I don't think about death much, unless I'm specifically invited to, which is the case today. I have an actor friend who thinks about death a lot, because that is how he makes himself project mournfulness to an audience when mournfulness is called for onstage. He remembers a death. I don't console myself with the idea that my descendants and my books and all that will live on. Anybody with any sense knows that the whole Solar System will go up like a celluloid collar by-and-by. I honestly believe, though, that we are wrong to think that moments go away, never to be see again. This moment, and every moment, lasts forever.
May 1972
Kurt Vonnegut novelist and playwright
NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
Reading tips from the Internet, I got this useful list where I personally follow some of it to help me sort of improve my day to day life. Read through it and just follow the things you want to believe. Remember, each person has his/her own needs/wants/beliefs.
- Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
- Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
- Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
- When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, ‘My purpose is to __________ today.’
- Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
- Play more games and read more books than you did last year.
- Make time to practice meditation, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
- Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
- Dream more while you are awake.
- Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured industrially.
- Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds and walnuts.
- Try to make at least three people smile each day.
- Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.
- Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, OR issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
- Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
- Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
- Smile and laugh more. It will keep the negative blues away.
- Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
- Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
- Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
- You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
- Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
- Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
- No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
- Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?’
- Forgive everyone for everything.
- What other people think of you is none of your business.
- Remember God heals everything.
- However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
- Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
- Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
- Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
- The best is yet to come.
- No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
- Do the right thing!
- Call your family often.
- Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for _______. Today I accomplished ____.
- Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed. Enjoy the ride.
- Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don’t want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.
- Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can’t change.
A NEW POOH
“Because it’s a nice day,” said Pooh.
“But you could be doing something Important,” I said.
“I am,” said Pooh.
“Oh? Doing what?”
“Listening,”he said.
“Listening to what?”
“To the birds. And that squirrel over there.”
“What are they saying?” I asked.
“That it’s a nice day,” said Pooh.
“But you know that already,” I said.
“Yes, but it’s always good to hear that somebody else thinks so, too,” he said.
From The Tao of Pooh
The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts
The Bible tells us that God created Adam and Eve just a few thousand years ago, by some fundamentalist interpretations. Science informs us that this is mere fiction and that man is a few million years old, and that civilization just tens of thousands of years old. Could it be, however, that conventional science is just as mistaken as the Bible stories? There is a great deal of archaeological evidence that the history of life on earth might be far different than what current geological and anthropological texts tell us. Consider these astonishing finds:
The Grooved Spheres
The Dropa Stones
In 1938, an archaeological expedition led by Dr. Chi Pu Tei into the Baian-Kara-Ula mountains of China made an astonishing discovery in some caves that had apparently been occupied by some ancient culture. Buried in the dust of ages on the cave floor were hundreds of stone disks. Measuring about nine inches in diameter, each had a circle cut into the center and was etched with a spiral groove, making it look for all the world like some ancient phonograph record some 10,000 to 12,000 years old. The spiral groove, it turns out, is actually composed of tiny hieroglyphics that tell the incredible story of spaceships from some distant world that crash-landed in the mountains. The ships were piloted by people who called themselves the Dropa, and the remains of whose descendants, possibly, were found in the cave.
The Ica Stones
Beginning in the 1930s, the father of Dr. Javier Cabrera, Cultural Anthropologist for Ica, Peru, discovered many hundreds of ceremonial burial stones in the tombs of the ancient Incas. Dr. Cabrera, carrying on his father’s work, has collected more than 1,100 of these andesite stones, which are estimated to be between 500 and 1,500 years old and have become known collectively as the Ica Stones. The stones bear etchings, many of which are sexually graphic (which was common to the culture), some picture idols and others depict such practices as open-heart surgery and brain transplants. The most astonishing etchings, however, clearly represent dinosaurs - brontosaurs, triceratops (see photo), stegosaurus and pterosaurs. While skeptics consider the Ica Stones a hoax, their authenticity has neither been proved or disproved.
