Nurturing

Nurture: 1. To nourish or feed; 2. To educate; train; 3. To help grow or develop.

All life needs nurturing, whether this happens through a natural process or is helped along by outside forces. Humankind is capable of recognizing the act of nurturing and thus replicating it for our own welfare. In other words, we can be our own nurture source.

The soul controls the mind, and the mind controls the body. However, the body can affect the mind, which can then dim the light of our soul. The soul is an endless well of goodness and resources. It is not that we could ever tap its wealth, it is that we don't often enough allow it to manifest.

This dependence of body on mind, and on soul, and vice- versa, is why meditation is so important. To begin with, meditation calms the body down, lowering blood pressure, alleviating, in some cases, pain, and generally giving the muscles and nervous system a break. Meditation continues to benefits us as it also begins to slow down the mind, leaving regrets of the past and anxiety of the future behind, and allowing the mind to focus on some simple thing like a word or breath, or image.

With the body and mind now in a much more relaxed state than a typical day allows, the soul is able to break through the noise, as it were, to heal the body and mind, to provide insight, to rejuvenate our hope and strength. It doesn't have to be a ritualistic meditation. It can truly just be listening to your favorite music through headphones, listening to a guided meditation tape, listening to sounds from far away, listening to a mantra or to sutras that we are repeating in our own mind - any thing that brings us out of the past and the future, and into the now - this very moment.

If there is one place to start changing your life it is to simply sit down and relax. Twenty minutes, twice a day is more than enough. Any amount is better than none. Don't expect transforming, dramatic enlightenment in the immediate sense. What you will see is a gradual, and sometimes not so gradual, improvement in your energy, your intuition, and your life.

Once your soul has a chance to nurture your mind and body, your mind will begin finding ways to nurture the body. Soon, all three parts of your being will be helping each other to grow and develop in ways you never thought possible. It is so easy to get started - no books, no classes, just quiet time and faith that your world is about to change for the better.

Science and psychics

Saint Thomas Aquinas is often thought of more as a mystic than a saint. He struggled with and wrote about many facets of life and afterlife. In part of his writing, and I am paraphrasing as best I can, he says that science presents itself as based on an immutable set of universal, eternal laws . . . laws that always have been and always will be, such as gravity, repulsion, attraction, inertia, atoms, photons, neuron, electrons, etc. However, only within the human mind can we appreciate these eternal laws, and so that, in itself, makes our minds eternal.

One of the earliest scientific descriptions of psychics that I am aware of took place in Great Britain back in 1696, in the writings of John Aubrey called Miscellanies. Aubrey was describing the phenomenon of Second Sight or the telling of future events, principally taking place in Scotland.

In 1763, Rev. John Fraser wrote about the same subject in Deuterosophia (Second Knowledge) or a Brief Discourse Concerning Second Sight. Many other Scots writers covered this subject and in the 1880s the London-based Society for Psychical Research began sending out questionnaires and making house calls to amass all the information they could on this phenomenon. Among their members was the current Prime Minister of England and the future Prime Minister. There were many scientists and members of royalty and also authors Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and a ton of other great books) and Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland).

The conclusion of this group, lacking any real ways to measure scientifically, was that second sight was commonly believed in nearly every household throughout the Highlands of Scotland, and many stories were recorded of its accuracy.

More recently, in the late 1900s and early 2000s, a group from the University of Arizona carried out extensive, rigid scientific studies using the popular psychic John Edward, three additional nationally known psychics, and a local psychic. The results showed success in some cases of up to 90%, while a control group of 65 non-psychics had a typical success rate of only about 20%.

The records of this scientific study can be found in the book The Afterlife Experiments, by Gary Schwartz.

Even more recently a documentary appeared on the History Channel speaking of the human soul. One Medical Doctor described how she, herself, had gone out of her body as she watched herself swim in ice cold water to the shoreline after a small plane she was in crashed through the ice of a small lake. A rescue plane saved her and she has been working with those who have experience "near-death" ever since.

