This Quantum LIfe #86

Finding Your "Shool"

Those of us who deal with pain on a daily basis, I believe are greatly hampered by language when it comes to incorporating well-being into our lives. I have noticed over the years that there is actually no word that describes a non-pain state, without using the word pain: PAIN-less, no pain, pain free, pain relief, etc., etc.

When we are in the throes of pain, the immediate cessation of it becomes all-absorbing, with our attention focused--stuck, really--on the experience of the pain. There is no "go to" concept we can focus on that is "not pain", other than focusing on what doesn't hurt, which, again, includes pain in the desire of it. It's no wonder it is so easy to get caught up in the "pain cycle'--the more it hurts, the more it traps your attention, which then leads to more of it.

Last week, I got into a fascinating discussion with a local Native American "medicine man", Jake, who asked me, "How is your 'shool'?"

After observing the blank look on my face, he continued. "Have you ever heard of the idea of 'loosh'?" Yes, I had, actually. Loosh is the energy of suffering--the low frequency energy of pain and agony, and it is said that it's an energy that vampiristic beings feed off of to increase their own energy.

"Yes," Jake continued. "We just turn that concept around, and what you have is a word for your sense of well-being. We like to use it to describe a spectrum, where low shool is where it is difficult to spot anywhere on your body or your life where something feels good; and then high shool, is where you feel fantastically alive and high vibe."

I nodded, suddenly realizing he was answering this question I'd had for years.

"When there is pervasive pain, usually the first thing we do is try to get rid of it, when the healing thing to do is to acknowledge with gratitude where in your body there is no pain. We call it 'finding your shool," he gazed at me and I realized that although my shoulders were aching and my knees hurt, my lower back felt really good.

"Yes, concentrate on that. Give that your energy and attention, and it will expand," he added right after my thoughts.

As Jake left the room, I was elated to have a wonderful tool with this shool thing. In Manifestation 101, we learn that what we put our attention on expands. This is the problem with pain, so we turn to external chemical means--analgesics, NSAIDs, and such nostrums, to just get our attention off of it. This is why the shool concept is so valuable. We can now rest our attention on those areas of the body that feel good, or at the very least, don't hurt, and by turning our attention thus, those good feelings can expand.

Jake also advised that we can increase our shool where there is pain, by noticing that there is some part of that painful area that feels okay, or even feels good. He said that in order for pain to exist, there has to be its opposite present--and that's shool.

Our sense of proprioception is greatly affected by pain. Limping is a good example. We change how we feel movement in our body by avoiding the movements that trigger pain. In the Feldenkrais Method, the practitioner slowly and gently moves the body into those areas where there has been a proprioceptive avoidance of pain, demonstrating that either there is greater range of motion than was thought, or that the proprioceptive reaction is no longer necessary--basically allowing shool to expand in the area.

This goes much deeper into what it means to hurt, to suffer, and to eventually start defining ourselves by our state of pain--changing our social behaviors, altering our physical movements, and justifying the pain by accepting it as a part of who we are in the world. This is all a result of pain fixation, and not realizing that there is shool within the pain that is the gateway to healing.

Again, back to Manifestation 101, Joe Dispenza said it well: "You have to feel whole before your healing; you would have to feel abundance before your wealth; you would have to feel awe before the mystical moment; you would have to feel love before your new relationship; and you would have to feel empowered before your success." So, I would add you would need to feel shool before your healing.

To your quantum health,

Boyd Martin
Pureenergyrx.com

This Quantum Life

The Dark Art of Suffering

The famous saying, "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional", opens the door to one of the deeper rabbit holes of quantum living. When someone waxes philosophical about the "human condition", suffering usually is a big part of the expose.

Why is this? I think it has to do with one of the most insidious traps constantly lying in wait within the human psyche: the word, "should". Shoulds are a direct path to suffering. This is because when something "should" be happening, or should be working, or should be this or that, we are automatically in resistance to a condition. The resistance gets stuck and catches us like quicksand, as we continue the mantra of "This shouldn't be happening". as the suffering begins.

I call suffering a "dark art" because it has been used mercilessly by power-hungry abusers on their victims, and by those who would control others, for millennia. We also do it to ourselves, of course, but we learn it, because suffering is a cultural meme, and really nothing more than that.

