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Father-Mother Energy: A Balanced Dynamic Pervading the Universe

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Masculine-Feminine Energy - Dr. Nick Campos

I have an interesting dynamic at play at my two chiropractic offices, which illustrates a principle I see in the world at large and is especially relevant now. At one location, my clientele frequently changes appointments; sometimes they do not show up (no-show), and some will drop off, even when they have their chiropractic care covered by insurance (zero out-of-pocket expenses). Their energy, in this regard, seems chaotic. On the other hand, the clientele at my second office rarely misses appointments, contacts me to reschedule if they do, and pay out-of-pocket, no questions asked. Their energy seems ordered.

Because of these differences, I also treat them differently regarding my energy. For instance, with the first group, I have to manage their ever-fluctuating schedules, so I spend most mornings at that office shuffling things around. “Hey, can you come at this time? Would you mind switching…,” and so on. I have to talk with them sometimes about my office scheduling and my time, particularly with the ones who simply fail to show at all. Frankly, I have had to dump some clients in the past because they just could not comply with a set schedule. All good. My office was not for them. I respect that.

My other group does not have those challenges, and I can spend more time on their physical (mental/emotional/spiritual) issues instead of their schedules (or idiosyncrasies for some). If one misses a visit – it does happen – then I know they will contact me shortly and reschedule. The administrative part of that practice essentially runs itself. And, as I have said, I spend the bulk of my time treating them, helping them, talking with them, and providing them with nutritional advice and supplements, etc.

Masculine-Feminine Energy - Dr. Nick CamposIt is almost as if I am expressing two different types of energy with each group – father and mother energy, or what the Yogic philosophy calls Shiva-Shakti energy and Far Eastern philosophies call the yin-yang. These energies revolve around the feminine-masculine principle to which all individuals and collectives are subject. With my chaotic group, I must express – and adhere to – masculine father energy. While to the more ordered group, I am able to express a more feminine mother energy. Neither is right nor wrong; they are simply what is required to manage the opposite energies of the groups.

 

Before I discuss father-mother energy in detail, let me point out that masculine and feminine energy pervades the universe. This does not mean man and woman—a point I feel compelled to make when speaking on the subject. Men and women both express varying degrees of masculine and feminine energy, and each person has a unique makeup of energies. You can take a fun test here to see your masculine-feminine makeup. This one is also good, although you might, like me, get different results (so take them with a grain of salt).

Father-Mother Energy

 

What I mean about father-mother energy is that they are the embodiments of masculine and feminine energies. The masculine principle refers to elements like structure, boundaries, discipline, logic, action, and protection. It’s about offering support, setting limits, and guiding towards growth. Masculine energy is providing, protecting, doing, achieving, and creating. Masculine energy pushes, takes risks, sets goals, and strives for progress. This is the energy of the hunter, builder, and leader. It is the energy of the father.

The feminine principle refers to elements like nurturing, compassion, receptivity, creativity, intuition, and emotional expression. It’s about unconditional love, caring about and caring for others, and the ability to create/hold space for others. Feminine energy is being, feeling, and connecting. It is flowing, intuitive, and creative. Feminine energy is about nurturing, empathizing, and fostering harmonious relationships. This is the energy of the healer, caretaker, and artist. It is the energy of the mother.

Shiva-Shakti Energy

Masculine-Feminine Energy - Dr. Nick Campos

In yogic philosophy, Shiva and Shakti energy refer to the deities who represent the creative energy of the universe—the Divine Father and Mother. They are the cosmic forces that create, sustain, and dissolve the universe. They are the Divine Principle of Creation, the masculine and feminine necessary for all creation.

Shiva represents pure consciousness, the unchanging, eternal, and transcendent aspect of reality, what we might call The Absolute. He is the silent witness, the observer, the ground of all being. He is the Divine Father; his qualities are stillness, awareness, detachment, transcendence, and timelessness. He is the meditation principle, symbolized by a yogi in deep meditation, with a third eye representing wisdom and intuition. He holds a trident, symbolizing the three gunas (qualities of nature), and a damaru (drum), representing creation and dissolution.

 

Shakti represents dynamic energy that animates the universe. She is the creative force, the power of manifestation, the source of all movement and change, what we might call Karma (action). She is the Divine Mother; her qualities are dynamism, creativity, power, movement, manifestation, and change. She is the manifestation principle, symbolized by a beautiful goddess, full of life and energy. She is associated with the elements, the senses, and the life force (prana).

Yin-Yang

 

Masculine-Feminine Energy - Dr. Nick CamposIn Far Eastern philosophies, the taijitu, the yin-yang symbol, represents masculine-feminine energy. Yin-yang is the polarity that describes the order of the universe—the balanced duality of opposites. In Chinese philosophy, it represents universal principles of dark versus bright, negative versus positive, and growth versus waning, among others, but especially feminine versus masculine.

The yin is the feminine principle and represents the female sex, darkness, coldness, and negative pole (like an electrical outlet). The yang represents the male principle, or the male sex, light, hot, and positive pole (like the prongs of an electrical plug). They must be thought of in terms of complementarity—that is, they do not exist independently or in opposition. Instead, they are forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the individual parts.

According to Chinese philosophy, everything has both yin and yang properties (for instance, light has no meaning without dark; hot has no meaning without cold). Either of these two elements may express more strongly in a particular object, depending on the perspective through which they are observed. The taijitu shows the balance between the opposite poles (black and white) with a portion of the opposite element in each.

Modern Societal Expression of Father-Mother Energy

When observing modern society, you can see the principles of the masculine-feminine energy at play in many issues. Take, for instance, our most recent American federal elections (state and local, too). It appeared to the discerning observer that a certain level of chaos had impregnated the American societal landscape. Crime appeared up, inflation up, illegal border crossings up, spending on foreign wars up, and more. And it seemed that there had been a long-standing push to prioritize the rights of small minority communities (e.g., trans, criminals, etc.) over the rights of the majority. You could almost hear the mother energy saying, “Now, be nice. Give your toys to…” whomever. This is not wrong or bad energy by any means. It was nurturing, compassionate, receptive, and predominantly emotional.

Masculine-Feminine Energy - Dr. Nick CamposHowever, in the chaos, most of the public suffered through higher costs of living, danger to person and property, loss of work opportunities, and the real threat of future sons (and now daughters) fighting in foreign wars. The majority were not in favor of this trajectory. As a result, they overwhelmingly elected men and women who represent a strong father energy—order, boundaries, structure, and protection. It seems almost natural to restore balance to an otherwise disequilibrated society.

Now, many people reading this are likely rubbed the wrong way by what I point out, particularly if they were vying for even more mother energy. However, there is a natural equilibrium, as understood by both the yogic and far eastern philosophies. The yin and yang exist together. So, while wanting to care for others, nurture them, and provide for them is entirely viable, this desire cannot run away with itself unopposed. That would violate the interdependent principle of masculine-feminine energy.

It seems almost poetic that the public majority ushered in the father energy. The time was right, and cooler heads prevailed. The opposite is also true. If a society becomes too rigid, too authoritarian, and too restrictive, the majority will most naturally inject powerful mother energy to counter it. This is precisely what happened in the early 1990s when cultural freedom seemed to be at stake.

The father-mother energy of the universe is always in play. It is a universal trait that affects humans, communities, organizations, and nature. The ancients were aware of this energetic interplay, and today, wise individuals seek to find it intertwined with their daily life experiences.

You can choose to observe and marvel at nature’s equilibrating forces, as I do with my two chiropractic offices. Or you can feel assured that the pendulum will swing back in the opposite direction if (and often when) things again become off-balance. Whichever way you look, you will not be able to unsee the pervasion of masculine-feminine energy throughout the universe and in human affairs.

Your Immune System: Highly Evolved for Seek and Destroy

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Life is precarious – there are truly a million ways to die. And even amid tens of thousands of years of evolution, the dangers have stayed the same. Violence, accidents, natural disasters, starvation – there are many ways for man to meet his end. One hazard that has evolved alongside humans is the pathogenic microorganism – the bug (germ). These micro-toxic invaders seek entry into our bodies, to take over our physiological systems for their gain, essentially the propagation of their colonies (species) through the use of our cellular resources.

But we are not sitting ducks. On the contrary, evolution has led to the development of the most efficient cellular fighting force the world has ever seen. The military might of this army executes day-in-and-day-out its prowess in keeping the human body safe and sound, despite the constant exposure to hostile invaders. This cellular soldiery is the human immune system, and it has a vast and varied genetic code that allows it to stay on top of all innovations in the pathogenic arsenal.

The immune system is complex and magnificent, and I wish to share its grand design with you here. In this article, I will explain the basics of immune system physiology, describe innate and adaptive immunity, and a few of the cells and immune factors that act as soldiers and weaponry of this legion. This article will also serve as a reference point for all future writings on immune function and how you can enhance yours. With that, I bring you the glorious human immune system.

Immune System Function

The immune system has the primary function of keeping the body free from invaders. These can include things like bacteria, viruses, and even cancer cells. Of course, it is impossible to keep invaders out completely, so when they do penetrate the body’s primary defenses, the immune system has cells that patrol the body and destroy any invading cells it encounters. Finally, the immune system keeps track of all invaders it comes into contact with. It creates an identification record so that if those pathogens are reencountered, the immune response kicks in to mobilize an active army to seek and destroy the intruders.

I particularly like to think of human immune function in terms of human military action – a metaphor that illustrates both basic and complex immunity effectively. By addressing the immune system and its function in this way, I believe it is easier to understand both its mechanism and rationale. With this analogy in mind, I think it is useful to think of the body as a kingdom, or homeland nation, or even an intricate fort. Essentially, it helps to view the body as something worth protecting, and therefore for the pathogen, also worth invading. Typically, pathogens seek entry to establish themselves in an environment conducive to their growth and propagation. What is good for them is generally not good for us, however, and so it is of utmost importance for the immune system, like a nation’s military, to be working at its highest potential.

Innate Immunity

Innate immunity is the non-specific immune system, which we can think of as our first line of defense. It includes our fortress walls, moats, and garrison soldiers. These are the barriers and forces that keep invaders out. It is non-specific in that it will work hard to keep out anything that looks foreign, regardless of type. It does not concern itself with whether it has seen the invader before – it is a keep-out-at-all-costs defense system.

First, we must discuss the walls which are things like skin, which acts as a primary barrier to microorganisms. Along with its impenetrable membrane, it has an acidic oil on its surface which renders it uninhabitable for many bacterial species. Mucous membranes in the nasal passages, mouth, and other orifices also act as a primary barrier to pathogens seeking entry. The acidic environment of the stomach makes it unsuitable for many bacterial and viral species.

If an invader makes it through the primary barriers, gaining entry into our blood circulation, respiratory, or other organ tissue, then our garrison foot soldiers come to the defense. These cells – known as phagocytes (neutrophils, macrophages, and natural killer (NK) cells) – essentially destroy invading organisms by swallowing them up (phagocytosis) or releasing chemicals, which disrupt cellular structural elements leaving the microorganism susceptible to bursting. Phagocytes can also induce inflammation and release chemicals that send signals to recruit another class of immune cells called lymphocytes to the site of infection.

Adaptive Response Immunity

Some invaders will find entry into the kingdom. The mechanisms evolved to evade the initial onslaught may include the secretion of bacterial toxins to impair protective functions of host barriers (like ciliary clearance function [hairlike sweeping] of the respiratory tract), biofilm formation, and evasion of immune recognition, among others. Regardless of the means used to gain entry, once in, the invaders can cause maximal damage. They will initially float around the body’s extracellular fluids like the blood, lymphatic, cerebrospinal (CSF), and pleural fluid, as well as in body cavities lined with serous (moisture-exuding) membranes.

Humoral Immune Response

Enter the humoral immune response: secreted antibodies, opsonins, and the complement system (which complements antibodies), surveilling the body fluids (humors) on a seek-and-destroy mission. When these reconnaissance satellites encounter a pathogen, they may directly kill it (complement system) as might a missile-wielding drone, coat it for recognition (opsonization) by destructive soldiers (phagocytes), or interfere (sabotage) with the chemical interactions required for the pathogen to infect or bind to other cells (antibodies).

The special forces are the elite soldiers on the battlefield, and for the human immune system, these are the lymphocytes of the adaptive or specific immune response. The B lymphocytes are responsible for the humoral immune reaction. They recognize foreign antigens – molecular markers that elicit an immune response – and respond by creating antibodies specific to that marker. As a result, they become the progenitor of specific B cells which will forever recognize one specific invader – a bacteria or virus, let’s say. They differentiate into memory and plasma B cells, which are like the intelligence and munitions departments of the armed forces.

Memory B cells are long-lasting lymphocytes (some lasting decades), which present the original recognition receptor of the parent for the specific pathogen and its antigen on their surface. They are one of several antigen-presenting cells (APC), along with macrophages and dendritic cells (DC). Their primary role is to act as long-term recognition of a pathogen it has seen before, and so these cells are responsible for what we call the secondary immune response. It is what gives us long-term immunity to previous invaders.

Plasma B cells, or effector B cells, are essentially antibody production plants. They produce large quantities of long-lived antibodies specific to the pathogenic antigen of its parent cell. The antibodies are released into the fluid system to circulate throughout the body. They act as surveillance reconnaissance drones keeping on the lookout for a future invasion by the original intruder.

Cell-mediated Immune Response

So, while B cells of the humoral system produce antibodies, which in turn circulate throughout the body in search of previously encountered antigens, they are only effective against free-floating pathogens. In other words, only pathogens moving about freely in the body’s fluids are at risk from circulating antibodies. But what happens when an invader makes it inside a cell, infecting it? If antibodies are helpless against these infiltrators, then is that the end of the fight? The answer is: “Absolutely not” – this is where cell-mediated immunity comes in.

The big guns of the cell-mediated immune response are T lymphocytes (cells). Other soldiers like macrophages and NK-cells also contribute to these reactions, but cytotoxic T cells are the assassins of the immune system while helper T cells the secret police. Cell-mediated immunity is the destruction of cells that have been infiltrated. This could happen from a bacteria or virus, but it can also be a cancer cell. Any cell that needs to be eliminated will be paid a visit by one of these soldiers.

In the case of the cytotoxic T cell, the visit is paid direct. These T cells directly kill the infected or cancerous cells by poking holes into their membranes and inserting enzymes, like grenades or other IEDs, which ultimately destroy the infected cell. Like assassins, cytotoxic T cells go in, create a vulnerability, and then exploit it.

Helper T cells, on the other hand, act like the police by surveilling the body. When they encounter foreign antigens, they also act in a specific manner, like the B lymphocytes, specific to only one antigen. When activated, helper T cells differentiate into memory T cells – which are long-lasting, providing long-term immunity – and effector cells. Effector T cells are the alarm system, which sends out signals to draw in even more soldiers to the area. They also play a role in activating B cells to secrete antibodies and proliferate into memory B cells.

Inflammation, Hypersensitivity, and Autoimmunity

A healthy, robust immune system is paramount for keeping our bodies free from invaders. However, it can also be too robust. Three immune responses that can go haywire and lead to destruction and even death are inflammation, hypersensitivity, and autoimmunity.

