Perhaps some of you have been watching the BBC TV programme Wonders Of The Solar Sytem led by Brian Cox, a great admirer of Carl Sagan.

I have been both fascinated and challenged. Facinated because of the tremendous beauty, and unimanageble distanced in terms of time, travel and of the mysteries of the universe and our own infitisimal yet important place we as human beings have on this planet and the greater galaxy.

These mysteries of the universe are being opened up to us from the scientific disciplines of physics, chemistry and cosmology. I have been challenged and my view of time, life and the universe has been radically openned up to the many possibilities for the human race that I didn’t appreciate. Challenged also to be far more open and inclusive in the way that I interpret life, things, others and the universe we live.

Truly we live in a wonderous universe.

How has this begun to impact my life?

Well it certainly puts into perspective the daily pain, suffering and problems I tend to create for myself, others and share with others on a daily basis. It is humbling to think how small and relatively unimportant my life is, yet, I can better appreciate and honour this life of mine and that of others. It has given me a respect for life and the beauty, truth and goodness of the mind blowing creation we live in.

It shows me how important science is in revealing the ultimate nature of God and the importance of taking on board and digesting this new information.

It deepens my appreciation for life.

Peace,

Gavin

One thing that I have begun to appreciate it is that most if not all the suffering in life is created by my/ourselves. I have read a bit of Peter Russell’s work and it is most interesting. So here is a great video that will provide a reality check for most of us.

What I was intrigued with was the idea that because we often only gain peace of mind (which incidentally, is probably not what we think it is) occassionally, when the peace  leaves us we begin to feel something is lacking,missing, we feel discontented.  This then results us  looking at the past to see what we have done wrong, or fix, or start worrying about the future.  Which means we never allow ourselves to enjoy and be fully immersed in the present, which is life, abundant, itself.

Next post will be about Neutral Thinking.  Why  negative and indeed positive thinking  frankly doesn’t work.

Peace and Love,

Gavin

 We all know that music can improve our mood. Yet few people know there is actually a scientific field called music therapy with board certifications and degreed programs from schools around the world. Even fewer people are familiar with the field of sound healing, also practiced around the world, with its roots going back to the earliest records of ancient cultures and tribal healers.

The Scientific Case for Music Healing

In recent decades, the research around sound healing has established a scientific link between music and its ability to impact the body at the cellular level. 

Studies conducted in the 1990s at Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska and St. Mary’s Hospital in Mequon, Wisconsin reinforced the healing power of music. Researchers concluded that music significantly lowered heart rates, eased blood pressure, and helped regulate respiration rates among surgery patients.

Dr. Claudius Conrad, a senior surgical resident at Massachusetts General Hospital and accomplished pianist, has studied the effects of music on critically ill patients. His findings showed that those who listened to Mozart sonatas required less sedation when compared to a group that listened to no music. Moreover, they had lower stress hormone levels, blood pressure, and heart rates than the control group.

A 2007 study in Germany showed that music therapy helped stroke patients recover faster. Various additional studies suggest that music can benefit the immune system, improve the ability to focus, help control pain, create a feeling of well-being, and greatly reduce the anxiety of patients awaiting surgery.

The Power of Music and Voice

The healing powers of music and the human voice are being combined in a series of audio recordings featuring the compositions by seven-time Emmy award-wining composer Gary Malkin. Malkin’s work has been praised by the likes of authors Don Campbell (The Mozart Effect and Music: Physician for Times to Come) and Dr. Christiane Northrup, M.D. (Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom). Malkin’s music, said Northrup, “connects me with my soul and inner wisdom, moving me to tears of gratitude… I’m moved beyond words by this profoundly healing work.”

Developed by the team of Malkin and healing music pioneer Michael Stillwater (co-creators of Graceful Passages, Care for the Journey, and The Heart of Healing), spoken words and customized music are combined with extraordinary results. In Heart of Healing album, for example, the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, Marianne Williamson, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, and others – spoken in soulfully soothing voices – together with his own original music. The combination produces a result which is easily accepted by the conscious mind, while, at the same time, dives deep into the recesses of the unconscious. Healing music like this produces a profound feeling of relaxation and tranquility.

