Raising Hope; The Art And Science Of How To Get Unstuck And Overcome Physical, Mental, Emotional, And Spiritual Issues
Part of the Science of Sustainable Health Series
By Eric Straatsma MS
Futurist, Social Ecologist, Non-Denominational Minister
Published and Distributed By:
SMASHWORDS
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Copyrighted © 2011, all international
rights reserved by Eric Straatsma MS
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1st Edition – Sept. 2011
Cover Design; Licensed Istook Photo, Eric Straatsma
Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data
ISBN: 978-1-4660-5150-8
Created, Printed and published in the United States of America
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Preface And Foreword
Chapter 2: Where Did The Science Of Sustainable Health Come From?
Chapter 3: Raising Hope – A Vision From Two Angels
Chapter 4: Raising Hope and Sharing the Vision
Chapter 5: Is Hope Worth Raising And Sharing?
Chapter 6: How Is Hope Scientific?
Chapter 7: Why Is There A Need For Raising Hope?
Chapter 8: Suffering Is a Universal Human Condition
Chapter 9: The First Step into Raising Hope
Chapter 10: Raising Hope and Turning It Around
Chapter 11: Hope for the Dying
Chapter 12: Hope and Suicide Prevention
Chapter 14: Hope versus Darkness
Chapter 15: An Egyptian Story of Hope
Chapter 16: Chilean Miner Story of Hope
Chapter 17: Let Go Of Everything but Hope
Chapter 18: An Army of Hope Helpers Is Available Here On Earth
Chapter 19: Hope and Success Is an Inside Job
Chapter 21: Hope is for all Ages
Chapter 22: Hope and Self Esteem
Chapter 23: Hope and Leadership
Chapter 25: Hope and Cultural Creatives (Greens)
Chapter 26: Access an Army of Hope Helpers Above
Chapter 27: Hope and Christianity
Chapter 28: Hope and Healing With a Metaphysical Perspective
Chapter 29: Hope and Relationships
Chapter 32: Hope and the Future
Chapter 33: Hope and Seven Future Generations
Chapter 34: Hope, Faith and Love
Chapter 35: Hope and Journaling
Chapter 37: Hope and a Story of Two Pebbles
Chapter 38: Hope Writers and Authors Needed
Chapter 39: Hope and Writer Training
Chapter 40: Hope Links And Resources
Chapter 41: About Eric Straatsma MS
Chapter 42: Ownership of Copyright
Chapter 43: Medical & Mental Health Disclaimer
Chapter 44: Back of Book Cover
Chapter 1: Preface and Foreword
Hope is both an art and a science. Hope can be seen as a problem solving concrete item that is worth teaching, learning about and focusing on. This book will address hope in a very wide variety of ways, offering value adding and paradigm shifting proposals in many areas. This book also adds value by adding three dimensional resources.
Some chapters will have links to further Internet resources, accessible via live links. Click on these links to access these resources. (You must be connected to the Internet). A few chapters will also have videos that can be played as part of the experience that this e-book offers, you’re your E-book reader or computer must have a high speed Internet connection to play these videos. (This option is not available in a hard cover version, other than by typing in the URL of links on a computer). This material is not sold with any expectation that readers will be able to access these links, or to play the videos. These are optional, added value for those readers who do have access. Links may also change and/or disappear. Notify the author of this if and when it happens, so future editions can be updated with the proper links.
A few chapters will also link to discussion groups, where readers can interact both with other readers and with the author, in an online setting. A full list of discussion groups will be made available along with links to them, at the end of this book. No hardcover or paperback books offer this range of options and value added services or products.
Hope is both an art and a science. Hope can be seen as a problem solving concrete item that is worth teaching, learning about and focusing on. This book will address hope in a very wide variety of ways, offering value adding, and paradigm shifting proposals in many areas. This book also adds value by adding a three dimensional resource.
Some chapters will have links to further Internet resources, accessible via live links. A few chapters will also have videos that can be played as part of the experience that this E-book offers. (This option is not available in a hard cover version, other than by typing in the url of links on a computer).
To focus on just one specific example where hope offers great value, suicide is the 9th leading cause of death in the USA, according to the American Journal of Psychiatry.
http://focus.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/4/2/291
Hope offers a potential future goal and method of reducing the number of suicides. Sadly, the human race also seems to be committing suicide on a planetary scale, so in very general terms, hope can begin the process of offering solutions for both individual and global problems.
One issue leading to the above statistic may be that many people have a negative sense of the world, their life, their health, and of the future. How many people do you see when you are walking around, that are smiling, laughing and happy?
Chapter 2: Where Did The Science Of Sustainable Health Come From?
This book is part of the Science of Sustainable Health series. This book and the rest of the books in this series have a goal of explaining, exploring and defining what it takes to live in such a way that our actions have a neutral or positive impact on seven future generations.
By reaching for this goal, a variety of positive feedback loops may be established, which will in turn create a better future, improved health, and a more positive way of living, with a higher quality of life for everyone on the planet.
Where did the Science of Sustainable Health come from? In my case, this science was revealed to me by two angels appearing to me. They then ‘spoke’ with me. How many people have had angels appear to them?
Apparently, there are quite a number of people who have seen angels besides me, so it might not be considered that unusual. According to some experts, everyone has guardian angels following them around, and these angels are present at all times.
