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schwez-deactivated20240519

Starve the body. Feed the spirit.

Like all stories, there’s much more to this one.

I have lived with addiction for over 10 years. It’s not something I share openly because frankly, I haven’t seen anything wrong with it. I’m high functioning, responsible, have never been in trouble with the law, and my abused substance is legal and legally derived. But addiction has been slowly killing me from the inside out. No one sees its effects except for me. I can feel it inside myself, not in my body, I feel it in my spirit.

Hanging at the end of my rope, I traveled to Peru, deep into the Amazon to undergo a shamanic healing journey with the sacred ayahuasca plant. Ayahuasca is one of the two most profound medicinal plants found in the Amazon Rainforest. The other is San Pedro. There’s a strict diet and conditions one must adhere to when working with ayahuasca, it can have terrible adverse effects if not used respectfully.

Over the course of two weeks I removed salt, sugar, acid, fat, and heat from my diet. No sexual, visual, audible stimulation. I would spend 8 hours a day in meditation with just enough sleep to honor my body, the rest of the hours were spent in social, emotional, and spiritual therapy - all in an effort to reconnect closely with my true Self.

The Divine spoke to me clearly, as clear as the voice of a mother, and with tremendous grace and love, helped me understand what I have done to my body, mind, and heart over a many years long affair with addiction. The Divine showed me how to find my way back to my soul.

I will never be the same. I share this story for anyone who struggles with suicide, addiction, or deeply seated pain. For those of us who are faithful, we may believe that our bond with The Divine is such that He can fix things for us. But this is our misunderstanding. Our bond with The Divine is such that He will light our paths and give us the strength to fix ourselves. This journey will bring us closer together, in this way, we will return to The Divine. On this path we will seek The Divine deep in our hearts, know that He is always there, he is waiting for us, and we will be together in the end. Be patient with yourself, trust The Divine, maintain your connection to Him, and live your life. He is waiting for you. He won’t leave you, He will show you the way to loving your Self into loving Him. You are never alone.

With heartfelt prayers that I become more kind.

The mind desires this,

And grieves for that.

It embraces one thing,

And spurns another.

Now it feels anger,

Now happiness.

In this way you are bound. (8.1)

But when the mind desires nothing

And grieves for nothing,

When it is without joy or anger

And, grasping nothing,

Turns nothing away. . .

Then you are free. (8.2)

When the mind is attracted

To anything it senses,

You are bound.

When there is no attraction,

You are free. (8.3)

Where there is no I,

You are free.

Where there is I,

You are bound.

Consider this.

It is easy.

Embrace nothing,

Turn nothing away. (8.4)

Ashtavakra Gita

Rising rates of loneliness may not be news, but the three periods when it peaks may come as a surprise: More people reported feeling moderate to severe loneliness during their late 20s, their mid-50s and their late 80s than in other life periods.

"One thing to remember is that loneliness is subjective. Loneliness does not mean being alone; loneliness does not mean not having friends," said Jeste, who is also director of UC San Diego's Center for Healthy Aging. "Loneliness is defined as 'subjective distress.'” It is the discrepancy between the social relationships you want and the social relationships you have, he said.

Within the dark clouds, Jeste also found a silver lining: An inverse relationship exists between loneliness and wisdom. "In other words, people who have high levels of wisdom didn't feel lonely, and vice versa," he said.

“I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.” Gibran

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How Memories Form and How We Lose Them

Think back to a really vivid memory. Got it? Now try to remember what you had for lunch three weeks ago. That second memory probably isn’t as strong—but why not? Why do we remember some things and not others? And why do memories eventually fade?

Catharine Young gives the basics on memory and memory loss.

via TED-Ed

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-memorie…

Lesson by Catharine Young, animation by Patrick Smith.

Filed under: Education, Memory

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