Nature Speaks
“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
–George Washington Carver (African American Inventor and Botanist, 1864-1943)
The Real Medicine of the Future
Those of us who have been pushing toward a more comprehensive model of health and healing have talked for years now about the importance of relationship as the key effective component of compassionate care. It’s true that many people still buy into the “Mechanic model” of health care, and are not much interested in anything except a quick fix. “Do something to me: a pill or surgery or whatever. I’m not interested in changing anything in my life, or trying to take control of my future…”
But for those of you interested in empowering yourselves, this is a simple – but beautiful – statement about one aspect of the model of Integrated Health.
“Medicine is not only a science, but also the art of letting our own individuality interact with the individuality of the patient.”
–Albert Schweitzer (Alsatian-born Theologian, Philosopher, Mission Doctor and, in 1952, Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1875-1965)
The Art of Encouragement
“The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement. Yet, almost no one gets the encouragement they need to grow to their full potential. If everyone received the encouragement they need to grow, the genius in most everyone would blossom and the world would produce abundance beyond the wildest dreams. We would have more than one Einstein, Edison, Schweitzer, Mother Theresa, Dr. Salk and other great minds in a century.”
–Sidney Madwed (American Speaker, Poet and Lyricist)
Inner Communion
“There is a kind of inner communion with the psychic being which takes place when one willingly gives up desire, and because of this, one feels, a much greater joy than if he had satisfied his desire. Besides most usually, almost without exception, when one satisfies a desire it always leaves a kind of bitter taste some where.”
–The Mother of Pondicherry (a.k.a. Mirra Alfassa, French-born Indian Spiritual Teacher, 1878-1973)
Stumbling Over the Truth
“People stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”
–Sir Winston Churchill (English Statesman, British Prime Minister, 1940-1945 and 1951-1955, and, in 1953, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1874-1965)
The Mystic View
To anyone trained in conventional science, the mystic view of the world usually seems to be nothing more than flowery poetry. But to anyone who has actually experienced it, it is more “Real” than anything that you can learn from a textbook. It is simply a different way of knowing, and it can be as useful and practical as the objective methods of inquiry. And far more meaningful to the individual!
“Every tree and plant and mole beneath the earth may hear the Voice of God and, hearing it, obey. Every sound you hear on earth is an echo of His Voice, and every light in every color comes from the dazzling radiance of His Eyes.”
–Geoffrey Hodson (English-born New Zealand Theosophist, Mystic, Teacher and Author, 1886-1983)
Mirrors of the Self
“The point of archetypal images, like the point of myths, is not problem solving but imagining, questioning, going deeper.
Archetypal images free us from identifying ourselves with our literal failures and successes or from seeing our lives as banal, or trivial.
The aim in attending to these images is to awaken us to a sense of our yet unrealized latent possibilities, to save us from our sense of isolation and meaninglessness. It is to open up our lives to renewal and reshaping.
Attending to the images creates a new bond between our personal lives and the collective experience of humankind.”
–Christine Downing (American Scholar of religion, mythology, depth psychology and feminist studies, Professor of Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara and, in 1974, the first woman President of the American Academy of Religion, 1931-)
“Mirrors of the Self: Archetypal Images Shape Your Life” (Tarcher)
Two Eyes and One Tongue
I was just advising someone to remember the old adage about having one tongue and two ears. To listen twice as much as you speak…
This one also works!
“Men are born with two eyes, but with one tongue, in order that they should see twice as much as they say.”
–Charles Caleb Colton (English Clergyman and Author, c.1780-1832)
The Holographic Domain
“What is organism (with its component organs) is no longer sharply distinguished from what lies outside the boundaries of the skin. In the holographic domain, each organism represents in some manner the universe, and each portion of the universe represents in some manner the organism within it.”
–Karl Pribram (Austrian-born American Neuroscientist, 1919-)
“The Relevance of Bliss: A Contemporary Exploration of Mystic Experience” (Nona Coxhead)
Brain Wider Than the Sky
The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
For—put them side by side—
The one the other will contain
With ease—and You—beside—
The Brain is deeper than the sea—
For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
The one the other will absorb—
As Sponges—Buckets—do—
The Brain is just the weight of God—
For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
And they will differ—if they do—
As Syllable from Sound—
–Emily Dickinson (New England Mystic Poet, 1830-1886)