The Antikythera Mechanism
A perplexing artifact was recovered by sponge-divers from a shipwreck in 1900 off the coast of Antikythera, a small island that lies northwest of Crete. The divers brought up from the wreck a great many marble and and bronze statues that had apparently been the ship’s cargo. Among the findings was a hunk of corroded bronze that contained some kind of mechanism composed of many gears and wheels. Writing on the case indicated that it was made in 80 B.C., and many experts at first thought it was an astrolabe, an astronomer’s tool. An x-ray of the mechanism, however, revealed it to be far more complex, containing a sophisticated system of differential gears. Gearing of this complexity was not known to exist until 1575! It is still unknown who constructed this amazing instrument 2,000 years ago or how the technology was lost.
The Baghdad Battery
Today batteries can be found in any grocery, drug, convenience and department store you come across. Well, here’s a battery that’s 2,000 years old! Known as the Baghdad Battery, this curiosity was found in the ruins of a Parthian village believed to date back to between 248 B.C. and 226 A.D. The device consists of a 5-1/2-inch high clay vessel inside of which was a copper cylinder held in place by asphalt, and inside of that was an oxidized iron rod. Experts who examined it concluded that the device needed only to be filled with an acid or alkaline liquid to produce an electric charge. It is believed that this ancient battery might have been used for electroplating objects with gold. If so, how was this technology lost... and the battery not rediscovered for another 1,800 years?
The Coso Artifact
While mineral hunting in the mountains of California near Olancha during the winter of 1961, Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey and Mike Mikesell found a rock, among many others, that they thought was a geode - a good addition for their gem shop. Upon cutting it open, however, Mikesell found an object inside that seemed to be made of white porcelain. In the center was a shaft of shiny metal. Experts estimated that it should have taken about 500,000 years for this fossil-encrusted nodule to form, yet the object inside was obviously of sophisticated human manufacture. Further investigation revealed that the porcelain was surround by a hexagonal casing, and an x-ray revealed a tiny spring at one end. Some who have examined the evidence say it looks very much like a modern-day spark plug. How did it get inside a 500,000-year-old rock?
Ancient Model Aircraft
There are artifacts belonging to ancient Egyptian and Central American cultures that look amazingly like modern-day aircraft. The Egyptian artifact, found in a tomb at Saqquara, Egypt in 1898, is a six-inch wooden object that strongly resembles a model airplane, with fuselage, wings and tail. Experts believe the object is so aerodynamic that it is actually able to glide. The small object discovered in Central America (shown at right), and estimated to be 1,000 years old, is made of gold and could easily be mistaken for a model of a delta-wing aircraft - or even the Space Shuttle. It even features what looks like a pilot’s seat.
Giant Stone Balls of Costa Rica
Workmen hacking and burning their way through the dense jungle of Costa Rica to clear an area for banana plantations in the 1930s stumbled upon some incredible objects: dozens of stone balls, many of which were perfectly spherical. They varied in size from as small as a tennis ball to an astonishing 8 feet in diameter and weighing 16 tons! Although the great stone balls are clearly man-made, it is unknown who made them, for what purpose and, most puzzling, how they achieved such spherical precision.
Impossible Fossils
Fossils, as we learned in grade school, appear in rocks that were formed many thousands of years ago. Yet there are a number of fossils that just don’t make geological or historical sense. A fossil of a human hand print, for example, was found in limestone estimated to be 110 million years old. What appears to be a fossilized human finger found in the Canadian Arctic also dates back 100 to 110 million years ago. And what appears to be the fossil of a human footprint, possibly wearing a sandal, was found near Delta, Utah in a shale deposit estimated to be 300 million to 600 million years old.
