THE HARMONY OF THE MIND, BODY & SPIRIT
& CREATING THE NEW PARADIGM

The following quote is from one of the most powerful influences in my work and my life, Carlos Castaneda. It is from the Introduction he wrote in 1998 to the thirtieth anniversary edition of The Teachings of Don Juan. Don Juan was a Yaqui Indian sorcerer from Mexico.

"The world of everyday life cannot ever be taken as something personal that has power over us, something that could make us, or destroy us, because our battlefield is not in our strife with the world around us. Our battlefield is over the horizon, in an area that is unthinkable for the average person, the area where a human being ceases to be a human being. It is energetically imperative for us to realize that the only thing that matters in life is our encounter with infinity. The term infinity is energetically irreducible. It is a conclusion that is arrived at when the sorcerer is engaged in a function called seeing. Seeing is the act of perceiving energy directly as it flows in the universe. The end result is a realization, which, by its simplicity, is so difficult to attain: that our real struggle is not our strife with our fellow human being, but with infinity. And this is not even a struggle. It is, in essence, an acquiescence. We must voluntarily acquiesce to infinity."

This quote is a beautiful illustration of a paradox that is essential to understanding the true source of our power to create health, happiness and meaning in our lives. As long as our focus is on the everyday affairs of life, such as money, material possessions or our careers, we will on the wrong track. Only when we shift our awareness to our "encounter with infinity" can we develop the power to attract what is most important in life. And then the mundane matters of this world will fall into place, like magic.

Acquiescing to infinity is not as mysterious as it might sound. The tools we use for this are within us. They are a natural part of us, and what we're here in this world to do. This consists of our state of mind and our total state of being. Our power to create health and happiness in our lives is derived from the power of our awareness. This is our most sublime virtue. Our awareness is our totality- mind, body and spirit - thoughts, feelings and actions. And awareness is connection. It is a state of oneness or communion with life and with the living universe, of which we are a part.

One of the best illustrations of these principles is the remarkable story of the Quantum physicists at the beginning of the 20th Century. When these pioneers of science delved into the world of subatomic matter for the first time, they discovered a world that totally defied the accepted view of reality. They discovered that the world did not consist of separate material particles, as was previously believed. Instead, it consisted of traces or bundles of energy, which were in a state of continuous vibration, and lightening fast movement. Matter at this level didn't exist with certainty at definite places, and could only be understood in terms of probabilities and interconnections with other bundles of energy. They also discovered that they played a primary role in this world, and that the behavior of this energy was relative to how they observed it. These physicists were also in complete agreement that this dazzling world seemed to be guided by an unseen intelligence of some kind. Such a miracle couldn't possibly be a result of random chance. It had to be the work of some great cosmic mind.

This is precisely what mystics, sages, such as Castaneda's Don Juan, and esoteric traditions from virtually every culture on Earth have been saying for thousands of years. The universe is a dynamic web of pulsating energy that is governed by an unseen intelligence. The world is alive, and it has awareness. And we are a part of this.

Understanding how we create health and happiness by acquiescing to infinity is a question of understanding our true nature, and how we fit into all this. As a personal growth teacher, I work with the total person - mind, body and spirit. These three fundamental aspects of our totality are a functional unit, meaning they are interconnected, and work in harmony. A huge flaw of Western philosophy and medicine is the fact that it separates human beings into disconnected and unrelated parts.

The mind is our system of beliefs, and this involves the awesome and mysterious power of our beliefs to create our world. How we view our world determines that world. If we believe that the world is a bad place, where bad things just happen, then our world will be a dreary and sick place. If we believe life is a joyous and spectacular adventure, then it will be. The spirit, by definition, is beyond the scope of our reason, so it cannot be defined precisely. Spirit is the unseen intelligence at work in life. It's not something we possess, but something we connect with.

Quantum physics presents us with a model that is extremely useful in understanding ourselves and our purpose in life. It demonstrates that everything in life can be reduced to two basic things: energy and intelligence. Human beings are no exception, and this is certainly true for our physical bodies. Every part of our body, down to single cells and the tiniest molecule of DNA, consists of energy and consciousness. Every cell in our body knows when we are happy or depressed, relaxed or anxious. The vibration of our energy shifts accordingly, as does our biochemistry. We are vibrations governed by awareness.

There are no accidents in life. Everything happens for a reason, and it's all part of the divine plan. Over zillions of years of evolution, nature has devised perfect blueprints for healthy, organic life forms. It's the same for everybody and everything. The energy of healthy life forms vibrates at a certain frequency. We call this energy state vitality or the spark of life. Attaining a state of vibrant health means having a state of being that resonates at this frequency. It is connecting with the rhythm and flow of life.

The intelligence or awareness of healthy life forms is also the same, whether it is a human being, an amoeba, or an oak tree. Awareness means connection. It is connecting with this blueprint, connecting with the forces of life. A squirrel, for example, by following the blueprint of its instincts, knows exactly what it needs to do to be healthy. This is awareness. This is what human beings, in their current wretched state, have lost. They are cut off from life's vital energy, from its rhythm and flow. This is the cause of virtually all the disease in the modern world, for which established medicine has no answers.

What are the components of our state of being and our state of mind that give us this vibration, and connect us to this blueprint? It's all really very simple. Like the squirrel, it's something we all instinctively know, but have forgotten. One of the primary ingredients is knowing how to relax, and experience life with feelings of peacefulness and acceptance. A sense that we belong in this world, and that we can trust life is an important aspect of this. Another ingredient is feelings of joy and love, meaning unconditional joy and love for the experience of living life. Relaxation and happiness are indeed magical elixirs. Our mind must also be in proper working order to make this connection. This means replacing our distorted view of the world, as a bad place where bad things happen, with a view of the world as it is - magnificent, mysterious and unfathomable. It is one of the great tragedies and crimes of Western culture that we are conditioned to think in such a distorted way.

All of which takes some work. Which brings us back to the question: what is our purpose in life? Don Juan answers this question beautifully when he says, "Our lot is to learn, and to be hurled into inconceivable new worlds." It's all a question of embarking on the journey of personal growth and awareness. But what better use do we have for our precious time? Whether we call it acquiescing to infinity, or dancing to the rhythm of life, it's all the same. And once we make this connection, the mundane affairs of this world will take care of themselves. To quote again from Don Juan, "Life bestows inconceivable gifts upon those who are attuned to it."