There is another layer to the dark art of suffering, and that is what has become known as "spiritual bypassing". Spiritual bypassing refers to the glib judgment or conclusion another makes about another's suffering: "He's got that disease because he created it", or "Her higher self must be teaching her a lesson", or, "She's miserable because she chooses to be." Now this is tricky, because there is an element of truth to these judgements and conclusions, and that's why it's dangerous.

First of all, we are all on our very specific spiritual paths as incarnates on this beautiful blue marble. What another sees when perceiving us is what they want to see, and we become a mirror to their own perceptions. Therefore, what analyses, judgements and conclusions they may have about us, are really about them, not us. Whether or not we are creating pain and suffering in our life is only another's interpretation of what is happening, and cannot be a truth.

The additional problem with spiritual bypassing is that it creates an excuse to abdicate perceptions, empathy, and allowance. It creates a sort of glib acceptance that stunts choices, obscures reality, and blocks allowance of true being.

What's more complicated is that we do spiritual bypassing on ourselves that traps the condition we are resisting and blocks the flow of healing energies. "I'm suffering with this pain because my higher self is teaching me a lesson." Yeah, right--we've just learned that pain and suffering has been dictated from on high because we deserve it in our supreme ignorance. Nope. Not it. If anything, "your" higher self intends only love and joy for your life, and if that's not happening, it then becomes a matter of self-inquiry.

Ultimately, the experience of pain as an unwanted perception sidetracks us into suffering because "this shouldn't be happening", or "This can't be happening." Well, it is happening, and it is a giant door of opportunity that has been flung wide open for the discovery of the unconscious blocks and unmindful choices we've made now manifesting as pain. We can now bring to bear all the spiritual tools and life knowledge in the processing and neutralization of these blocks and their genesis. So what if it hurts, if the pain is directing us to the encasement of love and joy at the core of the blockage.

The most underrated and maligned architecture we have is the imagination. We've assimilated the cultural programming that the imagination is not real, when in fact, is the only true reality we have. Our interpretation of our experience resides in our imagination. All our vision, intentions, awarenesses and choices reside in the imagination. On a quantum level, what we imagine actually has atomic weight--this has been measured in laboratories. We resonate quantum particles into forms and movements in the imagination, and these quantum bits create resonances and entrainments on atoms and molecules and influences the intelligences within them. The experience of "outer" and "inner" is really all one big wholistic vibration that we call "life", and it's continually forming and re-forming based on what's coming out of the imagination.

This takes us back to the old saw, "If you can think it, you can hold it in your hand." In other words, there can be no right or wrong to what you desire to experience--there are no overarching "reasons" you cannot experience love and joy as life--other than the ones you, yourself, command.

To your quantum health,

Boyd Martin
pureenergyrx.com

This Quantum Life

The Discomfort Zone

I was watching a dear friend and teacher recently speak on a Facebook Live broadcast about how change is not comfortable, and about how we are using that as an excuse not to change.

Well... my dear friend, I have to disagree on a couple of finer points:

1. The reason most people need and desire change is because their comfort zones are no longer comfortable.

2. When the change one is seeking begins to happen, we feel excitement--not discomfort.

She also spoke about how the process of changing steers one through all the barriers, reasons, sensations and blockages that are holding the particular condition or situation we wanted to change in place. It's true that all of this unraveling can temporarily feel like things are "falling apart", or "caving in", however, if the intention was to change, this unraveling is the evidence validating the intention to change, so why not celebrate it?

Yes, we can definitely lose track of all the changes we have desired, so that all this "falling apart" seems dangerous or distressing--and if we go into being the victim, we risk the nullification of our intention to change.

In fact, most desire to change revolves around finding a comfort zone, where life comes to us with ease and joy, and we are free to express ourselves creatively, experience the world as a loving place, and where future changes are joyful and generative.

I would hazard a guess that the meme, "Change is uncomfortable" is really just an arbitrary point of view that ignores the mechanics of how things work in this magical 3-D world we've constructed. The bottom line is that the higher more generative life we seek change for, is, in fact, the truer reflection of who we really are. And to make that change, we have simply to focus our intent on that version of ourselve already existing as a parallel reality.

