Spiritual Life Coaching - Healing the Emotional Pain-Body

As the egoic mind begins to identify with a sense of self that is emotionally arrested in childhood, the pain-body energy will intensify. This trauma gets continually re-triggered every single time the pain-body justifies its existence by identifying with its wounded self. It's as if the pain-body says, "I have been hurt by others and therefore I deserve to be angry."

And so the pain-body is an energy field that re-experiences itself through negative emotions such as victimization, oppression, and a deep-seated, subconscious fear of impending doom. These feelings get reinforced and substantiated by the re-occurring situations that frequently arise as a result of the pain-body's ability to attract to it its own like energy. A typical pain-body host will consistently relive the very same emotions that became blocked during the forming of its childhood primal wound. In simpler words, these hosts are emotionally stuck in the past.

So the next step after you identify the childhood trauma is to work toward getting yourself "unstuck." Now, as you bring in the power of presence and bring in a higher awareness into the pain-body, it can no longer trick you into completely identifying with it. When you can observe the pain-body arising you will want to practice recognizing it as a separate entity, a separate energy field. You will see it as being not who you are. That is the beginning of your liberation from it.

Recognizing the pain-body when it becomes active in whatever form is crucial. With some, the pain-body exhibits a more active, aggressive-like pain, in other persons it is a passive form of victim-like pain such as with those with "Poor Me Syndrome." There may be a tenseness or constriction in the muscles and so you will want to become aware of that. Or there may be a burning or tightness in the solar plexus or abdomen and so you become aware of that. Some may become consumed with rage is if they're whole body was set on fire.

We are not fighting the pain-body or trying to eliminate it. That will only empower it. It tried fighting my pain-body for years by "attacking it" with a variety of diets, treatments, an enduring a series of physiological and psychological examinations, all in a desperate attempt to "get rid of" my chronic illness. But resistance the pain didn't work. My pain-body didn't begin to dissolve until I completely surrendered to it. It's as if you say, "Well, this is the way it is. And therefore I honor and respect that." Only by practicing the power of presence can you successfully bring an end to the pain-body.

So by becoming a silent witness to the pain as it begins to take over your body, you are already beginning to transcend it and work toward its dissolution. Working in one-on-one sessions with an online spiritual life coach can be very helpful for you as you allow your pain-body to dissolve on its own volition by becoming aware of it as it resurfaces.

Personal Life Coach, Jason Lincoln Jeffers, is the founder of The Art of Transformation, a company dedicated to teaching Spiritual Enlightenment to the world. His Personal Life Coaching practice uniquely combines spiritual wisdom with ego transcendence, wellness coaching, life path astrology, pain-body counseling, heart-based manifestation, and relationship coaching.

An economic perspective on spiritual development and growth

During the 1980’s evangelicals embarked on the church growth movement in an attempt to apply social sciences to achieve growing numbers of Christians and churches. The idea was controversial from the start, but the church growth movement had a huge impact that continues to reverberate. Although many have pushed back against the emphasis on numbers, countering with the need for qualitative growth as well, and the term “church growth” is no longer in vogue, the legacy of the church growth movement is a continuing urgency to foster and guide Christian movements of conversion and institutional expansion.

Today I was reading an economist writing about development theory, and I was struck by the parallels between people who want to promote and control growth — whether economic or spiritual — on a large scale. William Easterly writes on “The Anarchy of Success“:

Humans are suckers for finding patterns where none really exist, like seeing the shapes of lions and giraffes in the clouds. It wasn’t that economists had no explanations of what causes growth. On the contrary, we had too many. One survey of the field counted no fewer than 145 separate factors that had been found to be associated with growth. But most of these patterns were spurious, because they failed to hold up when other researchers tried to replicate them. Economists can say something useful about economic success, but we have to clear away a lot of false overconfidence before we get to that point.

Growth and development whether in spiritual or economic terms has been thoroughly studied and we have principles and formulas up the yin yang, but are we the wiser for all the research and theorizing? Does real change, whether in spiritual or economic terms, come from engagement with people in the grit, decisions, and paradoxes of real life? If so, what we need is not endless futile and misguided attempts to control the process but more freedom and opportunity for growth to emerge from below (whether economic or spiritual).

Easterly finishes,

Perhaps prosperity is not after all designed from above; perhaps it emerges from below, from the independent actions of many individuals who figure out their own paths.

Here is a different version of this quote in my words as a follower of Jesus,

Perhaps the growth of God’s people in the world is not designed or controlled by people in supposed positions of influence; perhaps it emerges from below, from the actions of many individuals who figure out their own paths in concert with the Spirit of God working in them.

Andrew Gray

Drink a Spiritual and Healthy Tea

Only the boldest—and most reckless—among tea drinkers have tried it. To drink it, one must possess a certain amount of confidence and savoir faire. No, it’s not some new metropolitan or socialite brew. It’s certifiably wild, rustic, and homespun—it’s the stuff from which Grimm’s Fairy Tales are made! What is it? Tisanes made from some exotic stuff that you probably never realized you could drink!

There are several ways to go about collecting your tea’s ingredients. You can find them in many places (although probably not at your grocery store, or any store, for that matter). To create the wildest of teas, you may want to take a walk in the park, in the forest, or around a campground. Sometimes you can even find your material peeking up between sidewalk cracks in the city. Summer is the season of exploration and discovering new teas. What kinds of flora should you gather for your cauldron? Consult this list of suggestions (and get a guide book with photographs for distinguishing physical traits):

Verveine, or Lemon Verbena: It is in full bloom in summer. The flowers are a yellow, milky color and are sometimes pink. It can get very large and puts forth a lot of flowers and leaves. I have used it in tea to harness a relaxing effect. It can be very calming on the stomach, but don’t drink too much of it! Use only a few petals or leaves.

Little Wild Rose: You may not think to eat flowers unless you’ve seen Monsoon Wedding. Even if you’re not a fan of Bollywood or Indian movies, flowers (especially wild roses) are delicious in salads and teas. It’s hard not to find them when you get a whiff of their intoxicating, though mild fragrance. If you don’t want your tea to be too acidic, boil for less than ten minutes. Drink it with Verveine, if you are interested in seeing how the two mesh.

Yarrow: Yarrow is easiest to find if you live in the Southwestern United States. It is a diaphoretic that helps with circulation (it has several other medicinal benefits too). To enjoy it, add two leaves to boiling water. Sweeten it with honey, if you like. Like Verveine, you should be careful to not use too much or drink it too frequently unless you live next door to a homeopathic doctor.

Calendula, or Marigolds: To make it, steep a few dried flowers in very hot water for less than six minutes. You can mix it with other flowers and herbs, or just drink it alone. It will help detoxify your body and improve your immune system.