I know that I am not the only person to see angels. Many others have also had visions of saints, angels and spiritual masters or light beings. In one example, an elderly woman was guided to the other side by quite a few angels... http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Angels/2006/11/Angels-In-The-Cathedral.aspx
Chapter 3: Raising Hope - a Vision from Two Angels
What I can say is that I did see two beings of light. They did appear to me and they did communicate with me. All of these books are largely due to these two light filled angels who suddenly appeared to me and hovered up near the ceiling in my living room. At the time, I was living on top of a mountain in Greenwood, California. (Is anyone thinking about Moses and the stone tablets at this point, by the way?)
The vision these two angels granted me lasted only a few minutes, (I did not keep track of the time) but what they communicated in that very brief time could fill many encyclopedias, if I had to write it all down. And no, they did not give a couple of stone tablets, but maybe that is because they know that nowadays, we communicate with computers, cell phones, emails, messages and websites.
In summary, these two angels showed me a vision of a green, sustainable future that humanity would be creating and living in at some point. They concluded their visit by saying to me very clearly; “You do not know how LARGE this will become.” They seemed to be VERY, VERY sure of what they were saying to me. They seemed to be very matter of fact, as if what they were showing me was not a matter of speculation or doubt. That vision/visitation and communication offered me hope, but also much more than that.
After that vision, I started down the road of developing the Science of Sustainable Health through studying, meditation, experiencing synchronistic events and writing down what I saw, felt and heard from this one time encounter.
The reason for this book and the other books in the series is that I wanted to fill in what I had heard, seen and experienced in what felt like a few minutes. The experience I had felt much like the experience of the actors in the movie, “The Maxtrix”, where a special few unplugged from the' Matrix'. But this was not the total journey. They had to struggle against the ‘Matrix’.
In this hope filled struggle against the ‘machine’, sometimes they had to access special skills and abilities. When this became necessary, they chose to get plugged into a master computer. They downloaded everything they needed in a few seconds, no matter what was required.
The same process can be accessed today, through what we know as the Internet, or by going inside and accessing our intuition. Both of these avenues can be augmented with the A Green Road book series, which make up the Science of Sustainable Health. After this visit from two angels of light, I wrote about forty books in a space of approximately four years, and I continue to write today.
The more intense part of the process that I continue to go through and which has never stopped is that I also lived through a process of baking, refining and pressure. I liken this process to heating carbon in order to create a diamond. This process is an inner ‘refining’ process. One way it seems to be happening is that the prickly part of my heart is disappearing, to be replaced by a softer, gentler way of Being.
Another way that this process of refining seems to happening is
through a process of ‘awakening’ or opening, both inner and outer
in nature. On the one hand, it is a process of gradual understanding
of how all the pieces and people that make up the world, fit together
in a grand harmony. In another way, it is a realization and
experience of an inner consciousness, which is infinite. From
another aspect, it is a process of exploring a subject, and realizing
there is no end to the depth of it. Hope is one such subject.
The value of this material is not just in the mental/logical information, but rather the overall scope and future vision that allows everyone to live on the planet in peace and harmony. These angels offer you the reader, a hope that a brighter, better future. This vision is for you and for seven future generations of your children. But in the final analysis, it is up to you to make all of this happen. We cannot be FORCED to go there, and no one is coming to ‘save’ us from ourselves. You and I are the leaders we have been waiting for.
There is a hope, but along with hope there is also a responsibility. By writing and publishing this book, as well as many other books in combination with other experts on this subject, I am hopeful that this will fulfill a part of why I came here.
My hope is that this endeavor will fulfill my small part and role in this vision that was granted to me and by extension, to you, the reader.
Chapter 4: Raising Hope and Sharing the Vision
My hope and specific intent is to share this vision of a hope filled future, with as many people as possible. My specific affirmation is to teach the Science of Sustainable Health to millions, but the angels indicated that the number will be much, much greater than that.
By extension, the reader of this book is being offered the same vision I received, and can do the same thing I am doing, only in their own way. I assume that not everyone has angels visiting them, telling them about a positive, light filled, bright future that humanity has the potential of moving into. One question that came up for me afterward the visit by these two Beings of light was; is this vision worth sharing?
We do have a choice. We can wait for someone to come and save us all, and let us start over on a fresh clean, new planet, or….we can work on cleaning up the mess we made on this planet. What would you do, if you were a parent watching over your children making a mess of things on this planet called Earth? Would you magically clean it all up and give them a new planet, just so they can do it all over again?
Every parent knows that their children need to learn the lesson of consequences and accountability, or they will never grow up to be mature adults. Spoiled brats raised by overprotective parents never have to face consequences if they always get bailed out by their parents. These spoiled brats often grow up to be narcissists, criminals and sociopaths, destroying whatever they touch, and harming many people around them, as well as the environment. Why would we want MORE of this? Why would any parent, much less a spiritual Father or Mother, want to raise their kids this way?
Chapter 5: Is Hope Worth Raising And Sharing?
This information is worth sharing with others. Why? Theoretically God could zap everyone into Heaven, without any effort. No one would have to lift a finger. But that violates the primary law of free will, which means we have a choice. Because we have free will and the power of choice, we do not HAVE TO create a better future. It is just a choice.