I would also profer the view that what drives most change is discomfort or pain of some level, and that it is impossible to change from an alleged "comfort zone". If we are truly in this theoretical comfort zone, why would we want to change from that?

On the other hand, why experience discomfort at all in a "comfort zone"? How about just choosing something different--perhaps with more magic, excitement and incredibleness?

If instead, we are suffering or prolonging discomfort, how about changing the current situation or condition by tuning in to the higher version of yourself, and sending out the intention to become that? More joy, more ease, more fulfullment, more amazing-ness. Then, be willing to experience whatever the universe presents to us as experience in the unfoldment of that version of yourself wherever it may lead.

I would also venture to make the observation that behind all discomfort and pain is the desire for that higher version of your life, and that any pain or discomfort we are experiencing is us in the process of actualizing that higher life. It's the perception that life is victimizing us that prolongs the discomfort, pain and suffering, and potentially completely blocks any change.

So switch it up. Be the creator. Spot where the victim is, and simply say "bye bye". Then go to where the ease and joy is that will demonstrate to the Universe--your co-creative partner--that you are onboard with realizing the greatest life you can experience, and that you are willing to go beyond that. Continually broadcast that vibration of ease, love and joy, and tune in to that same broadcast emanating from the Ultimate You right next door. Enjoy the ride, and enjoy arriving at your new comfort zone!

To your quantum health,

Boyd Martin
pureenergyrx.com

This Quantum Life

Pain is not Suffering

I posted this as a meme on Facebook from Teal Swan: "The circumstances you are experiencing are not the cause of your suffering. The cause of your suffering is the thought that what is happening should not be happening, or is not supposed to be happening."

It's an expansion on the old Buddhist saying I heard in yoga class frequently: "Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional."

The Facebook post got several comments mainly about physical pain. One friend wrote, "Well, then, whoever wrote that was never severely burned in a car accident." Another wrote, "I really resent those who say you can control everything with your thoughts. You can control some things, but we live in a physical world." Still another commented, "They're talking about emotional pain, not physical pain, right?"

In all cases, the people completely missed the message of the meme. It was not saying that your thoughts caused the pain. It says that your thoughts about the pain and/or its causation is causing the suffering.

In my own case, in the past, for several years, I had debilitating lower lumbar disc inflammations that would put me in bed sometimes because I could not move without extreme pain in my back and down both legs. I suffered greatly because I kept judging how unfair it was, and why me, an active, professional musician who ate right, exercised, took good care of himself should be burdened with this disability. Sometimes I cried. Not so much because of the pain, but because of the circumstances of it--and the situation I was in because of it.

I finally just decided to stop suffering and do something about my condition. I began yoga classes, and within a year, my back was completely healed. Yes, it was very difficult to do the yoga, and there was a lot of pain along the way, but I was convinced that it would work, and I had the drive and determination to get out of pain. This is the remedy for suffering: change the circumstances. Do something different. Get out ahead of the situation. Allow the pain, allow all the inconvenience, all the gripey thoughts and emotions, and just soldier on.

Anyone who has a serious disability, for example, Stephen Hawking, absolutely could not be in suffering and do the things he's done. Sure, he's probably in a lot of pain, but his vision, will, and determination to live his life cancels out what could be certainly the best of reasons to suffer.

What Hawking has done, and anyone overcoming any sort of painful disability, is to focus on what is working; the things in life to be grateful for, because that's where the energy is. That's where the inspiration lies, and that's where LIFE is. Life is not in the suffering, because suffering is a mental construct of victim behavior. It defeats hope, it neutralizes motivation, and rips the color right out of life and living.

So above all, my friends, gratitude trumps suffering, and will certainly lead to ease, joy and a zest for life.

To your quantum health,

Boyd Martin, President
pureenergyrx.com
subtleenergysolutions.com

Extreme Self-Esteem

I watched a Bill Maher Real Time HBO episode recently. His interview guest was Amy Chua, author of "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother." The point Maher zoomed in on from her book is that parents these days are so concerned about a child's self-esteem that they "over-reward" them for doing the least little thing right. Chua maintains that children should earn their self-esteem by doing difficult things well that require skill to do them.