Dr. Eva Selhub, a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School and senior physician at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, researches the differences between bodies prone to illness and those prone to health. She discovered that feeling nurtured, loved, and connected actually reverses chronic stress in a deeper, more enduring way, and leads to physical healing and emotional balance. Malkin’s music helps produce this kind of experience.

According to Malkin, “few strategies are as immediate and integral as engaging in a daily music listening practice. Few practices engage our hearts and spirits as successfully as finding music that allows us to relax, breathe deeply, and reflect on what matters most to us. When you begin to take your listening habits seriously, you will begin to feel empowered as you realize that you can shift the emotional and spiritual context of your life, as simply as designing your own sonic environments, tailored to your lifestyle and taste.”

Click here: Wisdom Of The World to sample Gary Malkin’s music from the Sound Sanctuaries collections by Wisdom of the World.

Peace,

Gavin J Gowans

PS Yes I get paid a commission if you buy from the link above.  I appreciate it!

What I mean is, there is this idea that if we simply, (or
maybe not so simply!) change our inner/personal thoughts, this
will change the world all at the same time.  Notice that the
idea of these is that it is all about inner transformation alone,
that will change the world.

But maybe this isn’t really true. Maybe we need to transcend
what is probably “magical thinking” and step into the
liberating power of self-responsibility and enlightened
action.

Are you a victim? Do you feel out of control? Stressed. Out
of life/balance.  Feeling lacking in some way?  It is not
surprising then that you are you attracted to the idea that I
can be in charge of my life.  Hey, and having control is OK,
I am not knocking it.  Having a healthy feeling of security, love
and control is important, maybe even essential.
 
The science of Neuroplasticity is showing us thatwe can all rewire our brains. But even there, it is not simply changing our thinking that rewires us, it is theactions we make along with it that reinforces the neural
pathways.   With frequently remarkable results. See Norman Doidge’s work.

Increasingly I come across people who believe that there
is no one else but ourselves and that we solely create our
own reality.  Underlying this belief is the idea that the
thoughts we think themselves create reality, if we just
change our thoughts, it will create the world that we want.

But perhaps what is really happening is closer to the idea
that the thoughts that we believe in create reality because
we act on them.  The thoughts that come up throughout the
day, we then identify with, and we create reality because we
act on them.  You could start to get very stressed about the
thoughts you hold. Couldn’t you?

The message seems to be, “When I Get my inner state right
life will all work out the way I want it.”
But have you ever asked the question that, if I am to create
a different life and world I am going to have to change my
behaviour in a radical way? How does that feel?  Doesn’t it
make sense? And if it does, how do we do it?

With all the focus on the inner state, which is rightly and
primarily the place we need to focus, that is on our interior
state. But not at the expense of not taking action. What we
do ultimately matters a lot more than what we think. But what
we do is not often what we most want to do.  It can be
awkward, confusing, and definitely frustrating.

The problem is that often the arising of thoughts that emerge
in our head, and the feelings we experience will affect our
choices.  But does this have to be the case? The purpose of
focusing on practices such as meditation or enquiry 
is to free us from our conditioning, and as we do this we become more aware
This allows us to be in a place where our thoughts,feelings and actions
are increasingly in alignment.

If you think about it for yourself. What makes people
attractive to you? What do you admire most in others, or what
do you want to model that you see in others? Isn’t it the
choices they make, the way they respond, how they behave, how
they are acting that you like? 

If our thoughts get right, and you act on them, then the results
can be very attractive and psoitive change will occur in the world.

Let’s turn to the interior life again. In meditation you can
learn to observe what is called the ‘Monkey mind’. That part
of us that is constantly thinking, thinking, thinking.  If
you could get to a place where you aren’t distracted. Where
thoughts  don’t distract you as much, and effect you less.
In a sense you become the witness of the thoughts. How then does this
translate into action?

We’re not that bound to action, are we?