Another anesthesiologist, with 35 years experience in causing people to lose consciousness, is convince that the soul or conscious is separate from the brain or body, and that it goes off somewhere while subjects are under anesthesia. There is no scientific explanation for how anesthesia works, but it obviously does, and has for over a hundred years.

There are millions of people who have now claimed to have experienced the near-death phenomenon. Millions more have had positive experiences with psychics. Dozens of police cases, if not hundreds, have been aided by psychics.

There have been many recent studies of the brain using MRI machines that show the same transmitters firing for thoughts of the same objects. This has been reported on 60 Minutes by Leslie Stahl. Their use has also proven that many in comas still have total consciousness, just not the ability to relay their thoughts to the outside world. The MRI is proving a lot of what was once thought impossible or mystical.

As Schwartz pointed out in his book, photons from stars which died billions of years ago still float through our solar system and can be measured. Why not photons or some energy source from our own brains living on forever, too?

The scientific studies of recent years, the anecdotal evidence from centuries of practice, and my own experiences, numbering in the hundreds, leave no doubt in my mind about the reality of the soul and its ability to communicate, while alive, or in the afterlife.

Scientists have long said we use only 10% of our brain.

What if we use only 10% of our soul?

Eric

I was in Jamaica at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant. I had just finished eating and walked to the water's edge to look out over Montego Bay. A black man named Eric (all my angels are black men, I think) was sitting off to the side and, out of the blue, he says, "Some people only see what is on the surface of the water, but you see what is underneath."

He went on to give me a "reading" about things currently happening in my life. Even with all my training, it was still unnerving and I thanked him and milled around for awhile but eventually moved on to the bar across the street. It was way too much of a tourist trap and I started to leave but noticed that there was a balcony that provided an even higher view of Montego Bay.

As I walked out on it there was Eric standing in the corner watching the bay. I walked over and said, "Hey, it's you again."

He said, "Of course, and you came here to find me because you needed to hear the rest of the story." He went on to say, "My friend, you have important work to do. My country has lost her heart, and your country has lost her purpose. You must reach everyone you can with your writing to help her find her purpose once again."

I can't say that I have yet, or ever could fulfill that quest. When I returned home I ordered two books written long ago with titles similar to "America's Purpose." I looked into my own family's background and that of my Scottish nationality.

I realized that this country was NOT founded on the principal of every man for himself, but rather that all should contribute to the best of their ability and those who were less fortunate need to be cared for until they, too, can contribute. This was called "clachan" in the Scottish world and this and many other precepts of that nationality have become the patterns for our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and our "normal" society.

However, every once in awhile, the country starts to swing back to a neolithic, club-carrying society, as evidenced by the Tucson shootings. Then we need to work extra hard to remind all of the greater purpose - that we are our brother's (or sister's) keeper, that we need to comfort the afflicted and heal the sick, and we need to speak truth to power.

My class chose world peace as our goal. And so I do what I can in the face of a seemingly increasing ignorance of purpose. May the God of our understanding bless us all.

Don't wear shorts

So I was watching some of my teachers at an outdoor reading attended by about 100 or so people. Suddenly, I got a reading for a lady sitting just a few rows from the front. I motioned to one of my teachers waiting on a bench to the side asking in rudimentary sign language if I could do a reading. It would be my first at this well-known reading location and yet I was so sure of the reading that I wasn't even nervous.

However, it was motioned back to me that I couldn't read because I was wearing shorts instead of long pants and I then understood that a certain level of decorum was required to play in the big leagues.

Still, I was worried for this woman and "saw" her leaving down the path to the parking lot with her head hung low and in a deep depression because she did not get her reading. I continued to hope for her, but to no avail, and the whole event ended with her still sitting there as the crowd walked away.

I couldn't let this stand and so I went to her and said that I was just a student but that I felt I had a reading for her and would she mind indulging me. She eagerly said it would be OK.

I said that I sensed she was grieving over a man, possibly her father but maybe her husband. Either way, she had a watch with her – his watch. She smiled and pull the watch out of her pocket. I received the message that he was still making his way on the other side but that he was safe and fine and that she shouldn't worry. He said he loved her very much and a few other things that I don't really remember, or didn't even comprehend.

