Archive for category: Blog

Human beings tend to be acquisitive. They gather and collect. Part of this has to be based in our evolutionary past. Most animals survive by the gathering and hoarding of necessary staple supplies. I guess there is little difference between a squirrel burying nuts, a spider trapping a live wasp in its nest and the human being pushing a shopping trolley from the supermarket to increase the stores in their larder.

We do the same with money. While we only need to spend on our needs of the moment yet we store and hoard money in the belief that it will keep us safe at some future date. We say things like…

…save you money for a rainy day!

Probably better to save your money for a sunny day and enjoy it, but I get the idea. It is true that we never know what will happen in the future or around the corner and so we attempt to overcome the worst that can beset us with insurance and pensions, mortgages and credit.

A while ago I viewed a news broadcast about a couple living in the US who at the age of 74 were pulling pumps in a gas station because the company providing their pension had just gone bankrupt. I read reports about the traders jumping out of windows to their deaths having just heard they had lost all their money in the Wall Street Crash. Or the story of the man in Germany just before the Second World War, when inflation had become so great that when he was taken a wheel barrow full of money to the bank he was mugged. The mugger tipped the money out and stole the wheel barrow because it was worth so much more than the money. It would appear that however much money you have, even if you think you have enough it can become worthless just like that.

So people said…

…”put your money in bricks and mortar”

That is great advice as long as property prices either stay the same or, as we all expect, increase. At the end of the 1980’s property prices crashed. Many properties halved in value and people ended up with negative equity. This is when you suddenly owe more money than the property is worth. I lived on the Isle of Wight at the time. A person I knew sold a £200,000 house for £95,000 and another who held a £90,000 mortgage on a property now valued at £45,000.

I could go on in this vein but it seems that when we invest our time and energy into collecting physical things or money we are vulnerable to the fluctuations in social changes, politics and economics and in that case perhaps enough is never enough. For many the more insecure they feel the more they need. That could be money, houses, people, position, status and so on. When is enough enough? When are we able to be thankful and grateful for what we have right now?

I have known many monks whose possessions amounted to a change of clothes a food bowl and a bed roll perhaps a few books and bits and pieces. These people with the least possessions were amongst the happiest I have ever known.

I have had three big houses that were all seen as grand. They all taught me the same lesson. You can only use one bedroom at a time, one lounge at a time, one bathroom at a time and the big grounds or gardens just created more upkeep. In the end I worked to earn money to maintain these houses. I was working for them they were not working for me.

Trying to make up for our emotional deficits

In most cases, most of the time, people seek to accumulate stuff or people to make up for their own deficits. The need to have thousands of ‘friends’ on Facebook, even people that you will never know, suggests a need to be recognised, to be special or seen in a special way. The sound behind the music, the motivation behind this action, would suggest someone who feels very small and needs external feedback to make them feel good. I see people investing so much time and effort into creating or getting more or whatever to make up for their own fears, anxieties and deficits. The worst one is power!

In many organisations I see managers who are actually not very good at their jobs who use their position to gain power. They believe that the more power they can get, can provide the status that they need, because they actually feel that they are not really worth it or up to the job. A loud, draconian or bullying voice often makes up for a bad or even useless manager. The same happens in politics. The best examples on the current stage are Trump and Blair who are good at making a lot of noise but lack the substance. It is like the shop with the amazing shop window that looks so enticing until you enter the shop to find that the stockroom is empty. A lot of show but no back up.

Living the simple uncluttered life

When we live with confidence and inner security we do not need shows of power, material shows of wealth, we do not need more and more money. Simple life’s are stressless. There is nothing to keep up, nothing to maintain. No weight to loose, no boobs to be enhanced, no lips to be filled, no faces to be lifted.

Enough is enough when we are happy with who we are and what we have

When we look at the other side of this as perhaps ‘when is not enough, not enough?’, and consider all those who do not have enough of anything. Those that are starving, living through disasters and wars. Those that are facing famine and drought, disease and poverty. I suspect that is often the case in a global environment that the only reason that we can have more than enough is because other people in the world are living with not enough.

The crazy thing is that there is enough for all if we would only just learn to share.

If we all look after each other then we will all be ok

I keep saying this but it is the simply truth.

One reality that we need to be mindful of is that the poorest people in our society that are on benefits are still in the top ten percent of the richest people on the planet.

The bottom line for me is that as long as we do not share our land, money, energy, love and compassion there will be many others who will suffer as a result or our insecure need to have and hold and not share.