Inflammation is a normal, healthy, and abundant immune response to injury, infection, and tissue damage; it is the engagement of the military on the battlefield. It is characterized by heat, redness, swelling, and pain at the site of injury or infection. Inflammation serves to eliminate pathogens, clear debris, and initiate tissue repair, and it recruits soldiers from both the innate and adaptive immune responses (like neutrophils and macrophages, as well as B and T lymphocytes).

A fundamental part of the inflammatory response is cytokine release, whereby signaling molecules act as messengers to initiate, amplify, and regulate the inflammatory process. It contributes to the body’s defense against infection and injury. Dysregulation of cytokine signaling can lead to chronic inflammation and contribute to the pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases.

Hypersensitivity refers to an exaggerated or inappropriate immune response to harmless substances, known as allergens. There are four types of hypersensitivity reactions (Type I to Type IV), each involving different mechanisms and immune components. An example of hypersensitivity is allergic rhinitis (hay fever), where exposure to pollen triggers an exaggerated immune response, leading to symptoms such as sneezing, itching, and nasal congestion.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks its own tissues, causing widespread inflammation and tissue damage in the affected organs

Autoimmunity occurs when the immune system mistakenly targets and attacks healthy tissues and cells, leading to tissue damage and dysfunction. Autoimmune diseases can affect various organs and systems, and they are characterized by chronic inflammation and immune-mediated damage. An example of autoimmunity is rheumatoid arthritis, where the immune system attacks the joints, causing inflammation, pain, and joint damage over time.

Each process can and does have significant implications for health and disease. The cytokine storm was a hallmark of severe COVID-19 infection and has been recognized as a major cause of mortality among COVID-19 patients. Hypersensitivity may be another important mechanism involved in severe cases of COVID-19.

Epilogue

As you can see, the complexity of the human immune system is vast, and its potential to adapt to specific invaders…infinite. That makes the immune system a veritable guarantor of survival and a generator of evolution for the human species. What I have given you here is a sound overview of immunity – its soldiers, its systems, and its processes. As I have said above, I will refer back to this article often regarding other topics on immunology and health. I have attempted to organize the information and make it easily scannable to gather information quickly, and I have provided links to further reading and study. The next question I want to ask is: what can be done to enhance the immune system to increase health and wellness? Stay tuned.

The Power of Balanced Thinking: How Equilibrated Mind Leads to Thriving

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Positive Thinking - Dr Nick Campos“Can you please hand me your purse so I can look through it?” My student stared at me stunned; she did not know how to answer. “No, seriously, hand over your purse, I’d like to see what’s in it, maybe something I’d like to take for myself.” She said slowly and with great care, “No, I’m not handing over my purse.”

“Why are you being so negative?” I asked. There was laughter in the room. The attendees got the point. The female student commented that she thought it best to always stay positive. We had been discussing the futility of one-sidedness in being, behaving, and thinking, and I was trying to convey the impossibility of being only one way, a perpetually “positive” person, for instance. I wanted the class to see that there are plenty of reasons to be negative in life, it only depends on the context. In other words, negative thinking is just as valuable as positive thinking despite what so many well-intentioned teachers have taught us.

We have two sides to us in every facet of life we can think of. We are proficient at some things, deficient at others: I am a skilled chiropractor, a fairly good cook, and I have ample experience at training dogs. However, I cannot fly a plane; I know zero about computer programming, and I have almost no experience with acting. Equivalently, all people are kind and good-mannered when being supported in their endeavors. They can also become downright mean and nasty when challenged. Is this a character flaw? Hardly. We are at times dumb, other times smart; we have loads of energy on some days but feel tired and rundown on others. This pattern is found throughout our entire being – there are no exceptions. Nobody is all one way or another.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Dopaminergic_synapse.svgThis is especially true when it comes to our thinking patterns. We have developed a neurohormonal system that rewards us when we encounter things that support us like food, sex, and shelter. The hormone involved is dopamine, and we get a rush whenever we “score” what we want (desire, need, love). Alternately, we also secrete hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine which are responsible for our stress reactions (fight or flight) when we encounter things that challenge us. These are primitive systems that have definitive functions revolving around our survival. If we were to have only one or the other, we would surely perish as we would starve or be unable to recognize peril due to a lurking predator or some other danger. Our most primitive neurological system is a balanced interplay between two opposing sides.

So why does there seem to be this push toward always thinking positively then? Positive thinking has its roots in the early 19th century as a part of the New Thought movement. Part metaphysical, part Christian theology, New Thought taught a way of thinking, which was understood to define one’s reality. Not only are one’s thoughts the creator of one’s reality but also that positive thinking could impact the entire world for the better. William James, the father of American psychology, branded New Thought as “the religion of healthy-mindedness.”

Norman Vincent PealeNew Thought was influenced by such luminaries as Emanuel Swedenborg and Ralph Waldo Emerson. But the most well-known and influential teacher of positive thinking was the American Protestant clergyman and author, Norman Vincent Peale, who wrote the best-selling book, The Power of Positive Thinking. The basis of this book is that the mind controls how the body feels, and thus, by releasing negative energy and emotions, infinite energy is given to the body through God. The book asserts that happiness is created by choice and worrying only inhibits it and should be stopped. A foundational premise in the New Thought movement is that negative thoughts can lead to physical ailments and disease. Positive thinking, then, is the basis for a peaceful, positive life, which includes health, professional, and financial well-being.

With all these potential benefits to positive thinking, why wouldn’t we want to adopt such a practice? In theory, I think we would: It is clearly more uplifting to think positively. And in times of crisis, optimistic thinking is a powerful equilibrator to offset panic and hyper-emotional thinking. There is a power in believing, so why wouldn’t we want to believe the best?

However, a hell-bent attachment to positive thinking can also work against us. Numerous circumstances warrant bringing attention to that which we call negative. Being alert in public, keeping one’s eyes open, and being on the lookout for danger is never a dumb move. Nor is avoiding an infatuation with a potential romantic, business, or community service partner, which is paramount to keeping oneself safe in person, property, and/or reputation. When one is too focused on “keeping things positive,” they allow themselves to drop their guard and invite danger in the form of predators and charlatans. Like with anything, it is healthy to maintain a balance between trust and skepticism, enthusiasm and nonchalance, and attention and disregard.

Positive Thinking - Dr Nick CamposMy observations of positive and negative thinking have led to a particular awareness: People who tend to gravitate toward more negative, pessimistic thinking should, indeed, make a concerted effort toward positive thinking. Those who are more inclined toward an optimistic, uplifted frame of mind, should work hard toward strengthening their negative thinking. Is negative thinking too harsh a word? Then how about cautious thinking, great discernment, skepticism, or playing things cool? How we phrase it is less important than the idea behind it. What matters is the healthy balance between two poles, which is necessary not only for survival but ultimately for a state of thriving.

So, if you find yourself in the throes of negative thinking, do not try to stop it. Instead, ask what purpose it serves you. Is it a warning of potential danger? Is it helping you break your addiction to or infatuation with another person? Is it waking you up to a fantasy that has found home in your mind, but which is not in your best interest, and could even potentially lead to a hard comedown, or even depression? Do not be so quick to dismiss your mental and emotional equilibration function, which has evolved over millions of years to assist you in your survival. Learn to listen and then ask the right questions because of it – in this way, you might find that there can be power in negative thinking too.

Conditioned and Unconditioned Mind: How We Humans Walk Through the World

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Conditioned MindOne of the most often repeated truths, yet also perhaps one of the most difficult to comprehend, is that you are the creator of your life. You are your own creation. Who hasn’t heard this and nodded in agreement? Almost everybody understands it on a basic level, although there is a depth to this reality which I would love to share with you here.

Most people can connect with the fact that they are products of their choices, decisions, and actions. Not hard to understand either is how our beliefs, drives and intentions also play an intricate role; yet it does raise an age-old philosophical question of whether we truly have free will (make all our own decisions) or simply have lives that are determined (a product of circumstance). If you are unaware of this fascinating conundrum, please do yourself a favor and read a little bit about this paradox – it is well worth the time. In any case, most people have a surface understanding that we do indeed create our own lives.

However, what few tend to ponder is how we do this. How exactly do we create our lives? Well, it all emanates forth from the conditioned mind. I am not speaking in terms of a conditioned behavior here, like Pavlov’s dog, but instead the state of creating conditions – a particular state that something is perceived to be in. A conditioned mind, then, is one which differentiates, reduces, and groups together elements of a thing into similarities and differences in order to understand that thing. This is a material necessity of the human mind. Put more simply: for humans to make sense of the external world, we must be able to discern this from that, here from there, and now from then. It is how we humans walk through the world.

Conditioned MindAdditionally, we have likes and dislikes which are part of our dispositions. I like ice cream, rock music, and warm weather. I dislike seafood, the smell of body odor, and cruelty to people or animals. That’s me. You might agree on all or some of these things or disagree on all or some. But I have mine, and you have yours.

You also have drives, needs, and values, however, which underlie most of your actions – in other words, why you do what you do. If you value family, for instance, you will most certainly be drawn in awareness to family-supportive activities and events. If you value a strong social life, then you will be driven to go out, meet people, make friends, and party.

Then there are needs you have like the need to feel loved and appreciated, or to be recognized for who you are, or for what you provide to others (to name just a few). And these needs, along with your values, lead to desires, and ultimately to behaviors, including your perceptual emotions. Needs, values, desires, likes, and dislikes all work together to cause you to then pass judgement onto the outer world. You see things as good, bad, right, wrong, deserved, unjust, nice, mean, attractive, or ugly, all as interpretations from your conditioned mind. True self-realization comes from becoming aware of your mind’s conditioning (in its many varieties).

Your conditioned mind, then – through your likes and dislikes, needs and values – creates your perception; that is, how you tend to see things. Your conditioned mind, equally, influences your decisions and behaviors. It’s your conditioned mind that creates your history and the narrative story you repeatedly tell yourself and others. And depending on whether you feel mostly supported or mostly opposed will determine the theme of that narrative. We all know people who skew in one direction or the other, and some of us skew in many different directions depending on the number of sub-narratives we have. In other words, we all have the potential to become a hero or victim in different areas of our lives. And it all comes down to the conditioned mind.

Conditioned MindI hope you can see now more clearly how you are, indeed, your own creation, at least with respect to the usual ways in which we create our lives and the material world around us. But things cannot exist independently. They must always be in conjunction with their antipode. Even beingness must be opposed by nothingness, and neither can be without the other. Thus, for there to exist a conditioned mind, there must also exist an unconditioned mind.

The unconditioned mind is the transcendent state – the one in which no distinction is made between antipodes or opposites. Neither this nor that, here nor there, or now and then exist in the unconditioned mind. All appear as one to the eternal present mind. The Buddha called it enlightenment (Nirvana), the Vedanta, nirguna. It is also the cause of the rising of the Christ, and the source of all mystical experiences, so some might call it God. The unconditioned mind is also known as superconsciousness, and it is available to all human beings on the planet.

If the conditioned mind is creation, then unconditioned mind is evolution, growth and transcendence. Conditioned mind brings along with creation suffering, as part of our judgment is also to discern our dislikes, defeats, and disasters. Being denied our desires can create pain so intense as to render us into helplessness and despair. And then, of course, exist our fears. Those things we wish to never encounter – hurts, rejections, traumas, and predators – which we spend great energy to avoid throughout our lifetime, but nevertheless find us anyway. These, too, are the product of conditioned mind. Unconditioned mind, however, sees no difference between heaven or hell, pain or pleasure, justice or injustice, or any other polarity. Unconditioned mind accepts all that is exactly as it is and is thankful for it. All is one to the unconditioned mind.

Conditioned MindSo, yes, you are your own creation. And in the material world, you need the conditioned mind, in a sense to do that. But you can easily get mired in the swamp of your own creation, as not all creations become the oasis we envision. However, it is through unconscious mind that we create the Shangri-la from whatever conditioned form our life has taken. Only through the unconditioned mind is it possible to find heaven regardless of the material circumstances. Conditioned mind does the creating, and unconditioned mind takes care the appreciating. When we love our lives in all their circumstances, exactly as they are, then we can be certain that we are operating in unconditional mind.

Attuning to unconditioned mind takes training and practice. I have been teaching mindfulness, meditation, and mental balance for nearly a decade. I have had the honor of sharing wisdom with thousands of novice and seasoned meditation practitioners. You too can learn to cultivate the art (and science) of attuning to your unconditioned mind. Please contact me for one-on-one or group consultations. You are your own creation. And you are your own evolution and growth inducer. This is how we walk through the world.

Evolution: A Transformation in Mind and Spirit is Life’s True Purpose

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Spiritual EvolutionThere is a purpose to life, even if the current materialist position is that there is not. The meaning of life is to grow, or to evolve, into a state where you love yourself and others completely. The fundamental biological principle is evolution. Every living thing does it. You are no exception. You are born into this world, and you die, but in between, you grow, you learn, you evolve, and in that growth, you come to see the world and its inhabitants differently. It may happen quickly, almost immediately for some – a few well-known Yogis come to mind – and it may take decades, but the longer you live the greater you will realize this truth.

Something that people do not realize is the very fact that they are living at all is truly a miracle. Think about the details: It takes one unique combination of gametes (eggs and sperm) to form you. Any other sperm reaching the one monthly released ootid (immature ovum) would lead to a different person genetically and morphologically. It just would not be you. So that alone is miraculous. But, additionally, the birthing process is no walk in the park. In the early 20th century out of every 1000 live births 100 ended in death of the child (and 6-9 women giving birth per 1000 also died). Now, as a result of many public health and medical measures, this has been reduced dramatically for infant (90%) and maternal deaths (~99%), but nonetheless child birthing has its dangers. Both mother and child are transformed during the process, both evolve, as Joseph Campbell so eloquently described:

“Everyone is a hero in birth, where he undergoes a tremendous psychological as well as physical transformation, from the condition of a little water creature living in a realm of amniotic fluid into an airbreathing mammal which ultimately will be standing. That’s an enormous transformation, and had it been consciously undertaken, it would have been, indeed a heroic act.”

Unconscious MindThen we move into life, first striving for independence, then to consume our desires and avoid our fears. We have beliefs and perceptions shaped by experience, which lodge into our memory, some as conscious recall, while others get buried deep into the hidden recesses of our mind. These hidden memories and experiences then sit in our subconscious minds, like little neurological software programs running underneath the conscious operating system, only to drive our behavior, or further perceptions, all completely unknown to our awareness. If you take the time to think about them, many of your reactive behaviors, emotions, and perceptual judgements are not really under your conscious understanding. You do not always know why you do what you do.

Our desires and fears are driven by passion – strong and barely controllable emotions. We want what we want and will do whatever it takes (at times) to achieve them (consume them). Many also often equally avoid their fears, pains, and traumatic challenges, without ever really knowing what caused these perceptions to begin with. And yet, we walk through life on an oscillating path of seeking pleasures and avoiding pains, all the while picking up more distorted perceptions of reality and bury quite a few that are simply too painful for us to process. And the cycle spins.

