Unit 6: Loving Kindness - Integral Assessment

As I first read the exercise Universal Loving-Kindness, I already knew the power of giving, loving and kindness by praying for the earth and anything breathing air and moving in it.  I pray for the release of pain, suffering, and fear for those who hold on to it and I ask a higher source bigger than myself to protect those who ask for guidance and protection.  It is said to receive you must give, even if its in prayer. It only takes a mustard seed of effort and the more the merrier.

As far as my assessment, boy I have a lot of work to do.  I guess my main concern, and believe me this class definitely has me on my way, is to recognize the distinction between short-term relief of needless suffering and permanent relief.  Second is distinction between immediate pleasure and long-term flourishing, I’m still trying to figure that one out.  Third addresses the aspects, levels, and lines of development that are relevant to my current circumstances.  Like this describes, I have accommodated my inner-self to the outer character of life for a long time.  Habits are hard to break. I think my experience growing up as a child reflex a lot of my uncontrollable emotions now.  I will continue to apply what I have learned in the past 5 years, the last 2 years in college, and through other resources in the way I now under stand it to be.  I will take a careful observation of my current circumstance and modify my behavior in a more pro-active way.  As my spiritual mind body and soul continues to grow and as my values alter, I will reassess what is relevant in the moment it happens in hopes of moving to the next level of understanding the world I live in and me.

Unit 5 Mind over Matter

Comparing the exercise of Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind was somewhat difficult to do.  In the loving Kindness track I had to embrace a loved one in need and a whole bunch of feeling and thoughts of hopelessness ran across my mind, because I feel I have done every thing I could possible do to support them, but I am very drained.  On the other hand when listening to subtle mind track is was teaching me how to let go of the grasping thoughts of the loved one I had in mind. Its amazing to me how your thoughts can get the best of you even if you think you have control of them.  You end up playing attentions to the wrong things you have no control over.  I see this is going to take sometime to master this technique of maintaining a calm and still mind in a quite place.  Learning how to let go of those gripping thoughts, feeling, and mental images while paying attention to the mental watch of all its movement is not an easy task to control, especially overnight.

Unit 5 Mind over Matter

Comparing the exercise of Loving Kindness and Subtle Mind was somewhat difficult to do.  In the loving Kindness track I had to embrace a loved one in need and a whole bunch of feeling and thoughts of hopelessness ran across my mind, because I feel I have done every thing I could possible do to support them, but I am very drained.  On the other hand when listening to subtle mind track is was teaching me how to let go of the grasping thoughts of the loved one I had in mind. Its amazing to me how your thoughts can get the best of you even if you think you have control of them.  You end up playing attentions to the wrong things you have no control over.  I see this is going to take sometime to master this technique of maintaining a calm and still mind in a quite place.  Learning how to let go of those gripping thoughts, feeling, and mental images while paying attention to the mental watch of all its movement is not an easy task to control, especially overnight.

Mental Workout

One of the first thing that opened my experience to Deacher CD exercise is “you get back what you receive”.  How true this statement is, but I found it difficult at first to see myself receiving.  It made me realized that I don’t know how to receive very well. I tried to picture myself having a twin sister, giving to myself.  It felt strange to me.  I could not stay focus in the process of receiving, but I did find myself jumping back in forth as a observer and a giver. Wow, this is something I didn’t know about myself.  I’m not sure how to improve it.  This is probably why I am not making a lot of money in my business, because most of my friends never seem to have money to pay my regular prices for services or I either feel guilty and give them discounts or do it for free.  I feel guilty when I can’t help them out.

 I would recommend this experience with others.  I know a lot of people who always take and don’t give and visa versa.  I think you have to have the balance of both receive and giving to benefits the process of being loving and kind to others.  It just makes you more whole.

Mental work is contemplative practices.  It is making a commitment to exercise and practice with some level of effort done on a daily bases. Mental workout has been proven to benefits human life by preparation to respond and to reaction in a way that is kind and giving.  It goes beyond being relaxed, but reflects the progressive development of an expanded consciousness and its healing capacities (Dacher, 2006, pg65).

I would practice mental workout at least once a day either in the morning or in the evening before I go to bed.  So far, I like the meditations given in class.  It has encouraged me to look for other mediation's lesson.  I started to look at color therapy.  That was pretty cool too.  Check out some of the YouTube video below.  Sweet!

Reference:

Dacher, E.(2006).Integral Health The Path of Human Flourishing. Basic Health Publications Inc. Laguna Beach, Ca.

Sessions - Color Theory: Color Wheel

Color Therapy Orgone/Iris