Statistical Study on Benefits of Meditation

The Shambhala Mountain Center conducted a study of 60 people on the subject of meditation. Half of the group went through an intense training and practice of meditation for three months. The other half were on the backup list for the intense training but did not participate in the training. (see article in Nov 19 Huffington Post)

Researchers from UC Davis designed the study and performed tests on both groups before, half way through and at the end of the three months. The results are now appearing in peer reviewed journals.

Some of the benefits of meditation are in this quote. Read the whole article for more source information and details on the study. This will become required reading for my students.

Tonya Jacobs, a scientist at UC Davis's Center for Mind and Brain, has just reported (on-line in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology) that meditators show improved psychological well-being, and that these improvements lead to biochemical changes associated with resistance to aging at the cellular level. Specifically, an analysis of meditators' white blood cells showed a 30 percent increase in an enzyme called telomerase, a chemical essential to the long-term health of the body's chromosomes and cells.

The scientists emphasize that meditation does not lead directly to cellular health and longevity. Instead, the practice appears to give people an increased sense of meaning and purpose in life, which in turn leads to an increased sense of control over their lives and to less negative emotion. This cascade of emotional and psychological changes is what regulates the levels of telomerase, the anti-aging enzyme.

Positivity appears to be the link between meditative practice and a variety of health benefits. In a study scheduled for publication in the journal Emotion, UC Davis psychological scientist Baljinder Sahdra is reporting that meditation leads to a decrease in impulsive reactions -- another health improvement linked to psychological positivity. Impulsivity has been tied to an array of health problems, including addictions and other risky behavior.

Rev. Michael B on Visioning

This week's Huffington Post included an article by Rev. Michael Beckwith on attracting things into your life.

The metaphors and references to magnetism and vibration can be misleading to some audiences but we sense and witness the effect. I enjoyed his summary enclosed in three points-

To accelerate your magnetic frequency and manifest your vision for your life, you must enter the laboratory of your own mind and soul and evolve through three domains:

(first) Discovering, activating, expressing and promoting your gifts, talents and skills, which attunes you to the law of divine right action;

(second) Moving into a deeper spiritual understanding and practice of working with the laws governing the universe through affirmative prayer, Life Visioning, and visualization, which attune you to the law of attraction;

(third) Practicing meditation and surrender at such a depth that you no longer need to attract anything because you live in alignment with the law of radiance which automatically provides all that is required to sustain you and cause you to flourish.

Whisper

On the several "Genius Sails" with friends and family this summer I had the chance to sail, be in conversation and witness sunsets with about 20 different people. Each sail we would establish a rhythm- safety instruction, sails ready, start the engine, and off to sail. That was the routine. Then each sail would take on its own personality. However, the one question most often asked was "What is the name of your boat?" For five years no name really seemed to fit. Boat, the boat, meet me at the boat worked well in communicating everything needed to have a great experience on the water. So the defacto name was 'boat'.

I believe the inner voice speaks and when you are listening this is the guidance, the truth-full substance and direction. Staying aligned with that voice is the key to living a life of integrity- with self and others. I wrote earlier about Visioning. As I have taught it, attended lessons on it and have personally used it the last few weeks I am amazed at what comes up when I ask the question 'what is greater idea of (insert area you are visioning for) in my life?". This week, in recognition of this process, the boat name appeared. Whisper

Visioning, Timing and Force

Teaching the Life Visioning Process, a part of UCSL, ICSL and so well described by its author Rev. Michael Beckwith in "The Life Visioning Process" has sharpened my interest actively listen to what's next, and what is the greatest idea for projects in my life.
I tell my students...the number one idea of using Visioning is to disassociate or separate visioning from 'the to do list'. You will know when it is time to create the list. Just (sometimes a big step) allow it to come into form.

Last week about an hour after completing a Visioning exercise two phrases come to mind. They just came into mind, one after the other. I sat with them for a day to monitor if the idea drifted or diminished. Within 48 hours they seemed right. I believe that each of us has a personal indicator, an internal compass, that brightens whenever we are on a congruent path. One of mine congruency indicators comes as a fast shutter. It is as if a breath of the infinite has swooped in- from mind to emotion to physical. Enough of me trying to describe it. You will have your own indicator.

