|
|
|
|
WINTER 2007
|
 |
Physical and Spiritual Benefits of Meditation |
|
|
Getting Started: Place, Time, Length, Posture |
|
|
Techniques for Relaxation: Calming Your Body, Emotions and Mind |
|
|
Transforming Negative Thoughts and Feelings |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Professionally Recorded 60 Minute CD: $14.95
YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED
Call (202)237-2800, email us or send in your contribution with the donation form and a check or credit card number.
Please send your donation to:
Dear Friends,
Hope you’re having an amazing New Year! So many wonderful changes are afoot in the world in every field—especially politics and business. It’s so encouraging, as we know it’s due to the hard work of dedicated activists and visionaries around the world. People are really waking up and getting engaged. This issue, we feature one of these great heroines, our dear friend (and Advisory Council member of our Center), Hazel Henderson, in an excerpt from her new book, Ethical Markets. We also feature an article on Film-Watching as a Spiritual Practice and how to create a spiritual film group with your friends.
As Teilhard de Chardin wrote many years ago: “Someday after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of Love. Then for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” As we’re approaching Valentine’s Day, we focus this issue on the heart and compassion. It’s great to have at least one day of the year where we focus on people we love and how to best express it! We feature an article on The Practice of Loving Kindness to offer specific spiritual practices for developing an awakened heart—the aspiration for others to be happy.
As Time magazine reported January 29, scientific studies at the University of Wisconsin recently showed that meditating on compassion activates the left prefrontal cortex of the brain (associated with happiness) and swamps activity in the right prefrontal (associated with negative moods). So meditating on compassion will make you happier!
This Spring our book Spiritual Politics will be published in Greek (it’s already available in many other languages) and we’ll be doing a book tour in Greece, the birthplace of democracy. We hope to plant a seed there that will re-ignite the spiritual essence of democracy. Later this Fall our chapter on The Power of Consciousness to Transform Politics will be published in a new book on Mind Before Matter: Visions of a Future Science of Consciousness. This is a deeper presentation of Law of Attraction popularized recently in the best-selling The Secret book. See a short excerpt of our article here on The Secret and Politics.
This summer our chapter on Socially Responsible Business and Non-Adversarial Politics will be published in a new book on 2012: Predictions, Prophecies, and Possibilities. Also upcoming is our contribution to two other books: Visionaries for the Twenty-first Century and Wisdom 21: The Dawning of a New Civilization. We’ll feature excerpts from these in upcoming e-newsletters.
Thanks to all of you who generously supported The Center for Visionary Leadership in response to our year-end appeal. If you haven’t done so already and would like to, you can still make a tax-deductible donation and/or renew your membership. We really appreciate it. Just click on www.visionarylead.org/supprt.htm or call (202) 237-2800 (and you can also use snail mail of course!)
With much love and best wishes,
Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson with Ginger Young
NOTE: Your feedback is very important to us! Please send us your comments.
“ To behold with the eyes of the heart; to listen with the ears of the heart to the roar of the world; to peer into the future with the comprehension of the heart; to remember the accumulations of the past through the heart; thus must one impetuously advance upon the path of ascent…It is precisely the quality of the magnet that is inherent in the heart….By what means can the foundation of the great steps be laid? Verily, only through the heart. Thus the arcs of consciousness are fused by the flame of the heart."
-- Heart by the Agni Yoga Society
All the great spiritual traditions emphasize the need for compassion and unconditional love. Buddhists call this “boddichitta”--the awakened heart--which is the aspiration for others to be happy and free from suffering. It is the essence of enlightenment, the heart of enlightened activity. True compassion is called the “wish-fulfilling jewel” because it has the power to give each person precisely what he or she most needs to release suffering and be happy. But how can you cultivate it? Here are some traditional methods for practicing loving kindness:
Develop an attitude of equanimity. Practice going beyond your fixed ideas of friends and enemies. The idea is to develop a sense of spaciousness, letting go of rigid ideas. Over the years, anyone who has once been an enemy may now have turned into a friend, and vice-versa. Everything is impermanent and constantly changing. Step back and observe the dance of life with detachment. This lays the ground for the practice of loving kindness.
Reflect on the kindness of others. This will help you see the positive side of any situation, regardless of how difficult. Contemplate what other people have done for you in both large and small ways. Focus on a specific friend or family member, and remember all the good they have done. You might want to begin by remembering the love and devotion of your mother or father or grandparents, and then move on to everyone you know. If you are open to the idea of reincarnation, consider that anyone could have been your mother, father, sister or brother in a previous life, so reflect on how they might have nurtured and supported you.
Remember an experience of love that someone gave you. Reflect on how it really moved you. Remember vividly that feeling of love and let it arise again in your heart, filling you with gratitude. Let your heart open and allow your love to flow out to others. See yourself unsealing a spring of love within you that flows out to friends, family, neighbors, all those you like, all those you dislike, to every person around the world, and to all sentient beings. Let your love deepen and become boundless.
There are now cleaner, greener, more ethical, and more female sectors of our U.S. economy—and many others around the world. These growth sectors can employ every man and woman able to work, and are the key to a sustainable and healthy future for humanity. These segments of the business market are here today and have been quietly growing for over twenty-five years, yet virtually ignored by mainstream financial media. How could this have happened? Why did it take until 2006 for a U.S. president to finally admit that the country is addicted to oil?
I explored these issues in Politics of the Solar Age (1981, 1988) in the hope that the transition from fossil-fueled industrialism to renewable energy and sustainable technologies would begin in the 1980s…. I failed to realize, however, in my optimism, that full systemic social change would take another generation. Nonetheless, in spite of the blindness and incomprehension of mass media, the new “sustainability” sectors began to emerge in many countries.
