Opening to Deeper Connections with Our World
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January, 2013 Volume 13, No. 1 Opening to deeper connections with our world Daniel J. Benor, MD, IJHC Editor Each man travels through space enclosed within a cage of his own building, surrounded by a mass of the forms created by his habitual thoughts. Through this medium he looks out upon the world, and naturally he sees everything tinged with its predominant colours, and all rates of vibration which reach him from without are more or less modified by its rate... Thus, until the man learns complete control of thought and feeling, he sees nothing as it really is, since all his observations must be made through this medium, which distorts and colours everything like badly-made glass. - Annie Wood Besant and Charles Leadbeater Bioenergies and bioenergy interactions Annie Wood Besant and Charles Leadbeater were gifted intuitives who wrote several books on the bioenergy fields they perceived around the bodies of people and all other living and sentient beings (Besant and Leadbeater, 1925; Leadbeater, 1902; 1927). These auras, as they called them in those days, are constantly changing, reflecting the person’s outer perceptions, inner awarenesses and interactions with the world. Besant and Leadbeater’s writings suffer from their lack of modern psychological awarenesses but still have much to offer us in appreciating our relationships with ourselves, each other and the world with which we interact. Intuitives report that psychological issues reflected in our auras are frequently transient. Our thoughts and feelings coruscate briefly as various colors around our heads, reflecting our mental activities; and our emotions ebb and flow in the aura more often around our chakras. At the lightest level, our energy fields resonate with the environmental fields that are similar to ours. When we’re in a good mood, we more readily sense others who are in a positive mood; when we’re feeling down, discouraged or depressed, we are more likely to resonate with people who are in similar dark spaces. Another layer are our more permanent beliefs and expectations. These may more strongly color our perceptions of the world and our interactions with all that we encounter. We see what we expect to see. A marvelous example of this is in Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons’, The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us. This book explores what has become one of the best known illusions. 2 If you are not familiar with this experiment, click here to experience it. The instructions are to count how many times the players wearing white pass the basketball. Don’t read further before doing this! This is an example of bioenergetic pattern recognition, the ways we perceive what we expect to perceive and also misperceive or may even be blind to that which we do not expect to see. Besant and Leadbeater suggest that this is not only a function of our inner mind-sets, but also an energetic screen of sorts that we set up to filter out that which is unfamiliar to us or not consonant with our expectations and worldviews, and conversely, to heighten our sensitivity and openness to that which we feel most comfortable. The above are some visible tips of vast bioenergetic icebergs that are most commonly observed by intuitives. Many further changes in auras are observed in conjunction with people’s physical, mental, emotional, relational and spiritual states (Brennan, 1988; 1993; Karagulla, 1967; Karagulla and Van Gelder/Kunz, 1989; Kunz 1985; 1989; 1991). Going more deeply, I have found that many of the experiences which people have in their lives are strongly colored by their expectations. In very general terms, those who hold negative views of the world often attract negative interactions and experiences into their lives; and conversely with those who hold positive views frequently attract positive ones into their lives. It is not just that negative people perceive their experiences through darknesses in their auras as disappointing, depressing or painful, and that people with sunny dispositions respond to similar experiences with cheerful responses. People actually attract experiences into their lives that match their expectations. In simpler examples of these laws of attraction, someone who is grouchy or angry will frequently find other grouches and curmudgeons with whom negativity can be shared and multiplied. People who are mellow and pleasant will be attracted to and will attract to themselves others who are in positive spaces. Participating in the collective bioenergies People who are on paths of spiritual development often note that they are prone to unexpected and unlikely meetings with kindred spirits when they are going about their ordinary business, and even moreso when they are traveling far from home. Carl Jung labeled such occurrences ‘synchronicities’ (Bolen, 1979; Peat, 1987; von Franz, 1980). It is commonly assumed that such encounters reflect resonations between people who share mutual interests. It may be that the resonations are in part mediated by mutual recognitions of similarities and synergetic interactions between the energy fields of participants in such meetings. Here is an example from my own experience: My brother and sister-in-law, David and Roberta, were married in Los Angeles and spent their wedding night at a hotel in that city. They kept their whereabouts secret (even from me), not wanting to expose themselves to possible pranks of family or friends. The next day, Roberta's brother picked them up at the hotel to drive them to the airport in his white chevrolet. While traversing a short segment of the Santa Monica freeway, they drew alongside another white chevrolet of the identical model.(*) This was my then father-in-law's car in which I was driving with my father-in-law to a destination totally unrelated to that of David and Roberta.(**) We waved a surprised but cordial greeting to each other as we drove our separate ways. 3 This brief, chance meeting would seem synchronistic, but could again have been brought about by telepathy and/or precognition on the part of several of the participants. The fact of the two cars being identical models has the 'signature' of synchronicity. While this synchronicity feels impressive to me, the numbers of correspondences in other synchronici- ties may boggle the mind. Lincoln / Kennedy - Presidential Synchronicity • Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. • John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. • Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. • John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. • The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. • Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. • Both wives lost children while living in the White House. • Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. • Both Presidents were shot in the head. • Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy. • Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln. • Both were assassinated by Southerners. • Both were succeeded by Southerners. • Both successors were named Johnson. • Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. • Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. • John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839. • Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939. • Both assassins were known by their three names. • Both names are comprised of fifteen letters. • Lincoln was shot at the theater named “Kennedy”. • Kennedy was shot in a car called “Lincoln”. • Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse. • Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. • Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials. Manifesting coincidences Our expectations and wishes and needs may generate synchronicities. These are often labeled as ‘manifestations’ or ‘attractions. I attended a seminar in Philadelphia in 1978, where Salvador Minuchin, the main lecturer, very highly recommended a book by Gregory Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind. I searched for this in about fifteen bookstores the next day without success. On my overnight flight out of Philadelphia to London (via Boston), I tried to manifest an empty seat next to mine, so that I could sleep better. As we took off from Philadelphia, my wish was seemingly granted, as the middle seat next to my aisle seat was empty. 4 I was distressed when a burly man settled into this seat at the Boston stop. I was even more distressed to see him ordering a headset for the movie, which augured stirrings that would probably disturb my sleep. I proposed to him that we change seats, so that he could sit on the aisle. He was cordially agreeable. We started talking and it turned out that he, too, is a psychiatrist and that we had many interests in common,* especially in the area of family therapy (uncommon for most psychiatrists I know). I told him I'd had a very frustrating experience that day, having searched in vain for Bateson's book. Bemused, he pulled out a paperback copy of that very book. He shook his head, laughing, and said, "It's a pity you weren't on this flight with me a year ago. I've been so impressed with this book, that last year I bought five copies of it as gifts for my friends in our profession in Europe. I've planned specifically to look through it again during this flight because I'm sure I'll be discussing it with them." Though initially loath to part with it, he ended up presenting the book to me as a gift, a momento of our pleasant meeting during a long flight. He reassured me that he could make do with his wife's copy. I might telepathically locate a psychiatrist colleague on a plane, or he locate me, it seems highly unlikely that I would find a psychiatrist bearing just the book I am seeking the very day I have been seeking it.