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Holistic philosophy: the mind

In the first few blogs, I wrote about thoughts and how your thoughts create your life. If you are reading my blogs for the first time or are interested in doing more research, head over to them. You will find them between January 24 and March 19.

Has it ever occurred to you to think where the mind comes from? To understand esoteric things well, I invent stories that resonate with what we are living in this third dimension. Imagine the Creator who is Supreme Intelligence, Eternal Love, Perfection, wanting to experience himself. As He was Oneness, he couldn’t. At this moment, there was nothing physical, just conscious energy.

Then he thought, I can do this by lowering my vibrational frequency so that what is now One is divided, in appearance only, into many. I say in appearance because, in reality, everything is still linked to everything. Once the frequency dropped a little, what we call Spirit was created, still united to All that is, and without anything physical existing.

Spirit kept lowering the frequency, very slowly to get used to it, until a density began to be perceived very subtly. It went on like this for millions of years, until at a precise frequency, the soul, or vehicle of the Spirit was created.

Since it had dropped quite a bit in density, although still at a very high frequency, the soul appeared to be separated from the Creator. The soul also has all the attributes of the Creator because it is the vehicle of the Spirit and our true reality. All humanity is united by the soul. When we die, what dies is the body. The soul is eternal, as is the Creator.

Being in a lower dimension, the soul, now thinking that there were many souls because it saw them separated, was very frightened thinking it had separated itself from God. That fear of the soul emitted so much energy that it created the “Big Bang,” which created the physical Universe.

For duality to exist and for the soul to experience differences, it continued to lower its frequency enough to inhabit a physical body. Once the soul inhabited a body, its density was such that it forgot where it came from.

A Course in Miracles teaches that the ego-mind was created at the very moment we thought we were separated from God and others due to the intense fear felt by the soul.

The ego is the part of our mind that judges, projects, criticizes. When we think with the mind of the ego, we feel alone, scared, isolated. When we think or say “I,” we usually identify with the ego. It is what we think we are.

A Course in Miracles leads us to get rid of those mistaken thoughts that cause us unhappiness. In the following blogs, I will explain how it does it.

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Do you know how to give and receive?

I recently mentioned in another blog that giving and receiving are the same. Since a relationship is a perfect laboratory for healing, I will examine one way this principle manifests itself.

At all times, you are giving and receiving, even if you don’t realize it. Everything is energy, and you are in a constant exchange of energy with other people.

You are constantly giving and receiving through thought. Creating awareness of these is your responsibility. In this way, you will only be giving positive and uplifting thoughts.

It is essential to establish a balance between giving and receiving in a relationship, be it a couple, friendship, family, etc. To establish this balance, it is fundamental to feel that you are worthy of receiving.

As long as you are open to receive and willing to give, there will be a balance in this energetic exchange. It is when you close yourself to receiving or are unable to give that you create an imbalance.

This imbalance often causes resentment in those who give all the time without feeling they are receiving or those who receive without feeling they are giving.

In the special relationships that A Course in Miracles mentions, where we unconsciously seek a relationship to fill some void, the saying that opposites attract has its truth. Often, one who doesn’t know how to give will attract someone who needs to learn to receive and vice versa.

I have previously said that what we see outside is a mirror of what we have inside. I recommend that you stop the blaming game and start looking inside. If the other person complains you don’t give them what they need or don’t know how to receive, stop and listen. Look for your thoughts that are not allowing you to give or to receive. If you want to raise your consciousness, see the other person as your teacher and be grateful that they are there to teach you what you need to learn.

As giving and receiving is the same, start giving what you want to receive, and you will see how everything changes. As energy returns multiplied to the place of origin, you will not only notice the happiness of giving, but to the extent that you give, you will receive.

You receive love by giving it. But remember that true giving is unconditional and expects nothing in return.

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Principle 6: We can learn to love ourselves and others by forgiving rather than judging.

Forgiving, in this sense, is not what you usually know as forgiving. It is not looking at someone who “did” something to you and saying, I forgive you, but I do not forget.