We can all be and often are self absorbed, selfish, short sighted, lazy, indolent, negative, divisive, argumentative, greedy, mean spirited, angry, and fearful. We can focus on all kinds of destructive things, while ignoring all of the positive gifts, tools, opportunities and miracles present all around us at every moment. We can literally destroy the whole planet and any hope of a better future. Compare this to the vision offered to all of us by these two angels.
Now consider the question again… Is this vision worth passing on to other people and by extension, educating them about the details within the vision and potential of a better, brighter, hope filled world?
Now, it is up to you to decide. How will you change your thinking? How will you change your life? Will you take action on the potentially paradigm shifting information contained in this and other books coming in the rest of this book and other books and tools coming soon?
The term “Science of Sustainable Health” is or will be included in all books authored or co-authored by me. Why? What I received from these angels in part is that there is a Science of Sustainable Health that can be studied. There is a vast area that must be included under this heading. Basically, everything that humans get involved in must be included.
Once someone starts thinking about how seven future generations are affected by our actions, and studying the results to make accurate predictions, many of the things that we are doing today, will change radically or disappear entirely. We cannot pollute the planet, our bodies and destroy whole ecosystems, plus the entire life cycle, while ignoring the effect of our actions for short term profit.
Chapter 6: How Is Hope Scientific?
One scientific paper has already introduced the concept of the science of sustainable health. Hope is a part of this science, so this concept is not totally unique, new, unknown or strange….. (Click on this and other links to view Internet article. You must be connected to the Internet for this to work.) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684763/
This ‘science’ has laws and specific things within in that can be explored, studied and explained both in a scientific manner. This science is also an art form at the same time, so there is a role to fill inside of it for creative artists, musicians and performers, as well as actors and anyone else. Everyone has a part to play in this great adventure. You have an important part to play.
Science is NOT about just following what is already there. Science is NOT just about accepting current theories and sticking with them. For example, a researcher recently discovered that a particle was traveling faster than the speed of light. Theoretically, this is not possible. Hopefully, scientists around the world will not attempt to confirm or deny that this is possible, by replicating the study http://topicfire.com/share/CERN-claims-faster-than-light-particle-measured-18330389.html
My engineer friend, Rus Couper had this to say about the faster than light particle: “I think that the observations of the CERN group are fascinating. The article is especially nice in that it describes how scientific discovery or the acquisition of True (objective) Knowledge, at its best, proceeds:
1) There exists a generally accepted theory that is held by the scientific community.
2) Observations/measurements are made that are in conflict with what this theory would predict.
3) These observations engender a healthy skepticism within the scientific community.
4) The experimenters take special care to scrutinize their testing protocol and their observed results.
5) Before making an extraordinary claim or taking credit for a discovery, the experimenters invite others to look at their work and invite other independent groups to duplicate their experiments/observations.
6) If there is duplication and validation of the results by other independent groups, then a huge competition ensues to refine the old theory or come up with a new one so that its predictions line up with the experimental results.
7) If there are competing new theories, the strongest one will emerge based on its ability to make predictions which better match up with the results of specially designed experiments.
Often times, a new theory does not invalidate an old one but is a refinement. Einstein’s special theory of relativity did not invalidate Newtonian mechanics which had held up for the previous 218 years. Newtonian mechanics is a special class of Einstein’s theory as Newton’s laws of motion fall out of Einstein’s equations for the special case when the velocities are significantly smaller than the speed of light.”
The art and Science of Sustainable Health does not violate any existing theories or laws of science, but is a specific focus within those laws. This science explores and explains how you and I and the rest of humanity can live in harmony with the Earth, with other human beings and with a positive outlook on the future, seven generations into the future. This science literally creates and maintains a sense of eternal hope. What is this science worth to us individually and to all of humanity and future generations, by extension? What is the price we pay if we only focus on short term, here and now ways of living that destroy all life on the planet and do not take into account future generations?
The choices we have in front of us offer us hope, both through the science as well as the art of sustainable health. What these two angels presented to YOU and to ALL of humanity, to all religions and all cultures, was HOPE.
Hope rides into any situation, and offers a scientifically provable as well as artistically creative solution. Hope is like a knight on a large white horse riding into a battle and slaying the evil, fire breathing, destructive dragon, thereby saving the innocent and virgin princess, dressed in white clothes, but in great distress.
The damsel in distress could be seen as representing our present and future, which is under attack by forces that we have unleashed upon ourselves, by opening Pandora’s Box.
Pandora’s Box was opened, which means that it can be closed again. There is hope. The fire breathing dragons can be killed, and there are white knights all over the planet, ready to do battle. Are you one of them? The angels seem to think you are one of the chosen ones, and so do I.
Why not explore the Science of Sustainable Health and see what these angels have to share with you and your loved ones?
This Science of Sustainable Health is not mine to share with the world, all by myself. There are many who have pieces and parts of this Science of Sustainable Health, possibly millions of people. Do you have a piece to share?
To the extent that I can do so, I commit to working with others and to support others as much as possible potentially by combining into joint venture arrangements, much like the one offered at the end of this book. Contact the author for more information if you have interest in this or other ways of working together.
There is no way any one person can know or do all that there is to know, teach or do around this science. I do not claim that I know it all or that I am the sole holder of all wisdom and knowledge within this science. It is only by working together that you and I can fully explore, learn about, develop, explore, and teach this science. Part of my goal is to seek out and work together with people like you, who believe that by combining energies, we can get to our hope filled goal, faster, easier, better than by trying to do it all alone.