Regardless, she thanked me up and down and almost skipped down the path catching up with some other folks she had not been sitting with and began a conversation with them.

As often happened with me, I stood there emotionally drained – happy that she received her reading, trying to shake the sadness out of my own being, and thanking the Higher MInd for the opportunity to serve once again.

How can we know?

Say you moved an apple across the table to a point where there was no more table. It would most likely fall to the ground unless something else stood in the way. We know it is gravity making this happen, but we can't see gravity, only its results.

When we plug our hair dryer into the wall and flip the switch, it turns on. We know electricity is flowing through it, but we can't see it, only its results.

When we diet or exercise, we burn calories though we can't see the process, only the results (hopefully).

When we love someone we can't see the love, only the results, as we do something special just for that person, or think of them often, or smile.

The list of examples is long - inertia, lasers (which only show on the object they land on, but are invisible until that point), power – can't see it, but certainly feel its results. In fact any emotional energy, any mechanical energy, any natural energy is invisible.

Energy is invisible PERIOD.

And so we see the results of a God energy all the time, in the miracle of life, the vastness of the universe, the complexity of the miniature world of atoms. This list can go on, too, and, while we have no trouble believing in gravity, electricity, burning calories or love, many have trouble believing in a Higher Mind or Energy that drives the Universe.

We also see the results of spiritual healing, mediumship, and meditation and yet look at the detractors of these subjects. We simply need to look at the results to know these are as real as the rest.

There are photons, which by the way we can not see, but we can scientifically measure, that were dispersed by stars that died billions of years ago. They are still floating through the universe. Why, then, can't our own "photons" continue after we burn out. We know, for a fact, that the love we leave behind us does live on. Why not our soul?

In 2001, scientists at the University of Arizona gathered four of the best mediums in the country, including the famous John Edward, along with one local, lesser-known medium. They used the best scientific methods and were filmed by HBO during the process. Two clients were chosen anonymously and wrote down the high points and low points of their life, especially of those family members who had passed over, and sealed these until after the experiment. The mediums could not physically see the client and only yes or no answers were allow.

The bottom line is that the "results" were as much as 90% successful, and all five mediums separately gave pretty much the same story to each client. Good batters in the major leagues only hit about 30-40% of the time. Chance allows for about a 20% success rate. Even Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, only hit baskets about 30-40% of the time. These psychics hit upwards of 90% of the time. The other 10% could be explained by simple misunderstandings.

I know from personal experience that this phenomenon is real. And its only honest purpose is to help other people make it through dark days.

The proof is in its results.

Postponement

The Tucson shootings only emphasize humankind's propensity to fail in supporting each other. This man should have received the help he needed. He should not have been able to purchase extended load magazines, meant specifically for warfare, not hunting or target shooting, and political discourse should not include brandishing weapons and threatening talk, as if we were living in the Old West. We are capabale of so much better, and yet it must start inside each individual. I received this message from my teacher just this morning -

Dear Jim,

Dr. Nemeh’s appearance date on the Dr. Oz Show has changed.  I received a phone call from Kathy Nemeh, (Dr. Nemeh’s wife) last night.  Due to the tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, another segment has been scheduled for today.

The new date for Dr. Nemeh to be on the Dr. Oz Show is Tuesday, February 1, 1011.  It promises to be a wonderful show.

Blessings,
Elaine

Survival

Al Capone, arguably the biggest gangster of them all, was guilty of every imaginable crime from murder, to bootleg whiskey, from operating red light districts to illegal gambling houses, from voter intimidation to jury tampering . . . and he was nailed on a simple tax fraud.

Why?

Because there wasn't enough evidence to convict him on the other charges.

I cite this story because it shows how a subtle bit of evidence can hide behind it a great, or in this case – not-so-great reality.

And so it is with the world of the spirit.

The first concern of humankind is almost always physical survival. We must eat, stay warm or sheltered from the heat, and we must socialize to maintain our sanity and for mutual aid when conditions are beyond the scope of one person to handle. These are basic needs and, once met, only then can we contemplate higher thought, perhaps of survival of death.

For most of human history the role of the contemplator was a special position supported by the labor of others. A simple example would be the local minister who lives in a home provided by the church, whose food is purchased with his church salary or provided by a friendly congregation member. In the middle ages many men like Nostradamus, Michelangelo, Leonardo DaVinci and others less notable were supported by a royal family, but indirectly through the labor of the common people.

The difference for us, today, is that a very high standard of living, compared to most of history, is attainable while still allowing for contemplation of the spiritual. Unfortunately, for many, social mores, upbringing and habits lead often to continued reliance on these "special" people for thought processes.

There is a marked difference between a teacher who passes on knowledge and experience, and then sends you on your way to do the real learning, and a leader who demands continual visitations and adherence to a strict set of rules.

When some of my teacher's students were caught skinny-dipping in the local lake she decided to write up some rules. She chose the most rebellious of her students and threw out the majority of the rules they wrote.

The only real laws are those of loving, learning and accepting the subtle evidence that can lead to a new or expanded life. These are personal. They require no leader, no tithe, no set of regulations or direction. They simply require of us that we experience, accept, shed our ego so as to blend with the Universal Ego, and expand our knowledge whenever possible.

These are easy things to do . . . and enjoyable. Sources are everywhere, but also right at the fingertips of our mind and soul. Sit quietly. Listen to your breath. Listen to the little voice inside your head. Watch Nature. Trust God. Love.

The world's catching on

First, one of my former teachers is going to be on Dr. Oz, on Tuesday, January 11th. Dr. Issam Nemeh, M.D. Is a teacher and practitioner of spiritual healing and he will appear as one of a handful of guests to talk about this subject. My main teacher was also at the taping at Rockefeller Center last week. She is the one who used to work for Tony Robbins, in NYC, and walked through fire with him like my son did awhile ago.

Secondly, the latest issue of Newsweek has a story on how to “Grow Your Mind” and they state - “the second form of overall mental training is meditation, which can increase the thickness of regions that control attention and process sensory signals from the outside world. In a program that neuroscientist Amishi Jha of the University of Miami calls mindfulness-based mind-fitness training, participants build concentration by focusing on one object, such as a particular body sensation. The training, she says, has show success in enhancing mental agility and attention by changing brain structure and function so that the brain processes are more efficient – the quality associated with higher intelligence.”

This second item verifies what I wrote earlier on this blog, only in a different form. Where they say “increase the thickness of regions that control attention and process sensory signals from the outside world” I say it allows intuitive ability to rise to the surface. Where they say “build concentration by focusing on one object” I say use whatever method it takes to get your mind off the past or future and only into the now. Where they say “changing brain structure and function so that the brain processes are more efficient” I say that it is like a computer hard drive being defragged so we can process our life easier. Just different words to say the same thing, and I am happy to see a mainstream publication endorsing what I know to be true.

A simple and quick meditation routine

Since one of the major goals of meditation is to get a person out of the past and future, and into the now (see my earlier posting on this), here is a simple and quick meditation to refresh you if things are getting a little hectic.

Your solar plexus is that tender part of your body located roughly at the point where your rib cage ends. Begin by closing your eyes and taking one or more deep breaths. Then imagine an elevator door located right at your solar plexus.

Also, imagine yourself approaching that very elevator and hitting the "Up" button. As the door opens, imagine yourself walking inside and the door closing once again. On the panel is listed only one floor – floor "R" for roof. In this case, the roof is the top of your head.

Push the R button and feel yourself slowly begin to ascend. The elevator is connected to your very backbone as you slowly climb towards the top of your head. Don't hurry, just relax and enjoy the ride.

Eventually you will find yourself outside of your own body, consciously, at least. Enjoy the view and let your mind clear. When you are ready, simply open your eyes and return to your life refreshed and with increased calmness.

Try it!