I’m thinking of you, my friends, students and others who have been reading my blog.  I hope you have been taking quality time for yourself and with your loved ones.   How has it been for you? 

All indications are that 2012 will be an unprecedented year of change and energy shifts on our planet.  These shifts will affect all of us.  Not to fear!  Energy is not good or bad.  You can allow these energies to empower you to expand your awareness, boost your manifestation abilities and give you many rich opportunities for offering love and service.   Or, you could experience chaos and disruption from these energies.  What will make the difference?  I’d like to hear from YOU about what you believe will make the difference.  I will weigh in on my next post with how I see it.  I will offer one insight now – Your lower belly, called the “Lower Tan Tien” or “Hara” in Asian healing arts, is your place of empowerment and groundedness.  Having abundant energy accumulated there will keep your mind clear, your health and vitality strong and promote intuition.  If you do not have a daily practice to boost your Lower Tan Tien, adding one could be a top New Year resolution!  Now its your turn, please comment.  (BTW that picture was from my Christmas day hike up in glorious Sedona, AZ)

Tonight is the first night of the Jewish festival of Channukah.  I loved this so much growing up – my family would light the Menorah (candle holder) every night for 8 nights, with one more candle added each night until we had all 8 plus the shamus – the source candle used to light the other ones.  My sister and I would get presents every night, so we felt sorry for the Christian kids who only got presents once!  Now I am more “spiritual” than religious but I maintain the lighting of the Menorah in my home, even when by myself.    The symbolism of this ritual holds a beautiful meaning for all of us, regardless of religious or spiritual orientation.

Many people in the healing arts that I talk or correspond with are concerned about the “economy” and the prospect of increasing scarcity of business in the years ahead.  Let me give you a very brief version of the story of Channukah, and how this can inspire you to move out of the City of Scare (scare-city):

Thousands of years ago the Hebrews in the area now known as Israel were at war with the Syrians (not far from the case now).  The Jewish general, Judah Maccabee, was fighting a valiant fight with his army but was outnumbered by the Syrians, so things looked bleak.  During a big battle supplies to the main temple of the Hebrews were also cut off, and there was no way to get oil to the temple to keep the sacred central lamp burning.  According to Jewish law, it was imperative to keep the light in the temple burning.  At one point there was only one day’s supply of oil, and it would take more than a week to get more oil there because of the war blockades.  By a Divine miracle, that one day’s supply of oil kept the sacred light burning for 8 full days.  During that time Macabee’s army triumphed over the Syrians against great odds as well.  Jews have celebrated this miracle of abundance, how something that seemed small and lacking expanded beyond logical science.  So we celebrate the Festival of Light.

This is exactly what can happen in our businesses when we stop looking at the fears and limitations, ignore the media gloom and doom and start being at Cause in our own lives.  There is plenty of oil (money) to sustain you and your loved ones through whatever lies ahead, you just need to shift your mindsets and beliefs about where your supply comes from.  Want the practical details how to do that?  I will offer my New Year webinar on January 4th called Spiritual Marketing.  In that I will share the powerful methods I have learned, and use, that have resulted in remarkable results for my business.   This webinar will only require an investment of $19, and can bring an unprecedented financial return to you if you use these methods.  Visit www.eastwestseminars.com and look on the webinar page (will be posted by mid day Wednesday).   You will also receive an email invitation if you are opted into my list.  If you are not, go to www.eastwestseminars.com and opt into the box in the upper right corner of the home page.   Happy Holidays!

I heard this phrase “accepting for value” for the first time when I was studying common law issues back in the ’90s. Some people were using this principle to allegedly transform debt into assets, using some little-known aspects of US financial laws and banking procedures. Beyond money, this phrase has stayed with me and I have long reflected on the inner meaning of “accepting for value”.

Think about something “bad” that has happened to you recently. How does thinking about that make you feel? What setbacks in your life has it seemingly caused? What losses have you experienced as a result? Would you like to know how to transform that experience into a blessing and asset in your life?