Changes toward a green economy can be grouped into three main areas:
1. The LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) sector: renewable energy and resource industries (solar, wind, biomass, oceans, hydrogen, fuel cells, etc.), those in recycling, remanufacturing, reuse, barter, and second-hand auctions (like eBay), those in preventive, alternative healthcare, wellness, fitness, etc., and those companies in clean food and organic agriculture (www.lohas.com).
2. Socially responsible investing: the fastest growing segment of U.S. capital markets (representing about one in every $11 invested in publicly listed companies) or some $2.3 trillion; according to the Social Investment Forum (www.socialinvest.org).
3. The growing focus in management on corporate social responsibility. Most global companies have forsaken orthodox economic ideologies of “laissez-faire,” unregulated markets, famously promoted by University of Chicago economists, including Milton Friedman, that “the only business of business is to make profits for shareholders.” This view, that relies on markets as self-correcting, holds that government regulations are ineffective, self-defeating, and usually unnecessary. History has already overtaken these views.
“Ours is not the hour of despair. Ours is the moment of a profound transformation.” —Rumi
The Secret: The Power of
Consciousness to Transform Politics
© 2003 Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson
Now that millions of people have learned “The Secret”—which is the Law of Attraction--on Oprah and from the new book and DVD by this name, we thought you’d enjoy an article we wrote several years ago about how the Law of Attraction operates in politics:
According to the new science of psychoneuroimmunology and the study of neuropeptides, our negative thoughts and emotions weaken our immune system and harm our personal health and well-being. Our positive thoughts strengthen us. But what about the effects of our collective thoughts on our collective political health as a society?
The world we see around us is what our past thoughts have created. This is the Law of Attraction on a large scale. If we don’t like what we see, we need to change our thinking. To create a healthy world, we need healthy minds. Energy follows thought. Whatever we think about, we direct energy towards, and this focused energy, combined with our emotional desire and vital energy, gives thought the power to manifest physically. Thought is the basic building block of the universe. With each new thought we help create the world anew. This is the incredible power we as humans have – for good or evil.
If the physical forms we have created with our thoughts become too limiting or dysfunctional, they need to be destroyed. The ancients taught: “In the shattering of form lies hid the secret of all evolution.” As we shatter old thoughtforms, such as limiting ideas about what women are capable of, then we begin the process of shattering old institutions, such as corporate management or sports that exclude women.
Film-Watching
as a Spiritual Practice
© 2007 Corinne McLaughlin
Ever since I can remember I’ve loved good films, not only for their entertainment value, but also because the best ones have touched my soul. Have you ever had the experience of walking out of a movie theater in a different state of consciousness than when you entered? After watching a film, I often experience more detachment about my own life, and am able to observe myself and my own personality patterns more clearly. Occasionally I even feel motivated to make important changes in my life. It’s sometimes like a good meditation—the type where you practice becoming a detached witness, observing your thoughts, feelings, and sensations.
Am I serious??? Can
a good movie be like a meditation? Well, that’s been my experience--especially
a more conscious film with an engaging story that’s artfully produced. I love
to explore what spiritual teachings the film might be offering. Good acting is
key, as it helps me identify with a character in the film.
A couple of years ago, I decided to create a spiritual film group to watch feature-length, Hollywood-type films that I’ve been inspired by. With local video stores and Netflix.com making films so accessible, it’s been very easy to find most of what I’m looking for. Our film group now meets every 4 to 6 weeks in Marin, just north of San Francisco. Different members offer to host the films in their homes each time, and we all bring drinks or snacks like popcorn to share. Sometimes members suggest new films none of us have seen, and we often brainstorm popular ones we’d like to see again together. A wonderful sense of community has developed from our gatherings. You might want to organize a similar spiritual film group with your friends.
After the film, we talk about the spiritual message of the film, such as the importance of listening to your heart, staying present in the moment, appreciating the interconnection of all life, and learning from past karma and mistakes. Especially potent is the portrayal of the indomitable human spirit triumphing over suffering and oppression—the spark of inner Divinity. So many popular movies are really in essence about self-development and transformation—through the healing power of love.
The Center for Visionary Leadership was founded by Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson in 1996 as a non-denominational educational center to help people develop the inner, spiritual resources to be effective leaders and respond creatively to change. Our purpose is to develop and support values-based visionary leadership in all fields of human endeavor, especially business and politics. We offer educational programs on spiritual development and social change, and a free monthly electronic newsletter with articles, spiritual practices, and featured Visionary Leaders. Our approach is based on the Ageless Wisdom, the golden thread that connects the deeper, inner teachings of the world’s spiritual traditions. We are non-partisan, transcending old categories of left and right and creating a new, practical synthesis. Based in the Washington D.C. and San Francisco areas, we offer an environment of heartfelt dialogue with an intellectually stimulating community of professionals. We offer seminars for the general public, and provide customized trainings, consulting and coaching to a wide variety of business, government and non-profit organizations.
Letters to the Editor:
“Thanks for the work you are doing in moving forward the ‘up-wising!’" -- Steve Bhaerman aka “Swami Beyondananda,” Santa Rosa, CA
“I enjoy reading your articles online in your newsletter. The recent meditation on the New Year came at a good time for me.” -- Marcia Lattig, Portland, OR
“Given the desperate state of the world, I feel that ‘what I want from the New Year’ meditations like this are facile, selfish and irresponsible.”—David@imagine
“What a lovely meditation! Thanks so much for putting it out here for us to use.”—Anne Anderson, Washington, D.C.
|
|