Out-of-Place Metal Objects
Humans were not even around 65 million years ago, never mind people who could work metal. So then how does science explain semi-ovoid metallic tubes dug out of 65-million-year-old Cretaceous chalk in France? In 1885, a block of coal was broken open to find a metal cube obviously worked by intelligent hands. In 1912, employees at an electric plant broke apart a large chunk of coal out of which fell an iron pot! A nail was found embedded in a sandstone block from the Mesozoic Era. And there are many, many more such anomalies.
The Grooved Spheres
The Dropa Stones
In 1938, an archaeological expedition led by Dr. Chi Pu Tei into the Baian-Kara-Ula mountains of China made an astonishing discovery in some caves that had apparently been occupied by some ancient culture. Buried in the dust of ages on the cave floor were hundreds of stone disks. Measuring about nine inches in diameter, each had a circle cut into the center and was etched with a spiral groove, making it look for all the world like some ancient phonograph record some 10,000 to 12,000 years old. The spiral groove, it turns out, is actually composed of tiny hieroglyphics that tell the incredible story of spaceships from some distant world that crash-landed in the mountains. The ships were piloted by people who called themselves the Dropa, and the remains of whose descendants, possibly, were found in the cave.
The Ica Stones
Beginning in the 1930s, the father of Dr. Javier Cabrera, Cultural Anthropologist for Ica, Peru, discovered many hundreds of ceremonial burial stones in the tombs of the ancient Incas. Dr. Cabrera, carrying on his father’s work, has collected more than 1,100 of these andesite stones, which are estimated to be between 500 and 1,500 years old and have become known collectively as the Ica Stones. The stones bear etchings, many of which are sexually graphic (which was common to the culture), some picture idols and others depict such practices as open-heart surgery and brain transplants. The most astonishing etchings, however, clearly represent dinosaurs - brontosaurs, triceratops (see photo), stegosaurus and pterosaurs. While skeptics consider the Ica Stones a hoax, their authenticity has neither been proved or disproved.
The Antikythera Mechanism
A perplexing artifact was recovered by sponge-divers from a shipwreck in 1900 off the coast of Antikythera, a small island that lies northwest of Crete. The divers brought up from the wreck a great many marble and and bronze statues that had apparently been the ship’s cargo. Among the findings was a hunk of corroded bronze that contained some kind of mechanism composed of many gears and wheels. Writing on the case indicated that it was made in 80 B.C., and many experts at first thought it was an astrolabe, an astronomer’s tool. An x-ray of the mechanism, however, revealed it to be far more complex, containing a sophisticated system of differential gears. Gearing of this complexity was not known to exist until 1575! It is still unknown who constructed this amazing instrument 2,000 years ago or how the technology was lost.
The Baghdad Battery
Today batteries can be found in any grocery, drug, convenience and department store you come across. Well, here’s a battery that’s 2,000 years old! Known as the Baghdad Battery, this curiosity was found in the ruins of a Parthian village believed to date back to between 248 B.C. and 226 A.D. The device consists of a 5-1/2-inch high clay vessel inside of which was a copper cylinder held in place by asphalt, and inside of that was an oxidized iron rod. Experts who examined it concluded that the device needed only to be filled with an acid or alkaline liquid to produce an electric charge. It is believed that this ancient battery might have been used for electroplating objects with gold. If so, how was this technology lost... and the battery not rediscovered for another 1,800 years?
The Coso Artifact
While mineral hunting in the mountains of California near Olancha during the winter of 1961, Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey and Mike Mikesell found a rock, among many others, that they thought was a geode - a good addition for their gem shop. Upon cutting it open, however, Mikesell found an object inside that seemed to be made of white porcelain. In the center was a shaft of shiny metal. Experts estimated that it should have taken about 500,000 years for this fossil-encrusted nodule to form, yet the object inside was obviously of sophisticated human manufacture. Further investigation revealed that the porcelain was surround by a hexagonal casing, and an x-ray revealed a tiny spring at one end. Some who have examined the evidence say it looks very much like a modern-day spark plug. How did it get inside a 500,000-year-old rock?