We are after all, living on just one planet, and we only have ONE future. So let’s go there as one human tribe, working together for the benefit of seven future generations of OUR children. There is only one human tribe… made up of many colors, languages, and belief systems.
Chapter 7: Why Is There A Need For Raising Hope?
There are many outer and inner reasons why people feel hopeless, helpless, alone, isolated and powerless these days.
There are many factors feeding a sense of desperation or despair, such as: failing business, downsizing organization, negative news, war, corporate takeover, corruption of government, environmental destruction, weapons of mass destruction, loss of species, loss of habitat, rising CO2 levels, terrorist threats, prophecies of doom, Armageddon, technology taking over jobs, illegal immigrants, exporting of jobs overseas, crime, criminals, depersonalization of society, computers replacing humans, exporting money overseas, loss of value of the dollar, hyperinflation, riots, population explosion, Peak Oil, currency manipulations, fiat currencies, over focus on profits, extremely divisive politics, character assassinations, rumors, gossip, bullying, relationship difficulty, financial problems, joblessness, foreclosures, loss, diseases, afflictions, accidents, stress, unruly, genetic problems, children, relatives, and general suffering from hunger, thirst, no housing, just to name a FEW of the many problems or issues facing all of us today. Since we are all human, we all experience one or more, possibly many of these issues as human beings. There is no choice in the matter. We all suffer.
William Burroughs is quoted as saying; “Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.”
If we stop living life because we are too busy looking and focusing on either our own suffering or the suffering of others, we may miss life entirely. On the other hand, we can project our own suffering onto others, and blame everyone else for all of this suffering. Either option is focusing on the negative.
There is a golden opportunity in seeing the suffering. The goal and challenge we all have is to not get caught up in the suffering, and then feel depressed, worthless, useless and hopeless.
How do we stay positive, hope filled and actively engaged in creating a better world, when the whole world seems like it is going to Hell? That question is one that we must all work out for ourselves. I hope that in some small measure that this book helps the reader to answer that question, as well as providing tools to get there from here.
Chapter 8: Suffering Is a Universal Human Condition
Suffering is a universal human condition. No one in this world gets out of suffering in some form or fashion. Our only choice as human beings is what kind of suffering we have to endure? Will the suffering be physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social or something else?
Our response to this issue of universal suffering is what can make a difference. Our response to suffering both of others and in ourselves is under our control, because the choice of how we respond is inside of us, no matter what the circumstances may appear to be. We have the choice to close off from others and ignore their suffering. We can say that suffering is THEIR problem, not mine. We can become cynical, angry, frustrated and bitter. Our hearts can become very prickly, like the spines on cactus or the quills of a porcupine. This place of anger and bitterness does however, have a cost and consequence.
What happens if we spend too much time in this place of negativity and hopelessness? Nietzsche said in his book 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra', “Stare too long into the Abyss and it will stare back at you.”
Negativity can feed on itself and result in self destruction or being in a stuck place. Usually, in a place where one seems to be stuck, there may seem to be no hope. The place of no hope is a very dark and bleak place. It offers no hope to anyone else, thus it is by definition, a hopeless place.
Stuckness is usually associated with a closed mind, filled with many negative thoughts. Ego tends to think it is always right, or that there is only one way of looking at things, even if that way is negative and destructive. This is also the place where addictions and denial of being addicted starts.
This way of thinking or being can take over everything. Ego can cause massive chaos and/or suffering on many levels and in many ways that affect people and more outside of ourselves. On a personal level, thinking certain ways and not allowing any change, may result in a something called 'being stuck in a rut'. This process occurs because our thoughts end up being the same day after day. Because thoughts end up being actions, which then become habits, which then becomes our life.
If our life is not something we like, then it may be time to look at the root cause, rather than thrashing around in the weeds of outer appearances, or blaming others for problems we caused. We can end up in a place where we do nothing but blame, judge, put down, and be critical of everything and everyone around us. Again, this dark place is of our own making. The price and consequence of being in this place is that we drive others away, or we surround ourselves with others who are also like this, because no one who is positive and hopeful will want to spend much time around this energy, unless we throw a lot of money around.
Many people end up looking in bars, or going shopping. They may use drugs to try and 'fix' what feels wrong inside. Even religion may be used to try and fill that void. There are hundreds of addictions, false ‘solutions’ and fulfillment of desires that can be used to try and cover up the void, the emptiness, and the darkness of hopelessness. In the end, none of it works.
There is a first step to this process that we could call, hitting bottom and focusing on hope. As you break through denial into realizing there is nothing in the outer world that can satisfy, there comes a point in time where you will realize that you are completely helpless and powerless. You will have to reach out and ask for help and hope. That help and hope will be given and provided.
Understand that we are all addicted. Some are addicted to cocaine. Some are addicted to tobacco products. Some are addicted to sex or alcohol products. Some are addicted to shopping. Some are addicted to controlling others. Some are addicted to fame and power. Some are addicted to anger or fear. Some are addicted to powerlessness and enabling others. Some are addicted to hopelessness. Some are addicted to food. Some are addicted to strange belief systems that make no logical sense at all. Everyone is addicted to desiring things. The point is; everyone is addicted, or they are in denial about being addicted. The first step is realizing that you are addicted. You will have to reach out and ask for help and hope. That help and hope will be given and provided.