However, something happens to most people as they age. Each time they commit to self-reflection – through therapy or meditation/mindfulness or, for some, maybe even psychedelic substances – they begin to develop an awareness of mind. That is, they come to learn lessons from their experiences, both pleasureful and painful, and some may even gain deep insight into why they act, behave, think, react, or believe what they do. It is at these moments, especially when the experience involves another person (almost always), that a self-reflector may see him or herself in the other. They have that awareness of, “I do that!” These are usually “a-ha moments,” which catapult the self-reflector to the next level of understanding. When we comprehend that all the things we see in others – behaviors, traits, patterns, whatever – exist in us too, something miraculous happens: We develop true compassion.

Emotional Hurt - CompassionTo relate a personal story, on self-reflecting on a recent conflict I had with somebody very close to me, this awareness came like a flash of light – I have heard it called apperception. I immediately knew (not thought, knew) that I had done the same exact behavior myself in the past. So, naturally, my next question was: Why did I do said behavior? The answer became immediately clear: because I was hurt. Ah, I did the behavior because I was hurt…yes. And come to think of it, that is very likely the reason the other person did it. When I put that into perspective, I developed a whole new awareness around the conflict. I understood from where the person was coming. It was real compassion. I knew. I understood.

These moments in life lead to great spiritual growth – psychological, yes, behavioral, yes, but spiritual seems to capture the essence more completely. This is a magnificent evolution that a person goes through when they develop compassion by seeing themselves in others. The Yogis describe it as the seer, seeing, and seen all becoming one.

Spiritual Growth MetamorphosisWe can return to Joseph Campbell’s words now: “where [the hero] undergoes a tremendous psychological as well as physical transformation.” That is exactly what happens to all people when they have experiences of apperception, understanding, and evolution. We must ask ourselves the right questions. Sometimes we cannot get past the mind chatter of our emotions, and so we become passionate, maybe angry, maybe hurt. But in moments of clarity (and anybody who would love to learn how to flow through life with more clarity, please contact me), we often can, and do, see the truth: that we, our brothers, and sisters are all the same; we share every quality in existence with them. And this is the foundation of spiritual growth.

Every person gets better at accomplishing spiritual growth as they age. The longer one lives, the clearer this process becomes. We call it wisdom. When you have had enough pain, and enough conflict, and enough demanding to be right, you will ultimately come to a place of greater understanding – a more expansive awareness, if you will. It is as if when we evolve, we want more compassion, more understanding, and more connection with others. If you find yourself in this place, then I commend you on your growth. You will surely acknowledge that this process also cultivates compassion and love for ourselves. And your relationships likely thrive as a result. If you have not yet reached this place, do not worry, you will, to some degree, in time. If you would love assistance in speeding up this process, please contact me – I teach classes every month showing students how (I also give private consultations). Growth and evolution is the purpose of life – for all living things, and this includes you – to come to love yourself and others completely.

All Worthwhile Things Take Time: Spiritual Development Ripens the Fruit of The Mind

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When I was a kid, a commercial for Paul Masson wines aired on television nightly; it featured the great Orson Welles reciting in his baritone voice, “Some things can’t be rushed: good music and good wine… Paul Masson wines taste so good because they are made with such care. What Paul Masson himself said nearly a century ago is still true today: We will sell no wine before its time.” Now forget that Paul Masson wines were mass produced like Budweiser, and likely spent little time between production and sales. But what’s important is the message: All worthwhile things take time.

Whether we are talking about the development of a skill, like music or cooking, or the accumulation of great (and stable) wealth, time is one component which cannot be compromised. We have all heard stories of miraculous overnight successes, but what we don’t hear is the background story of thousands of hours of practice. It’s true that one can become a master of their craft within a relatively short period of time – that is, if they increase their daily practice hours to twice of what they would do otherwise. But it is time that makes a great master, and to dedicate oneself in time, one needs discipline.

Discipline is the key to all greatness. It is the foundation by which one is driven to put in the hours of practice, study, or work necessary to master one’s craft. Without discipline, it is impossible to reach mastery in less than half a century. Love of the craft helps for sure, but it is discipline that takes you beyond what the joy of performing brings to the lover of any art. Basketball, dancing, hair styling, photography, and writing all require time. Love is what brings you to the art – discipline is what shapes it.

discipline - Dream Design Los AngelesEvery example I have given thus far has been somewhat evident. Likewise, though, are those who wish to express health, wellness, style and beauty; they must also dedicate time and energy to their endeavors. Make no mistake about it: people who consistently look fashionable and attractive put in the work to achieve them. Even making it onto the cover of a fashion magazine takes years of mental preparation. Nobody is simply “lucky” in how they look. Maintaining a fit, healthy, beautiful body takes hours of sculpting. And healthy physiology requires rock-solid discipline – from overeating, from over-indulging in sugar, from drinking to excess, from smoking and doing drugs. People who practice discipline with regard to their physical bodies get rewarded with feeling good, looking good and all other athletic and sexual amenities which come along with this area of attention.

One thing that always amuses me is the young professional who thinks he will be a millionaire shortly after hanging his shingle. He has not yet learned that it will take hours of knocking on doors, meeting people, hustling, networking, sending referrals to other professionals, giving free talks, buying lunches, and cleaning toilets (yup) before he even begins to work. Of course, there are some who get lucky out the gate and encounter some success early on, but these stories are rare, and they seldom last forever. I had a colleague with whom I went to school. He had a foreign girlfriend who helped him market to students of the same national origin. As it turned out, these students had medical insurance policies from their home countries that covered their care to a tee. The trust and comfort provided by the girlfriend – a compatriot in a distant land – led to the students pouring into this doctor’s office for care. As a result, he made big money rather quickly, and this led him to believe that he had “made it” professionally too. He became arrogant to his friends, bought a house far bigger than he needed, and expanded his business too quickly. After one year, the foreign insurance company changed its covered services (probably due, in part, to my colleague’s billing practices) and shut off. My colleague ultimately lost it all. He simply couldn’t maintain the false growth. We must build up to business and financial growth in time, energy, and capital. Remember: all worthwhile things take time.

discipline - Dream Design West HollywoodParents of grown children know this. How people function as adults is directly related to the time and energy provided to them by their parents. Both mothers and fathers are extremely important to the growth and development of a child. Research shows this; and although children certainly adapt to the absence of one parent, there is no doubt that children do enormously better when both parents are present in body, mind, and spirit. In other words, parents need to be physically present with their children, regularly; they must give the children undivided attention more often than not, and they must show love and appreciation for the blessed honor to do so. Our children require our time and energy, and every parent can attest that along with juggling career and business, physical health, hobbies, and intellectual pursuits, it takes unshakable discipline to give our children the best of us every day. But that is what is required.

discipline - Dream Design West HollywoodFinally, and to me the most important, is the time and energy necessary for spiritual self-development. All other endeavors emanate from this essence of our true selves. Spiritual development is what some call “coming to know the self,” and it is the highest effort in which one can engage. A great challenge, however, is that the path often appears as long and arduous, and it can most certainly be. Very likely, for the average person, spiritual development takes the greatest hours of attention, and to move the shortest distance; yet the rewards are also the biggest. Nothing can be as effectively appreciated as through the lens of the soul, what we might call our authentic self. Hundred of thousands of people try meditation (or prayer, or japa, or psychedelics) and never attain what they aspire to; NOT because it is ineffective, but because they have not yet ripened the mind to allow their spirit to flow. I understand this is an esoteric concept, but to know you have to do…and this requires practice. The yogis liken the mind to unripened fruit. When fruit is in this state, it is not pleasant to eat – it will remain on the tree, hard, sour, and undeveloped. Only when the fruit becomes mature, ripened, will it then fall from the tree and open itself to the sweetness that life has to offer. Your mind, like fruit, will not ripen until its time. This time comes over the course of long, arduous spiritual work.

discipline - Dream Design Beverly HillsAll worthwhile things take time. What you would love to achieve in life will not happen overnight – and you don’t want it to. We all want a long biography, filled with experience, pleasure, pain, and love. This is what we call living. Who you would love to be, how you go about achieving it, as well as what you get to enjoy along the way, all come down to the attention you put into your art(s). But never forget, the greatest aspiration is of self-knowledge or spiritual development. Like fine wine, you will fully appreciate your divine essence when you ripen mentally and spiritually in love and gratitude. I can almost hear it rolling off Mr. Welles tongue: “No mind will align with the divine until its time.” And so it is.

Breath is Life: The Power of Life’s Most Vital Energy Mover

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Los Angeles ChiropracticBreath is life. Without breath, life will not carry on for long. But somehow, I think, most people take it for granted. Breathing is autonomic – you do not have to think about it for it to happen. It just does. Every yogi is aware that the breath will flow unimpeded regardless of the attention or inattention given to it; yet the great Yogananda warned that every novice meditator would sooner or later interrupt their meditation for fear that their slowed breathing was their body forgetting to do so. Breath in life, however, will never stop on its own; it is the first thing we do upon entering the world (gasp in the first breath) and the very last thing we do before passing on to the next (exhale the last breath).

The breath is so important to life that yogis conceptualized it as the prime mover of the life force energy throughout the body – what they call prana. And both yogic teachers and modern science understand the breath’s intimacy to our consciousness states. When operating in the autopilot state of mindlessness, especially while under heavy stress, the breathing can often be shallow, rapid, and erratic. During states of deep sleep or meditation, however, the breath can slow to a crawl. Listening to a regular pranayama practitioner breathe might conjure up images of waves crashing on the shore – long, deep, and rhythmic sounds of the ebb and flow of nature.

 

Breathing reflects consciousness and we can affect or influence consciousness by changing our breath…breath and consciousness are just the flip sides of the same coin. ~ Richard Rosen

 

Beverly Hills Chiropractor

The function of the breath is to bring in oxygen needed for energy production, and to remove CO2, the byproduct of cellular respiration. The breath thus acts as cyclic transporter of gasses necessary for both human and vegetative life on the planet. Breath is life in every sense of the word.

With this in mind, I believe, it is of utmost importance to focus on the breath in as many of your activities as possible. Yes, of course, as a means of entering deep states of meditation, focusing on the breath is without rival. I have been teaching this vital and fundamental element of meditation weekly for eight years and, always, I emphasize the importance of focusing on the breath. It is this cycle of breath – the inspiration of life, and the expiration of death, with the spaces in between them – that allows for the deepest submergence into the great meditative state of dhyana, and ultimately, samadhi.

I focus intently on my breath whenever I must sit for something unnerving or potentially painful, like a medical or dental procedure. Because of my commitment to bringing solitary focus to my breath and ultimately release all focus as I let my consciousness dive deeply into the meditative state, I have been able to slow my breath to such a degree that dentists, doctors and nurses frequently check in with me to make sure I am still alive. One nurse just prior to my last colonoscopy told me I was not “breathing enough,” to which I jovially disclosed that I am a regular meditator and purposefully controlling my breath. The anesthesiologist who was monitoring my breathing caught the conversation and essentially told the nurse to put a lid on it – he could see my respiratory rate was normal.

Breath control has also helped me maintain my poise under stressful situations, like while in a court of law, or when under the control of some power-tripping authority (DMV employee, police officer, and so on). Deep breathing really does help calm the nerves and keep one poised under stressful situations. That alone is worth practicing breath control.

Los Angeles ChiropracticBut perhaps my favorite time to focus on the breath is during exercise. Anybody who works out regularly knows how important breath control is, but I must stress that the breath it truly is the foundation of all power and endurance in sports and fitness. Take professional fighting for example: I always know which fighter is going down first…it’s usually the one who is breathing the heaviest. When an athlete loses breath control, he loses power, and ultimately, he’ll lose the contest.

When I do cardiovascular exercise – like riding a bike – I always attempt to maintain the most deep, rhythmic breathing possible. Not only does it guarantee I will finish my workout (reach my numbers), but it also allows me to pace myself, and kick on the power where I need it. When you find yourself tiring in your workout, focus on your breath – slow it down, build a rhythm – and watch your energy go up and your endurance expand. When lifting weights, focus more on the breath than on the contraction and, believe me, you will see your strength explode by controlling your breathing.

Finally, take time every week to practice diaphragmatic breathing. If you do not know how to do this powerful breathing exercise, please look here for instruction. You may not believe me when I say that people forget how to breath properly, neurologically, and it is of utmost importance to practice in the same way you would practice focused awareness (mindfulness) and meditation. I have seen over a twenty-two-year span of natural bodywork and healthcare how quickly people lose their ability to breath diaphragmatically. It is like working out – use it or lose it – to be totally cliché. But take my assurances: you will increase your power, physically and magnetically, if you take the time to work on controlled breathing.

West Hollywood ChiropracticBreath is life, indeed. You can let it happen automatically without ever thinking about it, and your body-mind will certainly do its job dutifully. Or, instead, if you apply your mind and actions to your breathing consciously, you will become a psychic and energetic powerhouse. You will look vibrant and healthy from the maximized oxygenation of your body. You will become metabolically efficient by conditioning your gas transport and exchange system. Your mind will be clear and sharp, and you will be much quicker to drop into deep, calm, poised states of quiet meditation. Use your gift of breath to your advantage. The yogis are conceptually right with their image of life force energy control of the breath. Expand your life force for your greatest health and vibrancy through the gift of breathing.

Live Free Again! Turn Away From Fear and Rejoin Your Fellow Humans

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West Hollywood ChiropractorHow afraid are you still of Covid? Not much? Never were? Somewhat? Or terrified? I am going to try give some perspective on this matter, but I realize there is a spectrum when it comes to understanding viruses and the immune systems in general. And much of it we can throw out the window when it comes to understanding, or perhaps better to say, rationalizing, Covid; as you shall see the public has been run through the wringer with regard to “official” information (much of it turning out to be wrong), which was meant to control behavior, and foolishly, the virus itself.

I ran into an old acquaintance a few weeks ago at the grocery store. I was with my daughter and saw a masked Jamie walking by with her dog (it’s L.A. you know). As we passed one another, we made eye contact. It was one of those “I think I know you, but I am not quite sure yet who the fuh…hi Nick!” She recognized me. But then she did something strange: she backed several feet away from me. She must have seen that I was without a mask. Stranger yet, she said, “I haven’t been feeling very well, so I am going to stand over here.” I get that it’s proper Covid etiquette, but it seemed so unnecessary, and I really didn’t believe her anyway; I mean, why was she out at all then? But ok, whatever, that’s my trip.

We started talking. I introduced my daughter who was actually standing a few feet away from me (which made it unapparent that we were together), and I think it caught Jamie by surprise. She looked over at the kid, gave a friendly hello, and then stepped in closer. Jamie started to talk to my daughter about how she and I knew one another. The conversation was pleasant and I was genuinely delighted to have run into Jamie…but I’ll admit, I found the initial strict Covid protocol somewhat peculiar – mask, standing at a distance, announcing health status, and then dropping all protocol when seeing a young lady with her dad, both unmasked and, frankly, looking vibrant.