I have mentioned in other blogs that when you see something in another person, it is a projection of that something within you. Your thoughts make you vibrate to a certain level. If you have negative thoughts, you will have a denser vibration. If your thoughts are positive, you will have a higher vibration.

 By the law of attraction, you will attract people who have a similar vibration into your life. When that person you attract does things that you don’t like about yourself, and you don’t accept that you have them, it will make you very angry. You may think it is unforgivable. If you remove that person from your life because what they did to you is unforgivable and you don’t heal it in you, someone else with similar characteristics will come.

Those unforgivable acts, whether they come from someone else or you, come from the part of the mind that A Course in Miracles calls the ego. It is the part that believes that it is separate from God. The one that considers itself to be a sinner when in reality, our true being is still united to the Creator and is pure love.

Forgiveness in this principle means to see beyond the act to the true being who is perfect and always loving. It is seeing the other as our mirror and being able to look inside to be able to recognize what we have to heal. In other words, see the other as my teacher.

Forgiving does not mean that we accept the wrongdoing of another person. Forgiveness is an internal correction that makes our hearts feel lighter and frees us to live in the present, to live in love. It’s mostly for our peace of mind. By being in peace and love, we can extend them to others, which is the most valuable gift we can give.

Susan S. Trout, Ph.D., discusses these principles in her book To See Differently, where she tells the story of this lady and her family who spent years hating and wanting to take revenge on the person who murdered their 18 year old daughter. The anger and pain consumed them all.

After years she and her husband decided to confront the murderer in jail to ask him why he had murdered their daughter. When they faced him, the hatred that had consumed them suddenly disappeared, and they felt love for him. They were able to recognize his human condition and his pain. Seeing this, they felt compassion and love. They realized that he, too, was suffering from what he had done.

This is an example of what it means to see beyond the act to the person’s true essence of love. It is what the principle calls forgiveness.

When we choose to see everyone as teachers of forgiveness, each moment allows us to be happy and in peace and love.

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Principle 2: Health is inner peace. Healing is letting go of fear

When talking about healing, these principles don’t refer to the healing of the body but of the mind. That’s why the second principle states that Health is inner peace and that healing is letting go of fear.

When our goal is to change the body, we forget that our only goal is peace of mind. We will never know true peace as long as we think we are vulnerable. Our true being is eternal and doesn’t suffer from anything.

I know many people who are healthy in body but don’t have inner peace. They are disease-free but unhappy. That is because they are full of fear, fear of scarcity, fear of loneliness, fear of the future. In short, they have their minds set on things that take away their peace.

On the other hand, I had a friend who got cancer in his forties. He chose not to have any invasive treatment. Many people, blind to the reality of our being, began to judge him and say what he had to do because they understood that he had to undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy, surgery, etc., to heal his body.

The rest of the people were hysterical, but he was at peace. He knew he wasn’t that body and chose to leave it alone. His body never healed, and he died, but he was healthy because he had peace of mind. He wasn’t afraid of death. That is true health.

A Course in Miracles tells us: I want the peace of God. The peace of God is everything I want. The peace of God is my one goal; the aim of all my living here, the end I seek, my purpose and my function and my life, while I abide where I am not home. I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me. (W-p1.205.rVI.1:6)  

We are pure love. The body is only a vehicle we have to experience and learn from a life in the physical world of matter. When we leave it because it no longer serves us, our essence or pure love continues to exist in another dimension and continues its evolution and learning at other levels. We are eternal. It depends on us, as we decide whether to focus on love or fear, if we will be at peace or if we are going to suffer on our journey on Earth. What are you going to choose?

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First Principle: The essence of our being is love.

The first principle of Attitude Healing says that the essence of our being is love. Love is eternal. The mind is unlimited; nothing is impossible. This principle is based on the premise that our true identity is spiritual rather than physical. Love is the part of us that is real.