More pursue careers as spiritual advisers

In past lives, Steve Isles was an insurance analyst and Peter Fabre was a nuclear engineer. Now the two run into each other in the halls of Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, where each is learning the ropes of spiritual care as chaplain interns.

"We all need something that is new at some point in our lives," Fabre said, adding that he could not have appreciated fully the emotional subtleties of patients when he was younger. "As we age and go through the phases in life, what's important takes on a slightly different meaning."

The fields of pastoral care, ethics and spirituality are changing and growing for a number of reasons: an aging population, the evolution and increasing adoption of professional standards for pastoral care, and interest by mid-lifers looking for meaningful work.

Late this year, Arizona State University will add a master's program in applied ethics and the professions that will span all four campuses. Pastoral-care ethics and spirituality will be taught at the West campus, while the business, biomedical, environment and emerging technologies ethics programs will debut at the other campuses this fall.

Ethics, at least academically, is hot.

"It appears that with the economic crisis we have sort of a demand and interest in bringing that kind of training into the fields," said Martin Matustik, a professor coordinating ASU's master's in pastoral-care ethics. "It will be interesting to see if companies and corporations will incorporate that need."

The work is challenging for people schooled to be pastors or priests in their own religions.

Chaplains and other care workers may not proselytize, preach or be perceived as giving medical advice. They are there to listen and to help patients explore their own questions.

For all of the summer interns at Banner, each of whom is on at least a second career, the rich interplay with other religions has been one of the most rewarding facets of the job. As they go from room to room, they might encounter a Muslim, a Catholic, a Jew or a Presbyterian, all on the same round.

"I'm learning a lot more about other religions," said intern Hugo Soutus, a priest at Dormition of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church in Phoenix. "I'm learning a lot about people going through difficult times."

Pastors and chaplains have been around, of course, for ages. What has changed is the type of people seeking work in the field and pursuing the level of education the work demands.

"Many more people are taking up ministry as a second career," said Toni Wolf, who supervises Banner Thunderbird's pastoral education program. "It used to be that you simply didn't have middle-aged folks or even people in their 30s going back to seminary, where now that is very, very common. Now young folks are not very common at all."

The professionalism required by hospitals, prisons and other institutions that employ chaplains is becoming more standardized as well.

Isles will have to show that he has mastered 29 "competencies" to become board-certified.

That is the norm.

"There are standards being introduced for chaplains, especially in health-care facilities, as part of their own accreditation," Wolf said. "Most places hiring full-time are requiring them to be certified. That's why it seems to be a new thing. There is a lot more professional approach to the whole thing."

Matustik expects most of the students in the ASU program to be working professionals or recent graduates who need a master's to get started in bereavement, trauma, chaplaincy or veterans affairs. Professors will work closely with the School of Social Work. Not all ethicists will be religion-based.

While volunteering at Hospice of the Valley, Matustik discovered a lack of educational opportunities for end-of-life caregivers and he wanted to send interns to fill that gap. The students will be armed with centuries of thought on ethics and reasoning.

"We sort of discovered in conversations with chaplains that there is no specific training for chaplains and ethicists that is interfaith and that even translates to hospice care," Matustik said. "They are not necessarily ready to work in a hospice situation. Nationwide, there is no specific training for hospice."

by Lesley Wright

A Wild Sexy Spiritual Life

If you are like how most of the world is today, when you hear of the words spirituality or spiritual life, you probably associate them with recluse yogis sitting in a cave or celibate monks wearing robes. We are living in a time when most people don’t even prefer to talk about the word spirit in public as its considered too controversial. Somehow people around the world has grown to believe that a spiritual life is based on giving up all fun and freedom and living in solitude and sacrifice. The truth is very far away! Interestingly, as one day you will realize, a true spiritual life is not only one you enjoy divine ecstasy, but also it opens up doors that brings freedom most people cannot even dream of.

While there are many faiths that take many roads of understanding, basic spirituality is simple and is based on the following principles:

a. There is an omnipotent intelligence that is the source of this universe.

b. All creation is created from this Infinite Intelligence or the Great Spirit.

c. There is a reason for all things that happen and a purpose for this universe to exist.

d. Very simply put the reason is evolution. The universe evolves itself from lower states of intelligence and energy to the higher and higher levels until it merges back with the infinite Intelligence that created it.

e. Humans have always felt disconnected from this divine intelligence or God. Trying to distract themselves from the pain of separation (or more appropriately unawareness), humans have struggled in many different ways. Some of these less than fruitful ways are controlling others, trying to dominate over people, food, alcohol, sex, drugs etc.

f. When we begin to focus again on reestablishing our connection with God, we experience a real sense of bliss, freedom and peace.

g. When we experience this amazing bliss and freedom, we are automatically driven to help others experience the same.

In a nutshell, this is what a spiritual life is about.

Interestingly, as people awaken, they discover that there are many deeper forces that shape their lives! These invisible forces slowly begins to bring about many beneficial circumstances and events in your life without you even asking for it. These are the miracles or serendipities that people on a spiritual journey commonly seem to experience and talk about. As you awaken more and more spiritually through focus, discipline and dedication, the miracles and serendipities keep happening in ever greater extents. It’s almost like God takes on an active interest in your everyday life to fulfill your desires. No prayer is too small, no wish is too insignificant. In the most perfect ways, all wishes and prayers come true. Something that is beyond the wildest dreams of most people, you begin to enjoy a freedom that is simply incredible!

When we look at the yogis on a mountain or monks in the monasteries what we do not realize is that we are looking at someone who has given up the transitory material gains for a kingdom of heavenly treasures. Someone who has exchanged our false sense of earthly freedom with an eternal freedom beyond time and space. Someone who has sacrificed trivial earthly pleasures for divine ecstasy! When you see it this way, you suddenly realize how absurd is the idea of our materialistic lifestyle exchanging our entire lives paying for our credit cards and mortgages. A spiritual life does not dictate that you cannot have material riches and comfort. You can keep or make whatever riches you want to and still be very intensely focused on a spiritual path, yet sometimes it makes no sense to carry all the material chains that our societies bound us with.

A true spiritual life allows you to gradually prepare your heavily programmed mind to see beyond the material obvious and perceive the higher truths. Slowly you begin to understand the deeper laws of the universe and use them in your own life. When you get there, your life becomes filled with real magic and miracles. The whole universe seems to conspire to help you achieving your dreams. For now your dreams have become the dreams of the universe . The dreams of God.

Do men and women have different types of “spiritual realizations”?

Last night at dinner my wife, my father and myself were all talking about our different experiences, or lack of experiences, with spirituality.