Los Angeles ChiropractorI still see people sometimes walking in the street instead of walking on the sidewalks, I presume to avoid crossing paths with potential carriers. I still see people abstain from shaking hands. It’s cool – I can elbow bump (been doing it for years). Folks at the gym carry around spray bottles and clean the machines they are about to use…but interestingly not afterwards! Amazing how pre-Covid selfishness sometimes mixes with the new “contain it” protocol. And that is what I imagine the public is attempting to do: contain the virus. I guess that’s understandable, as the public is simply following the lead set out by authorities. “We can contain this virus and stop the spread; save lives”…hasn’t that been the goal from the start?

Well have I got an ice-cold splash of wake-up call for you: The SARS-CoV 2 (Covid virus) is not going away. I have been saying this from the get-go, like so many experts, but too many wanted to NOT hear it early on. It was too important to avoid getting sick – at least in the beginning of the pandemic. Ok, but here we are now. Is it time to get real yet? Good, then listen up: viruses do not just go away. Herpes – forever. HIV – forever. Chickenpox – forever (as shingles potentiate). The flu comes around every year, and so do colds. Covid will be exactly the same – an every-year thing.

I have been telling clients this for over two years. Some have nodded in agreement; some have said they got it but then still acted scared, but many with confused looks on their faces went right to the ol’, “But, but, but…” They had erroneously believed that the vaccine was going to end it all. And to their defense I will say: that is what they were told. Even though NOW I see “experts” and media puppets saying the vaccine was meant only to decrease illness and hospitalization…well that certainly was not how it was sold to the public from the start.

Los Angeles ChiropracticAnd what did I say to my clients when the vaccine began to roll out? “Well just understand that SARS-CoV 2 is a rapid mutator like the flu. You’ll have to get a vaccination every year. Just like with flu.” Same thing happened – some nods of understanding, others confused, “Well I am glad we can get back to normal now…I just wish everybody would vaccinate.” Ohhhh kayyyyyyyyyy!!!!

It was the way in which Covid was handled from the start that has damaged so many people psychologically. I made a prediction early on: They (authorities) will have to push the vaccine hard because it will be the only way to neutralize the psychological damage they caused, through the relentless media coverage, scaring people to death, literally. Unfortunately, however, the vaccine has not appeared to be enough to ease the fear in a large number of people. I wish I had the answer for these folks. “Listen,” I might say, “what do you imagine that you are preserving? Is life-at-all-costs really what you desire? I mean, does not quality of life matter as well?” Seriously, if you really have the option to live like we did in that first year of the pandemic – lockdowns, masks, zero social events – is that what you would choose? Not me. I would much rather live like a person of nature, in nature – viruses, illnesses, and all.

Beverly Hills ChiropractorIt is neither realistic nor necessary to live like we did in the beginning of Covid-19. Viruses are forever because they adapt to us and we to them. It would not benefit a virus to kill off its host, so most viruses become less pathogenic as they mutate, less lethal; and SARS-CoV 2 is no different. However, viruses will evolve in such a way as to further their reproductive potentiality – this is a fundamental biological property – the will, not only to survive, but to pass on its genes through its progeny. Thus, SARS-CoV 2 appears to be getting even more transmissible – becoming a stronger contagion. And that’s why the newest Covid variant, omicron BA.5, is driving up cases today. Additionally, it is of great benefit for a virus to evolve an evasion strategy from its natural predator – our immune system. And so that is exactly what SARS-CoV 2 has done and will continue to do – forever. Check out this recent article explaining just that:

“Not only is [omicron BA.5] more infectious, but your prior immunity doesn’t count for as much as it used to…And that means that the old saw that, ‘I just had COVID a month ago, and so I have COVID immunity superpowers, I’m not going to get it again’ — that no longer holds.”

Yeah derrrrr…..

And from the same article:

“So far there is no evidence that this variant causes more serious illness. And infectious disease experts say that even though new infections are on the rise, the impact of BA.5 is unlikely to be on the scale of the surge we saw last winter…the U.S. is averaging about 300 deaths a day, compared to 3,000 last winter.”

Los Angeles ChiropracticAnd yet the powers that be are still pushing the panic. Just Google “ba.5 variant” and see which articles come up. Ok, panic if you want to – although I advise against it for your overall health and wellbeing, including your mental health – but if you find you are too afraid to be near people for fear of catching the virus, then you are doing quite a number on yourself. So just let me repeat: YOU WILL CATCH COVID! Not maybe. Not “only if that person who stood next to me had been wearing a mask…” And definitely not “if I am boosted, I won’t.” You will. And more than likely you will also survive. I know, I know…what about immunocompromised people? If you are immunocompromised, then, yes, stay home. But you will probably catch it too. That’s the nature of viruses.

So what’s the answer? Is there an answer? Yes, in my opinion there is: Stop watching/reading mainstream media pushed government propaganda. All it is doing is scaring the life out of you. Go about your days as normally as you can. Get back to living. It is tragic that so many people have been damaged from the multi-year psyop that has been perpetrated on them by the authorities, experts, and message carriers. Asking why is certainly a useful question, but it isn’t necessary to find the answer to move forward and take back your life.

The vaccine, I believe, was meant to help ease the public back to normality, psychologically – an antidote if you will. But the fear campaign, which was needed to control public behavior, never allowed for the difficulty that would be faced to de-terrify the population. In this endeavor, you have been simply been left on your own. Only you can empower yourself to look beyond the fear and get back to seeing the world as it truly is. Just take a look around you: do you see how many people are NOT wearing masks? Look at them. They are still alive. Trust your eyes and turn away from the fear porn pushed by the government-controlled media. You are going to be fine, Covid or not. In the event you do get sick. Don’t panic! I have heard far too many horror stories of hospital-induced comas to put panicked people on ventilators during the early phase the pandemic (this will be for another article altogether). Just stay calm and treat yourself the way you would during any other illness. Call your doctor if you need to.

SARS-CoV 2 is here to stay. It isn’t going anywhere. You will see it every year. You will likely catch it every year. Are you going to let the fear porn run your life for the next decade, until you finally get tired of it, or until the next pandemic is released on you? Well I hope not. I actually hope you stop being afraid and get back to living your beautiful life. But if you do choose to take the path of fear – limiting human interaction and closeness, suffocating yourself and your children with debatably-effective masks, and getting angry at your neighbors for NOT choosing that life, but instead choosing freedom – and you do so simply because the “experts” tell you that’s what you should do, then you might want to consider finding different experts.

Beverly Hills ChiropractorI encourage you again to look around. The hundreds of thousands of people you see walking around unmasked, going to crowded live events, and touching, hugging, and kissing one another are not merely risk-taking idiots that you might be led to believe. No, they are people who have chosen to step away from the 24/7 news cycle of fear that has been perpetrated on them for far too long, and they have chosen to live their lives, like brave, certain, and optimistic human beings. Come join this world. Refocus on what is important in life and come join the living. I am pulling for you to return to a normal life with your fellow human beings. We look forward to your arrival.

It Does NOT Suck to Get Old: How To Age with Power

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aging can be rewardingHow many times have I heard a client say, “It sucks getting old!”? Usually, the statement follows a patient’s full account of his or her many physical ailments, apparently as a way to rationalize the perception of being physically “a mess”. But life should get better as we get older, not worse. We have more experience, more wisdom, and more gratitude.  Life only sucks as we get older under one condition: when our health deteriorates.

The first thing most aging people notice is a breakdown in their aesthetics – that is, the way they look. As we age, the wear-and-tear of living can lead to wrinkles, crooked teeth, graying hair, and sagging skin. Many people increase in size, and they get soft, literally. Of course, this is distressing to many, and as a result, the anti-aging industry has flourished. Creams, lotions, and Botox for wrinkles. Invisalign to straighten teeth. Coloring and hair transplants to battle graying and balding. And plastic surgery for everything from sagging skin to fat removal to bigger boobs to fuller lips. Nothing wrong with any of these treatments to combat the diminishing aesthetics of aging. Obviously, the more one does, the more noticeable it will be to others. On some it looks good, and on others it’s debatable, but nonetheless, we are fortunate to have such a vast number of products and procedures to help us maintain our looks.

Aesthetics: How You Look

Just understand that there are many things you can do, naturally, to maintain your aesthetic appearance. Drinking ample water is essential to skin health (along with many other internal environment benefits). Eating whole, natural foods and avoiding processed foods, fast foods, and foods laden with sugar is absolutely vital in maintaining your looks over time. Supplementing with high quality vitamins will also go a long way in keeping you looking vibrant – vitamins B, C, D and essential fatty acids, among others, for your best aesthetic enhancers. And regular exercise is a must for maintaining your overall appearance. Your body from the neck down goes a long way as an attractive factor. While some become obsessed with their facial appearance, your body shape and size are noticed by most people immediately; and frankly, your face will always look more attractive when slim and healthy from exercise. And finally, you simply cannot ignore getting sufficient rest. Sleep is essential to so many aspects of health including your brain, immune function, and wound healing. Skimp on the sleep and it shows in your face first, then over time, the rest of your body and mind. Sleep, exercise, good food, high quality vitamin supplements, and plentiful water are the keys to natural anti-aging.

Aches and Pains: How You Feel

exercise to stay youngThe next thing that happens to people as they age is that many develop conditions which lead to aches and pains. Some of these conditions are simply excesses and deficiencies of actions and behaviors. For example, not exercising is a deficiency that commonly leads to pain. I am surprised at how many people are unaware of this. Not moving regularly, in a challenging manner (that is, not simply grocery shopping, window shopping, or walking around the mall), is one of the biggest sources of spontaneously emerging aches and pain in people. Back pain, neck pain, arm and leg pain, and joint pain like in the elbows, knees and hips often have no specific injury but are simply due to lack of movement. Conversely, excessive activity can also cause pain – something my athletic clients often ignore. Obviously, overuse injuries exist; however, I am not talking about those here. I am talking about overworked muscles, joints, and limbs. Exercising excessively, or not being mindful of form while working out, or even playing sports on only a few days rest can all lead to overuse aches and pains.

Aches and pains are probably the most common reason people feel old. While wrinkles and graying hair may make one look older, pain is what actually makes people feel old. And it is this element which truly makes people feel that it sucks to get old. However, if you can alleviate your pain, naturally, without a reliance on drugs or surgery, then you can most certainly retain a feeling of youth and vibrancy in your day-to-day living. Adding drug reliance to painful conditions really can cause you to feel old and worn down. Drugs have side effects, like making you feel tired, clouded thinking, forgetfulness, and many others. This combination of pain and drugs is the great ager. Fortunately, there are natural solutions to pain relief, but you will have to be committed and patient. Depending on how chronic your pain condition, it could take time and a lot of work initially. But stay with it. I promise if you keep working at ridding yourself of pain (with professional help where needed), you will succeed.

But I can tell you that in twenty-two years in the natural health business, I have observed that patience is the hardest thing for people to follow. This is somewhat understandable, as few people enjoy being in pain. While drugs and surgery offer quick fixes, but I can tell you, again from over two decades experience, there is no reality in a quick fix. My clients who have opted for surgery, at best, feel better for a short time and then are back in pain again later. Sometimes it is the same pain, sometimes a different but related pain due to the added invasive nature of surgery. You do not have to believe me although I hope you will. You can test what I have just said but unfortunately, I tell you, there is no turning back once you go under the knife. Some folks need the surgery, no doubt, I support those situations. But many people do indeed seek a quick fix, and it just does not exist. In the end, it’s the pain that makes the sufferer feel old; and with enough pain, some added drugs, and a surgery or two, anybody will look and feel old.

Body Rehabilitation: How You Function

injuryAlong with pain is disability. If a person suffers pain, not a spontaneous emerging pain, but one due to injury, it is not uncommon for that situation to lead to a loss of normal function. Sprained ankles, torn ligaments, hip degeneration, labral tears, tendon ruptures, and spinal conditions like herniated discs can all cause long term disability. It is probably not hard to imagine how limping around, difficulty bending forward, the inability to lift moderately heavy objects, difficulty raising one’s arms above one’s head, and numbness and tingling in the hands and fingers could make somebody feel very old. Unfortunately, injuries can be difficult to treat, may take long to heal completely, may have many exacerbations and recurrences, and may prevent you from exercising, leading to further pain and disability. However, the good news is: All injuries are treatable. Again, you just need dedication, commitment, and patience. A good doctor (physical health practitioner) can help minimize setbacks and increase successful healing. But still, it may take time and effort. These are situations which can easily lead one to seek a quick remedy (drugs, surgery). And, of course, surgery may especially be necessary in these situations. Torn ligaments, rupture tendons, and severe disc herniations all need the help of a good surgeon. But many injuries are treatable conservatively; and in my opinion, conservative treatment is always best when an option. Disability, without a doubt, is an aging increaser, but getting your injury treated and rehabilitating yourself will return a pep in your step and bring back some youth and vigor. Heck, you might even be able to run around like kid if you do take care of yourself the right way.

Getting older definitely does not suck. You have enough growth and evolution behind you to truly understand what is meaningful in life. You have more confidence, and less worries about what others think of you. Hopefully, you have enough humility to resolve conflicts with your closest loved ones. Things only get (and stay) bad when you feel bad physically – THIS is what makes you feel older: It makes you feel broken down. The more you can offset this breakdown, the more you will be able to enjoy your golden years. This requires work on your part. It won’t come without your commitment, and it won’t come without action. But if you invest in yourself by doing the right things, you will have the greatest probability of looking your best and feeling your best. That should be worth the effort and I know you will see it that way, too, in the end.

**If you want the definitive guide to healthy life-enhancing behaviors, pick up a copy of The Six Keys to Optimal Health today.

Is Higher Mind What Makes You You?

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Higher MindWhen you speak of yourself, to which you are you referring? Is it your body, your mind, a combination of the two, or a mix of many things? A physicalist might say it is your unique nerve bundles and pathways, how you developed relative to your environment, and how you perceive sense data that makes you you. John Locke, the English philosopher, believed you were a collection of your memories of your experiences. That sounds reasonable…until you consider amnesia. Although rare, cases of thirty-year amnesiacs regaining their memory do occur. Were they not themselves for thirty years? If not, who were they?

These questions bring us back to the subject of dualism and monism. Self-identity is one of those topics that require a conception of what might be the source of “I”. Remember, physicalists believe that everything in the universe is ultimately made of matter; everything is reducible to a physical process, even what we call mind. Memory is brain function, nothing more. As are behavior, emotion, and cognitive tasks, like computations, planning, and decision-making. But what about the more abstract processes we attribute to mind, things like belief, meaning and values – are these also neuro-chemical processes? Where are these processes carried out; what is their mechanism? To date, there is no evidence of a central region of consciousness in the body, or elsewhere for that matter. Rene Descartes believed that the central region of consciousness was nowhere at all. That’s something to ponder.

It is true that we can attribute many mental processes to neurological function. Take vision, for example. Light reflecting off objects enters the eye through the transparent covering called the cornea, is focused by the lens and projected onto the retina. The retina is a transducer which converts the light into neuronal signals, which then travel to the brain via the optic nerve (cranial nerve II). Vision is only one way in which we perceive the external world; another is sound, another touch, another taste, and even another is smell. So we take in a number of sensory stimuli and produce a complex picture of the world around us. But is this everything there is to perception?