And what is love? Love cannot be defined. It is an energy that contains everything that is Real, that which comes from the Creator. It is the unity of all that Is. It is the total absence of fear, which comes from the ego or thought of separation.

A few years ago, I went for hypnosis to see if it could improve my claustrophobia. I had a very interesting experience. Already immersed in the hypnotic state, the doctor told me to go to the first moment where I had felt claustrophobic. I immediately saw myself stuck alive inside a coffin in a boat that was going down a river. You can imagine the claustrophobia and fear that I began to feel at that moment. As soon as this state of claustrophobia began, the doctor told me to go to a place of peace. It’s incredible how instantaneously I went from fear to love, merely by concentrating on peace.

To begin to change the thoughts of fear that I had in my mind, the doctor reminded me that I was not that body, that my true essence is love, that my being is unbreakable and perfect. He told my unconscious mind that my body can die or get sick but that my being, which is love, is eternal. Having managed to feel that love that I am, devoid of all fear, has helped me tremendously all my life. I was able to experience in a moment of hypnosis that where I put my mind will determine if I am at peace and love or fear. It is as simple as that. Are you not at peace? Change your thoughts and choose again.

You don’t have to be in a hypnotic state to feel your essence. By closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths disconnecting from your scary thoughts, or in a meditative state, you can feel it. Practice it until you make it. In this way, every time you find yourself disconnected from your true essence, by doing this process, you reconnect to the love you are.

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The Principles of Attitudinal Healing

On December 29, 2020, one of my favorite authors on A Course in Miracles-related topics passed away. Gerald Jampolsky, M.D. Dr. Jampolsky mentioned that when his life was upside down, a friend gave him a manuscript to read. The title of that manuscript was A Course in Miracles, which hadn’t been published yet. The content of this manuscript and the work he did with himself with the principles of the Course changed his life completely.

Dr. Jampolsky developed 12 Principles based on the philosophy fo the Course and he opened in Tiburon, California, a center to work with children with terminal illnesses, using these principles. His work was so successful, that it was expanded to include the parents and relatives of the children. Later, this work was exteded to anyone who needed healing their attitudes.

As a tribute to him, who taught me so much, I will dedicate my following 12 blogs to one of the Principles of Attitudinal Healing that he wrote about in his book, Teach Only Love. Gerald Jampolsky, MD, was the author of many books. He was an internationally recognized authority in the fields of psychiatry, health, business, and education. Jampolsky was a child and adult psychiatrist, a graduate of Stanford Medical School, an author, and an inspirational speaker.

I met Gerald Jampolsky in Puerto Rico when I was starting on my spiritual path. The impression that I got from him as a loving and caring person and the sense that his philosophy made to me led me to be trained as an Attitudinal Healing Facilitator.

In the Introduction to his book Teach Only Love, he wrote:

         As we emerge from the birth canal, we enter the world desperately struggling for breath. Most of us travel through life continuing to struggle feeling unloved and alone. All too often we are afraid – afraid of sickness and death; afraid of God; even afraid of continuing to live. Often we leave the world the same way we entered it-desperately struggling for breath.

I believe there is another way of looking at life that makes it possible for us to walk through this world in love, at peace and without fear. This other way requires no external battles, only that we heal ourselves. It is a process I call “attitudinal healing,” because it is an internal and primarily mental process. Properly practiced, it will, I believe, allow all of us, regardless of our circumstances, to begin experiencing the joy and harmony that each instant contains and to start our journey on a path of love and hope.

The mind can be retrained. Within this fact lies our freedom. No matter how often we have misused it, the mind can be utilized in a way that is so positive that at first it is beyond anything we can imagine. However, before the mind is retrained, it seems to be nothing but tightly locked compartments. We sense our potential, but it is held behind “closed doors.” ….(t)hese blocks are really only attitudes in need of healing, and because they are attitudes that we alone have chosen, they can be altered.

May he rest in peace, and his teachings keep helping millions.