Ancient Model Aircraft
There are artifacts belonging to ancient Egyptian and Central American cultures that look amazingly like modern-day aircraft. The Egyptian artifact, found in a tomb at Saqquara, Egypt in 1898, is a six-inch wooden object that strongly resembles a model airplane, with fuselage, wings and tail. Experts believe the object is so aerodynamic that it is actually able to glide. The small object discovered in Central America (shown at right), and estimated to be 1,000 years old, is made of gold and could easily be mistaken for a model of a delta-wing aircraft - or even the Space Shuttle. It even features what looks like a pilot’s seat.
Giant Stone Balls of Costa Rica
Workmen hacking and burning their way through the dense jungle of Costa Rica to clear an area for banana plantations in the 1930s stumbled upon some incredible objects: dozens of stone balls, many of which were perfectly spherical. They varied in size from as small as a tennis ball to an astonishing 8 feet in diameter and weighing 16 tons! Although the great stone balls are clearly man-made, it is unknown who made them, for what purpose and, most puzzling, how they achieved such spherical precision.
Impossible Fossils
Fossils, as we learned in grade school, appear in rocks that were formed many thousands of years ago. Yet there are a number of fossils that just don’t make geological or historical sense. A fossil of a human hand print, for example, was found in limestone estimated to be 110 million years old. What appears to be a fossilized human finger found in the Canadian Arctic also dates back 100 to 110 million years ago. And what appears to be the fossil of a human footprint, possibly wearing a sandal, was found near Delta, Utah in a shale deposit estimated to be 300 million to 600 million years old.
Out-of-Place Metal Objects
Humans were not even around 65 million years ago, never mind people who could work metal. So then how does science explain semi-ovoid metallic tubes dug out of 65-million-year-old Cretaceous chalk in France? In 1885, a block of coal was broken open to find a metal cube obviously worked by intelligent hands. In 1912, employees at an electric plant broke apart a large chunk of coal out of which fell an iron pot! A nail was found embedded in a sandstone block from the Mesozoic Era. And there are many, many more such anomalies.
- What are we to make of these finds? There are several possibilities:
- Intelligent humans date back much, much further than we realize.
- Other intelligent beings and civilizations existed on earth far beyond our recorded history.
- Our dating methods are completely inaccurate, and that stone, coal and fossils form much more rapidly than we now estimate.
In any case, these examples - and there are many more - should prompt any curious and open-minded scientist to reexamine and rethink the true history of life on earth.
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO WALTER LAST
Walter Last is a well-known writer and researcher of health issues. The "Heal Yourself" books are based on sound procedure aimed towards achieving better general health and overcoming disease. They are the culmination of many years of research into natural methods of healing.
Walter Last combines the training and work experience of Research Chemist Biochemist and Toxicologist with that of Practicing Nutritionist and Natural Therapist.
He was born and grew up in Germany and has held positions in medical institutions at the Universities of Greifswald, Cologne and Munich, working in research and toxicological investigations. He was Chief Forensic Chemist at Cologne and worked at Bio-Science Laboratories in Los Angeles.
In 1970 he settled in New Zealand and dissatisfied with drug-based medicine practiced as a Natural Therapist. He has lived in Queensland since 1981 and has investigated and experimented with a wide range of natural therapies to improve the effectiveness of natural medicine in treating serious and medically incurable diseases.
Walter Last is the author of “Heal Yourself”, “Healing Foods” and “The Natural Way To Heal - 65 Ways to Create Superior Health”, and is the main contributor to the “Self Help Cancer Cure” book. He is a regular contributor to “Nexus” magazine and his latest books are the “Heal Yourself” Series. His website is at http://www.health-science-spirit.com/
Walter Last has spent almost 40 years researching health issues.
His knowledge is based on sound scientific principals and up-to-date information on the causes and ‘cures’ of diseases, especially the number of metabolic illnesses which beset society today. Walter Last is constantly updating his articles and books as new research is carried out and new discoveries are made. His articles are regularly featured in NEXUS magazine worldwide as well as in various other publications.