Enough is to be warm, secure and to go to bed with a full belly.

I am reminded of Rehman who came on the show a few episodes ago telling us about his experience of Islam. One of the principles that he explained to us was ‘to go to bed with a full belly while knowing that the people next door were starving is wrong’. I get that entirely. Until we learn to care and share the world will be full of haves and have nots.

I am warm, sheltered, I have enough food and enough love, I have enough. In fact I have more than enough and that allows for charitable giving.

Be happy and enjoy what you have – enough is enough.

Take care

Sean x

Music is something that effects us all probably everyday. Often we see music as a creation of man. Actually, music is as normal and natural as colour and all other energy systems. But let us start at the beginning..

“In the beginning was the word…”

The Gospel according to John starts with the words above. When we trace back the meaning of the word ‘word’ through the Aramaic and Greek languages back to the father of all languages, Sanskrit, we find that the root meaning is ‘the given vibration’. In classical Sanskrit the given vibration is the Om Sum or Nard symbolised by this letter. When people use Om or Aum, which you might also hear as Amen in Christianity or Amin in Islam, as a mantra in meditation they are sounding the given vibration described by John.

The letter Om is a pictogram.

The two features at the top are the sun and the moon, these depict consciousness and unconsciousness or Purusha and Prakritti. In other systems this might be described as Yin and Yang, Sun and Moon, positive and negative and so on. It is said that when consciousness or spirit and unconsciousness or matter brush together they create the phenomenal world of experience, of cause and effect. The three prongs on the left of the Om show the basic triad that is common to all energy systems.

Colour – Primary colours Red, Yellow, Blue
Music – Major chord Tonic, Third, Fifth
Electricity – Ohms, Volts, Watts
Ayurveda – Vatta, Pitta, Kalph
Samkhya – Satvia, Rajsia, Tamsia
Christianity- Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Psychology – Thinking, Feeling, Doing
Or – Cognition, Affection, Behaviour…

… and so on, you will find these triads in all systems.

If we start with the idea that all of creation began with the vibration of sound we have the basis of music as we understand it. The entire universe is a vibrating symphony of life that starts with the Big Bang and ends only when the universe ceases to exist.

The harmonic series

“A harmonic series is the sequence of sounds where base frequency of each sound is an integral multiple of the lowest base frequency. Pitched musical instruments are often based on an approximate harmonic oscillator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous frequencies simultaneously.” (Wikipedia)

What that actually means is that if you have a string stretched between two nodal points, say on a guitar or a cello, and you pluck it, then it will, all at the same time vibrate its whole length, half its length, a third, a quarter and so on right down to the smallest microtones. When you unpick these different micro notes and lay them out in a sequence that forms the scale that we know as…

Do Re Me Fa So La Ti Do

When we split sound in this way we create this seven fold structure. In the same way that we can also see this seven fold structure in light. When we pass white light through a prism it splits into the colour spectrum red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. The harmonic series can be seen in all systems from electricity to structural engineering.

Music in your body

In the body this seven fold system is seen in the endocrine system of gonads, adrenals, pancreas, thymus, thyroid, pituitary and pineal glands. In the Eastern system each of these organs is related to a nervous plexus which as a part of the energy system described as Chi, Ki or Prana known as the chakra system.

Chakra – Colour – Endocrine – Location – Music
Muladhara – Red – Gonads – Perineum – Do
Svadisthana – Orange – Adrenal – Sacrum – Re
Manipura – Yellow – Pancreas – Solar plexus – Me
Anhatta – Green – Thymus – Sternum – Fa
Vishuddi – Blue – Thyroid – Throat – So
Ajna – Indigo – Pituitary – Forehead – La
Saharam – Violet – Pineal – Crown – Ti

The nerves control and connect the chakras to the body system. In the energy system connecting the chakras the connection system is called meridians in the Chinese system and Nardis in the Ayurvedic system.

Ok, so if all this is making some sense then you will begin to see that that because the systems are the same music can have a direct effect on the body through resonating. You have probably seen clips where an opera singer can sing a note that will make a make the crystals in a chandelier ring in sympathy. This is what happens when we play or listen to music it has a direct effect on our body system, our brain and our emotions.

Music can energise your body system and make you want to move or dance. It can raise your blood pressure and increase your heart rate. However it can also reduce your blood pressure and decrease your heart rate. Music therapy can effect your body in healing ways, it can aid concentration and help with the recovery from disease, it can really ease anger, regales anxiety and overcome depression.