Mine in particular is pretty evident. My father, like previously mentioned in another post, was quite sick last year. After hearing news that he may not make it (which he did) he said he had a moment of realization. While not quite a spiritual realization, he did say it put him on a different path than he had already been on. For whatever reason he was drawn to Deepak Chopra’s books and was particularly inspired by his book SynchroDestiny. He was blown away about the idea of interdependence and has been thinking about it quite a bit.

My wife than chimed in about how she didn’t necessarily need a religion or spiritual practice, that she was happy leading the life she is. Which to me is great, she’s really centered, caring and knows what she wants.

This was where the profound words came out of my fathers mouth. He said something like…

“I think women may not seek a spiritual practice as much as men. Women have them without searching. The love a woman feels when a child is born could be compared to a moment of awakening. The love that flows from a woman the first time she sees the child she has bore for 9 months is an awakening in itself. So I think women have a one up on guys.”

These of course were not his exact words, but they are close enough for government work. I wrote this up because I really want to get reader’s reactions to his “theory” about women maybe not feeling the need to have a spiritual awakening of sorts because they seem to have them without even looking. What do you think?

by Precious Metal

Are Atheists Spiritual?

As I was looking into many of the various religious groups here in Seattle, I ran across a group that calls themselves, Seattle Atheists. In fact, you may have seen their ads on Metro busses around town. Their quote is a Thomas Jefferson quote, “Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.”

After having read Christopher Hitchens book, God is not Great, and Bertrand Russell’s book Why I’m not a Christian, I’m more convinced than ever that atheism is a legitimate form of spirituality and that atheists are spiritual. I imagine I’m going to get spanked from all sides, but I really think this is true.

I see spirituality not as a ‘search for God,’ but more as a search for our connection to the greater Universe around us. How do we fit into the thing called life? I saw that question asked over and over again in those two books. Many, in fact, most, have tried to tie God to that search for various reasons, and that has tripped us up and divided us for years… millennia. When we added God we added our ‘version’ of God, and then the Universe itself wasn’t allowed to speak for itself.

I think we all agree that there is a connection. We’re connected to the Universe. We all need air to breath, we need to eat to keep up energy, and we need water to keep ourselves hydrated. We rely on the Earth spinning around the sun and the Universe supporting the Earth. We also recognize that we are affected by the people around us as well. In order for us to survive, we must learn to get along. Both of these books were asking those questions, using science as their yardstick, not religion. But the question was the same… how are we connected to the Universe. Science itself is just that, the giant question, how does the Universe work, and how do we fit in.

For that reason, in my opinion, atheists and agnostics are still spiritual beings, though I don’t think they would appreciate being called that. I think it’s safe to assume, regarding what we know, that we don’t really know what we know and we don’t really know what we don’t know. So in essence science is about figuring out what we do and don’t know. But Albert Einstein noticed that when you increase the circle of what you know, you also increase the circle of what you don’t know. It’s a paradox.

Everything that currently exists in regard to technology and industry comes about because we figured out how it was connected and interconnected. Our biggest challenge is also our biggest asset at this moment, though I’m not totally sure that we see it. Diversity. This diversity is good for us, but it’s also difficult because we haven’t yet figured out how to make it work for us. Even among all these groups, at the very bottom of it all (or at the top if-you-will) we’re all asking the same question: what is this thing called the Universe and how do I fit in? That’s spirituality.

Ben Tousey

The Darker Side of Saffron

'I think his painting hai sati [wakes the consciousness] so that Buddhism can continue its existence."

That's how theatre director Teerawat Mulvilai views Anupong Chantorn's award-winning painting Bhikku Sandan Ka (literally translated as "monks with crow nature"), which sparked controversy in 2007 when protestors demanded that it be removed from the exhibition at Silpakorn University's Sanam Chan Palace campus and its prize reviewed and even rescinded.

The director and B-Floor Theatre co-founder will stage his new creation San-Dan-Ka to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary. Three more productions by other members of the troupe will follow during the year.

Inspired by Anupong's paintings of men in saffron robes and Buddhadasa Bhikku's book Tamra Du Phra (Handbook on how to see monks), which elaborates on different types of bhikkus who break the precepts, Teerawat chose to use Butoh to portray the festered dimension of the spirit.

"I visualised these characters as phantoms and ghosts and I think Butoh can bring out the dark side very well ... I want to be clear that I'm not talking about bad monks in this piece. Those people are not monks to begin with. The show criticises those who dress up like monks," he said.

One of the most politically and socially conscious directors today, Teerawat said he created this performance to critique and awaken the awareness of the state of Buddhism.

"What's the cause of the decline of Buddhism in Thailand? I don't think it's right to blame other religions as a threat to Buddhism. It has to do with the behaviour of monks and Buddhists. And people know why it's in decline, but they can't talk about it because it's one of the most prominent insitutions in Thailand ...

"For a religion to live on, the community and the people have to be able to hold it accountable."

‘San-Dan-Ka’ will be staged from tomorrow until Sunday, February 1 and from February 5 to 8 at
7:30pm at Siam Democrazy Studio (MRT Lumphini, exit 1), Soi Saphan Khu. Tickets cost
300 baht. For more information, call 08-9167-4039

By: AMITHA AMRANAND

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

What does it mean this thing Christmas to you? How can you make this meaning having more spiritual resonance to you or your family? Decorate your house with the candles and Christmas tree. Cook some special cakes for the festive dinner. Encourage your children to make presents with their own hands. Thus create good and comfortable atmosphere by sharing positive mood.

We all remember the story of Christmas. Nowadays this legend acquired some contemporary points. But, what is the most significant point that never changes? Of course, joy and love. This is a real amount of pleasure for us in buying gifts, giving or receiving presents, sending Christmas cards to our beloved ones, singing Christmas carols and getting families together. All of these are wonderful because they give us love and make us happy. Love is the most essential point of the Jesus Christ’s birth: “Love you neighbour the way Christ loved us”.

Remember to love, don’t forget about faith and trust people!

Manifest Love and you get Love back!!!

How to Make me an Atheist

Lest our discussion on free will turn to bickering, I believe it best to address a motif in many of Ken Ueda's writings regarding the inconvertibility of Christians. That is, Christians often say that neither human reason nor experience can persuade them that atheism is true and Christianity is false. This, I believe, was one of the reasons Ueda started his "Ask an atheist" column and is perhaps a frequent frustration of atheists everywhere. I want to answer this frustration, and in a later article look at Ueda's stated reasons for why an atheist might convert to Christianity. In the end, it seems both sides tend to ignore significant arguments and evidence, though for different reasons.

For me to intellectually embrace atheism two things would have to occur: first, a denial of Christianity and second, a conviction that atheism is preferable to agnosticism, universal Unitarianism or a non-theistic religious system like Zen Buddhism.