Chapter 9: The First Step into Raising Hope
The first step involves reaching out for help and hope, with an open mind. It means you have to understand how the mind works. The mind is a like a parachute. It works best when it is kept open. Can you imagine someone jumping out of an airplane and not pulling the ripcord to open a perfectly good parachute?
An open mind is like someone jumping out of an airplane, and pulling the ripcord on a very deluxe, steerable parachute. There is a gentle, pleasant trip to the ground, plus a GREAT experience of learning and growing.
What is the moral of the first step? Surrender the feeling of being 'right' and the absolutely sure about everything way of thinking. Be open to new things, new ideas. Keep an open mind. Stay flexible and be open to change. Stay in your heart, rather than the mind. Focus on love and compassion, rather than logic. The result will be that you have a more hope filled, positive attitude.
Having a belief is also either a trap or an opportunity. Beliefs are made up of thoughts, which can be changed, right? Have you ever met someone who had a belief that was a superstition, which you knew was not true?
Beliefs are neutral thoughts, but the effect of a belief on us can be substantial, either in a negative or a positive direction. For example, we can believe that we are going to die, if we step foot outside of the house. Does this create a positive situation or a negative one? I think most people would agree that this belief system and the emotions associated with it would create a negative situation for that person, at least temporarily. At worst, that person could starve to death due to not going out of the house to get food.
Let’s go into some other examples of how beliefs can harm us. In the past, most people believed that the Earth was flat, and if you went far enough from home, you would fall off the edge and end up in Hell forever, with Satan.
This belief prevented people from moving around and communicating with other cultures on different continents. This belief combined with others that were created during the Dark Ages. Half of the population died during this period due to the bubonic plague, which could have easily been prevented or resolved through basic sanitation and health changes. The plague was caused by fleas, which were in turn carried around by rats. As the fleas from the rats bit people, they got infected. These people then in turn infected other people. A common belief at this time was that this plague was a punishment sent by God, and that all those who died, deserved to die, because they were being punished by God.
Today, there are more than a few preachers who claim that earthquakes, tidal waves, floods, droughts and diseases are ‘punishments by God’, sent from Heaven to do justice to evil doers. The problem is that the same people, who are saying this, live in areas affected by tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, and more. So this belief does not make much logical sense, if it is applied everywhere. Apply this selectively makes even less logical sense.
Back the middle Ages, most people believed that the Earth was flat. So where did this belief about a flat Earth come from? Based on observation with our eyes, not only does it look like the sun is revolving around the Earth, but it also looks like the Earth is standing still. Looking out over the ocean, it looks flat, and a ship sailing away from us, looks like it ‘falls over the edge’ as it sails away from us.
These observations could be called ‘science’, since science is only about what can be observed with the senses. This example proves in part how our senses can lie to us, and cause suffering on many levels. Most people on Earth at one point believed the scientific ‘fact’ that the Earth was flat. It turns out that this commonly accepted belief and ‘scientific fact’ turned out to be wrong, but that took hundreds, if not thousands of years to disprove, using more advanced scientific data and study. Now the few people who believe in this flat Earth and stationary Earth belief system look silly and stupid.
There is still a debate going on today about how old the Earth is or how life got here. The debate is largely between science and religion, between beliefs about things written down by people thousands of years ago, versus researchers and scientists studying these issues today. It could be that both have a portion of the truth, rather than either one being absolutely right or wrong. Some people are addicted to being right and proving everyone else wrong, no matter what.
After all, neither side can absolutely guarantee or prove without a shadow of doubt, that they are 100% right. Certainly, everyone can debate this issue, but science is often the one with more evidence, based on numerous studies and scientific theories. Religion has only faith, and very little or no evidence to go on. So why do many people believe that science is wrong in so many areas, and that a religious belief, based on a book that was written two thousand years ago, is absolutely, guaranteed right? On the other hand, why do some logical types believe that religion has absolutely NO value, and is absolutely worthless and dangerous, with NOTHING of value at all? Could both of these absolute belief systems on both ends of the spectrum consist of addictions? Could it be that they both contain some truth?
It turns out that beliefs are like dogs. Dogs will follow us wherever we go. But dogs are not immortal, just like our beliefs or thoughts. Dogs run away, disappear, die from accidents or natural causes, and/or diseases. Beliefs are like that as well. As we have already seen through many examples, beliefs change over time.
Beliefs are loyal and follow us around like dogs, but they are not immortal. Sometimes a belief system runs away from us, because it no longer works for us. There may be an empty feeling inside that indicates something is missing from this belief system, much like a dog may go missing for awhile.
As we follow this leading into the emptiness or the ‘void’ that is inside all of us, we may have reactions. We may change or let go of parts of our belief system, much like some people adopt a different dog, while keeping the other around, due to ‘loyalty’.
Belief systems are known in religious circles as ‘dogma’. Dogs are loyal, loving and dependable. But when they attack other dogs or people and cause damage or harm, that dog may end up in a dog pound or worse. Dogma sometimes fits into this category, but one has to have an open mind to admit this possibility, and then look at both sides of an issue to go beyond the dogma type of rigid, unyielding belief system. Yet, on the other hand, science also has ‘dogma’. As a matter of fact, there is no limit to dogma, and it is present in every profession, in every religion, and in all people, to some extent.