Music is so fundamental to the whole of creation that it actually is creation. In his book “The Symphony of Life” Donald Hatch Andrew explains the connections of differing energy systems and how they effect us all.

Next time you listen to music tune into your body and get to know which part of your body mind system that it is affecting.

Take care and be happy

Sean x

Shame just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it is one of those things that is driven by the way that we see our selves and the way that we see the world. When a terrorist bomber is brought to court for killing many people, we might expect that they would feel a sense of Shame for the pain and destruction that they have caused. Yet they may be feeling the joy and jubilation of a planned project well executed or that they have just struck a righteous blow for their religion or political beliefs.

Shame comes in many forms. Some will be generated internally while others will be imposed on us from the outside, maybe by the media, teachers, parents, religious leaders and so on. The world may seek to shame us for what we are, who we are or for what we have done. To be truly shamed we have to feel it.

We cannot be shamed without our consent

Donald Trump is the latest public figure to say and do things that many people feel and have expressed, that he should be ashamed about. At some level within himself, Donald may be feel that the things that he is expressing, his beliefs, are valid and justified and so do the many millions who voted him in. The other millions who did not vote for him may feel that he should be ashamed of what is saying and doing but which side is right?

The answers is that the both are right, but from their own point of view. Equally, they are also both wrong from the other point of view.

Shame in therapy
In therapy the shame that people are feeling may have other words attached to it such as guilt or regret. In this sense we might consider several forms of shame that we might be feeling.

Shame of what I did do happens when I can see the error of my ways. It might be that things that I have done, which I am now ashamed about, were intentional and now looking at the consequences I wish I had never done them. Maybe I can no longer look other people in the eye and feel embarrassed shame.

The shame of what I didn’t do happens when I realise that I should have done something that might have helped or saved a situation or another person. These feeling of having failed or let others down may be internalised or they maybe the subject of public concern. I have worked in many situations where a person has been sacked or prosecuted for failing to carry out acts under health and safety situations that led to harm, potential or actual, of others, even to the point of death.

There is a song that I always think about as an expression of the shame felt by a man concerning what he didn’t do

You were always on my mind

This is an expression of shame as regret.

The shame of what I think or feel is something that can haunt people. Perhaps we find ourselves wishing others harm and despite our beliefs we keep finding ourself dwelling on perhaps horrible images or intentions. In Buddhism the thought, because it is the precursor of the action, is seen as the same as the action.

The thought is the same as the deed

The concept that living Dharmically, or rightly, leads to positive Karma, or outcomes, is in Buddhism taken to the level of thought.

Issues of depression or anxiety can often be the result of ruminating on the past or the future and not living rightly in the present. Those people who believe in, and live by the philosophy of Dharma and Karma, often see it as being about physical acts and physical consequences. Actually there are karmic consequences at every level of our being that have a direct effect on who we are and how we feel.

Overcoming shame
The ability to overcome shame involves firstly the awareness to see what is really going on. Is the shame that we are feeling to do with what other people are imposing upon us or is it generated from within us. These are the concerns dealt with in step one and two of the live in the present course and philosophy.

When we live in a Mindful present, when we are truly in the moment, the effects of unresolved past do not affect us. It may be that we need to let go of past attachments to the actions of our selves or others so that we stop reliving what was or what did happen.

Forgiveness involves removing our attachment to what other people did to us. Forgiveness is a difficult concept for many people to enact because they see it as justifying the actions of others as though we are saying that what they did was ok. If you are the subject of abuse you may well feel shame for what you did, what you were made to do. Or even the fact that you felt the need to keep it all secret, often because of the ‘shame’ of other people knowing and for fear of what they might think. When you are feeling this type of shame sanity comes from forgiving those that have done us wrong. Or, if forgiveness is too much to consider, think of it as simply letting go of the negativity that you are feeling and holding, give the emotions back to the perpetrator.

Rumination of failure involves projecting into the future and feeling the results of failures that may never happen, right now in the present. Perhaps we are required to make a presentation or take an exam and we have already decided that we will be useless and fail at the task. In this case we have written a script that ensures our failure so that we can feel shameful of who we are and what we are unable to do in the future right now in the moment. When we do this we often become stuck because ‘what is the point of even trying’.

The shame of addiction is when people internally, or externally, or both, don’t want to be doing whatever it is that they may be doing so they try to hide their addiction from others to avoid their own feelings of shame. This maybe substance addiction, gambling addiction, porn addiction, perversion and so on. The shame is in the fear of being found out and the consequences of being found out so it all becomes a guilty secret driven by shame.