There exists one insurmountable barrier in the first step, namely the undeniable evidence of the existence of Christ. Historically, denying the existence of Christ would be like denying the existence of Julius Caesar. Not even opponents of the early church did so. But more important than Jesus' existence is his resurrection.

As Thomas Arnold, appointed chair of modern history at Oxford University, after himself sifting through historical evidence said, "Thousands and tens of thousands of persons have gone through it piece by piece . . . I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead."

Jesus was seen by over 500 people and at 15 different recorded times after His resurrection. If Christ did not rise from the dead, no foundation for Christianity would exist. Yet, if it is true, any other issue like the origins of life or the existence of evil is a matter of mystery and faith. Searching, questioning and reasoning are important and legitimate for Christians, yet accepting mystery is also necessary. Thus, such arguments are peripheral if Christ actually was raised from the dead.

It would not be sufficient to convince me that religion is harmful to society. I, like Aquinas, believe that if Christianity is true, it ought to be followed by virtue of truth and not pragmatism. If we were be like Nietzsche, we would face the outcome of the truth regardless of its consequences (he went insane, if you recall).

Nor would it be sufficient to deride Christians as backward or stupid. I think Leibniz, Locke, Descartes, Milton, Donne, Pascal, Flannery O'Conner, Kierkegaard, Tolstoy, Aquinas, Augustine, Rousseau, Lewis, Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, Max Planck, Lord Kelvin, Mendel, T.S. Eliot and Pasteur would likely disagree. They could all be mistaken about the veracity of Christianity, but to say they are unintelligent would demonstrate ignorance.

Let us assume at some point you provide me with irrefutable evidence that Jesus wasn't the Son of God. Then the burden would lie on you to convince me of the truth of atheism over other alternatives. I would like to know how I can reasonably doubt the supernatural. Some atheists are fond of disproving God to disproving fictional or fairy tale figures like Bigfoot or Santa Claus - I, being a discerning fellow, would label that a fallacious analogy as the weight of evidence for supernatural miracles, texts, design and experience is not even comparable to fairy tales. I would thus ask to be shown how one could prove by preponderance of the evidence that the supernatural did not exist or at least did so to a negligible degree (if that is even possible).

This proof should involve an explanation of why nearly all of human history is filled with spirituality, why humans long for significance and meaning and why there exists, in many, a sense of eternity. Where does this preoccupation come from? Freud's explanation in Civilization and Its Discontents was that humans naturally experience a false "sensation of eternity," and religion has come to accommodate it. Yet, if nothing supernatural exists, how is it that we came to invent it? Just as we can't imagine a "new" color entirely different from the ones we can see, it would be impossible to manufacture the supernatural if it did not have at least some grounding in reality.

Additionally, I would have to believe that the worldview I was adopting by means of logical persuasion did not undermine human reason. I would have to understand how atheism can claim to be true while simultaneously eliminating any potential source of objective and universal truth, as well as how my randomly constructed, partially evolved mind is capable of reliable reason. How could I be logically convinced by an explanation that lacks a basis for trusting logic?

Those are my questions. Whether or not this list is conclusive, can be applied to theism generally, or is even true for all Christians I am unsure. I do, however, think an understanding of the burden of proof for both sides is necessary and perhaps in the future the discussion will turn to miracles, answered prayer, fulfilled prophesy and scientific manifestations in scripture.

By Nick Elledge

Martin Shaw on Exorcising Demons

Judge John Deed and George Gently actor Martin Shaw is set to return to BBC One next week in role “darker” than any his fans have seen before. In Apparitions Shaw plays Father Jacob, a Roman Catholic priest drawn against his will into the world of exorcism.

What kind of character is Father Jacob?
Jacob is a priest who is just trying to do his job, which is to promote people for sainthood. He is undeniably a good man. His bosses feel that he embraces exorcism but he is actually quite wary of it. He feels so strongly that we are all susceptible to the forces of Satan, that there are times when it is the only option.

What attracted you to the role?
Well I had the original idea to play an exorcist and I’ve felt for a long time that we need something very different on television. Nowadays it’s very difficult to find producers who are willing to take a chance on something that challenges the norm but Tony Wood at Lime Pictures was prepared to take that chance and we’ve managed to create something that I think viewers will like, but will also force them to think and engage in the programme rather than view it passively.

This is quite a different role to what viewers will know you for, do you enjoy challenging yourself with different characters?
I not only enjoy it but I think it’s absolutely vital. It’s very easy to forget that acting is actually an art form and you have to train for it. You do need to explore, it’s all too easy just to stay in the same place and stay in the comfort zone

Who do you think is the most intriguing character in Apparitions?
I think all of the characters in Apparitions are very complex and multi-dimensional. Michael (Rick Warden) is particularly intriguing because when we first meet him he is so fully possessed that he doesn’t actually know who he is any more.

His actions, his words – none of it is really him and there are times when he actually wants to be saved from himself. Liam is also an interesting character as initially many people probably wouldn’t consider him to be possessed. He represents the anti-religious views of many people and he is a good father, although he is possessed by demons I feel that the audience will empathise with him in a way that just isn’t possible with Michael.

How have you found filming?
I’ve been working with a great cast, crew, producer and director so you can’t really ask for better than that. We’ve all worked incredibly hard to ensure that we do justice to this fantastic script and create something that is believable.

Which scene did you find most difficult/interesting to film?
The exorcism scenes were possibly the most difficult, particularly as in one of them I was connected to a high wire! I had to be thrown across a room and hit a wall with quite a bit of force so we needed the special effects to make it look completely real. The second exorcism was also interesting as everyone involved in the scene was so submerged in the words and the actions that their reactions were almost instinctive – it almost felt like we were doing it for real!

Does religion and spirituality play a part in your personal life?
Religion doesn’t play a part in my life but spirituality does. I follow a spiritual path which is right at the centre of my life. I believe in God and I have a huge respect and love for all religions so from that respect it plays a part in my life but not the man-made, ceremonial and controversial aspects of religion.

By Staff

Crunch, Zen, Green, and the Buffet

'Life is suffering' is the first noble truth in Buddhism, but it’s a slightly misleading translation of the word 'dukkha' in Sanskrit, which might be better translated as 'stuck-ness'. Imagine a wheel stuck, with an axle that cannot rotate. That’s the state of mind the Buddha was referring to.

It won’t have escaped your attention that the world economy appears to be in a state of stuck-ness at the minute. As usual much of the media is doing their bit to intensify the gloom, and over the past few months, the markets and we have moved from a global economy in crisis to talks of desperation and recession. To a large extent, that is where we are all collectively stuck.

Step forward in the last week or so to Sir Phillip Green and Warren Buffet. Green, the greatest force in British high street fashion, announcing a 40% drop in profits, told people to cheer up." We need people to write the world isn’t closing down."

