by Jill N.Henry, EdD
The New Age is an awareness that issues repeat in your life until they have been resolved on a metaphysical level first, and then a resolution on the physical level is experienced. The dictionary defines metaphysical as “relating to the transcendent or supersensible, marked by elaborate subtleties of thought and expression”. Aristotle coined the term metaphysics in his treatise on the subject as “works beyond the physical”. In the New Age you, the reader, are about to become a metaphysician – a student of or specialist in metaphysics. We will be approaching Life from the beyond/above/beneath the physical. We will look at the subtleties of thought and expression that make our world. And, we will use these subtle energies to successfully learn our Life Lessons – to “pass the test” and to move on into a new age of experience in the world.
"Through
the intellectual stuff of metaphysics, of understanding the why, and the how
and the wherefors of your reality that you begin to have power.
And as you begin to have power, you become empowered.
Power is the ability to act. Empowerment is the authority and the permission
to act. And it is through the intellectual stuff - the learning and
understanding that you gain power - the ability to act, and you gain
empowerment - the authority and permission
to act.
And through power and empowerment comes dominion -
having that ability to consciously generate and create, as a co-creator
of your future. To have dominion comes from empowerment, which comes from
power." Lazaris
A paradigm is a set of underlying beliefs and assumptions about the way things work in the world. We all have basic paradigms or beliefs about our lives. These beliefs help us explain how and why things happen to us. We learned most of our beliefs from our parents, and they from their parents, and so on. A paradigm appears True until we have evidence otherwise. Let’s quickly compare the current worldview, Old Age Truths, with the emerging paradigm, New Age Truths.
Old Age TruthsSolidified in the 17th Century |
New Age TruthsAwakening in the 20th and 21st Centuries |
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1. Galileo Galilei - father of modern science - restricted the scientific study to essential (quantifiable) properties of material bodies that can be measured and quantified. All other (qualitative) properties to be considered subjective mental projections and excluded from the domain of science |
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1. Albert Einstein – father of quantum physics – discovered an energy core to all matter. This energy was influenced not only by the properties of matter, but also by the properties of mind and emotions. The observer affects the observation and can change the results of any experiment by the mental expectations held in the mind.
2. Rene Descartes - founder of modern philosophy- taught that complex phenomena could be understood by reducing them to their component parts. This division between mind and matter created a view of nature and of the body as machines to be built or repaired as a clock is built and repaired. A sick man is like a sick clock, a healthy man like a well made clock
2. Deepak Chopra. MD – a founder of quantum energy medicine – teaches that, in their essential state, our bodies are composed of energy and information, not solid matter. This energy and information is an outcropping of infinite fields of energy and information spanning the universe. Impulses of intelligence create your body in new forms every second. What you are is the sum total of these impulses, and by changing their patterns, you will change.
3. Isaac Newton developed a mathematical formulation of the mechanistic view of nature and conceptualization of an external creator who made the machine (universe) run. What exists and is real can be seen and felt and directly observed.
4. John Locke developed a theory of knowledge based exclusively on sensory perception. The mind a birth is a tabula rasa, completely blank upon which knowledge from the outside must be imprinted.
4. Abraham Maslow – founder of Transpersonal Psychology – described a developmental hierarchy of needs, based on the inner impulses inherent in all beings. The ultimate need is to transcend the self and serve a higher calling of true Self.
Which paradigms do you hold true for you? The Old or New Age? In the Old Age View, you are born blank, without connection to spirit or energy. You are a victim of the material forces of nature and the circumstances of matter. To heal, you must view your body as a machine, and the physician as a mechanic, who will replace parts or add chemicals. Your mind and emotions have nothing to do with healing. In fact, your mind and emotions have nothing to do with how your life is progressing. You are helpless! In the New Age View, you are born into this body with a connection to spirit that is an infinite source of energy and knowledge. Because you are a being of energy, your True Self exists always; it existed before you were born and after the body has died. To heal, you look towards the energy within, mind and emotions, that has directed the body without to become ill. You ease the dis-ease through healing your thoughts and beliefs. You have permission to “go to the mechanic” for assistance, but you know that the only lasting healing is self-healing. You are a victim of nothing, but have drawn all experiences, positive and negative, into your world to learn from. The ultimate learning is how to transcend your “little” self and connect with your Higher Self, so that you may serve the world in peace and love. You are powerful beyond measure!
The Practice
Begin, here and now, to connect with the basic energy of the universe. Commit to a practice of daily insight meditation.
1. Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit. Either sit on a pillow, cross-legged on the floor, or sit in a straight chair, feet flat on the floor.
2. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
3. Close your eyes and focus on feeling the breath coming and going from your nose. You will find that your mind becomes distracted by thoughts, sounds, and sensations. That’s OK. Notice the distraction and return to the breath. Keep returning to the breath. Over and over again, return to the sensation of the breath coming and going from your nose. Don’t count the breath. Don’t measure the breath. Just observe the breath. Don’t move. Don’t “fidget”. Just feel the breath. Return to the breath.
4. Feeling the sensation of the breath brings you into the present moment. When you observe, then release the past and the future, you enter the present moment of healing energy. As you continue with this practice, you will begin to sense the unseen energy that is always with you. You will give this energy the access and permission to flow fully through your life.
5. When you are ready, lengthen the time from 5 minutes to 10 minutes, or 20, or even 40 minutes.
6. Practice at least 5 days each week. You can give yourself permission to spend 5 minutes each day in your own healing and spiritual growth.
© 2004 by Jill Henry, Mountain Valley Center, Otto, NC All rights reserved.
Many
joys and blessings,
Jill
Dr. Jill Henry, EdD, PT, APP is author of the new book by Llewellyn, Energy SourceBook – The Fundamentals of Personal Energy. She is founder, with her husband Charlie, of Mountain Valley Center metastore and the Otto Labyrinth Park in Otto, NC. She is webmaster for http://www.mountainvalleycenter.com , an Associate Polarity Practitioner, a Grant Consultant for Allied Health programs in the SE USA and developer and presenter of CEU workshops for nurses, physical therapists and massage therapists http://www.mountainvalleycenter.com/flow.htm
REFERENCES
Chopra, Deepak, MD (1993) Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. Harmony Books, Crowne Publishing and Random House, New York, pp4-7
Henry, Jill N. (1988) Development and Learning for Transformation – Linking Life Long Learning and Transpersonal Psychology. Athens, GA, University of Georgia
Dr. Michio Kaku, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the City University of New York, is the author of VISIONS: HOW SCIENCE WILL REVOLUTIONIZE THE 21ST CENTURY and the best-seller HYPERSPACE
Lazaris (unreferenced tape recording)
Rengel, Peter. (1987). Seeds of Light: inspriations from my higher self. Tiburon, CA. H.J. Kramer.