One of the more humorous stories about accepting for value was told by one of my teachers. He told about a woman who came to him telling how her husband had left her for another woman. At first she was devastated and crushed, but that intense pain inspired her to go much deeper into her meditation practice. As she did that she found a greater sense of peace than she had ever known before. She told the teacher that she was happier than ever before, even with her husband gone.

“Don’t get too happy”, my teacher told her. “He might come back!”

I will tell you more about my understanding of accepting for value in a future post. For now, your turn. What value have you found by completely accepting what seemed like very negative experiences? Post your comments and stories here, please.

Life is a vibrant energy field within us that is directly enjoyable no matter what is happening in the circumstances of our external lives.  It is also a succession of moments, each of which contains gifts for those who see through the eyes of the heart.

I planted a tree in my back yard last year and enjoyed watching it grow and flourish.  Seems we had some crazy unusual freezing weather here in Phoenix in January, and all the leaves of my tree froze and died.  Except one small twig.  I grieved the damage to this tree and trimmed away all the dead branches.  For two months now the tree stood with only that one tiny twig with a few live leaves.  I often woke up and looked at it hoping that it would be renewing its leaves but no dice.  Last night I returned from teaching my Newark seminar feeling weary from the huge energy expenditure and the grueling time zone changes.  When I awoke this morning I looked in my back yard and was amazed to see the tree starting to grow leaves all over!  And my vines, which languished in the brutal Arizona summer in flower!  My heart was filled with joy and I asked this flowering to also grow in my heart.

Then I checked my emails and found some challenging and confronting situations to deal with.  So this is the Yin and Yang of our lives – the light side and the dark side - the joy and the sorrow.  All for us to learn the Great Wisdom – we are the Soul – center point between the light and the dark.  We are bigger than either and encompass both.  This is the place of peace, acceptance and creative inspiration.  I wish for you to find your highest inspiration in your heart and the determination and courage to follow it.

I will soon write a complete article about this subject and will start now with the main idea.

A common dictionary definition of the word redemption is

Redemption

1. the act of delivering from sin or saving from evil
2. repayment of the principal amount of a debt or security at or before maturity (as when a corporation repurchases its own stock)
3. the act of purchasing back something previously sold

So the dictionary reveals that the word “redemption” has both spiritual and economic meanings.   I have long  pondered the inner meaning of this word and will share some thoughts in this post.    The common thread running through the meaning of “deliverance from sin” and “the act of purchasing back something previously sold” is the idea of value.  In both cases something of value is being withheld from being used or enjoyed.  If we sin we enjoy our lives less, if we are not in possession of our property we cannot use and enjoy it.

If we further look at the definition of “sin” a common meaning would be  ”an act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of God’s will” or “to violate a law of God or a moral law”.   Of course the word God can have almost infinite meanings, but in this post I’ll consider God to be the source of all that is of genuine Good to us – love, life, breath, material sustenance, abundance and blessings of all kinds.  Let’s also postulate that this God force works according to Universal Laws that govern all aspects of the creation and our bodies and minds.

Plants and animals have no choice but to live in accord with Universal Law.  We humans don’t either but we have a degree of free will to think, and hence create our experience.  Unlike animals we can influence whether we live in harmony and obediance to Universal Law or at least temporarily create a counterflow to it.  Even creating a counterflow is governed by Universal Law, but doing that can greatly increase our suffering and reduce our enjoyment of life.

So by this view “sin” is “to violate a law of God or a moral law”.   By doing so we lose (or at least experience the illusion of losing) much of our enjoyment of our Good.   So sinners (aka negative thinking creators) lose touch with a degree of their enjoyment of life, breath, material sustenance, abundance and blessings of all kinds.