Warren Buffet is an entrepreneur and philanthropist with an approximate net worth of $60 billion. Although admitting he has no idea which way the markets will go, Buffet has a track record that suggests he has more of an idea than most of us on the planet. His recent comment: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful", was an interesting one, but he used history to back him up. The Dow hit its low of 41 in July 1932, the pit of the great depression. By March ’33 when FDR took office, it was up 30%.

So why are these two bucking the trend? They may both be billionaires, and perhaps not feeling a pinch let alone a crunch like the rest of us, but they speak with conviction and a track record that suggests they are worth listening to.

Zen Master Genpo Merzel illustrates states of mind in his book Big Mind, Big Heart: Finding Your Way by way of a triangle. These triangles can be created for almost any scenario, but the one here illustrates what I will call ‘The Crunch Mind’. There’s always a balance to be had - a light with the dark - and then a state that ‘goes beyond’ the two. On your left is the ‘human’ part of us, the part prone to fear. On your right, the ‘being’ part, the infinite. The apex of the triangle is always the perfect combination of the two; it includes each polarity and transcends them, goes beyond. It is the fully integrated ‘human’ and ‘being', free-flowing and ‘unstuck’.

So sit for a minute and experience the fear. To do this you simply become that voice within yourself. Say to yourself “I am fear” and see what comes up. Feel it, and take a few deep breaths. Next simply shift your body slightly, tell yourself “I am no fear” and sit with that. Notice how different that feels. Notice how big you feel, how big you become. And then without getting stuck there, shift your body again and say ‘I am the transcendent’. And feel what that is like.

That’s where we all need to go next, neither stuck in one state or the other, just free-flowing. That is where the wheel is no longer stuck, and we all become Zen masters of the markets.


From Here is the city

Do You Believe in Magic?

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a magic pill that could help boost sexual desire for those who struggle with its ebb and flow? I have written before about how never (or rarely) being in the mood for sex is one of the most common sexual problems that women of all ages can face at any point in their lives. Well, this may be hard to swallow, but there is no quick fix available for waning libido, even though pharmaceutical companies are hoping to eventually uncover a potential gold mine. Scientists all over the world are trying to discover that magic pill, so far without much success.

In my last column, I praised a new book, The Porn Trap, by Wendy and Larry Maltz, that can help some people get excessive porn use under control. This time, I will cover an equally valuable new book, The Return of Desire: A Guide to Reclaiming Your Sexual Passion, by Gina Ogden, Ph.D., whose previous books are The Heart and Soul of Sex and Women Who Love Sex.

Ogden writes: “…instead of viewing desire as a commodity, something that we’re in danger of losing or missing out on, I’d like us to agree up front that sexual desire is energy—a sustainable resource that’s available to all of us if we want it, even those of us who may not have it right now. Not just to lead us into steamier encounters, but to reconnect us with ourselves and our partners, and to discover new sources of pleasure and joy.”

The reader is encouraged to examine her own sexual responses from a broad perspective, one that includes not only physical aspects (such as how much she lubricates, whether she can reach orgasm, or enjoys genital touching and intercourse); but emotional (e.g. feeling passion, compassion, love, caring, empathy, safety, power, pleasure, intimacy, etc.); mental (e.g. decision making, memories, messages from childhood such as “Good girls don’t”); and spiritual ones as well.

You may wonder what spirituality has to do with sex. In the late 1990s, nearly 4,000 women ages 18 to 86 answered Ogden’s survey titled “Integrating Sexuality and Spirituality” (ISIS). Based on this survey, Ogden discovered that for many women (and men as well) sex sometimes includes a spiritual component that leads to sexual experiences that “radiate far beyond the bedroom to energize their whole lives.”

Don’t get me wrong. The book is in no way religious, and as far as Ogden is concerned, you are free to believe in any God (including the God of orgasms, I suppose), or none at all. She simply points out that sexual desire is complex, and that once a woman who struggles with low libido acknowledges the various aspects of it, she will be able to tap into a much larger part of herself when trying to rediscover her lost sexual passion than if she only focused on her physical responses.

Each person is different, of course. Ogden has the reader explore her own path to sexual desire, depending on what her life- and relationship-circumstances are. Each of us has the potential to gain clearer insight and greater understanding in what factors affect the libido. And sorry, there is just no quick fix for that. It takes time and effort to uncover. This book is a good resource to help you do just that.

Ogden also covers life events such as the time after giving birth, having your relationship threatened by an affair, wondering about your sexual orientation, and the after-effects of sexual abuse and trauma. All those events can cause people to lose their desire for sex, and mentally dealing with them is necessary in order to rediscover passion.

By Annette Owens

Workplace Spirituality

What do Southwest Airlines, Hewlett-Packard, The Men’s Wearhouse, AES, Wetherrill Associates and Tom’s of Maine have in common? They’re among a growing number of organizations that have embraced workplace spirituality.

Workplace spirituality is not about organized religious practices. It is not about God or theology. Workplace spirituality recognizes that people have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community. Organizations that promote a spiritual cultural recognize that people have both a mind and a spirit, seek to find meaning and purpose in their work, and desire to connect with other human beings and be part of a community.

Historical models of management and organizational behavior had no room for spirituality. The myth of rationality assumed that the well-run organization eliminated feelings. Similarly, concern about an employee’s inner life had no role in the perfectly rational model. But just as we’ve now come to realize that the study of emotions improve our understanding of organizational behavior, an awareness of spirituality can help you to better understand employee behavior in the twenty first century.

Of course, employees have always had an inner life. So why has the search for meaning and purposefulness in work surfaced now? There are a number of reasons.

The concept of workplace spirituality draws on our previous discussions of topics such as values, ethics, motivation, leadership, and work/life balance. As you’ll see, for instance, spiritual organizations are concerned with helping people develop and reach their full potential. Similarly organizations that are concerned with spirituality are more likely to directly address problems created by work/life conflicts.

What differentiates spiritual organizations from their non-spiritual counterparts? Although research on this question is only preliminary, our review identified five cultural characteristics that tend to be evident is spiritual organizations.

Strong Sense of Purpose:

Spiritual organizations build their cultures around a meaningful purpose. Although profits may be important, they are not the primary values of the organization. People want to be inspired by a purpose that they believe is important and worthwhile.

Focus on Individual Development: Spiritual organizations recognize the worth and value of people. They aren’t just providing jobs. They seek to create cultures in which employees can continually learn and grow.

Trust and Respect: Spiritual organizations are characterized by mutual trust, honesty and openness. Managers aren’t afraid to admit mistakes. The president of Wetherill Associates, a highly successful auto parts distribution firm, says: We don’t tell lies and everyone knows it. We are specific and honest about quality and suitability of the product for our customers’ needs even if we know they might not be able to detect any problem.

