotten.
That is why it lasts forever."
This verse brings my point together. Because there is evil, stupidity, and mandanity in the world there is a lot of space for good, intelligence, and adventure. This is the paradoxical unity. Our drive in life is to live through this paradox to grow and leverage towards a greater outcome. When one has succeeded something, it is forgotten to then become succeeded again, and again but that is why it lasts forever.
I have been writing for a while now so I will leave it at that :)
Giving Back
I have been thinking about the act of giving that Lynne McTaggart briefly suggests in Living The Field for a while and the quote that has been hovering around my mind - "the secret to living is giving." I remember reading something so well put by David Spangler in his Laws Of Manifestation book. He explains in our case that manifestation is not like the 'the law of attraction' - the new mainstream buzzword of today - rather it is a result of the collective thought influence that someone has that manifests their reality.
"I use Gaian as an adjective to refer to an awareness of systems and wholes, just as the planet itself is a whole. The word comes from the name for the Greek goddess of the earth, Gaia, and was used by the scientist James Lovelock in his book The Gaia Hypothesis to refer to the earth as a living organism. To perceive and to think like Gaia is to think in terms of relationships and interconnectedness and what the cybernetics and anthropologist Gregory Bateson called "the patterns that connect."
A system is a complex whole acting as a single unit but made up of interconnected parts that mutually influence each other in dynamic ways. Our body is a system made up of organs, tissues, cells, and the like. Often, as in our body, the parts that make up a system are themselves systems." - David Spangler
David talks about holism (Gaian) in the context of manifestation in the book. He talks about how our effect of manifestations/intentions affect the system as a whole. For example if everybody had a huge western appetite and decided to manifest material things such as cars then that will have a huge affect on the oil companies, factories, and anything that could be depleting the earth's health. These companies will consume, consume until as Lao-Tzu said;
"When man interferes with the Tao,
the sky becomes filthy,
the earth becomes depleted,
the equilibrium crumbles,
creatures become extinct".
In the same verse Lao-tzu expresses;
"The pieces of a chariot are useless
unless they work in accordance with the whole.
A man's life brings nothing
unless he lives in accordance with the whole universe.
Playing one's part
in accordance with the universe
is true humility".
Giving is the most obvious part of living as part of the whole. If you do not contribute you die, if you contribute the most you are most likely praised. But ego aside, the most anonymous contribution is the act that fulfills one's soul. The ego has needs that are temporary but the soul I believe wants two things; to grow and to give. This is what nature does. From a Darwinist approach you see the world as a battlefield for the survival of the fittest. Paul Bailey believes that evolution is intelligent choice rather than a natural selection. He explains that life is evolving as one dynamic, interconnected whole. "The basic Darwinian model has missed the central importance of this key evolutionary step: the evolution of systems rather than components; the evolution of holism through the evolution of connections, networks and processes". In strong beautiful ecosystems each organism works in conducive productivity to flourish as a whole. You can find so many connections in the ecosystem that depend on other organisms. If one element becomes extinct, the whole suffers - it would be a bit like taking the RAM out of a computer and finding it would not be able to load the operating system.
I believe there is a lot of competition between all organisms in scarce areas of the world. But when organisms work together scarcity becomes abundance. This is the magic of holism and this is due to intelligent choice not natural selection. The components in rich ecosystems contribute to each other to flourish in beauty. They grow in contribution. Humans are the same. Although a lot of people talk about contributing or giving, when it is done anonymously it feels great and you get a sense of growth within you. This feeling of growth is the same when you do a simple act of watering a beautiful house plant. You know that your act of contribution is dependent by the plant to grow strong. Then when the plant finally blooms in it's almighty delight, it is because of your attention and care.
Around the world humans are not living in accordance with nature or much themselves. Self growth comes from the contribution and growth of the whole. I have always remembered the saying "what you give out you get back," and I have found that to be true in my life and in context it is an intention to give and ultimately reap back. So if you are busy intending and manifesting for yourself then you will find yourself to be stuck. When your intention is to grow as part of the whole you will find you will gain flow and integration with the field. There is something magical about giving. You feel the magic inside and see it happen outside. I am not saying that all your desired intentions should be selfless, because to give is to give to yourself also. If you want something for yourself you can bring it about in a way that benefits the whole.
The most obvious and enjoyable way to think like Gaia and integrate as a whole is to be sociable and to be kind and compassionate with all people that you meet. I remember watching the Dali Lama on a documentary and admiring the way he will go up to anyone and talk to them with his full heart and interest. Having time to talk to each person. His own unique personality gives people a contagious smile and light laugh.