Some logical thinking type of people like to think that there is nothing in the world except what can be proven with the senses. Often this kind person is a scientist, a doctor, a religious scholar, an engineer, a politician, a PhD of some kind, or even a college professor. They may have their entire self worth and world centered on what they believe is true, and nothing else matters. That mind is closed like a steel bear trap, and it has imprisoned that person into a reality that they created and now choose to live in, without ever leaving it again. No one can debate, argue or ever ‘win’ with someone who owns this kind of dog, as the dog will only bite you if you try to make friends with it and show it some new tricks. If you try to teach it how to do some other things in different places, it will refuse to go there. In other words, dogma is not restricted to religion. Rigid, unyielding dogma can be found in any arena where belief systems reside in a mind. Some minds are very powerful and unyielding, no matter what the evidence is, or what other forms of reality can be provided and shown to be true. But, there is always hope. Sometimes a new puppy has an effect on this kind of person.
Often, new, young and active puppies are adopted as our old dog (or dogma) gets stiff, old and stops moving around as much. Ordinary, average families or singles may adopt new young puppies, while keeping an old dog around. In the same way, a person may choose to adopt or add new ideas and new ways of thinking, as well as new beliefs, while at the same time hanging onto an old belief or dogma. This is normal, and it is how people evolve from one belief system to another one. Often, this process takes many, many years, and it requires great patience from partners, friends or the spouse.
The old dog (or dogma) is still there, in the background, watching this young puppy running around, causing all kinds of mischief and making messes. But oh, how we love those new young thoughts and belief systems, despite the chaos they cause, right? For example, in the middle Ages, the church taught the popular old dogma that the Earth was flat, and that the Earth was at the center of the universe, with everything revolving around it. That belief has changed (for most religious leaders and scientists). Some still claim science is still wrong on this and are holding to this belief that the Earth is flat. So we can see that beliefs do change over time. Sometimes it takes 2,000 years for a dogma or belief system to change, or even longer. Like I said, it takes a lot of patience sometimes when you are dealing with human beings…
If questioned in detail, most people are not as pure or rigid as they initially claim to be around beliefs or ‘dogma’. No matter what the subject matter or belief system is, most people have mixed belief systems residing inside of themselves.
Looking at this from a dog’s point of view, many people prefer mutts. Mutts are mixed breeds rather than purebreds. Why? Mutts genetically tend to have fewer problems, because they are mixture of several ‘pure’ genetic codes. Mixed up genetic codes tend to have fewer problems, despite being more chaotic. This rule tends to be true in humans as well. Inbreeding within families of human beings has been found to cause problems genetically, so humans in most societies have ‘rules’ or dogma against breeding within your own family. In this case, the dogma is actually based on something sound and healthy. If a mixture of genes is good, then why is a mixture of beliefs and religions ‘not good’ or sinful?
Beliefs follow the genetic rule of thumb, in that a mixture of beliefs is generally better than a ‘pure’ belief. ‘Pure’ beliefs that are totally black and white are often fraught with all kinds of consequences and problems that are created due to a ‘dogma’ type of thinking. So what if we embrace the conflicts inside of us, instead of trying to stamp out some conflicting belief system that is part of us by labeling it ‘bad’ or ‘evil’?
Bottom line, we ALL have conflicting belief systems. If we are human, we have conflicting belief systems. We may hate terrorists, but love freedom fighters. We may love conformity, but at the same time seek out and desire to hang out with creative people. On a macro level, some people may claim to believe ONLY in science, and nothing else. But at the same time, if questioned closely, these same people may also say that believe in hope, love, intuition, empathy or the power of prayer. None of these things are truly ‘scientific’, so there we have an automatic conflict, which does not match the stated belief.
Hope, love, prayer, empathy, imagination, curiosity and intuition are not ‘scientific’. None of these things are visible to the senses. Scientists generally ignore the ‘invisible’ things. Businesses generally ignore these things too, because there is no ‘profit’ in them. Therefore, hope, love, prayer and intuition, as well as seeing angels or other ‘invisible’ things, are items that are generally seen as ‘unscientific’, not worthy of scientific study or pursuit in the business world. Yet, without these things, what value would life have to offer us? What meaning would life have for you without hope, curiosity, love, prayer, intuition, imagination or the rare miracle that we may all experience at least once in our lives? Can you imagine living your whole life without any of these things, and with no hope of ever experiencing any of them? I am getting depressed just thinking about that possibility.
Most people can believe in hope, even though hope is not visible or provable using scientific measurements and machines in a lab. This is another example of how two different belief systems can exist inside of us at the same time. Generally speaking, everyone has hope alive inside of them, even if they are scientifically minded. For without hope, what value is left in order to believe that life is worth living?
Let’s take a brief look at politics, since it seems to be so rigid and divisive. Often, people will believe in a liberal thing such as helping a neighbor or homeless person, but at the same time they may also hold a conservative belief such as being frugal with money, both personally and in government. No one is absolutely ‘pure’ as far as a political belief system goes.