Humanistic Work Practices: These practices embraced by spiritual organizations include flexible work schedules group and organizations based rewards narrowing of pay and status differentials, guarantees of individual worker rights, employee empowerment and job security. Hewlett Packard, for instance, has handled temporary downturns through voluntary attrition and shortened work weeks (shared by all), and longer term declines through early retirement and buyouts.

Toleration of Employees Expression: The final characteristic that differentiates spirituality based organizations is that they don’t stifle employee emotions. They allow people to be themselves to express their moods and feelings without guilt or fear of reprimand Employees at Southwest Air, for instance are encouraged to express their sense of humor on the job, act spontaneously and to make their work fun.

Reason for the Growing Interest in Spirituality:

1. As a counter balance to the pressures and stress of a turbulent pace of life. Contemporary lifestyles single parent families, geographic mobility the temporary nature of jobs, new technologies that create distance between people underscore the lack of community many people feel and increase the need for involvement and connection.
2. Formalized religion has not worked for many people and they continue to look for anchors to replace lack of faith and to fill a growing feeling of emptiness.
3. Job demands have made the workplace dominant in many people’s lives yet another continues to question the meaning of work.
4. The desire to integrate personal life values with one’s professional life.
5. An increasing number of people are finding that the pursuit of more materials acquisitions leaves them unfulfilled.

City Man

Spirituality in the Suburbs - riffing on Al Hsu’s book

This entry is cut n pasted from a section of a paper that I’m writing on spiritual formation for my BGU Overture I class.

Spirituality in the Suburbs

Albert Hsu’s book The Suburban Christian contains the best-developed thinking that I have yet seen on suburbia as a mission field.

Contemporary culture tends to look down upon the suburban life. From my experience, this is particularly true among Christian leaders pursuing whole-life spirituality with concern for justice and the poor. It becomes difficult to believe that true mission can happen in the affluence and comfort of the suburbs.

The suburban world, far from an Edenic garden or American dream, often seems to be more of a fallen world… Living in such a material environment, we begin to suspect that suburbia may be detrimental to our spiritual lives. We feel spiritually impoverished in the midst of this land of plenty. Can we truly experience God in the suburbs? Is it possible to live authentic Christian lives as suburban Christians?

Hsu answers this challenge clearly.

While it is certainly true that different settings will lead to differences in how the Christian life is lives, we should not assume that faithful Christian living in the suburbs is by definition impossible. Rather, the challenge for suburban Christians is to discern how they might avoid the pitfalls of suburban life and be authentic Christians in this very setting.

The suburban setting is a significant place in our culture. By 2000, over half of America’s population lived in suburbs[3], and suburbs continue to grow. Further, contrary to popular opinion, the suburbs are not only home to the middle class. “We think of the suburbs as middle-class, but 46 percent of all people living under the poverty line reside in the suburbs.”

My own experience confirms this. Although my home is in an upper middle class neighborhood in North Bend, our community lived in trailer homes, older single-family homes, and in at least one person’s case, a variety of short term housing as a result of chemical addiction. Our cities include the poor, but they are not as easily seen as those panhandling in the urban center. Herein lies one of the challenges of suburban ministry: finding, befriending and being with the poor in an environment where minimal social services exist for the church to partner with existing agencies already doing the work of God among the poor and outcast.

Suburban life, because it has become central to American life, is an important location.

Suburbia has become the context and center of millions of people’s lives, and decisions and innovations made in suburbia influence the rest of society. If Christians want to change the world, they may well do so by having a transformative Christian impact on suburbia and the people therein.

Exactly how Christians can have that transformative impact is a serious question. Finding answers to it require that we understand suburbia itself.

My neighborhood is a community of 2000-3000 square foot sized single-family homes on small lots, fairly close together. New construction in Snoqualmie Valley continues this trend, with newer homes being smaller, lots much smaller and much closer to each other. Community spaces are outdoors in the form of parks and exercise trails, but few indoor gathering spaces are created – my neighborhood of several hundred homes does not have one.

Our homes are identifiable by small or nonexistent front porches, large garages and parking spots for our commuter cars, and homogeneity in home colors which is strictly enforced by neighborhood covenant and by architectural review committee who has final approval on a homeowner’s color choices when repainting.

In the summer months, our neighbors are easy to find – those with children, especially – in front yards on our cul-de-sac, and on the bicycle paths around the neighborhood. Friendships are grown, people are invited to others’ homes for dinner, and the details of life are shared.

In the fall, winter and spring months, which tend to be wet and cool in the Seattle area, kids play inside their own homes or the home of a friend, and adults much less seldom interact.

Until the past year, our neighborhood had a fairly fluid population. Most people on our street had lived there less than five years; often a family would move in for two or three years and move elsewhere with a change in work. In the past year, the downturn in the housing market has fixed our neighborhood’s residents for the first time in the ten years my family has lived there.

In this city it is easy to find consumerism hard at work. Name brand goods, comfortable to luxury cars, and ongoing home improvements are frequently spotted and the pursuit of them requires much time.

To counteract suburban consumerism, I offer three main alternatives. We need to reclaim the Christian spiritual practices of creativity, simplicity and generosity.

Hsu correctly argues that the opposite of consumption is production. Creative production, whether of art or homemade birthday cards or of gardens, can be a spiritual activity which subverts the tendency to consumerism. Generosity provides a path for us to release material possessions for others’ good instead of collecting more for ourselves. Simplicity gives us the opportunity to be released from the hold that our possessions have on us. Together, these spiritual practices remind us that we are not to be influenced by consumerism.

Hospitality and community are welcome practices among those who seek the good of others, and so they should be in suburbia also. Hospitality is the basic act of caring for others who are unlike us, so that they feel welcome. It can be practiced between neighbors intentionally in order to build relationship and community.

God needs suburban Christians who are willing to take a sharp look at their environment, recognize the challenges of the suburban setting, and then stay here to do something about it.

Christians in the suburbs can have amazing impact not only on the suburbs but upon the world that the suburbs touch, simply by intentionally living as faithful disciples in their culture.

From Patloughery

10 Simple Soul Exercises

Our spiritual life is like singing. Most of us can sing, but few of us do it in public. Even fewer can do it in public without embarrassment! Try these simple, soulful, spiritual workouts to help develop your religious voice so that you can--to use the words of the Psalms - "sing a new song to God."

Therefore I Am

French philosopher Rene Descartes wrote, "I think, therefore I am." But what if thinking isn't the reason for your existence?

What word or phrase might you substitute for "I think"?

Here are a few ideas:

• I complain, therefore I am.
• I have stuff, therefore I am.
• I improve on things, therefore I am.
• My parents procreated, therefore I am.
• I create, therefore I am.
• God loves me, therefore I am.