When you begin to see this, be this way, you are off
automatic pilot, not driven by the thoughts and feelings you are
experiencing moment by moment. Stimulated by all the things
around you and within you. It’s when you respond to the same stimulus
in a different less attached or averse way.  It’s how you begin to
act out in tandem with the thoughts you choose to identify with.

You can begin to get space between you and your thoughts. 
Then you can make different choices and have options of the
thoughts you wish to decide from and ultimately act on.
We change outer action, with the thoughts.  Intentions are
not enough.

When we think about people that we really admire, are they
people who are just great thinkers? Probably not. What we
generally looking at are people that we admire and who are
good models of how we’d like to be. Or at least what we think
an enlightened or good people  should act.  We generally don’t
care as much what they are thinking about but how they act.

So what I am saying that at the end of the day it isn’t so
much what we think that is as important, what really matters
more is what we do with our thoughts. But how do you work out
how to do the right, loving thing?  Is it not generally already
known by us?  A kind of commonsense. Isn’t there a conscience, already. 
But we really struggle with our consciences don’t we?

What I am suggesting then is that deep down we all ready know
what we could be doing, why not start making choices that we 
already know we can make? Take the actions that already know
that we need take. I am not saying this is easy, but seems
the best thing to do. It is possible.

It is a fairly common assertion that there is a collective
neural net, what Jung calls the collective unconscious.  If
we all sit around and fill the world with good thoughts?  How
is it really going to change?  Who is going to do it? How is
everything going to transform itself?

Who is going to change the world?  Who really cares?
Thoughts are just mechanically generated, they arise
spontaneously in consciousness, just like clouds scudding
across the sky.  We want to be free, and be filled with a
kind of passion to live a liberated service life.  And do
God’s will, or the will of a Higher Power, which ever way you
look at it.

Perhaps the question I would ask you is. Would you be
willing, to say to your self.  “It doesn’t matter so much
what I feel, so much what I think, although important but
rather how I act on who I truly am? To live from and expand
from the true self, true inner life, without the other stuff
that is going on.

Would I be willing to accept that I am enough, I am
sufficient, and have everything already, in me, to have confidence
to make the loving choices for those around me, family,
friend, co workers, neighbours, wife, partner, the environment?

We need to accept the burden of knowledge that you affect
everything and everyone around you.  We are one. The fate of
life rests on your shoulders.  We each have personal
responsibility for our actions. I do not think we can fix the world,
if we all just think positive happy thoughts, that everything will
be a better place.

Now the danger here again is that we live in a very doing
society one that places great emphasis on doing and getting. 
alot less on being.  And whilst the emphasis is here on doing
what is best.  The truth is we need to get off automatic
pilot, our conditioned automatic thinking and doing, to be in
alignment with our truest selves, and expand and create the
space for choices that bring life, and love, through our
actions.  How do we really trust that what we chose to do
is really the right thing and not a trick of the false self?
Well, this is an another article I guess.

These actions are informed by a moral choice.  One that is
informed by the part a greater being than our own small
selves is trying to evolve us into.  When we see our
responsibility to love, and the moral imperative to be of
service in what we do with our lives. Then the world can
probably change into something we can only dream of right
now.

Otherwise what is the alternative?

Peace,

Gavin J Gowans

My intention now is to begin a new phase of life, life coaching and teaching Meditation and mindfulness based stress reduction.   Like Anthony de Mello, who was such an inspiration to me, I truly desire that everyone is able to wake up and fulfill their true purpose in life.  That I can be a part of the process of self-realisation in the lives of others, of encountering directly the God or Beingness that is behind all concepts, forms and religious formulas.

When we fulfill our most basic need, to be the person we truly are, we can fully participate and be happy in the other aspects of our lives such as family, friendship, marriage, society and work.  My intention is to offer you the best means possible to do that through coaching, meditation and stress reduction services and products over the coming months and years.