The reward-for-least-little-thing-right thinking I believe comes from pet training. All a dog has to do to get a treat is sit down, come when called, or rollover. You train cats in the same way, although much more strategically. Our big tabby cat, Ralph, believes he is training me to do what he wants, and I'm happy to do it because when I do what he wants when I want it, it trains him when to ask (such as for food and going outside).

But, children are not pets. They are a part of yourself, and like yourself, they do not need constant reinforcement to do what they probably would do anyway. I don't believe humans are wired to fail--it's an evolutionary imperative, for one thing. A person may appear to fail at something, but they'll keep trying until they succeed; and if they continually fail at the same thing, they are getting some sort of success out of it on the back end, guaranteed. If they give up, it's because they've changed their definition of success.

More accurately, humans are wired to see success in every action they take. Some actions may seem futile to some, but they keep on doing the action, looking for some way to make it a success, or to re-evaluate the situation so that it becomes a success.

Self-esteem has become linked to success or failure--the more successful one is, the higher the self-esteem. If one fails a lot, their self-esteem takes a beating. There's a lie in that, however, because the definition of success or failure is an arbitrary judgment.

It's like the ancient Taoist parable about the old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "May be," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "May be," replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "May be," answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "May be," said the farmer.

We have no way of knowing what the consequences are of a particular success or failure, so basing one's self-esteem on such illusory concepts is pointless. Thus, by accepting the truth of the illusion of the success-and-failure model, the entire question of good or bad self-esteem is rendered moot.

The other major factor entering in to what we call self-esteem is the judging of self against the expectations of others. Children are particularly susceptible to this form of failure, as the expectations of their parents sets up the link between self-esteem and success/failure. You're bad when you "fail," good when you "succeed," where failing or succeeding depends on the accuracy with which the child can judge or estimate the expectations of the parents. I believe this is all wired to survival strategies of the young. They must not fall out of favor with the source of their nourishment, and they learn quickly the difference between a smile (which is rewarded), and a frown (for which there is no reward).

Thus, the habit is formed to look outside one's self to ascertain other's expectations in order the judge one's own success or failure determining the level of one's self-esteem.

I caught myself the other day with a picture of my mother in my head telling me how to vacuum correctly, and I was actually changing my behavior to please her. She's been dead for 15 years, and yet here I was still trying to be a success in her eyes, so I could have good self-esteem.

These are habits of thinking. They are not the truth. These habits are tricky, though, and you have to be on the lookout for them. In my article on Values and Memes, I point out how concepts of expectations can be easily wrapped up into a couple of "code words" that can be used to manipulate behavior. This is especially rampant in politics and marketing. You are a "success" if you buy this after shave; you are a "winner" if you buy this brand of car; you are "smart" if you buy this baby food; etc., etc., ad nauseum. The implication is--because of the success/failure dichotomy--if you don't buy these products, you are a failure. I went through one phase a few years back where I specifically refused to buy any products I saw ads for in retaliation for all the years of manipulation before. Of course, I snapped out of it when I realized I'd been manipulated into the retaliation.

By being aware of these types of memes and their manipulative power, you can simply step outside of the whole game of "want success/don't want failure." My guru kept making a point to me for a few years about preferences. "You don't WANT something--you prefer it," he'd say. I couldn't get the difference for a long time. Of course I prefer what I want. But this was his point. By preferring, you can be happy with something not of your preference--it's not such a binding concept as wanting.

"The world suffers because it wants," he'd say. "Change the world by changing your preferences." Hence, by preferring something like world peace, you are allowing what is not world peace to be there so that it doesn't form a polarity. By strongly wanting world peace, you add energy to its opposite. The basic truth of the matter is that there IS world peace, otherwise how would we know the difference?

So winding back down to self-esteem, the basic truth is that anything we do is a success, because just being is a success as far as the universe is concerned. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience, so by just showing up, you're perfect. You cannot do anything wrong other than what you or society have judged to be wrong.

The only preference the universe has is that you BE. Ultimately, any expression of self is an expression of god, because at the very center of our Being is a direct connection to the Divine. Just like Jake and Elwood Blues--we are all on a mission for God. What more self-esteem can there be than that?