Every version gives a very different perspective on life. Meditate on what you would put in the blank and see what you discover.

Spend Time 'Not Doing'

Parkinson's Law (named after 20th-century British historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson) states, "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." That's just the way it is.

Paradoxically for adults, it takes work and planning in order to successfully rest. Can you spend five minutes today not doing? How about 10 minutes? Or a half hour?

Take a 'Universe Job Survey'

I saw the following quote: "Many people want to serve God, but only as advisors." If we aren't here to advise God, what is our job?

Here's a way to think about answering that question: Imagine for a moment that the universe was your employer. Based on the way you actually live your life--not on how you wish you did - how would you answer the following questions on The Universe's Job Survey:

• What is your job title?
• What department do you work in?
• How high-ranking are you in your department?
• Do you have a job description?
• Does your job have fixed hours or benefits?

Create Your Own Holy Day

Rather than commemorate a truly significant religious or secular event, many of our culture's holidays are invented and exist primarily for commercial purposes. If you could invent a holiday what would it be?

• Bob, my brother-in-law, advocates "Creativity Day."
• Larry, my friend the retired minister and sociology professor, likes the idea of an "International Day of Contrition."
• I would have everyone celebrate "Faith Day."

What "holy day" do you think should be observed?

Give Yourself Advice

If you could go back in time to when you were half your current age, what advice would you want to give yourself?

Might you tell yourself:

• to have more faith?
• to love more freely?
• to be less anxious?

And, if you were to take that advice today, how might that change your current outlook?

Try New Words

For the rest of the day, see if you can substitute the verb "get" for "have." For example, if you were going to say, "I have to check my email," say instead, "I get to check my email." It's amazing how the little change of one word can affect our attitude.

Read an Email from God

Imagine you open your inbox and find an email with the subject line: An email from God. What do you imagine the message would contain?

• Praise?
• Condemnation?
• An answer to a question that you've been asking?
• Advice?
• A forwarded joke?

What about your response? What would you write back? How would you sign it?

Surprise Yourself

Imagine that at half the age you currently are, you fell asleep. And imagine that you slept right through (like Washington Irving's story of Rip Van Winkle) until today. What five things about your own life and the world would be most surprising to you?

Would you be surprised by where you live? Would you be surprised by your wealth? Would you be surprised by your state of mind? Would you be surprised by technology? Would you be surprised by world politics?

Change It Up

If the only constant is change--as paradoxical as that might seem--it would behoove us all to learn how to deal gracefully with it.

For the rest of the day, change your cell phone ringtone or put your watch on the opposite wrist. (Really, do this.)

Now, each time your phone rings or you look at an empty patch of skin instead of finding out the time, notice how you react. Your reaction to this change is going to inform you about your natural, pre-wired response to change.

Change is just change. It isn't inherently good or bad. It's just different.

See if over the course of the day you can learn from yourself and accept both change as well as your reactions to it.

Have a Talk with God

If you were in a couples' counseling with God, what complaints, grievances, grudges, etc., would you have about your recent relationship with God? In other words, what is it that you have not said to God that you know deep in your heart you want to say about your relationship as of late?

It might be something that you haven't felt particularly safe saying or just something you haven't had the opportunity to say. Or it might just be something you've said before that bears repeating.

See if you can come up with at least seven sentences. (There is no one who can't do this--those claiming to have no relationship with God can use that as a wonderful starting point.)

By Rabbi Brian

I read THE SECRET a year ago and my life has steadily improved since then.

Just stopping in to say hello. I found Good Karma last year shortly after I finished reading The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, but there wasn't much action here back then, and way leads onto way...

I want to share my remedy: If life is knocking you about, try reading The Secret or watching the movie.

I can attest to the radical difference in a person's life that can follow applying the wisdom found within the book and movie. I'm almost ashamed to talk about how much better my life was after a year's time.

My heart goes out to everyone who is living in despair. I remember when every day was an effort that felt futile. I knew life was out to get me, and it was too late to expect any more than I currently had in the world. I could understand that my situation was the result of decisions I made, opportunities I didn't pursue perhaps, but I did not see how I could turn everything around.

A year ago I was on dial-up. I still worked retail. We hadn't had cable television in our home in nearly three years. I was driving on a license that had been revoked back in 2002. I was crushed under the weigh of debts I thought I would never be able to face. And then everything hit the fan again March 2007. Just my 19th nervous breakdown I suppose. I didn't have enough to pay the rent on time, we ran out of heating oil, and the car needed to go to the shop. It was impossible to trace my problems back to a specific date or event by then. Life had been horrible for ten years, and I felt unequal to the task of working so hard to get nowhere, and completely uninterested in facing up to any more drama.

My son had seen the The Secret at school, and he assured me I just had to see the movie to understand how to make it all better. He was confident all I needed was to see the movie, I finally promised I would if he would just stop talking about it. Once the rent was paid and other crises were averted/funded and there was some money for a frivolous pursuit I went to the bookstore. I bought the book instead of the movie because I am more a reader than a watcher. I read The Secret overnight, and I have never again been as stressed out about life. Every time I feel myself begin to get heated I apply the recommended techniques and things go my way, or at least go better than they would have.

Changes in the first year include: Verizon installed internet in June, and Comcast upgraded us to high speed and cable in December. I started my fantastic job in July, took care of my license in October. And just last week I settled an old debt in court. For me, these are huge victories. Though I guess that last one is more than a year from when I read the book. But it's part of the whole trend of my being able to pay my way and settle old claims.

Unexpected checks in the mail, I remember how I scoffed at that. But I downloaded a short Secret video about money from the website and I watched it all the time and imagined myself bathed in wealth. In July I landed a job with a company I had been trying three years to get into. And this job turned out to be a work from home situation. It's a real job, 40 hrs/wk, with benefits. But I do all my work on a computer in my bedroom. I accepted the job thinking I would earn about 25% more than I had at my old job. After my first complete month on the job (August) I received notice that I would be receiving a bonus check that was nearly equal to a week's pay. The following month I earned a bonus closer to two week's pay. I had been promised bonuses, but I'd had no idea they would be so lucrative. This was like unexpected checks in the mail for me. Definitely unexpected compensation for the job I accepted.

And then, the last week of February this year, my boss offered me a promotion. And in a year's time I was making twice as much money as I was when I read The Secret.

I believe in the Secret and the application of its principles. I think positively. I choose to believe that everything in the universe is working for my benefit. I write down my goals and dreams and I review them to keep them fresh in my mind. I express and experience gratitude as often as I think of it, and try to appreciate more and more each day.

I believe that when I went through life thinking that everything was against me, everything WAS against me. And once I started thinking everything happened to my benefit, even when it did not appear to be so, suddenly everything started going better than I had known how to expect.