Higher MindOften when we discuss perception we refer to meaning. It is not enough to sense the world around us; we also apply meaning to everything we experience. Meaning is a complex attribute that receives input from beliefs, values, memories and emotions. Is this also reducible to physical processes? What about belief – is there a brain function we can call the Santa Claus belief process, which could explain the belief in Santa Claus in all children who do so? For us to determine that indeed a brain process is responsible for this belief, we would have to see the same process in most, if not all, Santa Claus believers. And values – those elements of us which drive our decisions, actions, and behaviors – which brain functions create them?

Conundrums like these make it difficult to imagine that all mental processes have physical foundations. I believe we can safely say that any mental function which is clearly attributable to a brain state, like simple sensory perception (or speech recognition, word formation, and impulse-control), would be a brain function. We can call them functions of lower mind. This designation is not intended to make a value judgment on importance or value, but instead to delineate between the tangible, material, and objective processes that we can observe and record from the abstract, intangible, subjective processes which we cannot, but which seem to exist if even just by illusion. The latter processes we can call functions of higher mind.

Higher MindHigher minded processes cannot be observed or recorded. The perception, or meaning, of these processes can be discussed on an individual basis, making them subjective, but we see no observable brain states associated with them. I have already provided the example of belief. What about perception itself? Sense-perception is only one element of experience-perception. How we process an experience requires a number of inputs. But more importantly, we can change our perspective and thus change the subjective meaning of an event, person or thing without any observable change in brain state. It is as if something else must be responsible for these functions.

Former Professor Emeritus of Physiological Science at UCLA, Valerie V. Hunt, a thirty-five year professor of kinesiology and researcher on movement behavior, body image, and neuromuscular organization of human movement, also dedicated much of her life to the study the mind as an energy field and its influence upon human consciousness and behavior. In her book, Infinite Mind: Science of the Human Vibrations of ConsciousnessInfinite Mind, Science of the Human Vibration of Consciousness, she explains higher mind in great detail.

There are growing neurological observations showing that electrical stimulation of the anticipated brain regions did not activate what was considered to be the higher mind. There is no neurophysiological research which conclusively shows that the higher levels of mind are located in brain tissue. Although some level of awareness occurs in the brain, higher levels of consciousness have not been found there. Consciousness appears to be on a continuum from material to non-material reality in which the mind is always involved, sensing, non-material happenings primarily, while the brain taps the material ones. People can remember what happened when the brain was dormant or asleep under anesthetic. Penfield found that during medical anesthesia the human mind continued to work and remember in spite of the brain’s inactivity. Acute awareness also occurred for comatose patients. It is the mind which experiences, and it is the brain which records the ‘experience’. The mind is independent and contains the will of man. The mind is the stream of consciousness. Neurotransmitters are not to be misconstrued as the source of higher mind function. The higher level of mind seems to be outside the domain of material reality as we have been able to measure it. The mind is more a field reality, a quantum reality or a particle reality. The mind is unique from the brain. The mind experiences non-physical reality. Einstein stated that the only reality is that of energy organized into fields. The mind is a field. The long undetectable energy of the human mind springs from the electron energy of the body’s atoms. The mind field is a superconductor. The mind energy is recycled in the environment. Electromagnetic energy waves or fields constitute information and describe the mind. The mind is infinite. It can be everywhere. It could be here or there simultaneously. It is embedded in a larger mind of the planetary ecosystem. Tumors or poor circulation do not affect higher levels of consciousness, only the lower minded levels. Abstract experiences and thought do not rely on the function of sensory nerves.

Higher MindCan you now see why these issues of mind, body, and self-identity have confounded thinkers for centuries? What is responsible for our higher-minded functions? Is it a part of the “me” and “you,” or is it something distinct? And what exactly is responsible for our thoughts, desires, fears, ambitions, sympathies and compassions? Is this something, this higher mind, in complete control of the physical and lower minded us, making us a form of “God-puppets,” or is higher mind accessible to us? I happen to believe our higher minds are individuated, accessible parts of us. Professor Hunt could be correct that higher mind is an energy field. Or Descartes might be correct that higher mind is nowhere at all to be found, and certain elements of Taoism might even support this notion. But it can hardly be argued that higher mind is separate from us, as higher mind clearly necessitates individuation to account for the varied personalities, subjectivities, and perceptions of “I” in the world.

How do we access higher mind? And what does it mean precisely to access higher mind? I will save these questions for another post, but I will say that if higher mind is what we, in fact, call our higher-minded, abstract mental functions, then it would most certainly have influence on our decisions, creativity, innovation, inspiration, art and music, mathematics, technology and philosophical understanding. Anybody wishing to enhance any or all of these areas would certainly care about, and welcome, accessing their higher minds. I have been teaching courses and providing individual consulting on ways to access higher mind to enhance one’s life experience. If you would love more information, please contact me.

Body, Mind and Spirit: Who Creates Who

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Mind-Body ConsciousnessFrom where do your thoughts come? Have you ever considered it? What makes you see the color red; what makes you distinguish one shade of red from another, and how would you describe it to a person who doesn’t? What is responsible for your palate? If you have no taste for fish, does your friend who loves it taste something different, or do you taste the same thing but you just don’t like it? Why have people different political opinions – isn’t doing the right thing simply common sense? Or different musical tastes, clothing, what people find attractive in others, and so on? This is the realm of the mind-body problem, which seeks to answer whether we are purely physical beings, purely mental, some combination of the two, or something else entirely. This question has existed in some form dating back to ancient Vedic philosophy; the Buddha discussed it, as did Plato, Aristotle, Avicenna, and of course most famously, Rene Descartes.

Descartes believed that the mind and the body were separate things. The body being part of the material world is in the realm of physical matter. The mind, on the other hand, belongs to the non-physical mental realm – the realm of thoughts, beliefs, sensations, and the soul. Both body and mind, according to Descartes, were separate entities acting on one another. His philosophy today is called Dualism and it considers mind and body to be distinct yet closely joined. In other words, even though they are different fundamentally, mind and body do act on one another.

So what do you think – is there a real distinction between mind and body? Can you touch your ideas or beliefs? Can you change your body – your skin color, how much insulin you produce, how curly or straight your hair – the way you change your mind? And if mind and body are different, how do they act on one another. What is the mechanism of thought to action, like getting up to go to the bathroom? Where in the brain does it happen? And how can you and I share essentially the same machinery – same neurons, same neurotransmitters, same physiology – yet have totally different tastes, perceptions, and experiences? This is a problem for Dualism, in fact, it is known as the hard problem of consciousness.

The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory (Philosophy of Mind)

Mind-Body ConsciousnessDualism, like all things, has an opposition. Monism believes that there is only one primary substance, all else derives from it. Now before you think it’s as simple as that – Dualism, two substances; Monism, one primary substance – understand there are different views on which substance is primary. Physicalists (or materialists, remember these folk?) believe that the primary substance is physical – that is, everything can be reduced to physical matter. To the physicalist, brain and mind are one and the same. What we consider the workings of the mind are simply neurochemical processes of the brain, and although we do not know exactly which processes lead to subjective experience (the hard problem), or where to find them, a physicalist believes we will ultimately come to know them, and when we do, very likely we will find that consciousness is reducible to a physical process.

Another type of Monism is called Idealism, which believes that the primary substance is mental, and matter can only exist to the extent that it is perceived by the mind. Even time and space only exist in the mind, according to idealists. Idealism, derived from the Latin and Greek “idea,” is the belief that all things owe their existence to the mind, for without consciousness how could anything be perceived at all.

Neutral monism is yet another type of primary substance belief, which see both physical and mental as part of the same unique, distinct stuff. A sub-group of monism is Dialectic Monism, also known as Dualistic Monism, which states that reality is ultimately a unified whole, but expressed in dualities of complementary polarities, which, while opposed in the realm of experience and perception, actually exist together as inseparable pairs.

So how would these potential realities impact your life? What would they imply about the unfolding of your experience? What would be the implications for your health, your wealth, or your success or failure in any area of your life? We know the mind acts on the body and vice versa. We know that lack of sleep can severely diminish mental acuity, that healing is affected by our outlook, and that placebos work. We are told by accomplished people that “success” and “wealth” are nothing more than states of mind. So, clearly, Descartes was right that the mind and body are intimately tied – there is simply no denying their dual existence.

And from where do our thoughts come? Are they simply neurochemical processes? How are we such vastly different people, not in our machinery, but in our input-output, in our immaterial minds? Our wiring, or neural pathways, is certainly one piece of the puzzle, but what determines that? Why aren’t twins exactly the same? Can DNA account for the parts of us that we can barely understand in and of themselves, like consciousness for example? What about purely subjective thoughts like who we find attractive, or what ice cream flavor we like, or our political leanings? What about our values – that which drives our perceptions, behaviors and actions? Can all this be explained by neurology, biochemistry, and genetics?

It is, of course, possible that the infinite complexities of the mind are reducible to purely physical processes. It is also hard to refute the Idealist argument that nothing exists outside of consciousness, for perception is indeed somethingness (Descartes was right again). So it is possible, as well, for consciousness to be the primary substance, of which our thoughts would be principal, and so perhaps it would be more appropriate under these conditions to ask from where come our bodies.

Mind-Body ConsciousnessBut finally, it opens the possibility of mind and body to exist as polarities of emergent properties from a more primary substance. Many philosophies including Advaita Vedanta and Taoism are monist, with even the monotheistic religions having strong elements of monism. One cosmology I find interesting is that of the Neo-Platonist, Plotinus. In his metaphysics, all things in existence emanate from The One, the primary substance. As the self-caused creator of being, The One outwardly emanates the Nous (intelligence), which then outwardly emanates the Souls, the principle desire for external objects, which then outwardly emanate the Forms (matter).

The mind-body problem has engaged our greatest thinkers for millennia, and I do not foresee the debate being solved anytime soon. I have presented this article to you as an opening to ponder questions, which I believe, can help you live your best life. Believe it or not, these age-old questions underlie our most basic belief systems, and thus the way we perceive the world and ourselves. Seriously, think about the questions I have posed – think about them rigorously, and think about them lightly; toss the ideas around with your friends. I assure you the more you think on the subject, the more your mind will open to ideas which only you can have. Whether because of genetics or a cosmic emanater, you will see your mind stretch to new dimensions with these meditations.

Healthy Habits Are Essential in the Age of Covid

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A funny thing happened on the way to the 2020s. Our TV-filled minds and soda-soaked bodies got spun in a real life episode of Black Mirror. I have been writing this blog since 2007, and the primary theme for most of those years has been “mind your health.” I approached this mission from a number of angles. I stressed:

  • Be mindful of your self-care: watch what you eat, move regularly, balance your activities with rest, balance your perceptions to minimize volatilities, address your pain, and minimize toxins
  • Be hygienic and do not be petrified of pathogens. Focus more on your immune function than on any germ
  • See symptoms as your body doing its job, and think of “illness” as an opportunity
  • Keep challenging yourself physically and mentally for continuous conditioning and adaptation

My way, especially in the early years, was to pound that message into my audience, over and over again, perhaps changing the scenario or details of the story, but keeping the main points the same, always. I am big on universals.

It’s also important to be rational – that is, not have expectations that fall outside of reality. Unfortunately, it seems to be the folly of the human mind to place hope in the irrational. While the trait is widespread among us all, it generally operates beneath our awareness. A common expression of this trait is we want to save or eradicate one thing or another – many of which are simply a reality of this world and are neither savable nor eradicatable.

Take death for example. Everyone will tell you that they accept death, and they do, in the long run, without exception. However, when one takes the time to actually think about and assess our underlying views: collectively, people believe we should save life and prevent death at all costs. Our medical system runs with this as its fundamental purpose, and public opinion is often aligned with this sentiment: Nobody should die.

HealthyPreventCovidDeath3I do not believe this is a bad view. We should want to prevent death in others, particularly our loved ones, because it is a distinctively human trait. We do not need to change the things that make us beautiful as humans. But it does help in keeping bigger events in perspective when we are frank with ourselves. For instance, in accepting that all dynamical events (events moving through time) involving a life form come with an inherent probability of death. In other words, death is a part of life. There is death everywhere, and in everything there is a way to die. We might die from something we enjoy and we might die from something we don’t. There is no predicting it at all, not if you allow nature to be the director.

And, of course, that means the world will have death. We tend to perceive large scale, high probability death events as horrific: War, natural disaster, disease – all tragic, all unnecessary, all regretful. Naturally, as humans we wish to eradicate them all. It would seem absurd, of course, to most of us for the hope of the abolition of natural disasters. There isn’t a soul who fails to get that we have no control over the elements of nature. Yet, surely, the other two are controllable. War and illness are large-scale dynamic events similar to those we consider “natural” phenomena. Human developments are no less natural in how they flow through time, with decision-making and action leading to unfolding events not under individual control. While collaborative efforts can, and certainly do, affect outcomes, they mostly contribute to the flow and unfolding of events more than they “alter” history, as we often perceive, and report on, our heroic efforts.

Understanding these “realities,” as I have already said, gives clarity to our ability to assess larger-scale phenomena. Take Covid-19, for instance: We have had nine-months, maybe longer, to observe and analyze the virus responsible, SARS-CoV-2. We have solid numbers now. Why are we acting irrationally in the face of the facts?

For nine months, I have read, listened, watched Congressional hearings on, discussed and cross-referenced this pandemic. I have heard many arguments on a few different sides, and the conclusions always depend on who is doing the talking. Some people believe we are under-reacting; others believe we are going too far. Animosity is simmering and beginning to roll to a boil. Some have been willing to unleash their aggressions on those they think are either selfish or sheep, depending on their overall perspective. But is it warranted?

I think I have laid the groundwork for an argument which I believe stems from the human propensity to not want others to die. Most of us feel that way on one level or another; it’s understandable, and in my perspective, desirable and beautiful to want others to live. But on the other hand, it seems irrational to continue strict quarantine measures, when the numbers do not justify the reaction.

The two most fundamental characteristics of a pathogen are its contagiousness and its pathogenicity. A pathogen’s contagiousness is how quickly and readily it will spread among people. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a rapid spreader. This to me is the most relevant attribute of this virus. The pathogenicity of a microorganism is its ability to cause disease. A highly pathogenic organism can cause serious damage – to individuals, yes, but also to populations as a whole. If a pathogen is both highly contagious and highly virulent, there will be enormous death. Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of the bubonic plague, the Black Death, is contagious and highly virulent. If left untreated, the death rate for this pathogen is 70-100%. As a result, it led to the death of over a third of the population of Europe.

How virulent is SARS-CoV-2? As a novel virus – meaning, it is relatively new to us – we could only estimate early on the virus’ pathogenicity, to which we then attributed a death rate. Now, understandably, in the first few months of the pandemic, we estimated high. The numbers were not large enough to approach the mean, and without a doubt, it was wise to be safe over sorry. Death rate [or infection fatality rate more accurately (IFR)] is simply calculated:

# of deaths/# of cases

As we are now nine or more months into things, the numbers are large enough that we can assume we are approximating the mean (or average). The U.S. death rate, then, using the most current numbers (as of December 17, 2020):

311,000/17,300,000 = 0.018 or 1.8% (approximately 1 in 50)

Studies like this one estimate that the actual SARS-CoV-2 infections is anywhere from 3-20 times higher than current confirmed cases. At the low end that would make the death rate

311,000/51,900,000 = .0059 or .59% (approximately 1 in 200)

At the high end

311,000/346,000,000 = .00089 or .09% (less than 1 in 1000)

Deaths-by-Age-Group-ChartFurther, approximately 40% of all U.S. deaths have been in nursing homes. If we were to remove the 100,000 nursing home deaths from the numbers above, the death rate would look like this:

211,000/17,200,000 = 0.012 or 1.2% (approximately 1 in 100)
211,000/51,800,000 = .0040 or .40% (approximately 1 in 250)

211,000/345,900,000 = .00061 or .06% (approximately 1 in 2000)

Seen from another angle, the number of people who have been infected and who have survived is as high as 1,999 of every 2,000.

