Category: The Mind, Heart and Soul

 

What Does Spiritual Mean?

Today, when attaining spirituality has become more of a fad rather than something all human beings should strive for, having been given the privilege of being called “humans”, its essential that you know what does spiritual mean and what are its benefits. In order to know what does spirituality mean, you have to first of all quell all the misconceptions associated with it.

What Does Spiritual Growth Mean

Many people hold this belief that just because they go to church everyday and pray regularly, they have become spiritual. Following a religion and performing prayers, no doubt, is one of the ways to connect with oneself, but on its own, being religious does not make one a spiritual person. So, if you are wondering, “what does spiritual but not religious mean?” It simply means that a spiritual person can be religious but its not necessary that a religious person be spiritual.

Next, we move on to another highly held belief regarding what does spiritual mean. Some people feel, in order to be considered a spiritual person, you should give up your family life, your possessions and everything dear to you. And that you should go to some faraway mountain and pray, only then you will attain salvation and become spiritual. This again is just a misconception. To be spiritual does not mean that you cut away from everything. On the contrary, spiritualism actually makes us understand how we are part of this whole universe and that each one of us has its own place in it. You may read more on finding your place in the universe. Spiritualism tells us that all our actions and thoughts, whether positive or negative, ultimately affect us and everybody else around us because we are all, after all, an interconnected whole!

Now that we know what all does not count as being spiritual, let’s try to understand what does spiritual mean and how can one attain spiritual growth. Well, to put it simply, being spiritual means to be kind and caring for ourselves, the living beings we know and also for the living being we do not know. Our kindness should not only be reflected through our actions, but through our words and thoughts as well. So, there might be a person who religiously goes to church every day or meditates, but if he does not love himself or his fellow beings, if he is selfish, judgmental or has even a slightest hint of negativity in him, it means that he is not spiritual. More on self improvement.

So, what does spiritual mean? It means to inculcate love, truthfulness, positive thinking, peace, kindness and happiness within ourselves. It means to realize that everybody – all humans, animals, insects, plants and all other living beings are connected to one another. So, if any harm is done, or wished upon on any of these, the others are bound to be affected. That’s why, in order to be spiritual, a person needs to be helping, caring and considerate of others and thus, choose his actions, words and thoughts consciously. You may further go to finding and celebrating spirituality in the mundane.

After understanding what does spiritual mean, one thing you must have realized that spirituality is not something which will come to you in a flash. So, no amount of praying or joining any religious group or Yoga meditation, is going to make you spiritual. Spirituality is something which you choose to be, by being helpful, caring and kind to others. The day you feel that you wish happiness and success to even those whom you once considered your enemies, the day you feel that you have forgiven those who hurt you once, the day you have only kind and good thoughts, that’s when you will be considered spiritual in the true sense.

Docs: Heartbreak More Than a Metaphor

Associated Press

 Confirming the wisdom of the poets and philosophers, doctors say the sudden death of a loved one really can cause a broken heart. In fact, they have dubbed the condition “broken heart syndrome.” In a study published just in time for Valentine’s Day (search), doctors reported how a tragic or shocking event can stun the heart and produce classic heart attack-like symptoms, including chest pain, shortness of breath and fluid in the lungs. Unlike a heart attack, the condition is reversible. Patients often are hospitalized but typically recover within days after little more than bedrest and fluids, and they suffer no permanent damage to their hearts. In their study, published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine (search), doctors at Johns Hopkins University (search) gave a name to the condition, demonstrated through sophisticated heart tests how it differs from a heart attack, and offered an explanation for what causes it. For centuries, doctors have known that emotional shocks can trigger heart attacks and sudden deaths. Broken heart syndrome, technically known as stress cardiomyopathy, is a different phenomenon. The Johns Hopkins doctors documented how a dayslong surge of adrenaline and other stress hormones can cause a decline in the heart’s pumping capacity. The researchers theorized that the hormones probably cause tiny heart blood vessels to contract, but other explanations are possible. Until now, doctors “were trying to explain it away, but the pieces never quite fit,” said Dr. Hunter Champion, an assistant professor. “By our ability to recognize it, we’ve saved people from getting unnecessary (heart) procedures.” Champion and colleagues treated 19 emergency room patients with the syndrome between 1999 and 2003. For reasons that are not entirely clear, nearly all of them were postmenopausal women. Many were grieving over the death of a husband, parent or child. Other triggers included a surprise party, car accident, armed robbery, fierce argument, court appearance and fear of public speaking. MRIs and other tests showed they had not suffered heart attacks. Other doctors have since told Champion that they have seen the same thing, and researchers in Japan and Minnesota have reported similar cases. “This is probably something that happens all the time,” but most people do not seek treatment, Champion said. Dr. Daniel Shindler, director of the echocardiography lab at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J., said it apparently happened to his wife last week, when she was upset over her sister’s death. The wife, who also is a doctor, sensed abnormalities in her heart. Testing showed abnormal rhythms, but she is fine now. Shindler said the researchers’ conclusions make sense, given the well-known link between the brain and heart, and offer the first explanation he has heard for the phenomenon. Dr. Sidney Smith, former American Heart Association president and director of University of North Carolina’s Center for Cardiovascular Science and Medicine, said the study will lead more ER and heart doctors to consider the syndrome when examining patients with chest pain. “We’ll definitely be paying more attention now than before” to patients who are grieving, Shindler said.

