I am very happy to share
today's ideas with you
and I'd like to start
by raising
the question
Is there
such a thing as spiritual healing?
If there is such a thing
as spiritual healing, how does it work? And
is this the future
of well-being,
of longevity
and healthspan and joy
and enlightenment?
So let's start with
possibly
the scientific basis of
spiritual healing.
So I go back to a phrase from the
Vedantic literature,
the Upanishads,
Ayurveda, Indian spiritual
traditions, wisdom traditions.
However you want to call it.
And the phrase says,
if you want to know
what you were, what
your experiences were in the past,
then look at your body now.
If you want to look,
know what the body will look like
in the future.
Then observe your experiences
and choose your experiences
consciously, now.
So what does that mean?
Okay.
This means
that experience
is metabolized
into what we call
the appearance of the brain.
And the body experience
is metabolized,
but experience is complicated.
So first there is, you know,
what we call let's call it
direct experience.
And direct experience
is just sensations,
images, feelings and thoughts.
But then there's
the constructed experience.
You take the sensations,
images, feelings and thoughts,
and you construct
the idea
of objects
and all of that.
Everything,
everything that we look at.
Look at that statue behind me.
Okay, That's Shiva
dancing on a snake.
Okay.
But the direct experience
as I look at it is shape.
If I touch it, it's hard
steel, you know, iron...
if I touch it.
So touching the touching of that
statue is hardness.
The visual
experience is color.
Now, of course, I could taste it
and smell it and bang it
and produce all the five
sensory experiences that we have sound,
touch, sight, distance, math.
But the fact that I call it
a statue of Shiva is a human construct.
So what is that?
That's a human construct
for the alchemy of sensation.
I've said this many times,
I feel almost like redundant.
But that statue
and everything else that you see, are
human constructs, including me
and the body
that you are using to look
at this screen
and everything else happening.
So in Eastern
wisdom traditions,
the experience
and the
interpretation of
experience is called karma.
And karma is also
memory.
You know, we had experiences.
We interpreted them,
and now we have memories,
memories, information.
And then this information
actually recycles
as experience again in the future.
Karma, memory and desire.
That's the
classic
orthodox explanation of karma.
It's not, you know,
good and bad or all of that.
It's just experience
and how we interpreted it.
Let me give you an example.
We went to Disney World, you and I,
and I enjoyed the ride
and you did not.
Okay,
So now we have
different memories of that experience.
I might go to Disney
World again and pay for it,
for the jitteriness of the experience
and you may decide never to go again.
In fact,
you're scared with
the same experience because
in an airplane.
But because I interpret
the airplane ride
the same way as I interpret
the Disney World
ride, I am happy, I enjoy it.
So that's called Karma.
Karma is
the metabolism of experience,
the interpretation
of experience,
the memory
of the experience,
the information
generated by the experience
and the choices made in the future
as a result of the interpretation of
the experience.
Karma, memory and desire,
are the software of our souls.
Okay, I'm going to ignore that call.
So that's another experience.
Okay, so now we actually
look at some of the developments
in science.
And one of the most interesting
developments in science
is what we call epigenetics.
Okay.
And what does epigenetics suggest?
Epigenetic suggests that
our experiences
influence
genetic activities
that our bodies
then use
to metabolize experience
into the molecules of a body,
literally.
Epigenetics, I'll repeat, suggests
that experience influences
genetic activities and that our bodies
are the metabolism of experience
and experiences and their interpretion.
Epigenetics is the study
of how environmental
factors can change gene expression
without changing the underlying
DNA sequence.
This means
that our genes are not fixed
and can be
influenced by experiences.
So now there's
growing body of evidence
and a growing body of research
that shows how epigenetic changes
can be caused by factors
such as stress, diet, exercise,
exposure to toxins.
There are
epigenetic switches that go on and off.
Based on the experience
we're having.
Literally switches.
Of course,
there are
chemical bases for these switches
called methylation,
demethylation etc..
These changes
can then affect the way our
genes are expressed
and that in turn influences
our health, our behavior,
and even our personality.
For example, studies have shown
that children who experience early
childhood trauma are more likely
to develop epigenetic changes
that increase the risk of diseases
for diseases such as severe heart
disease, obesity, depression
and many other chronic illnesses.
Conversely, studies have also shown
that positive
experiences such as a supportive
and nurturing childhood
can lead to epigenetic changes
that promote health and well-being.
The idea that our bodies
are metabolism
of experience is relatively new.
Although, by the way,
I've been talking
about it for 30 years,
literally, the metabolism of
experience.