But I must admit I'm surprised I reap all these benefits because I don't practice the Secret as often as I could. Too many of my to do lists go undone. I don't remember to visualize every day. I average 5 journal entries a month. And yet somehow it's still enough to work to my benefit and I am now making investments and paying off old debts. And finance is only one area of my life that has improved.

It's almost insane how much better my life gets every month. I'm working on launching an online business. I go to Toastmasters meetings and take night courses to invest in my education. And it doesn't feel as hard as I thought it might. I have energy and inspiration to do more than I did when I worked so hard and expected so little in return. Now my efforts reward my expectations.

Oh well, it's hard to know when sharing one's joy becomes boastful and arrogant. If you read this far and you really want to know what could make your life better, and you haven't already read or seen The Secret, please try it. For your sake.

By maragold

…who be loved!

A long time ago, a girl named Li-Li got married and went to live with her husband and mother-in-law.In a very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn’t get along with her mother-in-law at all.
Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her mother-in-law’s habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.

Days passed days, and weeks passed weeks. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese
tradition, Li-Li had to bow to her mother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing the poor husband great distress. Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law’s bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it.

Li-Li went to see her father’s good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all.
Mr. Huang thought for awhile, and finally said, Li-Li, I will help you solve your problem, but you
must listen to me and obey what I tell you. Li-Li said, “Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do.”

Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs. He told Li-Li, “You can’t use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious. Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day prepare some pork or chicken and put a little of these herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspects you when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. Don’t argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen.” Li-Li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her
mother-in-law.

Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother. After six months had passed, the whole household had changed. Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn’t had an argument in six months with her mother-in-law, who now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with. The mother-in-law’s attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and daughter. Li-Li’s husband was very happy to see what was happening.

One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again. She said, “Dear Mr. Huang,
please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law! She’s changed into such a nice
woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave
her.” Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. “Li-Li, there’s nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her.”

MORAL: Friends, have you ever realized that how you treat others is exactly how they will treat you? THE GOLDEN RULE: The person who loves others will also be loved

From: A Friend for You

Doctor calls spirituality key to dying patient's quality of life

Medicine shrinks from caring for the spiritual needs of dying patients, even though spirituality is what most people yearn for most at the end of life, Franciscan Brother Daniel Sulmasy, a physician and philosopher, told an audience at the University of San Francisco April 28.

Doctors tend to ignore spiritual care or back away from it out of fear of inadequacy or invading patients' privacy, Brother Sulmasy said. Often they think they are helping, but underserve patients by turning spiritual questions into technical problems, he said.

For dying patients, the impulse is the reverse, he said: The terminal patient whose spiritual life is outstanding despite great physical distress reports having an outstanding quality of life.

The split is so large that a new model for medical education may be needed, he said. The model would integrate biological, social and spiritual issues in training doctors.

Doctors should be mindful that patients' spiritual questions are fundamental -- deeper than the biological, moral and ethical issues that concern clinicians and hospital ethics advisory boards, said Brother Sulmasy, who holds the Sisters of Charity chair in ethics at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York.

"Spirituality is incredibly important in the care of patients and it's shocking how we do wind up ignoring so much of it," he said.

Brother Sulmasy opened his talk with the case of a 54-year-old man, Mr. "W." Dying of cancer, the patient was Christian and believed in the possibility of miracles, but also accepted that God might not grant one in his case. In reviewing the transcripts of interviews with the patient's caregivers, Brother Sulmasy found that despite the patient's outspoken spirituality his spiritual care fell short.

Mr. W's belief in miracles caused some confusion for the medical team. As a result he was transferred to a nursing home rather than to hospice care, where he would have received better treatment for his pain.

"It was stunning the way this man was treated," Brother Sulmasy said. "There's nothing that says the patient who believes in miracles is ineligible for hospice, but somehow the hospice care team felt that belief was an issue."

A chaplain, though, had correctly diagnosed the underlying problem. As Brother Sulmasy paraphrased the chaplain: "When I look at a patient I look at the primary, core spiritual need. Is it a request for meaning to try to determine what their life meant? Or are they looking for validation of their life? Or trying to reconcile broken relationships?"

Meaning, value and relationship are the ingredients of spiritual health and become urgent in the last months of life as patients strive for dignity and hope despite losing their productivity and appearance, Brother Sulmasy said.

"People who were able to find meaning in their illness, meaning in their dying, are people who understand what it is to hope in a deep way," he said.

He stressed how important it is for dying patients to reconcile relationships with family, friends and God. "The brokenness of their bodies reminds patients in a deep way about the brokenness of their relationships," he said. "They're looking perhaps to express their own forgiveness of someone who had hurt them or to try to be reconciled to those they had hurt, to try to bring families and friends together in ways that arise as they're dying in a very salient way."

Brother Sulmasy displayed a detail from a Giotto painting of the dying St. Francis of Assisi. The detail shows a monk kissing the saint's stigmatic wounds. It is part of a scene in which St. Francis is dying at home surrounded by his friends and watched over by God. The scene embodies the three ingredients of spiritual health for the dying person -- meaning, value and relationship.

"You see a picture of somebody who is surrounded by people who love him, who are supremely present to him, who care about him ... as a whole person," he said. "They are praying with him, engaged with him as a whole person in this experience.

"I think this is death with dignity," Brother Sulmasy said. "If it was possible in the 14th century, why isn't it possible for us in the 21st?"

By Rick DelVecchio

Laugh, but if you cannot, watch how do laugh other people!!!

Are you depressed?
Just smile and your bad mood will leave you without a trace!!!



Do not feel shy to laugh and you will be surprised at how your life and health change. Good and kind laughter is useful and healthy not because it elevates your spirits.



People who like to laugh – less feel sick, less become annoyed and do not know what it means this thing depression.



Laughter calms your nerves

During laughter your organism releases endorphins (they occur naturally in your brain) – “hormones of happiness”, exactly they help you to get rid of irritation and sadness.



Even if you recall the minutes you were laughing – your mood would get better at once.



Laughter conquers your stress

British scientists investigated the influence of laughter on people’s health. Two groups of people, volunteers, took part in this experiment. During one hour one group was watching comic videos, the second group was asked just sitting in silence. After this experimentation all participants did blood tests. This research revealed that people were watching funny records, had a low level of “stress” hormones like cortisol, dopamine and adrenalin than the second group.



The fact is that when we laugh- all our body and all organs experience more physical work. When we stop laughing our body relaxes, rests and slows down.

Conclusion

Thus means, that laughter helps to get out of physical and emotional tension. Scientists insist on one minute of laughing, as one minute of frank laughter is equal to 45 minutes of deep relaxation.