So to intend with a heart of compassion and contribution is vital to grow and flow in a life of fulfillment and effectiveness. To work to gain for yourself is just to be separate from the flow and it stunts the growth of happiness. On your deathbed you are not going to be glad that you spent your time working hard and being self centered. It is usually said that people wished they had changed more people's lives for the better in their life and had more of an impact. This is the wish of your soul to grow and give. If you think about it, how great would you feel if you knew you have dramatically grown in every way in the past five years? The more you grow the better you feel. If you have also contributed towards the growth of other people or living things that would make you feel even better.
To consume all the time and not contribute back out of instinct is insanity. If every component of a whole did that then it would not work. Sadly that is what is happening today between man and earth. Imagine what it would be like to bring our strong compassionate intelligence into the growth of the whole. Take the time and effort out of war (separateness) and direct it towards the growth of the richly diverse world we live in. I believe to enrich the beauty of nature with the equal ability we have to create weapons would cause a beauty beyond our current imagination.
If we look at technology and try to imagine what people would think 200 years ago about having a tool that fits into your pocket that connects to you anybody in the world, I bet that they would find it hard to properly conceive of the idea of our iPhone 3G and it's amazing tools. Our evolution of technology has increasingly exploded in the past century and imagine what an obsession like that could do if it were in complete harmony with nature. Right now I think it would be hard to conceive. Imagine everyday a new invention was released that contributed towards the growth of the whole world. For example, a new mall opened and the building was completely energy self sufficient. All the products in the mall did not consume any electrical energy but indeed was also self sufficient and it gave out waist that was conducive to nature. Possibly all the wrappings for food was biodegradable and full of nutrition for the environment. Each little things made a little bit of a difference. The world would be a different place before you would even think to look.
How on earth would that be possible? How on earth was the idea of the internet possible from the judgment of a 1800s citizen? It was possible back then but they just didn't know how to do it. We are in the same position now. It comes from belief and optimism. Before Roger Banister ran the 4 minute mile experts said it was impossible. They said that his muscles would rip and he would surly not make it. Before the race he made a shift in his mind and he made a shift in the evolution of man's belief. Now days the belief is so common to run the 4 minute mile. You or I could do it if we practiced. It is no big deal now but back then they thought it was impossible. The way to get it done is to believe it. That is the only way to get peace done.
I would also like to add that technology is being developed in the way I explained and it is called biomimicry. There are great innovations and ideas all the time.
http://www.asknature.org/
What are your ways or ideas to give or to contribute?
"I use Gaian as an adjective to refer to an awareness of systems and wholes, just as the planet itself is a whole. The word comes from the name for the Greek goddess of the earth, Gaia, and was used by the scientist James Lovelock in his book The Gaia Hypothesis to refer to the earth as a living organism. To perceive and to think like Gaia is to think in terms of relationships and interconnectedness and what the cybernetics and anthropologist Gregory Bateson called "the patterns that connect."
A system is a complex whole acting as a single unit but made up of interconnected parts that mutually influence each other in dynamic ways. Our body is a system made up of organs, tissues, cells, and the like. Often, as in our body, the parts that make up a system are themselves systems." - David Spangler
David talks about holism (Gaian) in the context of manifestation in the book. He talks about how our effect of manifestations/intentions affect the system as a whole. For example if everybody had a huge western appetite and decided to manifest material things such as cars then that will have a huge affect on the oil companies, factories, and anything that could be depleting the earth's health. These companies will consume, consume until as Lao-Tzu said;
"When man interferes with the Tao,
the sky becomes filthy,
the earth becomes depleted,
the equilibrium crumbles,
creatures become extinct".
In the same verse Lao-tzu expresses;
"The pieces of a chariot are useless
unless they work in accordance with the whole.
A man's life brings nothing
unless he lives in accordance with the whole universe.
Playing one's part
in accordance with the universe
is true humility".
Giving is the most obvious part of living as part of the whole. If you do not contribute you die, if you contribute the most you are most likely praised. But ego aside, the most anonymous contribution is the act that fulfills one's soul. The ego has needs that are temporary but the soul I believe wants two things; to grow and to give. This is what nature does. From a Darwinist approach you see the world as a battlefield for the survival of the fittest. Paul Bailey believes that evolution is intelligent choice rather than a natural selection. He explains that life is evolving as one dynamic, interconnected whole. "The basic Darwinian model has missed the central importance of this key evolutionary step: the evolution of systems rather than components; the evolution of holism through the evolution of connections, networks and processes". In strong beautiful ecosystems each organism works in conducive productivity to flourish as a whole. You can find so many connections in the ecosystem that depend on other organisms. If one element becomes extinct, the whole suffers - it would be a bit like taking the RAM out of a computer and finding it would not be able to load the operating system.
I believe there is a lot of competition between all organisms in scarce areas of the world. But when organisms work together scarcity becomes abundance. This is the magic of holism and this is due to intelligent choice not natural selection. The components in rich ecosystems contribute to each other to flourish in beauty. They grow in contribution. Humans are the same. Although a lot of people talk about contributing or giving, when it is done anonymously it feels great and you get a sense of growth within you. This feeling of growth is the same when you do a simple act of watering a beautiful house plant. You know that your act of contribution is dependent by the plant to grow strong. Then when the plant finally blooms in it's almighty delight, it is because of your attention and care.
Around the world humans are not living in accordance with nature or much themselves. Self growth comes from the contribution and growth of the whole. I have always remembered the saying "what you give out you get back," and I have found that to be true in my life and in context it is an intention to give and ultimately reap back. So if you are busy intending and manifesting for yourself then you will find yourself to be stuck. When your intention is to grow as part of the whole you will find you will gain flow and integration with the field. There is something magical about giving. You feel the magic inside and see it happen outside. I am not saying that all your desired intentions should be selfless, because to give is to give to yourself also. If you want something for yourself you can bring it about in a way that benefits the whole.
The most obvious and enjoyable way to think like Gaia and integrate as a whole is to be sociable and to be kind and compassionate with all people that you meet. I remember watching the Dali Lama on a documentary and admiring the way he will go up to anyone and talk to them with his full heart and interest. Having time to talk to each person. His own unique personality gives people a contagious smile and light laugh.
So to intend with a heart of compassion and contribution is vital to grow and flow in a life of fulfillment and effectiveness. To work to gain for yourself is just to be separate from the flow and it stunts the growth of happiness. On your deathbed you are not going to be glad that you spent your time working hard and being self centered. It is usually said that people wished they had changed more people's lives for the better in their life and had more of an impact. This is the wish of your soul to grow and give. If you think about it, how great would you feel if you knew you have dramatically grown in every way in the past five years? The more you grow the better you feel. If you have also contributed towards the growth of other people or living things that would make you feel even better.
To consume all the time and not contribute back out of instinct is insanity. If every component of a whole did that then it would not work. Sadly that is what is happening today between man and earth. Imagine what it would be like to bring our strong compassionate intelligence into the growth of the whole. Take the time and effort out of war (separateness) and direct it towards the growth of the richly diverse world we live in. I believe to enrich the beauty of nature with the equal ability we have to create weapons would cause a beauty beyond our current imagination.
If we look at technology and try to imagine what people would think 200 years ago about having a tool that fits into your pocket that connects to you anybody in the world, I bet that they would find it hard to properly conceive of the idea of our iPhone 3G and it's amazing tools. Our evolution of technology has increasingly exploded in the past century and imagine what an obsession like that could do if it were in complete harmony with nature. Right now I think it would be hard to conceive. Imagine everyday a new invention was released that contributed towards the growth of the whole world. For example, a new mall opened and the building was completely energy self sufficient. All the products in the mall did not consume any electrical energy but indeed was also self sufficient and it gave out waist that was conducive to nature. Possibly all the wrappings for food was biodegradable and full of nutrition for the environment. Each little things made a little bit of a difference. The world would be a different place before you would even think to look.
How on earth would that be possible? How on earth was the idea of the internet possible from the judgment of a 1800s citizen? It was possible back then but they just didn't know how to do it. We are in the same position now. It comes from belief and optimism. Before Roger Banister ran the 4 minute mile experts said it was impossible. They said that his muscles would rip and he would surly not make it. Before the race he made a shift in his mind and he made a shift in the evolution of man's belief. Now days the belief is so common to run the 4 minute mile. You or I could do it if we practiced. It is no big deal now but back then they thought it was impossible. The way to get it done is to believe it. That is the only way to get peace done.
I would also like to add that technology is being developed in the way I explained and it is called biomimicry. There are great innovations and ideas all the time.
http://www.asknature.org/
What are your ways or ideas to give or to contribute?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
