Last year, while in South Africa, we spent about twenty days with a remarkable Zulu Songoma, Credo Mutwa. This was over a four-month period, and we would stay for three or four days at a time. My wife was shooting a documentary to be released in 2008, and we gathered over forty hours of footage for this show. We have visited Credo Mutwa each year since 1993, and over that time a friendship has developed. We felt honoured when he invited us to record some of his teachings, for he has no successor, and when he dies many of his stories and teachings will leave with him. He is not the only teacher of Ubuntu, but he is perhaps the most knowledgeable and most eloquent. When he passes, and at eighty-six, that will be sooner rather than later, it will be as if a great library has burned to the ground. It is Credo’s wish that Ubuntu will spread throughout the world to ail a suffering humanity that has lost touch with its basic humanness. “Africa’s wisdom must be shared with the world now. Africa has so much to offer the world…but alas, people only focus on negativity and problems.” - Credo Mutwa Africa does indeed have so much to offer. And for too long, it has been ignored and trivialized. Long before the eras of the Greek and Roman empires, Africa thrived and was the foundation for and creative genius behind such divergent subjects as mathematics, astronomy, medicine, philosophy, architecture and engineering, to name but a few. Let us not forget that the pyramids of Egypt, built thousands of years ago, are still, to this day, a pinnacle of human engineering. Even today they could not be built with greater accuracy and precision. Western civilization is built on the wisdom and knowledge of the African continent. Egypt had the first universities and the first libraries. The history books written by Europeans forget this aspect, but the truth of man’s evolution culturally and intellectually is open to anyone to pursue, and once pursued, it leads clearly to Africa, with the height of its achievement being Ancient Egypt. However it was not just the Egypt we know from history books, but Ethiopia as well, which in ancient times stretched across most of Africa, as far south as South Africa and west to the Atlantic Ocean. This great nation has not been given its due respect. What Does Ubuntu Mean? Ubuntu is a term derived from the word “muntu,” meaning a person - a human being. Ubuntu is not easy to describe. It is both a philosophy and a way of action. It is a distinctive African cosmological system of teaching each individual to appreciate and enjoy their life while caring, sharing and respecting others. Ubuntu belongs to no one tribe or no one religion or teaching. It transcends all attempts to restrict it and place it in a category. According to ancient African traditional wisdom, each individual possesses positive, loving [...]

Becoming Aware of How Life Force Leaks Away From Us Unnecessarily Today my wife and I planted a cinnamon tree in our garden. We purchased it at a nursery and it is approximately ten feet (3½ meters) tall! The roots were bundled tight in a burlap sack to restrict their growth while it was awaiting someone to come and claim it. Digging the hole, cutting the burlap sack and planting the tree into the earth, allowing the roots to expand without restrictions, all this felt nourishing. Its rich potential can now be fully realized. I look forward to watching it grow. As I was pondering what to write for this month’s topic, I realized a similarity between ourselves and the cinnamon tree. We too have our roots bundled and confined, but not with burlap, with limited consciousness. What can we do to release our full potential, for we are plugged into the matrix of all existence, and so much is available to us? One very effective method that is incredibly overlooked is to increase the life force we have available to us. All living things, plants, animals, insects and human beings draw life force from the cosmic reservoir naturally and without awareness. It just happens, and is a part of being alive. The life force that nurtures the cinnamon tree is the same life force that fuels the barking dog and allows the grasshopper to leap in the field. It is the force and energy that maintains life in all things. It exists everywhere and in abundance. While invisible and undetectable by human senses, its existence has been well documented by various mystery schools and is known by many different names. The term "Life Force" is one of those names, and it is what I will call it as I explore the potential of harnessing this incredible substance. We can enhance our life immeasurably by first becoming aware of this Life Force, and secondly by increasing the flow into our being. Our mind and body are constantly being regenerated and revitalized by this great life-essence, which circulates throughout the cosmos. This life force reaches all, supplying animation to all, tying all things together in one dynamic wash of ever-flowing renewing energy. This river of energy is flowing all around us and in it "we live and move and have our being." Each of us receives a minimum amount just by being alive and human, but the amount of life force each individual receives varies greatly and is affected by a number of factors, which I intend to explore over the next several months. Let me say at the beginning of our examination of this fascinating aspect of human existence that it is possible to draw directly from the great cosmic reservoir of undifferentiated energy and to increase our intake. When we do, this energy is transmuted within our being into all the different forms of activity that go to make up a human life. If our vital energy goes [...]

Stalking yourself is the process of hunting, following and observing your habits, beliefs, thoughts, routines, strengths and weaknesses for the purpose of seeing who you are. It is using the mind to see all aspects of yourself in action. In this guide, you'll learn techniques to stalk your inner dialogue, habits, and energy fluctuations. Let's dive in. Table of Content Stalking Yourself – Rules of the Game Stalking Inner Dialogue Stalking Habits Stalking Energy Fluctuations In stalking yourself, you want to see not only what and how you are thinking, but to identify your central beliefs, those core beliefs that cause you to act in certain ways. The fact is that our mind makes decisions for us and directs us in all aspects of our life, and if we remain unaware of this process, we can lose control of our lives. For indeed the mind is a great servant, but a terrible master. Most of us remain totally unconscious of this internal process. We fail to see how our beliefs influence our choices, or how our inadequacies and hurts cause us to lash out in anger or withdraw into self-pity, according to our nature. Or we fail to see how certain habits like procrastination or lack of imagination keep us stuck in situations that do not serve our best needs. In many ways we don’t see ourselves at all because we are too busy thinking and doing without noticing what we are thinking or why we are doing what we are doing. Stalking ourselves is a novel concept because we assume we know and see ourselves well. In fact, we reason, nobody knows ourselves better than we do. But in this reasoning we are woefully wrong. It is an important turning point in each of our lives when we are confronted with and fully grasp how much of who we are is unconscious, and how these unconscious parts of us have agendas and make decisions for us. Not only that, but if we are not careful and diligent, these unconscious parts of us can take over our thinking without our even being aware it has happened. Each of us is a unique mixture of strengths and weaknesses of conscious and unconscious patterns and beliefs. We are totally unconscious in some areas of our life (usually those areas where we are having problems and difficulty), and hyperconscious and aware in others. No two of us is alike, and so no two strategies will be alike. Each of us must design a strategy that fits our unique situation. But to do this we must first see and understand ourselves without illusion. To be effective in our life we need to be adept at three distinct processes. Seeing: seeing ourselves and our present situation without illusion. Knowing: having the insight and wisdom to make empowering decisions according to what we see. Doing it: overcoming procrastination and fear and mastering the dharma of action. Until you can see yourself, you cannot see your [...]

