Sunday, March 8, 2009
Creating Wealth: a magical adventure
Love and Gratitude,
Andrew
PS - Don' forget, HEALTH is our greatest wealth...
original article here
"To begin, I would like to introduce a book to you, titled Creating Affluence by Deepak Chopra. I found it, informative, inspirational, spiritual and concise. It came into my experience at an excellent time. I hope you’ll give it a read because I think we can all benefit from this kind of thinking.
Richard Carlson author of “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”, penned the forward and I’d like to share a small portion of that with you. Mr. Carlson states: “Wealth consciousness is so much more than simply having the ability to make money. It's a mindset that involves seeing life, not as a struggle, but as a magical adventure where our needs are met with grace and ease. Wealth consciousness is a state of mind, a sense, not of believing, but of really knowing that what we need is available to us”.
There is one lesson which is very difficult for many of us to integrate into our lives although we do comprehend its meaning on an intellectual level. John Lennon expressed this lesson beautifully when he sang "the love you give is equal to the love you get". If you want to acquire knowledge, love, and wealth, it is necessary to learn how to give the same.
I realize how difficult that can be when you're trying to pay the bills and everyone from Uncle Sam to Aunt Suzie is after you for one thing or another. But giving does not have to be about dollars and sense. There are many ways we can give: every day, all day.
Americans and western civilization in general have been programmed to always be doing something. Movement is equated with success and not moving is equated with laziness. Perhaps we need to stop, listen, and be quiet. “Doing nothing” for 20-30 minutes a day can be as difficult as finding that 30 minutes a day to exercise. But it is important stuff. The crazier this financial/geopolitical mess becomes, the more we will need to find a way to earn money in order to survive. We will need to be creative and often times that creativity emanates from that whisper in our minds that comes when we are quiet.
One final idea from the book and I'm going to paraphrase this concept so as not to get lost in detail. And please think of these “goddesses” as metaphorical entities or whatever best coincides with your belief structures.
A student asks the spiritual master what is the secret to creating affluence?
“The Master answers that there are two goddesses that reside in the heart of every human being and everyone is deeply in love with these entities. However, there is a certain secret that you need to know and I will tell you what it is. Although you love both goddesses, you must pay more attention to one of them. She is the goddess of knowledge. Pursue her, love her, and give her your attention. The other goddess is the goddess of wealth. When you pay more attention to the Goddess of knowledge the other Goddess will become extremely jealous and pay more attention to you.
In other words the more you seek the goddess of knowledge, the more the goddess of wealth will seek you. She will follow you wherever you go and never leave you and the wealth you desire will be yours forever.
There is power in knowledge, desire, and spirit and this power that lies within you, within all of us is the key to creating affluence. Are you still with me!?"
What Is Health?
This simple yet elusive question is one I often return to in order to re-center myself in this effort. Is health a measure of the “absence” of something? Or is it better understood as the presence of something? In terms of absence, we refer to symptoms as a guide. We reduce the human organism to a series of histological, microscopic, and physical findings as to whether dis-ease is present. Orthodox medicine doesn't know what health is, only what the presence/absence of symptoms can tell them. This reductionist approach has resulted in a medical culture seeking methods to remove symptoms, and in their eyes, restore health. But what if there is more to the picture? What if removing symptoms results not in health, but merely the removal of outward signs of disease and dysfunction?
It must be said that symptoms, as commonly recognized by orthodox medicine, often occur near the end of the disease process, preceding many phases of dis-ease and dysfunction. It should be clear then that the removal of symptoms through pharmaceutical drugs or surgery (remove a wounded part of the anatomy and the symptom disappears...) is not what can be described as “health”. Rather, being symptom-free is just the beginning of the journey towards health.
Now if we consider health as the presence of something, a new paradigm of understanding is available for us to utilize. Instead of poking, prodding, and turn-your-head-and-coughing to find symptoms, health professionals with a vitalism approach will have a very different perspective. Looking at health through the lens of holism, determining health would involve gaining an appreciation for a person's physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. A passion for life, loving nature, kindness, generosity might be looked for in the healthy person. Instead of stating what is missing, doctors might diagnose and treat based off a person's energy level, range of motion, cranial symmetry, breathing, and/or spinal structure.
The crux of the matter is that orthodox medicine thinks in terms of what is NOT present. Following that line of reasoning we can view the allopaths as “taking away” symptoms or tissues (often times they take our immune strength and well-being instead). D.C.'s and other holistic healers view the patient in terms of what IS present. They look at the whole person, looking for avenues of giving, seeking ways to give more to the person so that after treatment the person is more “whole”. The underlying reality to this additive, whole-person model is the understanding that within each of us are better, more healthy versions of ourselves. More specifically, the goal of treatment for the chiropractor is to give to the patient in such a way that the patient's own body can more fully express health. This giving often comes in the form of adjustments, using bare hands or simple tools, which help alleviate disturbances in the body's nervous system – the body's master control unit. Chiropractors can also utilize advances in our understanding of nutrition and detoxification, which can help cleanse and nourish patients bodies, giving support to the fuller expression of health.
Health can then be better understood as not only the absence of symptoms but a more complete, full expression of the innate intelligence of the human body. To many this will be easy to understand, as the same forces which create health in our body create balance and plenty in the world around us. To many this concept is too large and too powerful to fit into their narrowed world-view. Health is a journey as we living beings are in constant motion. Health is not some tangible “thing” but a direction toward a better future for humanity. Relieving pain and symptoms is part of this healing process, only it is just the beginning. The destination is not the absence of symptoms but the presence of the innate intelligence of the universe through the human body. This is the foundation of chiropractic.