This study from September 2020, estimates the infection fatality rate as .28-.31%, or roughly 3 deaths in every 1,000 infections, and according to some experts the actual death rate [case fatality ratio (CFR)] is closer to 0.02% (that’s 1 in every 5,000).

More importantly, and the real point I wish to make, is that 94% of deaths reported have had associated comorbidities, in other words, underlying health issues. Does this mean that only 6% actually died of Covid-19? No but what it does mean, though, is that people who have underlying illnesses are at a greater risk of dying from Covid-19. Well I’ve got news for you: People who have underlying illnesses are at a greater risk of dying, period. I have been trying to get this point across for going on two decades now. When will people get it? And the vast majority of underlying illnesses today are lifestyle related – that means they are PREVENTABLE! Some of the most common comorbidities associated with Covid-19 deaths are influenza and pneumonia, respiratory failure, hypertensive disease, diabetes, cardiac arrest, heart or renal failure, and obesity.

HealthyPreventCovidDeathBelieve it or not, every one of these Covid-19 death associated illnesses can be minimized by adopting healthy lifestyle habits. It’s amazing how many people get angry at me for stating this fact, that they could actually improve their health, improve their lives, and minimize illness and suffering by practicing simple healthy habits. Eating well, exercising, stretching, sleeping well, addressing emotional stresses, addressing physical pains and injuries wisely, and keeping the drugs, alcohol, and other medications to moderate levels will significantly impact your life for the better. These are simple actions that everyone can adopt, but the reality is that only a small percentage of the population actually does so. People, in general, want easy fixes, which just do not exist in the realm of health and wellness. Fixes which appear to be quick and easy (and that includes many surgeries) almost always come with unwanted consequences (aka side effects). Dying of Covid-19 is one of them.

Listen, the numbers do not lie. What makes things uncertain for the masses is the volume of different interpretations. Granted most people wish to be safe over sorry – I both get that and agree with it. However, you cannot leave your health to chance and then expect a different outcome. It is not too late for the vast majority of people. I have come to understand that only a small portion of the population will heed my words. This article is for YOU – the person who recognizes the wisdom in what I say. Do highly virulent pathogens exist? Yes. Is SARS-CoV-2 that pathogen? Not by the numbers, it isn’t. Despite hearing for months that the death rate would climb to its more accurate number, it hasn’t gone up at all – it has gone down, and in my opinion it will prove to be even lower. Does this mean we should take it lightly? NO! Do the right things for yourself and your family (what you teach them today becomes habit tomorrow). That has always been my message and it will continue to be so – it is universal.

How Meditation Can Change Your Life for Good

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Meditation Los AngelesWhat is meditation? Is it what we speak of when discussing mindfulness? In short, no – meditation is tool, while mindfulness is a state of mind. A good reminder from a previous article is that we spend the bulk of our waking time on auto-pilot. This habitual activity-mode allows us to think while we drive, talk on the phone while typing, or discuss vacation plans while having sex. It is a state of mind; one which we specifically differentiate from being laser-sharp focused – or mindful.

Meditation, on the other hand, is a practice. Without a doubt, regular meditation strengthens focus, and thus it strengthens one’s ability to enter mindfulness, but it is purely a tool, one that needs to be practiced regularly and earnestly to become effective. Greater mindfulness is a consequence of consistent meditation. But meditation is not the only path to mindfulness, it just happens to be an extremely effective one. For sure, the Bhagavad Gita discusses meditation as a form of yoga, and it is a path to awareness, but by no means is it solely so: in fact, greater mindfulness is merely one consequence of many for the meditator. Meditation can be used to come to know the Self, to connect with the Source (or Absolute in Vedantic philosophy), and ultimately to unionize with the Source (samadhi). It achieves these aspirations by dissolving the boundary between self and other, between the one and many, and between sensory experience and reality.

To practice meditation is to attempt to go to the “other” side of thoughts: to allow what comes to come and what goes to go. Meditation is the start to separating the Self (true nature) from the self (body, mind, and sense of individuality). By repeatedly practicing awareness and focus, the proper conditions are beings set for release of self to Self. This state of being is called samadhi and is known to many spiritual disciplines. Because reaching this state is purely experiential, you cannot fully understand it with words alone. In fact, this is true for every stage along the way to samadhi as well, such that meditation leads to an inner unfoldment, a progression, where each layer spread out brings one closer to one’s true Self (not the self of the physical body and mind).

Mind Dissolves Meditation, by virtue of this inner unfoldment, leads to a greater receptivity to reality. As awareness expands, illusions become shattered and nightmares neutralize as a greater sense of oneness and orderliness flood the consciousness. Purpose becomes clearer, problems unite with solutions, and visions sharpen; meditation opens channels to understanding and inspiration.

Even the physical body changes morphologically through regular meditation. Studies show that meditation is associated with changes in gray matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and perspective taking. While taking on meditation to attain physical or intellectual prowess might be mundane, these are a few interesting side-effects regular meditation brings.

Understanding that meditation is a tool is imperative, because it is easy for some to mistake the tool for the goal, which can lead to a discontinuation of practice for sheer lack of interest or significance to the practitioner. It can also lead to a false sense of achievement and thus stagnation in others. Understanding that meditation is simply a tool to achieve varying levels of awareness helps the practitioner stay on track and open to each layer of Self as it unfolds. It also allows the practitioner to remain unattached to the tool, because Self-realization can and will occur outside of meditation as well. Attaching to the tool can prevent the practitioner from reaching deeper levels of awareness by holding onto the illusion that the tool is necessary. It isn’t. It’s just a tool.

Deep sleep meditation coursesThat tool is used ultimately to get you to different states of consciousness. Recall that mindlessness, our typical waking state, is the state of unconscious consciousness: minimally aware of moment-to-moment details. And mindfulness is conscious consciousness: intense awareness of moment-to-moment details. Samadhi, then, that state of oneness to which we aspire through meditation, is an entirely different state altogether: we can call it a state of conscious unconsciousness. This is a strange concept to anybody hearing it for the first time…conscious unconsciousness? Appreciating this term is best done by associating it with something we do every night: deep sleep. The sleep cycle is split into four stages: light sleep, moderate sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep. Deep sleep is about twenty five percent of each sleep cycle and what we call restorative sleep. When a person is in deep sleep they are unaware of everything: their body, their mind, and their individuality. They are conscious in the general sense that they are not dead, but they are dead to the world for the period they are in that state. An even better example is the person who is put under anesthesia, like I was in 2006 to have my appendix removed. Just before the operation the anesthesiologist told me, “This is going to be your cocktail for the night, Mr. Campos.” And the next thing I knew it was, “…Mr. Campos, Mr. Campos, wake up, you’re done.” And that was that, time passed but to me it was instantaneous. I was in a state of unconsciousness, and I was unconscious to it.  We go there every night in deep sleep. Every person has had the experience of waking up and thinking, “Where am I, how did I get here?” That’s unconscious unconsciousness. Samadhi is being in a deep-sleep-like state, yet being aware and conscious throughout. Weird, huh? But that’s what it is, conscious unconsciousness: a truly experiential phenomenon. Words cannot describe.

The main point is that meditation is a tool to get you to a state – the state of conscious unconsciousness. Once you are there the goal changes, but I will leave that for another article. Most important for you, the practitioner, the aspirant, is the revelation along the way. This unfoldment of Self is what changes life for good.

Deep Focus: A Power Worth Perfecting

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MindfulnessI’ve been teaching mindfulness and meditation courses for the last six years. The big question beginners usually have is what they will achieve from taking on the practice. This question can come in many forms, sometimes with statements like: “Will mindfulness increase my energy?”, “Does mindfulness really work?”, and “What will I get out of mindfulness?”

Many benefits come as a result of taking on mindfulness or meditation practice, from the physical to the mental to the spiritual, but most importantly it allows one to come to know oneself more deeply. This may not sound so enticing to the person looking for some real magic to come from their efforts, but I assure you that the depth of your being is far more exciting and magical than you can understand at this point. The most I can get across without your experiencing it yourself is that you will develop and learn more than you might imagine at this point – you do not even have the reference point yet to understand, but you will in time, along with a number of progressively developing powers.

The primary power you will attain is best illustrated with a story. Almost everybody is familiar with the image I’ve posted. It is a Pulitzer Prize winning photo of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức, who burned himself to death on June 11, 1963 in protest of the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. Buddhists were banned from flying their flag in Huế city on their holy day of Vesak, the birthday of Gautama Buddha. In dissent of these orders, Buddhists gathered with their flags to protest the edict and were fired upon by government forces. Nine protesters were killed that day by gunfire.

As a result, U.S. journalists were contacted and told of an important event that would take place the following day outside the Cambodian embassy in Saigon. Reporters who were there saw a procession of 350 monks and nuns carrying banners denouncing the South Vietnamese government and its policies toward Buddhists. A sedan carrying Quảng Đức rolled ahead of the procession. When it reached its destination in front of the embassy, three monks, including Quảng Đức exited the car. Quảng Đức calmly sat down on a cushion in the traditional lotus position, closed his eyes and began meditating. Another monk, removing a five gallon gas canister, came over to the meditating monk and emptied the entire contents of the canister over Quảng Đức’s head. Quảng Đức rotated a string of wooden beads while repeating a Buddhist mantra; he then struck a match and dropped it on himself. The flames engulfed him quickly and furiously. Quảng Đức remained poised throughout. He was a master of mindfulness – he never broke his concentration.

David Halberstam of The New York Times, who was one of the reporters present that day, described it like this:

“Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think … As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him.”

I once told this story in one of my classes, and the attendee, a doctor, asked, “Why are you showing us this picture?” It is simple; I want you to understand what is capable by the human mind. You see, humans have only two instincts: reproduction and survival. Like all living things, humans are driven to spread their genes and persist as life forms. And like all other life forms, humans have an instinctual drive to survive. If you are attacked, chances are you will do whatever necessary to survive – you will run, hide, fight, scratch, bite, climb, swim, and anything else that might keep you alive. You might even eat human flesh if there is nothing else available. That is what happened to Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, later known as Andes flight disaster, a chartered flight of 45 people, passengers and crew, which crashed over the Andes Mountains in 1972. The surviving 16 spent 72 days lost in the mountains before they were rescued, and ultimately had to resort to cannibalism, albeit reluctantly. They did what was necessary for survival. Their ordeal was made into a movie called Alive.

MindfulAnother film, called 127, staring John Franco, is the story of avid mountain climber Aron Ralston. Ralston goes climbing in Utah but fails to tell anybody where he was going. He has an accident and gets his hand caught between a rock and a hard place. After several attempts to free himself over days, he ultimately has to amputate his own arm. As grueling as this sounds, it is a true story, Aron Ralston did what he needed to survive. Most people would do whatever they could. It is human instinct.

And this is precisely what I want to get across with the story of Quảng Đức. What would most people do if they were on fire? Naturally, one’s instinct kicks in and they will attempt to extinguish the flames: rolling on the ground, patting themselves, and screaming at the very least. But not Quảng Đức – he sat there in quiet meditation, never moving a muscle. How did he do it? Was he some superman? Did he have special powers? The answer is no. Quảng Đức was a human being no different than you or me. He had one element, however, that he had mastered: his ability to focus his mind beyond all physical and mental distraction. It was this power that kept Quảng Đức in a peaceful composure throughout, completely overriding his human instinct for survival.

Now if this isn’t awe inspiring, I don’t know what is. Does that mean one will be inspired to emulate Quảng Đức? No but think of the potentiality of the intense focus and to what ends it may be used – it is exhilarating! If one can transcend even one’s own instinct for survival through mindfulness, what cannot be endured; what cannot be accomplished? Thích Quảng Đức has become the empyrean of mindfulness practice, the highest potentiality we can wish to attain in our own practice; to approximate, if not to become.

Mindfulness brings many benefits to the practitioner. A powerful, laser focus is the foundation for so much more. Think of the physical (sports, games, sex), intellectual, and spiritual accomplishments you can muster with such potent focus. Think of the circles in which you can play with strength of focus. Truly the world will become your playground when mastering the power of mindfulness. Your time and energy is a small price for such an enormous attribute. Start working today and increase your mindfulness potentiality to Thích Quảng Đức power. You too might affect the world long after your flame has flickered out.

What is Mindfulness?

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simon-migaj-Yui5vfKHuzs-unsplash (Copy)Mindfulness has become a fashionable term over the last few years, for good reason: as an ancient practice cultivated to allow practitioners to come to know themselves, mindfulness has been shown scientifically to reduce mental and physical effects of stress. Stress can be both beneficial and detrimental, depending on how one perceives it, but since most people tend to experience stress negatively, it can lead to a number of physical conditions which ultimately break down the body. In fact, stress related disorders are estimated to be responsible for 75-90 percent of all doctor’s visits, causing such problems as headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, problems sleeping, and even sexual problems. Having a tool, then, to minimize stress and its effects on the mind and body is invaluable.

Mindfulness is the deliberate attention to Self – a moment by moment awareness of what is going on around and within oneself. It is attentively observing experience as it unfolds without evaluating or judging it and also accepting what is and what isn’t, in the moment, in present time. Mindfulness is the practice of being in the here and now in full attention. I like to call it conscious consciousness – one is consciously aware of one’s consciousness when in mindfulness. Easier said than done for the uninitiated, but reaching this state is definitely cultivatable.

To understand mindfulness one really needs to understand mindlessness. Mindlessness is not a derogatory term as it is used here – it does not mean stupid, ignorant, or thoughtless. What it refers to is the state of being on auto-pilot. The human brain has evolved for a certain amount of efficiency. Like other autonomic processes, we do not have to think about our moment to moment brain activity. To understand this, it is best to first make note of processes in our body that need no conscious awareness: breathing, digestion, nutrient assimilation, waste production and elimination, cellular respiration, and the list goes on and on. Like these processes, many brain functions require no active input on our part. In fact, our brain produces thousands of thoughts per day. It is difficult to know how many, but one really comes to understand the constancy of our thought stream when trying to quiet the mind in meditation. Thoughts are like molecules produced continuously in a cell – they happen whether we want them to or not.

complexityMore importantly, they happen without our taking notice. We do not have to think about our every action. We do not have to initiate every move, only the decision, and sometimes not even that. By freeing our mind of these routine actions, we are able to concentrate more on complex actions and behaviors, we are able to think about abstract ideas, and we are able to self-reflect (as far as we know, the only species that does this). Complex thinking has led to the creation of musical masterpieces, mathematical theories, and technological innovations. It has inspired timeless art, revolutionary science and allowed us to ask and ponder the great philosophical questions of life, those that give our lives meaning. Without an automation of our primary thought system, it is questionable whether we’d have ever accomplished anything more than our most basic survival. Automation of thought is the first and foremost system used by the brain on a regular basis. More than ninety percent of our day is made up of habitual actions. According to Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winning psychologist and economist, ninety-eight percent of our mental processes are of the automatic, effortless, and unconscious kind, even though we tend to believe we are making rational decisions throughout the day. Most people are thus walking through life effortlessly unaware, allowing their automatic thoughts to flow in and out of consciousness, and create a stream of time which ultimately frames their experiences. I like to call this unconscious consciousness – consciously awake, just not aware.