Dick Cheney was a far right Conservative as a Vice President, but he believed that homosexuality was NOT bad or a sin, largely because his daughter was a lesbian. He lived with his lesbian daughter and loved her. She was family. He knew she was not bad or evil. She was just an ordinary person, just like anyone else. President Obama, in spite of being a ‘liberal’ Democrat, often does things that Conservatives love and he surrounds himself with Conservatives in his inner circle. The opposite is true as well. Many Conservative Presidents set up the most liberal, social minded government programs, like Social Security, welfare, food stamps and public work programs. President Bush was pro-immigrant, despite his fairly right wing belief system otherwise. There is no pure, holy political person out there. Everyone is a mixture of beliefs, from all political parties.
Conservative minded individuals may also believe in green things, like conserving water, reducing energy use, or recycling. A Democrat or Republican may love peace. Even a soldier fighting in a foreign country will usually admit that peace is something they desire very much. The political party known as the Peace and Freedom Party would endorse and support this passionate belief system. A Libertarian may believe that government has no right to mandate that people buy insurance. If I am a Democrat, Republican or Green party member, should I switch parties to Libertarian, if I also believe this?
Does this normal mixture of ‘beliefs’ from multiple political parties make a person a Green Party member, a Republican, a Democrat, a Peace And Freedom Party member, a Tea Party member, or a mixture of all of them? How do most people choose political belief systems (or dogma) that are then announced in public and registered in written and spoken form?
Wouldn’t you agree that we tend to emphasize some beliefs, and suppress or deny others in order to ‘fit in’ with other people who also ‘believe’ along the same line of thinking or accepted ‘dogma’? Conservatives tend to think and believe like other Conservatives, just to ‘fit in’. Liberals tend to do the same thing. Different religions and individual churches have that same mechanism at work.
The sad part of our political process in the USA is that we create artificial walls and barriers to communicating with neighbors, family, friends, spouses, and community members who actually have much more in common with us than we think and believe, despite the fact that they are in another political party (or religion). The founders of the Constitution actually hoped that in the future, no political parties would exist, as they considered political parties the enemy of hope, freedom and democracy. To a great extent, the founders were right. Divided we fall, but together we stand.
When it gets down to what we have shared, we actually have MUCH more in common than we think initially. The point I am making here, is that rigid beliefs are like dogs. Dogs die of natural causes and of unnatural causes, and then we have to deal with the loss. Dogma works that way too. Just like dogs, our beliefs will need replacement with other kinds of beliefs, when they expire and no longer serve us. Most beliefs are like that. We can substitute one dogma for another, just like we can add or subtract dogs, if we choose to. So how does this happen to us, in real life?
We may have to move on to another place, with circumstances forced on us by life, Nature, job changes or other things. We may be forced to spend time working with someone who is totally opposite from us in terms of a belief system. We may have a near death experience, where we go to the other side and see that there is something there. That kind of experience or a drastic change in life may not allow us to take our present dog (or dogma) down the road with us any further, without at least thinking about it somewhat. We may have to choose to let a belief system change, or we may be forced to let it go, either through an experience, or through suffering of some kind. Sometimes a rigid belief system can be seen as a compulsion or as an addiction. Addictions often involve lots of suffering, and usually, an addict will not let go of an addiction until a bottom is hit.
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Albert Einstein
No matter what, the only two things we can count on in life are change and hope. But hope and change are hard to pin down. Both are uncertain and hard to quantify, even with science. Science does offer the chaos theory, but that is hard to systematize and standardize into a business process. How do we get comfortable and stay hopeful inside of a rigid belief system or dogma that does not allow for changes? How do we incorporate hope into our lives that comes with constant change going on around us?
Changing is almost like losing a dog that we really love, and have grown comfortable with. It is hard to let go of a dog (or dogma) that we love. Bottom line, it is hard to let go of a belief system that we have held onto for a long time, whether it is religious, scientific, an addiction to something or someone, etc.
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." Albert Einstein
What may be useful as we take a journey through this book and others that go into more detail is to make being open to change and new ways of thinking a short term goal. We have already gone through some potentially paradigm shifting materials, and more paradigm shifting things are coming. It helps to keep an open mind about these (new puppy dog) ways of thinking. If it helps, think of new ideas and concepts, as a new puppy that you can play with, without having to take complete ‘ownership’ of it, yet. Do not take any of this too seriously, as taking everything seriously can be a dogma or addiction as well. Pretend this book is all fiction, if that helps.
Finally, to finish this subject, can’t we all agree that every human on Earth has two sides to their brain? Is one side of the brain better than the other? Could there be an advantage to having both sides operating together? What if a person only operated from ONLY one half of their brain, but avoided using the other side? Would that not seem silly and useless? Would that not be considered an exercise in futility?
Scientists and medical researchers have found that the brain has centers that control old memories/trauma/dogma. Other parts of the brain control and store new short term memories (puppies) and logical thinking processes. These parts of the brain are located in both halves, not just one half.
Still other parts of the brain control feelings, intuition, imagination, and our sense of love, sexual arousal, memories or hope. These things could be seen as conflicting and chaotic things, all competing for space within the brain. Would it help us or hurt us, if just ONE part of the brain took control of all other parts? One part could be seen as good, and another part could be labeled ‘bad’, evil or sinful. Does that help us or hurt us?
Physically, one half of the brain controls one half of the body,
and the other half of the brain controls the remaining half, in a
criss-cross pattern. In other words, the right side of the brain
controls the left side of the body, and the left side of the brain
controls the right side of the body. What if one side of the brain
decided to do it all and forced the other side of the brain to turn
off because it was ‘bad’ or ‘evil’? Wouldn’t that seem
silly and rather pointless?
All of the different parts of the brain and body underneath it can be seen as making us who we are. Each cell, each organ, each part of our body and brain makes up who we are and contribute to the person we are. We are all special and unique. There is no one exactly like us, not even our exact twin. In the same way, we can look at all human beings on the planet as being like cells in the human body. Each cell has a part to play. No one cell is better or more important than any other cell.
When a new cell is created by the body, the rest of the body does not react and demand it disappear because it is new and different. When a different thought appears in the mind, why resist it and say it cannot be? Why judge it and say it is ‘bad’ or ‘evil’? Resistance to a way of thinking or feeling generally just causes problems and makes that thing grow, despite our resistance.
Why not allow a different kind of thinking or feeling to just be and flow, just like a puppy dog? Play with it and see how it grows. A dog is not bad in and of itself, just like a new way of thinking or believing is not bad in and of itself. Explore the new way of thinking and see what value it has, rather than just resisting it because it does not fit, or makes you feel uncomfortable. If a way of thinking is potentially harmful to self or others, get help from a professional. Otherwise, why fight it?
While reading the rest of this book, and/or the books in the rest of the series of books that come after this one, stay open and hopeful. See the process of adopting new ways of thinking as being a positive thing, much like getting a new puppy. A new puppy, just like changes in life and new ways of thinking, is a good thing, a fun thing. New ways of thinking, just like puppies, are full of life, learning and exploration.
Curiosity is a good thing, just like hope. Some institutions often train people to avoid their own sense of curiosity. Curiosity is a basic, human and hopeful attribute, to be valued highly. Sadly, many people have shut this off, in order to rigidly stay inside of a dogma of some kind. Curiosity is seen as dangerous, because it may lead a person outside of a rigid dogma or belief system. Cults generally go to an extreme with this, by shutting a person off from the outside world and preventing any kind of outside influence that may lead to them changing to a conflicting belief system.
The best and most hopeful thing about colleges and institutions of higher learning is that they usually focus on the need to think critically about everything. In the best schools, what is their goal for students who graduate? If questioned, the leaders of these schools will state quite emphatically that their goal is to get students to think for themselves and to explore new ways of thinking about things, rather than staying stuck in old thought patterns, wouldn’t you agree? Hopefully, this will also be part of the purpose or mission statement of that school.
On a personal level, the process of change is sometimes difficult and is resisted. However, you can always change your mind and go back to the old dogma or belief you are now comfortable with, and get rid of this new puppy, right? So what have you go to lose? Nothing… What do you have to gain? Everything……
Chapter 10: Raising Hope and Turning It Around
One very powerful and positive way of looking at our individual challenges and issues of suffering is to look at someone who has it worse. After all, if I am blind and deaf, how does that compare to someone who is blind, deaf and has no arms or legs? There is always someone who has it worse. If I am close to death, then there is still someone who just died. Life is precious, even if it is almost gone.
It is better to be grateful for what little we have, and stay focused on the positive hopeful aspects of life, rather than to spend time in negativity and feeling like a victim.
There is a Chinese story that illustrates this point... A man was being chased by a man eating tiger. He ran fast, and came to a cliff, with a thousand foot drop. He jumped over the edge to get away from the tiger, as he had no other choice, and no weapon to fight back with.
Luckily, a bush was growing out of the side of the cliff. He grabbed onto a branch of this bush and stopped his fall. He looked up and saw the tiger waiting for him. He looked down, and saw certain death below. He looked straight ahead, and saw a small strawberry plant, with a single, ripe strawberry on it. With his free hand, he picked the strawberry, and ate it, slowly. This is a very good strawberry, he thought, as he lost his grip and fell.
The lesson here is that sometimes life is like this situation of a man with a tiger chasing him. Sometimes there is no way out of a difficult situation, but we can still go out with a positive, hopeful and grateful attitude. Even within a terminal situation, there is a hope filled choice of what to focus on.
A second way of looking at a given situation that we are supposedly trapped or a victim in is to think of a difficulty or challenge as a gift. A difficulty is always there in some form or fashion with a positive side to it. How?
If we did not have a darkness that we all experience, we would not know what benefits light has. Life is full of all kinds of challenges. We get to experience those challenges. The hope within those dark things and within these difficulties is that they generally make us stronger, better and more able to cope with future problems, as long as we look at these things with a positive, hope filled attitude.
For example, my sister was addicted to heroin, and went through some very dark times in her life. When she finally hit bottom and turned her life around, she used what she had learned by going through the darkness and coming out of it into the light, in order to help others. She eventually became a drug counselor in an addiction treatment center. She was the best addiction counselor, because she KNEW from experience what these addicts were going through. She spoke and taught and counseled from experience, not just from book learning. So in this way, darkness can be a gift.
In a strange way, the more difficult situations we are in or exposed to, the better the end result will be, if we keep a positive attitude about it and just do our best while we are in the seeming darkness and chaos. There is an inner spiritual lesson and light in every difficulty. If we ask for the gift or lesson to be revealed to us, it will be. Again, this is all about choices and how we choose to look at something.