The main objective of these books is to increase each individual’s knowledge of the functioning of their own bodies and the gradual transition to a more healthy state with the use of natural therapies. This is of benefit in helping to avoid various drugs, many of which merely ‘mask’ the illness. These methods have been proven to be extremely effective for a great many people. Perseverance is the key. Of course, this is not the path for everyone, as it takes dedication and patience. This is different to normal drugs which work almost instantly to relieve symptoms, but which do not necessarily cure. The aim is to bring the body and the immune system back to a state where a ‘cure’ follows as a natural consequence.
Naturally, for any serious disease, or if you are unsure of a particular course of action, seek the help of a competent health professional. Good luck with your efforts!
If you are interested in supplements and natural cures you might want to visit the website that offers the products listed here.http://www.strideintohealth.com/
Our products can be part of your search for a healthier life.
- Lugol’s Solution: an Iodine solution in a perfect combination of iodine and potassium iodide helps with fungal infections like Candida and other microorganisms and the health of the thyroid gland
- MMS (Miracle Mineral Solution): is great for killing off parasites, viruses bacteria and other microorganisms, especially in the blood stream.
- Magnesium oil: is fast becoming the greatest magnesium supplement on the market. It doesn’t need the digestive tract to be absorbed into the body, making it 100% bio-available to tissue.
- Olive leaf: is one of the best parasite and other microorganism killers and best used after Lugol’s and either by itself or together with MMS. Also excellent for colds and other immune conditions, and strengthening of the heart.
- Colostrum (20% IgG): has long been known to be the greatest supporter and enhancer of the immune system. This is the stuff babies strive on right after birth.
- MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane): a sulphur compound found in abundance in nature, however, processing, storing and cooking food destroys the essential MSM sulphur. Without MSM varying illnesses may develop.
- N-Acetyl Glucosamine (NAG): is vital for the strength and health of connective tissue. In the N-Acetyl form it is easier absorbed and stays in the blood stream longer.
- N-Acetyl Carnitine: is more bioavailable and brain active than L Caritine. This makes it superior for neurological tissue, memory, concentration and enhances fat utilization and energy production.
- Fungal Lipase: a fat splitting enzyme is often missing in our diet. Heating food destroys lipase and inhibits fat metabolism. Our Lipase is one of the strongest on the market.
- Gorgeous Greens: A combination of Wheat and Barley grass, Spirulina, Alfalfa and Chlorella
- Copper Salicylate: is the strongest copper combination for inflammation. In combination with either MSM or Magnesium oil it is easily absorbed through the skin.
- Magnet Pack: Effective in relieving pain and inflammation.
- Organic Plant Minerals: are the natural way to improve your mineral balance. Extracted from ancient earth they have all the needed mineral and trace minerals for health and wellbeing. Minerals are the spark of life.
- Potassium Citrate: Nature’s alkalizer. Helping to restore the acid/alkaline balance.
- Liver Detox Mix: For Liver detox and support
God I Am: A book by Peter O. Erbe
How to get into the Wellness Zone: By Barbara Bourke
HEALING ENVIRONMENTS -- THE LABYRINTH
The Evolution of the Labyrinth into A Spiritual Healing Tool
Victoria Stone, StoneCircle Principle Victoria Stone, M.P.H., Allied A.S.I.D.
The labyrinth is an ancient circular mandala pattern found in cultures throughout the world. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has only one path that leads to a center and out again. The oldest labyrinth pattern was discovered on stone tablets in Greece and traced back to 1200 BC. The labyrinth is associated with the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur, a beast that was half man and half bull, imprisoned at the center of a labyrinth by King Minos of Crete.
