So, now Oprah (with the help of Eckhart Tolle) is getting into the game of helping people actually transform. They are planning to do a class online. Eckhart Tolle is famous in spiritual circles for making popular the idea of "releasing our Pain Body". This is fantastic stuff, and it will help you if you learn how to do it and you continue to apply it until you achieve breakthroughs that move you to a new way of being. Anything people can do to release and re-integrate subconscious programming is all good.
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Without getting deeply into philosophy, we can agree that we humans are at least part mammal. Like a lion or a tiger or a bear. Mammals have a part of their brain that is called the amygdala. This part of our brain takes over our higher minds if it thinks our survival is threatened. When the amygdala gets triggered we are flooded with hormones and the flight or fight mechanism becomes activated. Rationality and reason take a back seat.
Our survival mechanism fires up only when we perceive a threat to our survival. Unfortunately, we can perceive a threat when there is none. Our "sense of self" can seem to be threatened whenever we have strong associations to something and that "thing" is under any kind of perceived attack or threat. Cultural conditioning and parental programming when we are young causes our minds to "link" our survival and sense of self with specific ideas, beliefs and situations.
This "linking" is the problem and the cause of all fear and loathing. The association between our survival and our particular religious, cultural or personal belief is not "real", it is only a false linking. By extension and linking this could mean our home, our job, our car, our money and our belongings as well as our ethnic group, religion or cultural beliefs etc.
One reason that "teaching" tolerance is relatively ineffective is because it only works on the higher mind. It comes from a moral & reasoned perspective. It can help people to understand each other, but does not go far enough that it can undo the effects of the survival mechanism when it is fully fired up. Moral or reasoned beliefs reside in the higher mind which is bypassed by the lower mammalian survival mechanism.
The good news is that human change science has developed to the point where this "linking" can be undone. We can now free our minds from any type of conditioned emotional reactivity or irrational fear. There are several forms of this powerful transformative technology. Sometimes know as Emotional Clearing, Transformational Processing or Integrative Clearing Work. It is also called deconstructive contemplation and radical self inquiry.
Engaging in this kind of trans-formative process, we learn to differentiate. We can tell the difference between rational fear and irrational fear. Through differentiation, our irrational resistance and fear is disengaged. Our world view is opened up and we can now include that which we formerly rejected. We can learn to tolerate and even appreciate and embrace those that are different from us. Even those that happen to be "hating" (fearing) us at the moment.
Human Change technology is making huge strides. Unfortunately this doesn't make the headline news. Social Evolution for the most part is a slow moving train witch often takes one step forward and two steps back. Another unfortunate fact is that those who need it most have little access to this technology. So, what can be done?
The only way to truly change the world is to free one human at a time. First, we need to save ourselves before we can help anyone else. This means, use the technology. Apply it to your own life. Get a course, or sign up for some sessions. Next, tell others about it through your blog or by email or any other means possible. The more people that "heal their minds" the more peace and tolerance will become a reality.
More on Social Evolution: Who Will Win the Battle for Your Mind?
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You've seen "The Secret" on Oprah. Jerry Adler of Newsweek has written a scathing assesment. Now take a look at the "dark side" of "The Secret" – my assesment.
Really? A Secret?
Not really a big issue, but this understanding has been around for a while – like a few thousand years. The Secret is a basic part of the mystical teachings of Gautama Buddha and Yeshua of Nazareth(Jesus Christ). It's simple to find if you really study.
More recently, this teaching has been popularized by Lynn Grabhorn in her "Excuse Me Your Life Is Waiting" books. Published about 7 years ago. Lynn Grabhorn attributes most of her insights to a channeled being called Abraham. This is not meant to demean this information in any way. Wisdom finds its way into our consciousness in various and mysterious ways. But how do we use this wisdom properly?
The Dark Side!
Check your motivation. When the sages taught this type of practice, their intention was that you understand how the universe works and that you use this knowledge for spiritual maturation and in other wholesome ways. If you look at what most of the present day teachers talked about on Oprah, you will see them emphasising that "You can have what you want". . . or "You can create the life of your dreams". There was a lot of talk about wealth and prosperity, getting good jobs, finding a mate etc.
In contrast to that, Yeshua (Jesus) said: "You must die to yourself daily to enter the kingdom." So, what's wrong with this picture? Basically two things: Balance and emotional maturity. Think about it this way. Would you give your 6 year old child 20 bucks and send him into a candy store? Too much power and too little maturity can lead to disaster. Take a look at some of Hollywood's celebrity train wrecks, or how bout rock & roll stars?
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Oprah, Eckhart Tolle and Religion
I was delightfully surprised by both Eckhart Tolle and Oprah! . . . If you haven't heard yet, Oprah is conducting a 10 week webinar with the now famous spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle. I decided to check it out because I've followed Eckhart's teaching from early on when he published his first book. My delight was kindled by the feeling that both Eckhart and Oprah seemed to make a shift and meet somewhere in the "middle". When I had seen Eckhart before, he seemed to lean toward the ethereal side and Oprah has always seemed a bit on the material side. The scenario where Oprah and people asked him questions seemed to bring him down to earth and it was nice to see that more personal part of Eckhart . On the other hand I have never seen Oprah expressing her deeper, more "spiritual" experiences like this. I highly recommend that you go to http://Oprah.com and watch the 90 minute in depth video. Let me know what you think!
Because of the vast number of people Oprah can reach, (over half a million watched the live event) there were all kinds of people drawn into an experience they may never have opened to. This is cool . . . but it was bound to ruffle some feathers. The first thing I noticed was a lot of fundamental leaning Christians having problems with Eckhart's teaching, or perhaps it was with coming to grips with their own shallow grasp of what Yeshua (Jesus) really taught. Many people in the forum are expressing problems with guilt or with their fellow Christians chastising them or saying Eckhart is "satanic". WOW, but it does not surprise me.
I went through the same type of reaction in my life when I started pursuing meditation and reading the Course In Miracles about 12 years ago. People from the church I attended resisted and reacted in a strong way. I also had to deal with guilt and my entire belief system just decended into chaos for a while. This is the same phenomena that happened to Eckhart Tolle only his ego and belief system completely dissolved in a very rapid flash. Consequently he stumbled around in a daze for 7 years. My beliefs were let go more slowly.
Religious belief systems exist because ego's need something to "wrap" around in order to create an identity. When we have created a strong identity, and we feel our belief system is going to save us or keep us safe, we have a great recipe for defensiveness and reaction. Fundamentalism around the earth in whatever form demonstrates this reality. See it for what it is. There is great truth in all religion and the teachings of Yeshua which Eckhart Tolle often uses as an example. Learn to let go of your beliefs and open up to allowing Life, God, Reality or the Oneness to speak to you directly. Circumvent your mind and it's thought systems by focusing your attention and resonating with the feeling realm. . . and take it one precious moment at a time. You may find that you don't really need a thought system to be happy and Whole.
For people who are struggling with their religion, stay tuned to this blog and look for posts in the "Religion & Spirituality" category. I will be sharing in greater detail about the transition from belief to Knowing and how to transcend religious belief systems. (like Yeshua did
More on Oprah, Eckhart Tolle and Religion
Tags: beliefs, fundamentalism, Oprah Eckhart Tolle, religion, thought systems
Filed under Religion & Spirituality, Social Commentary by tsd