This influx of automatic thoughts is barely noticed, except from time to time when a thought so pleasurable or disturbing enters the awareness causing desire or fear, and even many of these come and go with little notice. For the average person, unrestrained thought-flow, or what some call mind-chatter, can lead to anxiety, depression, mental overload, fatigue and even more severe mental illness. Unrestrained thought-flow can thus become a source of stress. Add to that all the other things we must act on in any given day, and it is no surprise that the bulk of doctor’s visits are for stress related conditions.

focusWhile many people turn to drugs and alcohol in a futile attempt to quiet the mind-chatter, these mind-alterers actually make matters worse over time. The only way to diminish mind-chatter is to pull the mind into attention. That’s why sports and exercise have been popular since antiquity. By focusing on a physical activity, the mind is forced into what Kahneman calls system 2 thinking, or one which is done with our conscious mind – conscious consciousness – effortful, intentional, and controlled. Making art and music are also amazing mind-chatter reducers. So is doing math, or thinking about anything in detail, like when you strategize or follow a protocol. Anything which forces the mind to focus reduces mind chatter (one reason smart phones have become addictive). However, even these activities, when done repeatedly can become automatic. Without a doubt, people strive to make automatic as many of their activities as possible. We call this mastery. And mastery makes what was once effortful a habituation. As a result, once we master an activity, it does have the potentiality to become an automatic process.

For all these reasons, practicing mindfulness regularly through meditation is an ideal activity. Working the mind into focused attention, about nothing in particular, is like lifting weights for the body. It is a mental exercise that enhances all other activities by the sheer strength of sharpening the awareness. This, over time, allows the mind to focus its attention during routine day-to-day activities, in other words, to attain and maintain conscious consciousness. The more we achieve states of mindfulness, the better we are minimizing stress: mind-chatter reduces, awareness improves, creativity is enhanced, and communication and personal connection deepen as a result of a meditation practice. Not only does this have positive consequences for our mental health but for our physical health as well. Health challenges caused by stress – like pain, addictions, chronic infections, and sexual dysfunctions – can be reduced and even remedied by taking up a regular meditation practice. Something as simple as a daily commitment to intentional awareness has the power to improve health and create wellness.

Mindfulness is a state of mind not easily accessed without some intentional effort. Working earnestly at focusing one’s awareness trains the mind to enter a state of conscious consciousness more regularly and with less effort. Once it is ingrained into the habituation system, all activities are illuminated by increased awareness. While it, too, will become a more automated process, it will paradoxically lead to spontaneity, as we become more conscious of every moment, bringing new meaning to our experiences. Ultimately, awareness assures our growth and development, which leads to richer experiences, in a cycle of expansion and change, keeping things novel and interesting. You can continue to walk through life on unconscious auto-pilot or put in the effort to become more aware, and thus more appreciative and attentive to the details that make your life rich.

What is The Nature of Reality

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atomThere are two primary ways to look at the world: the first is through the lens of materialism. Materialists believe that the universe is purely physical; a tangible reality that can be observed only through the physical senses or tools which are interpreted by the human intellect. A materialist would say that we can observe physical phenomena, measure them, create equations and models to represent these phenomena, and make predictions based on those equations and models. A materialist would argue that we can come to understand the entire universe, over time, by understanding the physical processes underlying it, in the same way we might understand the workings of a machine. If there is something we currently do not understand, it is simply because we do not yet understand the physics behind it. Many current theories fall under this category: The standard model of particle physics, dark energy, quantum gravity, and even consciousness itself.

Materialists are generally secularists in that they do not contemplate or even consider spiritual matters. To the materialist, the universe is made up of physical matter (particles and waves), which is the only substance we can actually measure, and thus it is the sole substance of reality. As such, physical substance is the only thing worth discussing or contemplating – all else is folly. Materialism could be summed up with the line, “Brownian motion, chance collisions and probability are what make up the nature of reality.”

Ancient GreeksMaterialism is the predominating world-view among governments, military, science, medicine, academics and media in the western world today. We see it in every aspect of life – relying on physical evidence by which to base decisions and protocol. It is neither right nor wrong: simply the way agencies set policy, conduct operations, set standards, and provide education. It has not always been this way; throughout history humans have oscillated between approaching the world from a materialist perspective (Ancient Greeks and Romans) to approaching it from a spiritualist one (Middle Ages Europe), and some have even attempted to balance the two (Enlightenment). Today, however, the major institutions of the western world are materialist in viewpoint.

Spiritualists, on the other hand, believe that a supernatural force exists which is beyond physical. While most spiritualists would agree that we are, on some level, experiencing a physical universe, there is something more, a metaphysical reality that goes beyond material substance. The substance in which a spiritualist believes may vary, as some may believe in a dual realm of material and spirit, while others believe there is a third, or primary, substance from which all other substances emerge.  Some even believe that the physical realm exists only in one’s mind; that the true nature of reality is in this primary substance. Some examples of spiritualist philosophies include Advaita Vedanta, Daoism, and monotheistic religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

lightSpiritualists believe that we can transcend the body-mind of the physical world and tap into that something else which exists. This can achieved through meditation and other esoteric practices, rituals and trances, and mind-altering medicinals. Whichever method is used to achieve transcendence, the goal is always to attune to the greater reality. Spiritualists believe that means of gaining knowledge are not limited to physical, or scientific, observation, but also to reason (Enlightenment) and revelation (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). In fact, many other methods are believed to be sources of knowledge, but most importantly, spiritualists do not place a boundary around the physical world and its phenomena.

Spiritualists do not have to subscribe to a particular religion, as some people are spiritual, yet maintain no religious practice. While the modern western world views the world primarily through materialism, most people walking the planet are spiritualists (84% according to the Pew Research Center).  The line which can sum up spiritualism is, “Personality – the subjective perception – is the solid foundation and unifying principle of our existence.”

Neither materialism nor spiritualism is right or wrong – in fact, it does not appear to be a provable matter. They are simply foundations by which one views the world. Many people never even think about their foundation of reality in detail. They simply accept their beliefs without question, sometimes not even knowing how they came upon those beliefs. But for people who have a solid understanding of their philosophical views with regard to the nature of reality, it is easier to understand the decisions they make in life. Other age-old philosophical questions, such as free will are easier to contemplate when one determines how one leans with regard to the substance of the universe. Is the world purely physical, with particles and waves simply bound by physical laws? Or is there something else, regardless of what one calls it, a metaphysical force, which underlies all reality, and which can be tapped into for knowledge, guidance, presence and hope? Think about these questions to learn more about yourself and add a deeper level of meaning to your reflections. Either way, to come to know yourself is the greatest endeavor regardless of how you view the nature of reality. But by solidifying your views, you will come to know yourself more profoundly: what makes you tick, why you make certain decisions, and even where you might be going. Most importantly, your views will underlie the meaning by which you will ultimately evaluate your life: an endeavor worth every bit of energy.

2020 A Time To Rebuild

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America BurningAs we emerge from the fires of last week’s riots here in the U.S., Europe finds itself in the throes of unrest. With three months of moderately-strict lockdown due to Covid-19, many had reached the limits of their self-containment. George Floyd’s death was the spark that ignited an inferno which would consume American cities all across the country. Like a wildfire it spread, making its way across the Atlantic to Northwestern Europe. And in the ashes of its destruction, good people have been devastated – emotionally, financially, and legally. Some have lost their lives, leaving behind grieving loved ones, and forcing every citizen to reflect on the full implications of their beliefs, their expectations, and their future.

Not one person has been left unaffected by the combined Covid-19 pandemic and weeks of civil unrest. Businesses remained closed, despite quarantine restrictions being lifted in the strictest U.S. states. And 36 million Americans have been left jobless as a result of Covid-19. Analysts have been uncertain as to how the country will recover following the coronavirus lock downs, but many believe that unless something is done to help homeowners and renters, defaults will be abundant as people scramble to put their lives back in order.

I have no uncertainty that we have stepped into a new world in 2020. What that world will shape into is anybody’s guess, but to think it will ever return to life as we’ve known it would be foolish. Of course, some elements will remain the same – technology will reign supreme, social media will be the place to gather news, information, and entertainment, and political polarization will lead to even greater divides between people. But what, if anything, might we look forward to: what ups-and-downs can we expect along the path of reconstruction? The most honest answer is it will depend on our focus.

TechObviously, different people want different things. Every person can have a version of the future they envision to some degree. I will explain this idea more fully in a bit. But right now exists opportunity to shape your world in the way you want it. Yes you can shape society too, but do not fall victim to the belief that you can do it against the will of others. To create lasting social change, the hearts and mind of the people must be won over. Let me encourage you to think of any lasting social change, and investigate how it was accomplished. Yes violence has happened in moments of societal change, but the violence itself was not the catalyst to the lasting change, it was the inspired movement of hearts and minds which led to the transformation. Gandhi won the hearts and minds of the people. Martin Luther King, Jr. won the hearts and minds of people. Even the American Revolutionaries won the hearts and minds of the people. Without aligning these energy centers to your vision, you will be unlikely to cause lasting change. One need only consider the long chain of military occupiers in Vietnam and the drawn out fighting there to understand what I mean about failing to win hearts and minds. If your vision is big, however, and it includes the most people, you will have a greater probability of creating lasting change. I cannot stress this factor enough: hearts and minds.

MLK Hearts and MindsWhen forging a path in this new world, it would be wise to focus on your highest values. Those things that act as drivers for your decisions – things you are inspired by daily – are what you should focus on and centralize in your vision. For some people it is family, for others it is service, and for even others it is the beauty of the world (artists, poets, musicians, mathematicians, etc.). There is certainly no right or wrong in this regard, other than the importance you give it to your mission. Simply put: A mission is a plan with a purpose. The purpose is the why you do what you do, while the mission is the vision.

A powerful vision is one that has a strong purpose behind it, allows the most people fulfillment of their values, and has a coherent, specific plan to make it happen. If one’s purpose is linked strongly to one’s values, one will be more likely to see it through. Many people inject other’s values into their endeavors, but they do not have the drive to ultimately carry things out. We are driven by our true values, and no matter how good another’s values sound, if you do not truly share them, you will peter out and lose drive. A vision which allows for the greatest numbers of people to fulfill their own values will be the most powerful and longest lasting. Civil rights is one of those visions: by ensuring that all people have a right to pursue and fulfill their values, in health, wealth and freedom, failure becomes impossible. Obstacles will arise, as in any endeavor, but ultimately, people will be inspired and driven to support freedom and justice for all. Finally, a vision is only as good as its implementation. You can envision all day long, but if you do nothing to make it happen, it will remain a daydream.  Constructing a specific plan which can be communicated coherently, so that others may become inspired by your vision, is the surest way to accomplishing your goals. You will forge your way in the new world most successfully by following the principles above. Purpose, vision, and fulfillment for the most people are the ingredients for a lasting legacy.

BalanceFinally, and most importantly, is to strive for balance – in your personal endeavors, as well as for the collective or greater good. Understand that regardless of your vision, you will face obstacles in that endeavor. Obstacles are not vision-killers; they are feedback mechanisms that are in place to guide you. Your vision will be shaped and refined by the obstacles you face…and overcome. To do so you may need to alter your plan a bit. You may need to learn more, or you may need to change beliefs or perspectives. I love to read biographies on the greats of humanity to get a sense of their obstacles, their solutions, and their evolution. You will have yours in your unique way. When attempting to elicit change that is resisted by others, try to find a middle ground. Believe it or not, it is possible to exist in coinciding realities with others – that is, many people can live in worlds of their making together, even when it seems that their worlds are diametrically opposed. Find the common ground. How do you get what you love while others get what they love? That may be the very challenge for you to figure out, but what a powerful vision that is. “All you need is love” is not some hokey song lyric, but a profound truth of all human beings: How do I get what I love while you get what you love…? Living in the extreme polarities of any human issue is volatile – it brings the most stress, the least cooperation, and the baddest blood to the table. Finding the center point and striving for a win-win is the greatest achievement one can have, with the highest possibility of longevity. Game theory, a mathematical study, shows unequivocally that people do better when working together.

The chaos of 2020 has been disruptive for most people to say the least. For many it appears, for now, devastating. But in chaos there is always a hidden order, one that allows for a reconfiguration of your life at the micro-level, but the entire world in the macro. There appears to be great opportunity at this time for enormous change, so take the time and invest the energy to create the world that you want to live in. It will not come easy – so do not take this as the walk-away message. Whatever you would love to see and experience in this new world will take great effort, but it will be worth it. If you can observe the principles I have outlined here, you stand the greatest chance of lasting success. People will follow your inspired message if they can see what is in it for them. What this means for most people is how it will allow them to fulfill their own mission, according to their life’s purpose, which, of course, is intertwined with their highest values. People are only fulfilled – that is, filled-up full – when they are allowed to pursue their dreams, in their way, at their pace. If your vision for the new world allows others to do this, it will be embraced by all.

Prepare Your Spiritual House: A Storm is Coming

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Prepare Your Spirit House (Copy)Religion and spirituality are two very different things. One is an organized set of rules by which to live cohesively with one’s fellow humans, while the other is a faith-based belief in a metaphysical reality which transcends the physical universe; and we can tap into this reality to come to know, understand and influence our roles within the matrix. Religion and spirituality are interdependent to a degree, but every individual can believe in – and thus operate within – one, the other, both, or neither. Depending on your viewpoint, your approach to life, particularly with regard to the unknown, is greatly influenced by your metaphysical beliefs.

I know people who believe our current quarantine (more accurately lockdown) is simply a dress rehearsal for what’s to come. This notion has a very distinct possibility. Apparent to many is that politics has been playing a major role in the lockdown: it can no longer be solely about a virus at this point when the numbers fail to support a continued lockdown. So I agree with the possibility of this being a precursor to a more disrupting event. I will not make any predictions here, but it will allow me the opportunity to discuss how to keep your mind and heart on the right track to navigate whatever unexpected happenings may ultimately come your way. One thing I am certain everyone can agree on is that we are in a very different world today than we were a few short months ago. And making sense of this new abnormal will require some thought and an ability to put things into proper perspective. A friend of mine has said that, along with getting your physical house in order (in the event of another long lockdown), wisdom would be in getting your Spiritual House in order as well.