The labyrinth is a pattern whose meaning is expressed on both conscious and unconscious levels. Its shape, the circle, is a universal symbol of wholeness and unity. Its meandering path is a metaphor for the path of life. According to the psychologist Carl Jung, the labyrinth pattern is an archetypal image of the psyche. Walking the labyrinth path leads each of us to our own center.
The labyrinth’s use as a spiritual tool dates back to the 13th century when it was placed in the floors of Gothic cathedrals in Europe. There it was walked by Christian pilgrims as a symbolic pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This is where the roots of the labyrinth as a walking meditation are found. The most famous labyrinth in Europe is in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France.
In 1991 Reverend Lauren Artress, Ph.D., Canon Pastor of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, introduced the labyrinth to her congregation for the purpose of creating a bridge of understanding between the traditional church and nontraditional forms of spirituality. The labyrinth walk became a popular event with members and non-members alike. Over the years Dr. Artress has taken her portable labyrinth to churches and conferences throughout the country. She has presented it as a spiritual tool that can help heal the split between reason and imagination, thought and feeling, psyche and spirit.
Grace Cathedral now has two permanent labyrinth walks available to the public. The cathedral has found that many of the people who come to walk the labyrinth do so as a result of a health crisis, either their own or a loved one’s. The labyrinth has begun to be used as a tool to support the inner healing journey.
Medical science is beginning to acknowledge, and conduct research on, the role spiritual faith and practice plays in the health and healing process. While the spiritual component of healing is becoming recognized, there are few tools currently available that provide this type of support for patients, families, medical staff and the community. The experience at Grace Cathedral has demonstrated the labyrinth’s potential to meet this need. By taking the labyrinth out of a religious setting, and placing it in a non-denominational healing environment, people of all faiths and religious traditions will have an opportunity to experience the spiritual support it provides when facing a serious health problem.
In June 1997 StoneCircle installed a labyrinth walk at the entrance to California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. This is the first labyrinth to be placed in a health care institution. Since that time there has been a very positive response on the part of patients, medical center staff and the surrounding community. In the medical center setting the labyrinth walk becomes as a holistic healing tool, a mind, body, prayer path. It is an experience that honors the whole person. With its holistic nature and simplicity of use, the labyrinth is an excellent tool for integrating spiritual self-care into a health care setting.
StoneCircle is currently consulting with medical centers, health care providers and community organizations across the country in response to their interest in the labyrinth as a spiritual healing tool. Our goal is to create a bridge between the spiritual and health care communities and to use the labyrinth to help reunite body and spirit in the health and healing process.
DESIGNING A SACRED SPACE FOR HEALING
What comes to mind when we consider the idea of designing sacred space? For many it is associated with the religious realm. A soaring cathedral ceiling, an exquisitely lit altar and beautifully designed stained glass windows. An interesting and perhaps limited specialty for an interior designer you might say. But what if we expand our definition of sacred space? As our lives become increasingly busy and over scheduled with various activities and obligations, having environments that nurture and support our emotional and spiritual well being is becoming something more of us, and our clients, are wanting and needing. Rather than being a limited niche, designing sacred space is something that is a possibility for all interior designers. It is also an opportunity for us to make a significant contribution to the health and healing of our community.
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| ADAM AND EVE -- MARC CHAGALL |
Thinking about the home or workplace as an appropriate environment for contemplation of the sacred is not necessarily a new idea. The belief that we can experience the sacred in the most ordinary places is something many of us hold to be true. And yet Most Of us don’t experience a sense of sacredness as we go about our daily lives. We need to re-think how we design our interior environments if we are to experience the sacred there. As interior designers we have the ability to transform people’s lives through the changes we make in their environments. By designing spaces which recognize, support, enhance and perhaps even liberate the sacred from our modern day existence we can create a sense of harmony and balance in homes, workplaces and health care environments that inspires a connection with the sacred and contributes to our health and healing.