They were the “no option” patients, people with advanced heart disease who had used up all their bypass surgeries and who were running out of ways to stay alive. But when they joined a study testing laser surgery and a heart drug that grows new blood vessels, remarkable things happened. Their crippling chest pain improved. They had fewer angina attacks. They were able to exercise longer during a stress test on a treadmill. Sophisticated nuclear scans showed an improvement in blood flow to their hearts and heart function. And they didn’t improve for just a week or two weeks or six months. They were still better two years later – a result all the more incredible considering they actually received no active treatment. Yes, a catheter was inserted into an artery and slowly pushed up to the heart. Investigators then went through all the motions of making the patients believe they were using a satellite-guided laser to drill holes into their heart muscle. But the laser was never actually switched on. Another group of patients got “sham” injections of salt water, instead of a growth protein. “We gave these patients big headphones, we played loud music and the only person who knew whether they were receiving treatment or a placebo was the operator, who was not involved in their follow-up,” says lead author Dr. Roger Laham, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. The surprising study, published in August’s issue of the American Journal of Cardiology, adds to growing evidence that the placebo effect not only triggers true physiological changes in the body; it lasts longer than thought. “The traditional thinking was, ‘Well, the patient improves for a couple of weeks after you give them treatment because they have a better outlook on life and then they kind of go back and regress to what they were,’ says Dr. Laham. “What this study shows is, in fact, that is not the case. What does happen instead is that these patients improve, and their improvement is as sustained as the ones given active treatment.” This is bad news for researchers and drug companies, who try hard to quash the placebo effect when testing new drugs in order to know how real a medicine’s effect is. But rather than stifle it, others are racing to mimic it. They are testing different genes, as well as endorphins and hormones that are elevated following a placebo response. “There is no role in medicine for deceiving patients.” Dr Laham stresses. Deceit by any definition “is not very ethical and no licensing body would condone a doctor palming a ‘pill’ made of sugar, starch or chalk off as real medicine. “However, it’s going to be important to see what is in this deceit, or what the placebo effect entails. I’m certain there are certain physiologic effects that do occur. We’re only just starting to scratch the surface.” U.S. researchers are already testing placebos in the treatment of children with attention-deficit disorder, and [...]

In her office in Little Rock, Arkansas, a thirty-nine-year-old woman sits deep in meditation. A regular meditator, she has been practicing for almost nine years and invariably finds it helps her relax. Today, however, her practice will take on a new twist. Using a simple visualization technique she will attempt to control her immune system under the watchful eyes of several researchers from the University of Arkansas Medical faculty. It’s part of an experiment to further understand the remarkable mind/body connection. The team is headed by psychiatrist G. Richard Smith, who wants to see if the woman can turn her immune system’s response up or down like the volume of a radio. The experiment begins with a simple injection of chicken pox virus on the underside of the woman’s arm. Because she has already had chicken pox, the researchers know she can’t develop the disease from the injection. But they also know that her immune system will "recognize" the virus and respond to it by causing a small bump to rise at the injection site within 48 hours. Sure enough, a nickel-size bump appears and then slowly fades over the next four to five days. Blood samples confirm the skin test: Her white blood cell count increases as her immune system confronts the virus.  After the researchers repeat this test twice, the real experiment begins. Can the woman actually lessen her white blood cells reaction to the virus? The virus is injected three more times over the next three weeks. Each time, the woman conjures up mental images depicting fewer white blood cells and a smaller bump. And each time blood tests confirm smaller counts of white cells, and the bump is one half to one third the original size. Finally, the woman is instructed to let her immune response return to normal for a few more injections. It does, and the bumps become nickel-sized again. "We were startled by the outcome," says Dr. Smith. But the Arkansas experiment is just one of thousands of new studies exploring the methods by which visualization can assist in fighting illness and enhancing health. Cell biologist Joan Borysenko was a twenty-four-year-old cancer researcher at Harvard Medical School when she started to use meditation and guided imagery. A strict scientist, she was doubtful, but she had a personal need. The rigors of divorced motherhood and lab work had taken their toll: migraines, spastic colon, bronchitis and high blood pressure. Medicine helped, but not enough. Desperate, she took meditation training and practiced visualization. The first time she tried it she struggled, but she persisted and in time the pain subsided. "I was left with a feeling of having been washed clean, like the earth after a heavy rain," she said. Today, Dr. Borysenko is founder and director at the Mind/Body Group working at Boston’s New England Deaconess Hospital. She and her colleagues use meditation, guided imagery, and other techniques in taking patients, including those with AIDS, referred to them by Boston physicians who want to [...]