If you are in debt and hock your car for cash you lose enjoyment of your car.   To get your car back you will need to “redeem” it by making a payment, or having someone else do that for you.  If you save up S&H Green Stamps from the supermarket (do they still have those?) they are useless until you go to the “redemption center” and trade them for something you can really use like a toaster or set of pots and pans.  If you feel cut off from peace, harmony, abundance and love you need to make a payment of your love, good thoughts or actions of service to others to experience redemption of your Good.

Can God or Jesus or other beings make that payment for you so you can experience redemption, as the Christian religion suggests?  I won’t go into that question on this post, but may address that later in a larger article. (my short answer is no, but they can sure help show the way!)

In my career as a doctor of Oriental Medicine I see that my patients come to me because they feel some of their good is being withheld from them.  That good could be a pain free life, a more positive emotional experience, freedom from addiction or removing blocks to financial or relationship well-being.  My job is to support them in removing their blockages (counterflow) and choose to live more in harmony with Universal Law.  This opens the way for their redemption.

If you enjoyed this post and have some comments about it, please post them here!

  The symptoms of depression are a natural part of the balancing process.  It is a psychologic / physiologic reaction to:

• Comparing self to imagined values that are not real (“addicted to fantasy about how you see life” – Demartini)

• Trying to live a one-sided existence (avoiding anger, conflict, challenge)

 • Trying to live outside of Universal Laws

• Inflated sense of self being deflated – Inflated and depressed always are in equal balance

•Withdrawal from dopamine addiction, not seeing/accepting new connections that replace old support systems

My system of Psycho-Neuro-Endocrine Balancing (PNE) combines these methods to offer a better paradigm for treating patients with depression:

 •Dissolve energetic blockages (microcurrent)

•Restore informational balance (color therapy)

 •Activate brain/hormonal balance (essential oils)

Integrate with intuitive counseling for 

Getting grounded in internal resources and knowing – the Soul connection – to engender unconditional love for self and others.   Seeing and accept both sides of life, give up addiction to monopolar existence, learn to stay more in balance point (wisdom).  Releasing lies and illusions.

I will be teaching the method of PNE balancing at my updoming seminars in Phoenix (March 18 – 20) and Newark (April 15 – 17).  See www.east-westseminars.com

I recently heard from a friend who attended one of John Demartini’s seminars in Phoenix.  My friend heard John say this (loosely paraphrased):

“I don’t believe in depression 0r depressed people.  What I see are people who have not yet found their true life purpose and so are not living it.  Once they get what they are here for and start living it they will start attracting people, energy and money and there will be no room for depression.”

What do you think about this view?

Last week I offered a webinar on this subject.  This was the best-attended webinar I have ever taught.  We had to turn people away because all the lines were full.  I believe this is because as practitioners we are seeing so many patients with psycho-emotional imbalances.  Doesn’t matter if they are seeing you for pain relief, facial rejuvenation, asthma or addictions.  The information I presented in this webinar can really help you help them on a deeper level.

At this link you can view a video recording of the webinar and there is also a mp3 download available for your smartphone or mp3 player:

http://www.east-westseminars.com/energymed0105/

Please enjoy and use this information well.

Sincerely,    Darren

Happy New Year to all my readers!  I wish for you a new year of being more present to yourself, making the choice to live your truth and dreams more than ever before, and to open yourself to love and be loved. 

My sister, who is a cancer survivor sent me this wonderful blog post about the top things dying people regret.  There is great direction here for those of us who are healthy and can still make choices.  Please check it out and post your thoughts and responses.

Darren

Here’s the link:  http://inspirationandchai.com./Regrets-of-the-Dying.html

I just received this note from Victoria Bender, a holistic practitioners from Massachusetts.   She is using the PNE system I taught her.  PNE stands for “Psycho-Neuro-Endocrine” balancing system.  This system addresses the traditional chakra system with microcurrent, color light and intuitive counseling.  Victoria has added the dimension of essential oils to further enhance the process.  She will be teaching this method with me in April in a seminar in New Jersey – stay tuned for details.  The letter speaks for itself: