Space/Brain

 

“Experiments show that the focus of our attention changes reality itself and suggest that we live in an interactive universe.”—Gregg Braden

 

 Have You ever been in a room that was buzzing with conversation--when suddenly all talking stopped?

Gregg Braden tells of such an event that was better than any I have ever experienced. 

As he sat eating dinner in a hotel's large restaurant where there was a buzz of conversation, suddenly, silence.

He looked to the entrance where a group of people had entered. One of the group stood out, for he was dressed all in white and looked rather like Jesus. 

As the group walked past Braden's table, the man in white nodded a greeting, and when Greg looked into his face, he was shocked. 

The man had an open wound that extended across his forehead and down his nose. It was unmistakably in the shape of a cross. Gregg looked at the man's hands wrapped in gauze. Red seeped through. 

 

As the man and his entourage walked past Greg, the group members gave Braden a look that said, "Haven't you seen a man bleed before?"

No, he hadn't; not like that. He whispered a word, "Stigmata."

Braden said he had read about stigmata, but he had never seen it.

The bleeding figure was to be a presenter at the hotel the following day, as was Braden, their reason for being in that hotel. However, later Braden learned that the man had other conditions on his body that identified with the crucified Jesus. 

 

Braden's observation: If we don't believe that our beliefs can affect our bodies—look at this. This individual so identified with the passion of Christ that he would develop conditions similar to the crucified Jesus.

 

I had to buy Greg's book, not when I read about stigmata, for I didn't know that story was in it. I bought it when I read his comment about space. 

 

Scientists now think that space isn't empty. It has something in it.

 

Braden's suggestion is that something is where our beliefs are made manifest.

 

That blew me away. 

 

The book is the spontaneous healing of belief (no caps) by Gregg Braden.

 

In one of my blogs, I mentioned that my purpose was to wonder about things and invite others to wonder. And you know I talk about whatever I am into. I figure it will all sift down to readers as curious as I am about how life works. 

 

Braden suggests that we're bathed in a field of intelligent energy that fills what used to be thought of as empty space. Evidence shows that this field responds to us—it rearranges itself—in the presence of our heart-based feelings and beliefs. And this is the revolution that changes everything. 

 

Now, doesn't that excite you?

 

Yogis have long told us that we are both the vessel and the substance in it, and we didn't know what they were talking about. That we both observe and create, like the tiny quantum particle that changes as we observe it. Look into quantum physics. It is crazier than anything we can make up.

 

We have long thought that our DNA was fixed. True, it defines us, our hair color, and our physical apparatus, but now they find that genes click on and click off, affecting our DNA.

 

Wow. It boggles my mind.

 

On the one hand, we are told we are frail and powerless beings who live in a world where things just happen to us. On the other hand, spiritual traditions tell us there is a force that lives within every one of us that nothing in the world can touch. That gives us the assurance that difficult times are a part of the journey.

 

Is it any wonder we're confused? Is it any wonder that the first Star Wars movie with the introduction of The Force so resonated with people? What appeared to be a simple little Space Sci-Fi flick became an outrageous blockbuster.

 

Now, here's a thought: "If quantum particles are not limited by the "laws" of science—at least as we know it, and we are made of the same particles, then can we do miraculous things as well?"—Braden.

 

In Egypt's Nag Hammadi library (Early Gnostic Christian writings found sealed in a jar by a farmer in 1945), verse 48 says, "If two (thought and emotion) make peace with each other in this one house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move away, and it will move away." 

 

I figure 100 years isn't enough time to figure out the mysterious workings of life, but we can try.

 

The 100- year lifespan that we have come to accept is another thing Braden addressed. Why he wondered, is heart disease the leading cause of death in human beings?

 

The heart is the strongest muscle of our bodies. It begins to beat in an embryo even before the brain has made its entrance. And it doesn't need to replace its cells. It beats continually 100,000 times a day, day in and day out. Should it wear out around the 100-year mark?

 

If we believe some of the age spans recorded in The Bible, supposedly Noah lived over 900 years, and built the arc when he was strong and healthy at age 600, why the long ages then, and not now?

 

Braden proposes that the heart doesn't wear out. It "hurts" out. And it seems that around 100 years is its time limit. 

 

Since our subconscious mind records everything that happens to us during our lifetime, every frustration, injury, insult, the heart takes a beating. And you know how it is with human beings, the negative stuff sticks. (What? The ancients didn't have insults and injuries?)

 

However, if Braden is correct, we're really lovers at heart.

 

It's isn't time that stops the heart--- It's the hurts.

 

That is the reason for us to clean up our act.

 

"How?" you might ask.

 

Well, how should I know? 

 

Let's look into it.

 

Ready?

 A psychiatrist in Eugene said he had never had so many depressed patients as this year.

The other day he called his office and said, “I’m not coming back.”

You know what they say about putting on your oxygen mask first? If you run out of oxygen, you will be no help to others.

 What can I say?  What comfort can I offer to folks scared these days? I could say that all pandemics end eventually. The trouble is we don’t know when this one will or how.

 I’m wondering if somehow there was a message this pandemic was screaming at us, but our ears were closed. So instead of listening, we dropped into survival mode and started hoarding toilet paper.

 Are we waiting for someone to fix the problem then arguing over how it ought to be done?

 Are we with each other or against? We’re divided and argumentative. The veins in our necks budge from arguing over ideologies.

 I thought of this in contrast to Ester, who got into a hotel elevator and pushed the button for the top floor. Shortly after that, nine other women joined her. One woman taking over elevator control asked the others, “What floor?”

 Ester said, “I’ll have the lingerie floor, please.”

 The women started to giggle, and one woman popped up, “I’ll have the bargain basement.” Another said, “Not me; I’ll have the penthouse.” One said, “Let’s just stop at every floor and see what’s there.”

 They all got off laughing after having a grand time.

 Zig Zigler said he started the day by opening two gifts—his eyes.

 I know it’s not easy to change one’s focus from fear to optimism. However, we can move incrementally up the ladder toward feeling good.

 Is it possible that our consciousness had something to do with a virus that got out of hand?

Not possible? What if it was?  What if we believe we can lick this thing? What if our attitude would have some effect on the outcome? What if we believe that our immune systems can take us to the penthouse? (On earth, not heaven.)

 I’ve talked about the brain many times--how we have a brain stacked on a brain on a brain and how we drop into the Reptilian brain in times of fear.

 I had asked my daughter the question I asked you, “Do you think metaphysically we had anything to do with this pandemic?”

 Her answer came the following day. She said, “I think it runs on fear.”

 And she followed that with, “And I think that overcoming fear is becoming the master.”

 Wow. Something to aim for.

One of our brains helps us fight the tiger. Another brain runs our bodies without us thinking about it.   “Sent an enzyme down to the stomach.” “Send a sleep chemical. Send a wake-up chemical. The cells are crying for water—make them thirsty. Breathe. Pump the heart. Send white blood cells to clean up that injury.”

 Talk about spinning plates on poles.

 And then sitting on top of all the machinery is the cerebral cortex, the thinking brain, that can analyze, plan and build empires.

 Give that big thinking brain a problem, and it will find a solution—not always the best solution, but it will come up with something. And then brains got together and created the computer to speed up problem-solving ability.

 We have all felt emotion in our heart space, and indeed, some say the heart has a brain. In times of trouble or joy, we have felt a hit in our solar-plexus, so we know something is responding there. And who hasn’t felt as though every cell in the body was tinkling with life?

 We are warriors.

 We are going to take care of each other. We’re going to encourage the light, not the darkness. We’re going to trust that it will tell us to go here or there. Eat this. It will help our immune systems.

 We have become so chemicalized our poor tiny cells must think they are swimming in toxic waste. Our ozone is struggling to hold itself together, and the plants were happy for a breather when we decreased our driving.

 What if we stopped waiting for a synthetic pill to save us and instead looked to some natural remedies? Yes, use chemistry but be reasonable about it. Don’t put weird things in our bodies. I’ve heard that in nature, where there is a toxic plant, there is also an antidote plant. For example, where we live, we have poison oak, and we also have rhododendron plants. Rhododendron tea can soothe poison oak rash.

 Many of our medicines are synthetic versions of the real thing, and we think it’s the same. However, once a doctor—he was so fascinating. I don’t remember his name. He lived in San Diego and was in a wheelchair. His office had a wall of supplements and an aisle in front of them where he wheeled his chair back and forth, plucking from the shelves what he thought would help his client.

 This doctor told me that the calcium from eating the plant worked better than a calcium supplement. He didn’t know why, but going through a plant added something to the calcium that made it work better in our bodies.

 We’ve heard the idea that once a people believed in planning for the seventh generation. We know that many Indigenous cultures knew to walk gently on mother earth’s back. I’ve heard that the Native Americans said they would be back, like smoke, and that they did not die in vain. They were smart enough not to kill off the buffaloes—how stupid to wipe out one’s food source. And on top of it to revere the man who killed them. A man with a gun on a horse --the buffalos didn’t stand a chance. And the people in revering this man did not respect the life of another creature.

 I’m not saying the Native Americans were perfect—they were people, and some fought other tribes. However, living close to the land did teach them some things. Like not to pollute the very earth that sustains you. Do not take more than you need. Plan for the next harvest, like tying up the Camus flowers, so that next year, when the tribe traveled through that area, they would know where the bulbs, a food source, were.

We need to treasure what we have and bless it. We need to remember that the populace keeps the corporations going, not the other way around. The public keeps the medical personal in jobs. They know it, and we know it, but somehow, we are intimidated by the big guys. (Money, bluster, and degrees does not a master make.)

We run the cogs we think are running us.

We aren’t powerless. We are powerful.

 We are worth saving.

 

 

The Heart-Brain Connection

                     Bless the firefighters--this is so cool.

 Heart-Brain Connection

 

I have to know more about this.

 

How long have we believed that the body is controlled by the brain? 

 

Everybody knows that, right?

 

What if we’re wrong?

 

What if we are controlled by the heart, and our poor brain just can’t get the message?

 

What if the heart is trying to make us happy while the poor brain tries to keep us alive?

 

 “Happy? Smappy,” the brain says. “You don’t need to be happy. You need to stay alive as long as you can and reproduce as many offspring as possible. That’s biology. That’s what life is.”

 

But, dear brain, humankind has longed for happiness since it first stepped foot on the planet. Why is there such a yearning for a happy life? Why is there such a search for meaning, for the divine, for transcendental experiences?

 

“Danged if I know,” says the brain.

 

The brain appears intent on suffering. More precisely, it loves the known. And, not only does it want to stay there, it wants our consciousness to stay there as well.

 

 Why do we spend 95% of our waking hours in unconscious reminiscing?

 

Okay, you decide to break the cycle and sit down to meditate.

 

But as you begin to transcend into the unknown, your brain senses a disruption in the force. It ramps up suffering to bring you back down. Suddenly you’re flooded with anxious thoughts: all those bills to pay, you revisit that horrid picture of an animal suffering you saw yesterday, you remember that unkind thing you said. This is normal. Anxiety is a primary human function. Meditation is a way of making peace with your anxiety, and the brain wants nothing to do with it.

 

Dr. Joe Dispenzia calls the brain an artifact of the past, but really the whole body is. It’s a history book written in our cells. And history has seldom been kind, so there we are left with debris in our cells.

 

I have heard the phrase, “Follow your heart,” many times, but I’ve never heard anyone tell me to follow my brain.  

 

Dispenzia says that the heart is mainly magnetic, while the brain is electrical. The poor dears don’t know how to talk to each other. But we’re learning, aren’t we?

 

 

 

Now, dear ones who read my blogs on vision training and were kind enough to ask for more. I wrote the following small book (8,000 words) for you. Some of the material will be familiar to you, some will be new. All will be sent with many thanks for sending me down this trail. 

 

 

Hello Beautiful: The Art and Science of Vision Training Using the Bates Method is available on Amazon Kindle. Free for Kindle Unlimited, $2.99 to buy.

 

For more description and the Introduction, please go to https://jewellshappytrails.com