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Look beyond appearances

A Course in Miracles reads, “Appearances deceive, but can be changed. Reality, is changeless. It does not deceive at all, and if you fail to see beyond appearances you are deceived. For everything you see will change; and yet you thought it real before, and now you think it real again. “(T-30.VIII.1.1-4)

And what are appearances, and what is reality? For the Course, what you see from your ego-mind are appearances since you can see a situation or a person in one way today and tomorrow in another. What is real never changes. Your real self is that part of you that knows that it has never separated from God. Reality is love, wisdom, compassion. Appearances are the product of judgment, of your perception of the moment. That is why it changes.

I’m going to give you a life situation so you can see it live and in full color. You project what you think outward and it’s what you know as the circumstances of your life. You see them and feel them as if they were real but if you change your way of thinking, tomorrow you will see them differently.

Imagine that you have a very unconscious thought that says that you don’t deserve and you can fill in the blank to what it is that you don’t deserve. It could be many things.

You have an appointment at 6 pm with your boyfriend whose cell phone ran out of battery. When he leaves to pick you up, he finds an accident on the road and he can’t call you to warn you. He arrives at 7 pm to pick you up.

All that time you’ve been furious because, at some level, you felt like you didn’t deserve him to call you. You aren’t going to see it that clearly because it’s in your subconscious but that’s the reason you are reacting like this. You think that he is inconsiderate, that he doesn’t love you enough, and many other thoughts that make you unhappy. When he comes you insult him without letting him speak. And you are sure that you have every reason to feel that way and to react as you are doing.

When he manages to explain what happened, you feel very badly for having reacted like that. Now you see the same event differently. What you saw, which was real to you, were only appearances that arose from your perception of the situation.

Reality is unchangeable. If instead of seeing the situation from your negative thoughts you had seen them through love, no matter what happened you would’ve been at peace at all times. You would’ve thought that your partner is a being of love and nobility and that if he didn’t arrive on time it had nothing to do with him or with you but with some circumstance beyond him. You wouldn’t have judged him and when he arrived you would have been in total love since that’s your true nature.

If you practice seeing things from love instead of from your mistaken perceptions, each time it’ll become easier and you’ll have many more moments of peace. You’ll be much more frequently in the reality of your being, which is love, rather than in the perceptions of the ego, which is fear. Try it.

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Don’t analyze, feel

I was recently talking to a dear friend who was at a crossroads, not knowing what decision to make. He told me that he had analyzed all the possible alternatives and that he still didn’t know which way to go.

Without a doubt, I’m sure that we’ve all been in a similar situation at some point in our lives and those who are younger and haven’t been there yet, soon will be.

I remember saying to him, “don’t analyze, feel.” And many will think, how can I not analyze? I have to weigh all the possibilities, do a thorough analysis, and then decide.

I tell you that there’s a much easier way. A Course in Miracles speaks of two figures that are in our mind, figuratively speaking, the ego and the Holy Spirit. We created the ego in that “crazy moment,” which occurred eons of years ago, as the Course says, where the Son of God, which we all are, thought that he had separated himself from God. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit is that part of our mind that knows that separation never happened. The ego speaks of fear, conflict, difficulties. The Holy Spirit speaks of peace, love, harmony. It will always direct you towards your good. The important thing is to learn to listen to it. To be able to listen to it you have to learn mental silence.

When you analyze a situation a lot, usually the ego is involved. Your mind goes a mile a minute and that causes you stress.

When you quiet your mind and let your intuition guide you, that’s your spirit speaking. When you stop to listen, your mind is at peace. You have to learn to trust your intuition. Sometimes it shows you a path that you hadn’t even contemplated, but if observing it brings you peace, that’s where you need to go. The how will emerge in due course.

Always remember that your compass is peace. Does what you are feeling gives you peace? Then that’s the way to go. Does it create conflict and stress for you? Then, that’s not the way to go. It’s that simple. What you have to do is trust that your spirit is the one that knows what is good for you and then follow it.

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Are you afraid of failure?

When I was studying law many years ago, this knowledge that I’m trying to share hadn’t reached me yet. The “I am not enough …” prevailed in me, that thought that paralyzed me.