So how can we all create sacred space and contribute to the health and healing of our clients and the community? The philosopher Mircea Eliade said, “A manifestation of the sacred is always a revelation of being.” Designing sacred space involves creating opportunities in Our environment to pause and reflect on our lives in the context of something greater than ourselves be it family, community, nature or even our connection to the universe.
One of the ways we have been removed from a sense of sacredness in our everyday lives is through our isolation from nature and its natural cycles. We have lost touch with the basis from which our sense of the sacred is derived. We have air conditioning to cool our homes on hot summer days and heaters to warm us on cold winter nights. While few would dispute the necessity of this technology and the many benefits derived from it, it does take a toll in terms of distancing us from our relationship to nature and its cycles which support and nurture our spirit. The same holds true for man-made materials. While we would all agree that synthetic fibers and materials have enabled us to manufacture durable and functional furnishings, it is natural materials such as wood, stone and wool that bring us back in touch with nature and the contribution it makes in our lives.
We can enhance our relationship with nature and bring the sacred into our environments by creating a special place to recognize and honor the seasons and life cycles. In the Japanese home it is common to find an alcove called a tokanoma where a scroll and seasonal flower arrangement is displayed. This is not a stagnant display, but is changed with the seasons or family celebration. It serves as a reminder that change is a natural and positive process of life.
Surrounding ourselves with images and objects that have personal meaning can also reinforce the sacredness of everyday life. Symbolic images and objects transform the ordinary into the sacred by reminding us of our past and reaffirming our place in the world. By incorporating into a kitchen or bath design the tile a client purchased on a memorable trip to Spain, we can create an opportunity for them to pause during the day and reflect on their life experiences and relationships.
The shapes of the rooms and other objects that have personal meaning for us brings a sense of the sacred. The circle is a universal symbol of unity and wholeness and has been representative of heaven and the universe. The circle is therefore an important image of the sacred which resonates with us on a very deep level. Most of us spend all our time living and working in square spaces. The square is symbolic of the physical/ material world. Designs that allow some time outside of our traditional square spaces could be good for the soul.
A quiet retreat and place for renewal is another kind of sacred space. We are so busy meeting other’s needs (boss, spouse, children, family) that most of us forget to create a time in our day to spend with ourselves and regenerate. We need some time to not do anything and just let ourselves be. This retreat is a true healing environment, a place that physically supports being quiet and reconnecting with ourselves. This space should nurture all the senses for it is through the stimulation of our sense of vision, touch, sound and smell that our inner most feeling emerge and can be healed.
Designing sacred space does not require a designer to have any special skills, only a special intention. That intention is to design spaces that support and nurture our connection to something greater than ourselves be it our family, community or the universe. In designing sacred spaces we contribute to recovering a memory of our most basic connection to the environment and help cultivate a sense of harmony and balance with all of our surroundings which is the foundation for healing not only ourselves but the planet.
ARE YOU BUYING THIS?
Repetition is used everywhere—advertising, politics and the media—but does it really persuade us?This little article opens up the idea that we may be programmed mentally by incorrect beliefs, ideas, thoughts and data. A good 'mindwipe' through the magic of corrected consciousness may be your next move. Consider the benefits of prayer, meditation, reprogramming with true conclusions and refusing to react to negative programming. You can do it!
Psychology studies reveal all...
We see ads for the same products over and over again. Politicians repeat the same messages endlessly (even when it has nothing to do with the question they’ve been asked). Journalists repeat the same opinions day after day.
Can all this repetition really be persuasive?
It seems too simplistic that just repeating a persuasive message should increase its effect, but that’s exactly what psychological research finds (again and again). Repetition is one of the easiest and most widespread methods of persuasion. In fact it’s so obvious that we sometimes forget how powerful it is.
People rate statements that have been repeated just once as more valid or true than things they’ve heard for the first time. They even rate statements as truer when the person saying them has been repeatedly lying. (Begg et al., 1992).