If you have done things that you now wish that you had or had not done then face it. Do what you can to repair the damage, apologise and if necessary seek forgiveness and then let go and get on with your life having learnt and grown from the experience.

If things that been done to you have left you with shame, forgive the perpetrator, let go of any negative attachments that are holding you back. Learn the lessons that life has taught you and move on.

Shame and self esteem
If your shame saps your self esteem and makes you feel unworthy in any way then get some therapy and go through that emotional audit that allows you to re-evaluate who you are, give your self new values and esteem, love yourself and be happy.

Take care and live in the present

Sean x

This week we had Rehman Khan on the show. I met Rehman at an away day with one of the American companies that I cover here in the UK. On the away day I was giving an introduction to Mindful Mediation. For the practice session I used a breath focus technique during which Rehman fell asleep. It was quite a shock to him that he could be that relaxed. In our subsequent conversations we discussed how he might include this feeling of calm relaxed, focus into his daily prayers, something that he has managed to do and, reports, has enhanced his prayer. Following this I suggested that he might like to come onto the show to give his view of God, spirit, religion and his take on Islam. This is certainly worth a listen and holds the record as the longest podcast that we have done.

The thing that struck me during and after the podcast was not the differences between beliefs but the similarities. And how the flow of philosophical belief is like an evolutionary tree. It came to me when Rehman was talking about the prophets that are referred to in Quran. My own philosophical base originates from the Ayurvedic discipline that would be identified with the teaching of Krishna, but has then been modified by philosophy, psychology, quantum physics and mindful psychology. That got me thinking about those minds that have effected the way that we think and the things that we believe. So, with a bit of Google and some books I created a timeline of philosophers and prophets. It strikes me how one follows another and though it may be at odds with it’s predecessor it often would not exist had it not been for the predecessor. Judaism leads to Christianity as much as Christianity leads to Islam.

The thing about those people that shape what we think and what we believe is that they have taken the time to think, meditate and consider the nature of things. Conclusions about ethics, morals and the rightness of behaviour are in the realms of philosophy and are always open to interpretation, evolving just as human consciousness evolves.

It is said that the first prophet was Adam, of the garden of Eden, who is said to have lived between 100 and 200,000 BC. Whether or not such a person existed is open to speculation. But I guess there needs to be a starting point. Both the Bible and the Quran acknowledge Idris or Enoch 99,620 BC who is said to be the embodiment of patience.

My own philosophies begin with the people of the Indus 4,000 BC and the start of Ayur Vedic Science. The avatar or prophet Krishna 3,227 BC featured in the books the Mahabarata and the Ramayana and the acclaimed Bhagavad Gita that set out the laws of Karma, the result of action, Dharma the science of correct action. In the Ayurvedic and Yogic Cannon is the seven fold chakra system, not dissimilar to the ark of the covenant, or rainbow, found in the story of the flood with Nuh or Noah 2,800 BC.

The same stories are repeated throughout religion and philosophy telling the stories of spirituality, charity, love, forgiveness through Ayurveda, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Spiritualism, Philosophy, Psychotherapy and modern Mindful Psychology. Even the modern versions of Christianity, the Christian Scientists, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Baptists and Seventh Day Adventists are all saying similar things.

The more I talk to people of different faiths, beliefs and philosophies the more I realise how alike we all are. The problems begin when we distinguish our group as different from others and create “us” and “them”. It is then that we believe that “we” are better than “them” and can justify going to war against “them” and killing them, whoever they are.

The more we communicate and the more we listen to others the more we realise that we all aspire to the same things. We all want to be warm, fed and able to raise our families in safety.

In the end the only religion and philosophy relevant to us all is …

,,,if we all look after each other then we will all be ok.

Then we can all live safely and happily together.

Whatever your faith and belief and however you see your God, or not a God, be happy and look after each other.

Take care

Sean x

Ed and I had been reading the Happy Newspaper and we came across the article on “The 12 days of kindness”. I love this play on ideas of the twelve days of Christmas. In the Christian Cannon the twelve days started with the feast of Stephen on December 27th. If you remember…

…“Good Kind Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen“.

The. Twelve days went to January 6th, the day when the three wise men turned up in Bethlehem to visit Jesus bearing their gifts. So we went through these twelve days and maybe we all should. Perhaps even extend it to 365 day of kindness.