I remember that the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico issued a case that totally changed the divorce procedure in Puerto Rico by establishing divorce by mutual consent.

After studying that case well, some ideas came to my mind and I thought I should write an article for the Law Review and I wrote it in my mind. Then I immediately thought, and who’s going to be interested in reading what I write? What I have to say isn’t important enough. And I didn’t write it.

A month later, a law article was published in another Law Review magazine written by one of the most renowned lawyers in Puerto Rico in the area of ​​family law. And guess what she was saying? The same thing that I would have said. It made me want to hit myself over the head because of my insecurities. Why was I so afraid of failure? Why the fear that people might think I wasn’t perfect if I didn’t do it right?

After a few years, A Course in Miracles came into my life. In this wonderful book I learned that “the tests you go through are nothing more than lessons that you have not yet learned that are presented again so that where you made a wrong choice before, you can now make a better one and thus escape the pain that what you chose previously caused you. ” T-31.VIII.3.1.

That event that I classified as cowardice stayed with me for many years. Once I learned what the Course said, I realized that it came from my thought that I was not capable enough, in this case, to write an article intelligently. From then on I started to be aware of each time that I didn’t do something because “I’m not enough or I’m not enough to….”  When a situation arose where my reaction was similar and I noticed it, I immediately chose again and brought out the courage within me to dare to do what I wanted to do. Little by little, it became part of my nature.

With this story, I want you to see that failure doesn’t exist. It’s merely teaching you the way things aren’t done. Next time, venture out to do what you want and if fear arises, treat it differently. Your life will start changing for the better.

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Abuse is NEVER ACCEPTABLE

Recently over two weeks, two women were murdered in Puerto Rico by their partners. I’m sure that you can replace the place and put any country and it would be the same.

Although in most cases the abusers are men, there are cases in which the abused is male, either by someone of the same or opposite sex. This blog is for both.

In the article entitled Understanding and addressing violence against women, the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization https://oig.cepal.org/sites/default/files/20184_violenciapareja.pdf, explain the following:

Intimate partner violence refers to any behavior, within an intimate relationship, that causes or may cause physical, mental, or sexual harm to the members of the relationship. Some examples are listed below:

• Physical assaults, for example, slapping, hitting, kicking, or hitting.

• Sexual violence, for example, forced sex and other forms of sexual coercion.

• Emotional abuse, for example by insults, denigration, constant humiliation or intimidation (such as destroying objects), threats to cause harm, or to take children.

• Controlling and dominating behaviors, for example isolating a person from her family and friends, monitoring her movements, and restricting her access to financial resources, employment, education, or health care

Here are some things abusers do or say:

• You made me do this.

• You provoked me

• Bring you flowers or gifts and promise that it will never happen again.

In the previous article, the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization indicate these parameters that must be met to eliminate the abuse of women:

• reform of legal frameworks in civil and criminal matters;

• dissemination and awareness campaigns to make the current legislation better known; F

• strengthening the civil rights of women in relation to divorce, property, and child support and custody;

• formation of coalitions between government and civil society institutions;

• establishment of the evidence base for sensitization and awareness raising;

• use of communication aimed at behavioral change to achieve social changes;

• transformation of entire institutions in each sector using the gender perspective; in particular, integrate attention to violence against women in sexual and reproductive health services;

• promoting the social and economic empowerment of women and girls;

• generation of comprehensive responses from services to survivors of intimate partner violence in the communities;

• creation of life skills programs and school curricula;

• encouraging the participation of men and boys to promote non-violence and gender equality;

• and offering early intervention services to families at risk.

A Course in Miracles expresses the following: You are free to believe what you want, and your actions bear witness to what you believe. (ACIM T.1. II.1.9) In other words, it’s not what they tell you, it’s what they do that determines how a person thinks. If you are in an abusive relationship, the abuser will not change. The abuse will continue. Run away, get help, do whatever it takes to protect yourself and your children.