Natural OrderFirst let me discuss things from an atheist’s perspective. Atheists believe that no metaphysical “power,” like God, exists. An atheist may or may not be a dualist – that is, have a belief in another realm, mind for instance, or spirit. An atheist may or may not be a physicalist either: one who believes solely in the physical universe. To the physicalist, mind or consciousness is merely an illusionary consequence of physical activity. While the atheist does not require faith in a metaphysical power, one may still have faith in the natural order of things, and by extension, a natural dynamism: as living beings, we create unseen forces which move world-wide events in space and time. This dynamic alone may be enough for the atheist to connect to what I am proposing.

Getting one’s Spiritual House in order might be for an atheist semantically unnecessary, as it may be enough for an atheist to simply keep a calm, cool head. What better than to direct one’s rational action with a clear mind? I would most definitively agree with this approach to facing the unknown; to me it is a valid strategy to simply balance the mind. But to do so successfully, one must be aware of all the looming potentialities. Create a game plan as to how you might approach each possible outcome (either good or bad). It will be imperative to first neutralize any emotionality you have surrounding each potential outcome. For example, if another lockdown could occur, it would be wise to list the ways in which this current lockdown has benefited you and others, but also how it has been detrimental. This will allow you to see how we adapt to every situation. What was life like before the lockdown? How has it changed since? List the ways in which things were previously detrimental to you. Do the same for how it served you. Make sure your lists are equal in number: keep things balanced, even if you have to dig into the depths of your mind for some time. Don’t give up. Do it for every potential pitfall you can think of: martial law, riots, or an even worse illness. This will help you face anything that might arise in the future.

ReligionReligion is the practice of living by an organized set of rules which will allow you to live cohesively with one another. Religion is a way of existing, a way of living. What we call morals typically derives from religion, as a set of principles by which to act, think, and believe. Many religious people are spiritual; however, spirituality is not absolute. Some people are raised within a religion, and may practice certain customs and rituals, but some may do so merely by rote or habit. Some historians have suggested that religion was a great way to control the masses, but things may not be as sinister as they sound. Religion is the foundation of many people’s morals, and it is by morals that people keep themselves in control. Some have suggested that society’s shift away from religion is the primary cause of what appears like increased chaos, although this point is debatable. I would argue, though, that religion is what has gotten many generations through their toughest times. Having a moral foundation, particularly when it is aligned with spirituality, can be enormously powerful for staying centered during crises, and keeping the faith to carry on. For the religious person, praying for awareness, guidance, and adaptability would be a worthwhile endeavor. And giving praise for what you have will bring your heart into alignment with the perfection of God.

Spirituality, as I have said, is a belief in something more than the mere physical. It is faith that a greater power exists, one to which the mind and heart can open, and thus bring awareness, guidance, and adaptation which every human craves. Spiritualists understand that everything exists in perfect, divine order; and as an integral part of this order, the individuated spirit-soul is also part of the future. We have a role to play in the dynamics of the matrix, so to trust in the universal order will bring the greatest sense of inner peace.

Spiritual HouseGetting one’s Spiritual House in order, then, is to connect to these greater truths and deeper realities. It does not matter your personal philosophy: when you balance your mind, neutralize your emotions, pray and give praise, and have faith in a divine order, then there is nothing you cannot conquer. Every crisis is surmountable when taking the wise actions I’ve laid out here. Some have even reported feeling divinely guided as they passed through their toughest times. To get your Spiritual House in order is to connect or reconnect with truth – you are a part of the grand divine organization. Whether that be God, nature, or some other force, it can only help you to align with it, even if just in thought. I promise that by getting your Spiritual House in order you will be prepared for whatever awaits you, both pleasant and unpleasant, in the future unknown.

How Drug Addiction is Simply a Limited Quest for Self II

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Part 2

Brain statesIn part one of this series, I discussed how former drug users might benefit physically by taking up a regular meditation program. I also touched on how former drug users are at an advantage when it comes to “finding the Self”, as the mind-altering action of some drugs approximates the deeper states of meditation. In this piece, I will address a few mental and inspirational elements that regular meditators enjoy, which will also help former drug users find what we are all ultimately looking for—a deeper connection to our true Selves—all while keeping them off dangerous drugs.

The Way I Cope

Drugs not only make the body feel good, they make the mind feel invincible. Amphetamines were given to World War II pilots as a way to keep them awake and alert on numerous sorties throughout the war. Even today, speed-like drugs are given to ADD-labeled children and adults to help them concentrate. Drugs do, in fact, enhance our mental capacities in the short-term. Whether talking stimulants for alertness and concentration, or the mind-expanding quality of hallucinogenics: the primary use of many recreational drugs is for altering mind-states.

Stress copingGoing within via meditation also alters consciousness states. As we deepen our meditative practices, we pass through states of consciousness that simulate dream states or even deep sleep (albeit consciously). It is for this reason that former drug users have a hand up on most non-users—they know what it feels like to pass through these varying stages of consciousness. When meditating, the former drug user will recognize and feel a sense of calm, ease and comfort passing through these stages. Call it an acquired skill to feel comfortable as one makes it through these transitions. The average person often must take several passes through a consciousness state to feel comfortable enough to allow it to happen on its own without a mental disruption or dispersion of the state.

From a mind perspective, meditation has also been shown to decrease anxiety—a godsend to anybody who uses, or has used, drugs at one time or another “to cope.” Studies have shown meditation increases stress adaptability as well. Or plainly, regular meditators handle stress better—one reason some people turn to drugs to begin with. Further, meditators have been found to feel less lonely. It is well known that loneliness is associated with increased incidence of illness and death. A regular meditation practice, then, goes a long way to preserve the psychological, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Finally, regular meditators have been found to have increased brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for executive function, while simultaneously decreasing activity in the amygdala, the area of emotional reaction. Executive function encompasses a number of mental processes, but put simply, this region is responsible for inhibiting emotional outbursts or impulsive behaviors. The amygdala, on the other hand, is the area where memory, decision-making and emotion work together to elicit quick responses. These two regions are regularly at odds with one another, balancing how we wish to act—venomous anger for example—with how we contain ourselves. The amygdala in teens, for instance, develops much more rapidly than the prefrontal cortex, leading to more reactionary decisions and impulsive behavior (one reason teens are at higher risk for accidents). But by meditating regularly, executive function is enhanced while reactionary amygdala function is depressed, and thus the practitioner becomes more poised and disciplined, thinking things through rather than exploding in unrestrained emotion.

The Voice I Hear

Woodstock-1969Some people have had spiritual experiences on drugs, as attendees at Woodstock or today’s raves might attest. This is because chemical substances acting on the brain can open doors to insights, compassion and even a feeling of “oneness,” things we ultimately all crave as human beings. For this reason, many habitual drug users return again and again to drugs to relive a temporary experience which we intuitively feel should be more permanent.

Users who have spiritual experiences are correct in their intuition—feelings of oneness are our birthright, and they should persist beyond the temporary high felt from drugs. The only way to tap into this eternal unity is by going within and awakening to the Self. While the term Self is actually interchangeable with many others—God, the absolute, the final reality, etc—it is incomplete and incapable of fully describing what yogis would call the source of all things. No matter which name you give it, this source is what we all truly want: reconnecting with the Self is the inner drive which underlies all human desire. And it is exactly this which is the basis for people turning to drugs.

When we uncover our true Selves, however, we concurrently uncover the bliss inherent in our source of being. Through this uncovering we come to realize that we exist in this material dimension (our form) for a purpose, and the deeper we go within, the stronger our realization of our life’s purpose becomes. But interestingly for the former drug user is that this realization also brings to light the purpose of the chosen path of substance abuse. Most people enter professions where they wish to make a difference, either in an area which they perceive themselves to have failed in the past, or in an area which they themselves have been helped. It is not surprising then that many former drug users, myself included, look to make a difference in the world of recovery—helping other addicts shake the illusions of the high drugs provide, and in finding the truth inherent in uncovering the Self.

Helping Drug AddictsRegular meditators have also been found to cultivate greater compassion—for themselves and others. Why is this important? Because it is so easy to beat oneself up for perceived mistakes one has made, and every other shame and guilt that comes along with drug addiction. Having compassion for one’s choices comes from a deep understanding that one receives as a result of going within. By understanding the greater purpose of our choices, we can open up to a world of gratitude for the life we have lived, and how it has lead us down our current inspired path. The highest service in life comes through giving from a place of compassion—the I-have-been-there-before state of empathy. Nobody can relate to this more than former drug users who have dedicated their lives to helping others, and this compassion is enhanced by a regular meditation practice.

Meditation has also been found to improve a person’s skill at introspection—the ability to reflect on one’s life and oneself mentally and emotionally. People who have a strong ability for introspection come to know themselves better, make better choices, and experience greater growth spurts emotionally and spiritually. As a consequence, meditation also opens the floodgates to inspiration, so creativity is enhanced as one quiets the mind of its incessant chatter and allows the Self to reflect unimpeded. Most creative geniuses have a way of tapping in—meditation is one surefire way to unleash our inherent potential and express creative genius. Start today to take advantage of this power we all possess.

OnenessPeople typically return to drugs to recreate an experience that brought them close to feeling the bliss of oneness with all things. That is because drugs open doors to states of consciousness which simulate stages we pass through along the path to union—the known deeper states of meditation. Drug-induced altered states of consciousness, however, are short-lived and they come with many unwanted side effects, most treacherously death. But what drug users are searching for is what all people ultimately search for: the bliss that comes from awakening to our true Selves. While many paths to the Self exist, meditation is time-tested and proven; its effects are long-term, and its many changes are permanent. Drugs will never bring the seeker what he or she is looking for, because like all external experiences, they are transitory and illusory by nature. Only by going within and uncovering the true Self will an individual find what he instinctively seeks: union with the entire universe. Meditation is a tool available to all of us—rich, poor, young, old, male or female—to bring us in-touch with our true essence, while enhancing our lives in body, mind and spirit. But even more astoundingly, former drug users may be at an advantage as they have experience in passing through various altered states in which the average, non-drug user is not so immediately comfortable. These reasons seem overwhelmingly encouraging for those in recovery to take on a meditation practice. Turn on and tune in, if you will, and you will find exactly what you have always been looking for.

Caution: How Winning the Lottery Is Hazardous

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Lottery winner“Dr. Campos,” the office manager said in her best business voice, “Would you like to contribute ten dollars to the office lottery pool?”

Ugh…we aren’t going to win. Greater chance of getting struck by lightning, twice! But I couldn’t stand to let my colleagues get rich without me, not for ten dollars…so I bought in.

I am relieved we did not win. It is not that I am above the fantasy…but I know something: Nobody unprepared to handle such a massive sum of money will keep it for long, or at the very least, the work it takes to manage a jackpot will stagger them. Very few people realize this fact, but many lottery winners rue the day they hit the numbers.

“You know, my wife had said she wished that she had torn the ticket up. Well, I wish that we had torn the ticket up too.” ~ Jack Whittaker, West Virginia, Powerball lottery jackpot winner, $315 million

BlingSpending sprees are the first order of business. Gotta buy the bling, and the houses, and the boa constrictors, and the stripper pole…you know, lottery-winner necessities. But ask any big-name athlete or celeb who has squandered away millions (Mike Tyson, Michael Jackson), it goes fast…like water through the fingertips if you are not careful. About 70 percent of people who suddenly receive a windfall of cash will lose it within a few years, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education.

Today, after spending almost all her winnings — “big house, fancy cars, designer clothes, lavish parties exotic trips, handouts to family, loans to friends” — [Sharon Tirabassi] is back in the working class: riding the bus, working part-time, living in a rented house.

But not just the spending, the people coming out of the woodworks with hands outstretched. Numerous lottery winners talk about friends and family who have come asking for assistance, only to get offended if the new millionaires say no or ignore their calls. On Good Friday 2004, Sharon Tirabassi and her sister, Shavaughn, walked to a variety store to buy lottery tickets.  Shavaughn also wanted a renters’ guide, but at the first store there were none, so they moved on without buying tickets. Next store, same thing, no renters’ guides. They continued walking for several blocks, entered the third store, where Shavaughn grabbed a renters’ guide. She went to the counter and bought a Super Seven ticket. Sharon followed and bought her ticket.

When Sharon won the $10 million lotto, Shavaughn believed it was because of herself; it was her wanting the renter’s guide (and purchasing two random pick tickets before Sharon) that allowed Sharon to be in the right place at the right time. Without Shavaughn, there would be no lottery winnings. For this reason, Shavaughn thought she deserved a payout. Sharon gave her $500K. Shavaughn wanted more. Today the sisters no longer speak.

“I had to endure the greed and the need that people have, trying to get you to release your money to them. That caused a lot of emotional pain. These are people who you’ve loved deep down, and they’re turning into vampires trying to suck the life out of me.” ~ Sandra Hayes, split $224 million Powerball jackpot with a dozen co-workers in 2006

outstretched handsBesides the challenges of managing newly acquired wealth, many lottery winners make grave mistakes which affect their psychology and support networks. Some cut contact with old friends, family and their familiar neighborhood in order to move among the rich in a fantasy paradise. New neighbors are often not friendly to the ‘nouveau riche’ and as a result lotto winners have difficulty with social integration.

But the most macabre outcome for a number lottery winners is the death that seems to follow after hitting the jackpot. Take young Craigory Burch Jr., 20-year-old forklift driver-turned-lottery winner, who won nearly half a million dollars in Georgia; he did not live long to enjoy his winnings, as he was killed in a home invasion last month, only two months after purchasing a winning ticket.

Abraham Shakespeare Or take the story of Abraham Shakespeare of Sebring, Florida, $30 million lottery jackpot winner, found murdered and buried under a slab of cement in the backyard of his new lady acquaintance’s home.

Or Jack Whitaker, our $315 million jackpot winner from West Virginia, whose granddaughter was found dead, wrapped in a plastic sheet, dumped behind a junked van. The cause of death listed as ‘unknown’, but likely due to her drug lifestyle which Whittaker says is a direct result of his lottery winnings. He believes the Powerball win had become a curse upon his family. “My granddaughter is dead because of the money,” he said.

According to a 2009 study by the Paris School of Economics, sudden windfalls can in fact increase one’s risk of death.

“Positive individual income shocks produce changes in lifestyles which may well be prejudicial to health. Exogenously higher income“—that is, wealth that comes, poof, out of the blue—”produces unhealthy living.” ~ Anneli Rufus, Lotto Death Curse

Out Of MoneyAdd 46-year-old Urooj Khan, who was found poisoned with cyanide following a $1 million jackpot win. And 47-year-old Deborah McDonald who was run over by a car near Sandusky, Ohio, after leaving a bar where she had been celebrating her win on the Ohio Lottery’s official TV show. And the bus in 2003, carrying a group of Germans, which overturned, killing 28—they were on a trip to Spain that they had won in a lottery. And the list goes on and on…

No I am grateful that neither me nor my colleagues hit the numbers last month. We are here to provide service to the world, and any windfall of big-time money is not going to get us there; it will serve the least amount of people—not the staff, not the clients, and not the community. I played the game for $10 to stay cohesive with my mates, but in the end I had to sigh a big, fat, “Phew…” Tragedy prevented by mathematical improbability. And on to play another day.

Copyright © 2013 Dr. Nick Campos - All Rights Reserved.