The song or hymn “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was designed to teach the Christian faith to younger people. The interpretation of the exact meaning of each day, the numbers and the gifts vary but in general were used as a mnemonics to aid both memory and learning. So, “on the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me”, it assumes to be True love = God, the Me = you the receiver of the gifts and the gifts are the message of Christianity in symbolic form.

Well, if the Christmas is about living a positive giving and happy life and the message of renewal and new beginnings, perhaps we could each create our own message, of twelve days or twelve steps. It would seem probable that the original pre-Christian festival was the solstice on December 21st which is the longest night and the shortest day of the year, after that the world gets brighter or the day gets longer. Whatever your belief structure or basis my suggestion for twelve days of Mindfulness would be to use the following as topics to meditate, and to then act on. As when doing the ten steps course some things you cannot act upon but you can clear the negativity out of yourself and allow the light into your darkness.

Some of these meditations may lead to action and you may need to keep a pen and paper by you so that you can list any actions that you might need to take. You might simply want to record what you are feeling after each meditation. Ideally each meditation would last for thirty minutes or more.

1: Forgiveness
Using this day to meditate on forgiving all those that have done you wrong. A time to let go of everyone and everything that you are holding any negative energy about. in your meditation allow the people or events to come before you and actively and consciously let them go.

2: Self forgiveness
Using this day to meditate on being honest with yourself about anything or anyone that you have wronged and might need to apologise to. As with day one bring those people or events before you and actively and consciously apologise and let them go.

3: Gratitude
Use today’s meditation to review all the positive things, events and people who have influenced your life and bring them before you. Actively thank them for what they have done or who they are and openly feel the positive emotions of gratitude and thankfulness.

3: Live in the present
In today’s meditation review your life as it is right now, all the people, all the situations that make up your life as it is right now. As you observe your life pay attention to how it feels. Do you need to change it? If yes, then what do you need to do? This might be a time to make a list.

4: Who are you?
Today in your meditation take a look at how you see yourself? What is your level of self esteem? Do you love yourself? It is important to remember that they way that you see yourself is a learned habit and if you don’t like the way that you see yourself then you have the ability to change and create a new you that would serve you well.

5: Creating change
In today’s meditation consider that if you were to create the ‘you’ that you would like to be what would you need to change? This might mean job, location, attitudes, relationships. What would you change and how would you change it?

6: Creating an intention
Today meditate on if you make the changes that you considered yesterday where is your life going? What do you intend to do with this gift of life? If you were at a birthday ten or twenty years hence and someone is giving speech about what it is that you have done and achieved what would you like to be hearing? What would they be saying? Having completed this meditation you might like to write the speech yourself.

7: Making a plan
Today meditate on how you will put your idea into effect. To put anything into effect requires a plan. A plan does not need to be fixed, but it sets you off in the right direction. A plan is a map that can be varied and changed according to need. For most of us it is the lack of a plan that keeps us trapped and immobile. They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Many of us fail to progress because we do not plan, we simply have an intention as a fanciful idea that we will do one day. The plan that never happens.

8: Resource you plan
Today meditate on what you will need to bring your plan into action. What resources do you need to get your plan into action? This may be a practical thing like equipment or supplies. It might be that you need knowledge, advice, or information. It may be that you need the help and support of others perhaps as a mentor. You may need forms of energy like money. Most importantly becomes the awareness of other people who may have done something similar to what you want to do. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, don’t waste your time doing what other people have done before. Try to learn from others mistakes.

9: Check it out
Today meditate on how you might try your idea/project. This is research. Traditionally this would be a focus group or test group. Your idea might require other ways to test it. How can you try out your plan? Once you try it out see how it works and decide how you can adjust it or fine tune it?

10: Time for live action
Today meditate on how you will present your idea/project. This is the step prior to the actual enactment of your idea/project. It might mean organising a launch or a presentation. Who will you announce it to? Who will come to your event, what do you want them to get from it? What will happen next?

11: Feedback
Today meditate on the reaction to your launch. What have you learned? How can you increase the effectiveness of your project/idea.

12: Reality
Today is the reality test. If during the last twelve days you have used contemplation and visualisation to consider who you are, where you are, have you considered what it will take to get you from where you are to where you need to be and have taken your self through a plan of how to get there, you will now be ready to begin the process of change.

Realistic change takes at least ninety days and it may be that each of these mediations need to be done for one week or even for one month. Overall the only thing that will ensure that you achieve what you want is to be persistent and consistent and to never, never, never, give up.

Take care, have a fabulous 2017.

Sean x