And people rolled their eyes up.
But needless to say, the time
for understanding this is here.
So all this suggests that
our bodies
are the metabolism of experience, a
relatively new idea
which is gaining increasing support
from scientific research.
The research suggests that
our genes are not the only factors
that determine
our health and well-being.
Our experiences
play a role in these experiences
can literally change
the way our genes are expressed.
This is a powerful
reminder that we are not simply
the victims of our genes.
We have the power to influence
our own health
and well-being by making choices
that promote positive
epigenetic changes.
These choices include eating
a healthy diet, exercising
regularly, managing stress
and getting enough sleep.
So this is all well known.
In addition to these lifestyle
choice choices, we can also support
positive epigenetic changes
by creating a nurturing
and supportive environment
for ourselves and for our children.
This means providing them with love,
acceptance and opportunities
to learn and grow.
The field of
epigenetics is,
of course, is still new,
but it is expanding rapidly
and expanding our understanding
of how our genes and experiences
interact to influence
our health and well-being.
The research has the potential
to revolutionize our approach
to medicine and psychology,
and it is giving new hope
to preventing and treating disease.
But now
the question is,
can we go a little bit deeper?
So is all experience
in consciousness?
Is the experience in the brain
or is the brain also an experience
and neuroplasticity
and neurogenesis and up to Genesis
and epigenetics all suggest
that the brain
is not the source of experience.
It represents the
neural correlates of experience.
So it is actually even the brain,
the landscape of the brain
is an expression of experience,
even the landscape of the brain.
Because the
landscape of the brain is
and is
through genetics and epigenetics,
just like the body. So what is the brain?
What is the body?
Also the metabolism of experience.
I would say that the brain is
created by genes, but it is sculpted
by experience.
But now,
let us define what
we mean by
experience
is processed,
metabolized in consciousness.
Where are you having this experience
right now,
and what is it doing to your brain
and your body?
So the experience you are having
right now is not in your brain.
It's not in your body.
Okay?
The experience
you're having right
now is in your consciousness.
And then, of course, in your mind,
which is a modified
form of
consciousness, the mind is
conditioned consciousness.
So that's where the
experience is happening.
And so the experience
is not happening in
anything that we call local.
The experience doesn't really have
a location in
space-time and I define
consciousness, awareness, spirit,
soul, as all
one entity
and the mind and the brain
and the body and the world
has differentiated
modes
of that fundamental reality,
which is pure consciousness,
infinite possibilities,
nonlocal correlation,
uncertainty, principle,
unpredictable, creative,
self-organizing things,
self-regulating, and self evolving.
So if we understand
that consciousness
as awareness of oneself
and the world around us, then
of course,
all experience is in consciousness.
This is because experience is simply
the way we perceive and interact
with the world around us
and actually
also how we interact
with our own selves.
Everything that we see,
hear, smell, touch and think is part
of conscious experience.
So consciousness is the subjective
experience of being aware
experiences,
the processing of being aware.
Consciousness is the filter
through which we experience
the world.
Experience is the raw material
that consciousness produces,
manufactures.
Consciousness
is where we have all experience.
Consciousness is where we know
all experience.
Consciousness is where we interpret
all experience.
And consciousness is into
which experience subsides eternally.
And now.
In other words,
the ground of all
experience is pure consciousness.
So what is the
future of well-being and longevity?
First, it is to choose experiences
that we know will
create a joyful, energetic body,
a loving, compassionate heart,
a clear
mind, creative mind
and lightness of being.
And everything I have listed
is important for that.
Sleep, managing stress,
vagal stimulation, mind-body
coordination, exercise,
emotions,
good nutrition
and biological rhythms,
maintaining biological rhythms.
All of this is not new,
but I'm going a little further.
The best way
for spiritual healing
or consciousness based healing,
longevity
and healthspan the best...
but, it'll take you
time to get there...
is the experience we call
choiceless awareness,
witnessing awareness.
But there's something
beyond that.
And that is
even when the witness drops,
when the witness drops, there's
no subject-object
split and
you have returned to the source.
This in yoga is called Samadhi.
So Dharna,
which is focused
awareness
and intention.
In this case,
the intention is healthspan
longevity, healing, well-being,
Dharna, Dhyana, meditation,
maintaining that flow
and then Samadhi, transcendence,
subject-object split become one.
This is choiceless
awareness,
pure being,
fundamental reality.
And this, my friends,
is the future of well-being,
longevity, health
and well-being.
I'd love to know
your thoughts on this.