I used the two phrases to prepare for and to test my work for the week. This led to a week of satisfaction, peace and joy in the preparation and the presentation a new idea. I interpret this as the satisfaction of being personally aligned. The Vision pulled me. The list and the activities came to mind as the Vision unfolded. I am celebrating my amazement and the demonstration of the project.

I encourage you to try Visioning for your life purpose and projects. Aligning passion, purpose and projects is monumental. This works and I am knowing graceful unfolding for each of you.

Words Fall Short

This morning's poetic greeting from Panhala is "What's in the Temple" by Tom Barrett.

I enjoyed the whole poem and particularly these sections-

.
...The poets speak in obscure terms pointing madly at the unsayable...
The monk sits pen in hand poised to explain the cloud of unknowing.

I am reminded when teaching classes this fall that we are always describing the invisible and the mystery and postulating our belief how it works. This section reminds me of describing the 'unsayable'

Put your ear to the wall of your heart.
Listen for the whisper of knowing there.
Love will touch you if you are very still.

Although there is no recipe for hearing this whisper it does happen. When you listen, the attention moves from the brain to a larger knowing, which some would say comes from the heart. I think the heart is a word that just means, 'from within' It is amazing because this inner voice comes with loudness and clarity. 'Love touches you'

If I say the word God, people run away.
They've been frightened--sat on 'till the spirit cried "uncle."
Now they play hide and seek with somebody they can't name.
They know he's out there looking for them, and they want to be found,
But there is all this stuff in the way.

I love this section- People come from all different backgrounds of religious and spiritual training. In order to move ahead to a deeper understanding of the mystical each person must come to peace with where they have come from- what they learned first and then 'all this stuff' falls away.
Words we have learned in the past can be accompanied with strict interpretations- e.g. faith, heaven, hell. I have learned to speak using language inclusive of Divine qualities- infinite, joy, trust, support, peace, kindness. The choice of words helps to bridge old history and old beliefs into being present today to the Divine ideas.

I can't talk about God and make any sense,
And I can't not talk about God and make any sense.
So we talk about the weather, and we are talking about God.

This is my favorite. From Emerson's 'The Transcendentalists' we walk as idealists and materialists at the same time. And the weather, the sun, clouds, wind and rain help us bridge that which can be challenging to articulate.

God in America PBS

I have really enjoyed this week's PBS six hour presentations on God in America. Europeans coming to the new world attached significance to this new place, the journey and the challenges to unfolding and manifesting a Divine destiny. Christian sects embraced the freedom to follow their own religious interpretation without persecution.

Right now you can watch the series on the program's web site. Let me talk about two parts I was impressed with. First, having an evangelical training I related to the circuit meetings where preachers would travel the circuit and preach the word with zeal.  Second, I have been studying more about the great spiritual awakenings in our country and the associated great desire to spread the word and convert people to your own religious perspective.  It seems that whenever there is dismay or disappointment a spiritual awakening effort was organized to get people 'back on track'. Using inspired preachers explaining the promise of eternal salvation some meetings attracted over 7000 people in the Kentucky wilderness.

The third segment was particularly interesting to me as it highlighted the influence of Billy Graham on the society and how that period was one of the greatest periods of church attendance.  That segment also presented the role of Martin Luther King and his focus on injustice between races and how that is linked to being a moral society. MLK was scorned by local ministers for his activating black awareness. From his jail cell in Birmingham he wrote a letter to those clergymen thoroughly outlining his mission in Birmingham and the role of civil disobedience in the crusade for equality and fairness.

I highly recommend viewing the series.

A Whole Operation

You know, our body is very integrated in its intelligence. So the liver cannot be liver without spleen, pancreas, kidney, and all other organs knowing what is going on. So I know that the whole body is lifted to what has always been true. The body  remembers and shows up now as the highest intelligence- the clearest thought of how it works. It operates in and as perfection.  Surgeons, hospitals, nurses and teams have come together and represent God's downloaded App of Intelligence. They manifest as mind, hands, electronics, facilities, tools and wisdom. They operate in Divine flow; working seamlessly and with ease & grace always knowing the highest and best is in operation. This team is God's hands at work. 

You are so well cared for. Imagine resting and being supported wholly by the hammock of the Universe. The woven rope under your back; surrounded by the white light of pureness and healing--- revealing wholeness; Every woven hammock string supports you, resting you. And I know that light and that hammock, this Universe, is all ways present- today, tomorrow all day, in surgery, recovery and in strength. This I know to be True. It is now so and So It Is!