And when we think something is more true, we also tend to be more persuaded by it. Several studies have shown that people are more swayed when they hear statements of opinion and persuasive messages more than once.
Easy to understand = true
This is what psychologists call the illusion of truth effect and it arises at least partly because familiarity breeds liking. As we are exposed to a message again and again, it becomes more familiar. Because of the way our minds work, what is familiar is also true. Familiar things require less effort to process and that feeling of ease unconsciously signals truth (this is called cognitive fluency).
As every politician knows, there’s not much difference between actual truth and the illusion of truth. Since illusions are often easier to produce, why bother with the truth?
The exact opposite is also true. If something is hard to think about then people tend to believe it less. Naturally this is very bad news for people trying to persuade others of complicated ideas in what is a very complicated world.
Some studies have even tested how many times a message should be repeated for maximum effect. These suggest that people have the maximum confidence in an idea after it has been repeated between 3 and 5 times (Brinol et al., 2008). After that, repetition ceases to have the same effect and may even reverse.
Because TV adverts are repeated many more times than this, advertisers now use subtle variations in the ads to recapture our attention. This is an attempt to avoid the fact that while familiarity can breed liking, over-familiarity tends to breed contempt.
When repetition fails
Repetition is effective almost across the board when people are paying little attention, but when they are concentrating and the argument is weak, the effect disappears (Moons et al., 2008).
In other words, it’s no good repeating a weak argument to people who are listening carefully. But if people aren’t motivated to scrutinise your arguments carefully then repeat away with abandon—the audience will find the argument more familiar and, therefore, more persuasive.
This suggests we should remain critical while watching TV adverts or the message will creep in under our defenses. You might think it’s better to let the ads wash over you, without thinking too much, but just the reverse is true. Really we should be highly critical otherwise, before we know it, we’re singing the jingle, quoting the tag-line and buying the product.
When the argument is strong, though, it doesn’t matter whether or not the audience is concentrating hard, repetition will increase persuasion. Unfortunately I find it’s often people with the best arguments who don’t repeat them enough.
Persuading groups
When people are debating an issue together in a meeting, you can see a parallel effect. When one person in a group repeats their opinion a few times, the other people think that person’s opinion is more representative of the whole group (see my previous article: loudest voice = majority opinion).
The same psychology is at work again: to the human mind there is little difference between appearances and truth. What appears to be true might as well actually be true, because we tend to process the illusion as though it were the truth.
It’s a depressing enough finding about the human ability to process rational arguments but recent research has shown an even more worrying effect. We can effectively persuade ourselves through repetition. A study has shown that when an idea is retrieved from memory, this has just as powerful a persuasive effect on us as if it had been repeated twice (Ozubki et al., 2010).
The aspiring sceptic, therefore, should be especially alert to thoughts that come quickly and easily to mind—we can easily persuade ourselves with a single recall of a half-remembered thought
The same text, said the Buddha, must be applied to his own teachings.
Kalama Sutta
The people of Kalama asked the Buddha who to believe out of all the ascetics, sages, venerables, and holy ones who, like himself, passed through their town. They complained that they were confused by the many contradictions they discovered in what they heard. The Kalama Sutta is the Buddha's reply. The same text, said the Buddha, must be applied to his own teachings.| – | Do not believe anything on mere hearsay. | ||
| – | Do not believe in traditions merely because they are old and have been handed down for many generations and in many places. | ||
| – | Do not believe anything on account of rumors or because people talk a a great deal about it. | ||
| – | Do not believe anything because you are shown the written testimony of some ancient sage. | ||
| – | Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that, because it is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other wonderful being. | ||
| – | Do not believe anything merely because presumption is in its favor, or because the custom of many years inclines you to take it as true. | ||
| – | Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and priests. | ||
| – | But, whatever, after thorough investigation and reflection, you find to agree with reason and experience, as conducive to the good and benefit of one and all and of the world at large, accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it. |
| – | Do not accept any doctrine from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire. |
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