Looking at the current state of the world.  Don’t you think we owe it to ourselves to be all we can be? We need to give ourselves the kind of rest and rejuvenation, even transformation, that stillness and silence  provides.  To find the strength and guidance we are looking for in these uncertain times does take practice, commitment and willingness to be the change that we are looking for. Change is growth, but change for changing sake is probably not helpful. Know and accept yourself for who and what you really are and change may happen!

I’d like to end with a story….

True Spirituality

The master was asked, “What is Spirituality?”

He said, “Spirituality is that which succeeds in bringing one to inner transformation.”

“But if I apply the traditional methods handed down by the masters, is that not spirituality?”

“It is not spiritulaity if it does not perform its function for you. A blanket is not longer a blanket if it does not keep you warm.”

“So spirituality does change?”

“People change and needs change. So what was spirituality once is spirituality no more. What generally goes under the name of spirituality is merely the record of past methods.”

(From the Song Of The Bird, Anthony de Mello)

Let me know what you think the story means, for you….

I wish you all health and abundance in life .

Peace and Love,

Gavin J Gowans

If you can listen to others well, I think there is no doubt that you will be much more effective person and find life alot more fulfilling. Some of the people I have admired most in my life had the ability to make me feel I was valued and understood, at times better than I understood myself.

I have found that somehow by helping others we benefit too.  It is a natural rule, it is by helping others get what they want that we get what we want. Or again, the Golden Rule, do to others that which you want done to you. This is The Law Of Reciprocity at work.

However even if you have no interest in learning or deepening your listening skills.   Just sitting with another person, providing a space for the both of you and allowing your self to become attuned to the true prescence of a person can be a transforming experience.

Although for me this has been something that has not happened overnight,and I continue to work on,it works eventually.  The first place to start is by listening to yourself.  By that I mean being aware of the thoughts and feelings that fly around all day and night.  I don’t mean either the constant mental paralysis of analysis, but rather just being aware of what is going on in the present moment. It is through this awareness that you can learn and grow and ultimately be free to be the person you truly are.

There are plenty of ways to do this.

And once we can truly see ourself as we are it is so much easier to listen and help others.

Peace and Love,

Gavin J Gowans

I guess I felt that through creating wealth and a providing a secure financial future I would be in a position to take a chance then and do what I really loved.  But now I know, there is never a right time or the perfect time to start something you truly know and love, but now.  Because now is all there ever  is.  I was stuck , in fear, seeking the very thing the perfect place to be in, when it was closer to me than the tip of my nose!

Ultimately what is it that we are all looking for? A life of happiness without sorrow. To be love. I tried to find the ‘…peace that surpasses all understanding’ for so long.  Most recently in various property businesses, in which I had some limited success, but like everything else I tried it just didn’t satisfy. What is success but a predefined goal which we set ourselves to achieve often setting ourselves up for failure? I discovered however that the success mindset I took on was in of itself part of the problem.  Since then I realised that it is not success per se but rather the quality of my attention in the present moment, that one moment , which is all we ever have, that determines our ‘success’.  Not in society’s, family, friends, spouse or employers estimation but in fulfilling our true purpose which is to be the love that we are looking for in this world.

It is the quality of our attention, the realisation of who and what we are at the core and the gradual, sometimes immediate dropping off of all the stuff we identify with that we call ‘me’. It is through this ‘work’ that we can begin to truly live the way we always intended to and in doing so not only help be the happiness we seek but also help others find themselves too. 

To be space, to be stillness….

Exactly how this will happen I don’t know, and it probably doesn’t matter. I didn’t achieve the financial cushion I was striving for after all.  But I have found the courage and clarity I need to make a life decision right now.  To live my life in alignment with God’s will and purpose, especially through the life and teaching of Jesus Christ.

I have begun with this blog, and will begin online with an ezine for people who are looking to find their true purpose in life, and for people who wish to deal with the blocks to realising their true selves and living in alignment with that.  Meantime, why don’t you go over to a new website I have put up that will help bring us together as an online community to inspire one another to find our true purpose in life. Let’s continue to grow and learn to be part of the new earth that is surely what we need now.

Love and Peace,

Gavin J Gowans