Message from the President

Finding Now

We humans struggle so with such earnest and angst about problems, issues, decisions, and judgments, when 99% of it is an illusion. And even that awareness can be equally upsetting.

I've found in my research that this 99% illusion is primarily composed of our inability to or lack of focus on the present moment. NOW is who you are. NOW is where heaven is. NOW is simultaneously the way and the destination. NOW is home.

Take a look at what you have been worrying about. Is any of it actually happening NOW, or is it really happening in the past or the future? One double-edged capability we all have is to put our thoughts and our feelings into the past or the future. If I was to ask you if you are in the present moment when you are crying, you'd say "yes" because that sorrow seems to be heppening right now. If you are in physical pain, you would most certainly claim to be in the present moment, if for no other reason than the pain itself seems to force you there. But this is, once again, an illusion.

Pain, suffering, grief, jealousy, anger, and the rest of what we refer to as "negative" emotions are really all connected together in a sort of past-experience matrix. The fear of pain, suffering, etc. is a future projection connected to that matrix. Pain, especially if it is excruciating, convinces us that the NOW is painful and forces us into a "future" where that pain is gone. And with chronic pain, depression sets in from living in a desperately desired future that never comes.

The big "SECRET" is that we are all hard-wired for joy, and that joy is only found in the present moment. I say "hard-wired" because joy is the basic and primal driving justification for existence. ALL of our attention, intention and our striving is for one purpose, and one purpose only: JOY. As famed mystic and intellectual, Alan Watts said, "Ecstasy, by one road or another, is inevitable." I would venture to say that the reason this is hard-wired is because THAT is WHO WE ARE, and this is reflected in our brain-body-mind.

The "road" Watts refers to is made of decision and intention. We decide to leave the past and the future, and intend to experience joy. The space between leaving the non-present, and entering into the now, is what we call "time". Have you noticed that when you are fully in joy, or even just really happy, time fades away. And yet, when we are in pain, time seems to go on forever.

One conundrum of human existence is that joy is the only thing that brings us into the present moment. It is always an option, and as such is just a decision away. It may be a chirping bird, the sweet scent of a rose wafting through the air, fluffy clouds in a deeply blue sky, infinite stars in a cloudless sky... or, the sense of breathing in the sweet, living air, the faint pulse of your heart in your knees, the wonderful healing heat of rubbing your hands together. Whatever it is, it can immediately bring you to now.

This is a skill. But there is an over-arching principle here that is important: What you pay attention to expands. The more joy you decide to perceive, the more joy becomes apparent, and will crowd out any pain and suffering. Continue to be with joy, and soon your life will reflect back to you more and more reasons for joy. And because joy is who and what you are, this can happen very quickly. Appreciation and gratitude are more skills to apply in getting to now.

The other "secret" that we all really know is what some call "faith", others call "contextualizing". We have "faith" that what we think is happening to us is positive and leading us to more joy, more healing, more happiness. Referring back to Watts' statement that "ecstacy is inevitable," we all get there, either in life or by death.

For example, one person is coping with an aching knee and "has faith" or contextualizes that he is "getting old" and the knee is breaking down. Alarmed, he visits his doctor who runs a couple of tests and although there was nothing conclusive, the knee may be arthritic, and subscribes various drugs for the pain and inflammation. Further alarmed, this person has now decided he has arthritis in his knee, and if he doesn't take the drugs the pain is worse. Soon, x-rays show that the cartlidge in the knee is shrinking, and soon the doctor recommends surgery.

On the other hand... a person with a pain in his knee has faith that it is a new energy pattern to improve or heal a weak knee. The person is excited about having a healed knee, and in a few days, the pain is gone, and the knee feels stronger.

In the first case, the person has stepped away from the present moment into futures of pain and suffering. In the second example, the person has chosen to step into the joy of the now and the healing of the knee.

In both cases, where the attention went is what expanded.

Allow the option of joy at every opportunity. Exercise that skill and it will grow stronger and more effective. Let the pain and worry of life be a cue to find the joy, and soon the Real Ecstatic You is revealed in all its wondrous healing glory.

In vibrant health,

Boyd Martin, President
pureenergyrx.com