What are Brainwaves?

Dr. Laura De Giorgio

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a study of changing electrical potential of the brain. The apparatus used to measure this electric potential of the brain is called electroencephalograph, and the tracing or the printout of the measured brainwave forms is electroencephalogram.

Frequency is the number of complete repetitive waves that occur in a given unit of time. Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz) or cycles per second (cps). According to their frequency brainwaves are divided into 4 main groups, also referred to as “brain states”

EEG Brainwave Sample	Brainwave Frequency	State of Consciousness
	Beta 14 – 40 cps	Fully Awake and Alert Generally associated with left-brain thinking activity – conscious mind
	Alpha 8 – 13 cps	Relaxed, Daydreaming Generally associated with right-brain thinking activity – subconscious mind – a key state for “relaxation”
	Theta 4 – 7 cps	Deeply Relaxed, Dreaming Generally associated with right-brain thinking activity – deeper subconscious to superconscious Access to insights, bursts of creative ideas – a key state for “reality creation” through vivid imagery
	Delta 0.5 – 3.5 cps	Dreamless Generally associated with no thinking – unconscious / superconscious Access to non-physical states of existence – a key state for healing, “regeneration” and “rejuvenation”

Some research has been done associated with the activities and benefits of other brainwave frequencies, such as Super Beta, Gamma, etc.

The lower your brainwave cps, the more is your awareness turned toward your subjective experience, toward your inner world and the more effectively are you able to use the power of your mind to create changes in your body. With each lower state you become more fully aligned with the source of power within you, with your unconscious, or if you prefer, with that part of you that is greater than you (your body).

Generally in Beta state, your attention is focused outward. In alpha it begins to turn inward, and in theta and delta it goes further and further inward. The deeper you go, the more effectively are you able to enter your subconscious.

You can imagine that at the borderline between Beta and Alpha States is a doorway to your subconscious mind, and the doorway consists of what is hypnosis referred to as your “critical faculty”.

And you can imagine that at the borderline between Alpha and Theta states is a doorway to your superconscious mind, where you begin to gain access to your “supernatural abilities”, which for most people manifest as bursts of insight. The more time you spend in this state, even if you’re not intentionally attempting to create a change, the more of these “abilities” begin to become part of you – you may simply notice that the time-lag between what you think and it’s manifestation in your outer world becomes shorter and shorter.

And you can imagine that at the borderline that at the borderline between Theta and Delta, you’re beginning to say “good-bye” to your physical experience of the world, as you’re getting altogether into experiencing yourself as non-physical being. Here your body is only a thought in your mind. If you are able to maintain your consciousness at this level, you can effect instant changes in the outer world. In this state, you can transcend the “laws of the physical world” because you’re not bound by them any more.

Whenever you think, you expand energy. In deep, dreamless Delta state, where your mind is fully resting, your body has the best opportunity to regenerate.

With meditative practice and self-hypnosis, you develop ability to remain conscious while getting progressively into deeper and deeper states. For example, a person without any mind training will tend to fall asleep when getting into theta state, while a person who has undergone some form of meditative mind-training will be able to be very deeply relaxed, yet conscious. The more you are able to remain conscious while in deeper states of mind, the less sleep will your require.

© 2001 – 2010,

Mir Ghotbeddin Mohammad (early 20th century Persian)  Komeil, accompanying Amir al Momenin Ali in the suburb of Kufa, a city of Iraq, asked: “Show me my nafs and help me to become aware of it.”

Nafs is a singular term that has been translated as self, nature and also as ego. Amir al Momenin Ali replied, “Of which nafs are you eager to become aware?” “Is there more than one nafs?” asked Komeil. “Yes, explained Amir al Momenin Ali, there are four: nafs of growth; nafs of sensibility (animal spirit); nafs of pure intellect; and nafs of wholeness and Divinity. Each one of the nufus (plural of nafs) has powers and qualities of its own. The powers of nafs of growth are energies of attraction, circulation, digestion and repulsion; its qualities are to increase and decrease. The nafs of sensibility (animal spirit) has the power of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching; its qualities are lust and anger. The powers of the nafs of pure intellect are thought, remembrance, awareness, patience, and its qualities are wisdom and virtue. The nafs of wholeness, Divinity, has the highest virtues: survival in annihilation; patience in misfortune; honor in poverty; and richness in adversity; the qualities of the nafs are submission and satisfaction in God. This is the nafs that the Almight God breathes into the human being from His spirit and is the part which returns to Him. “You are the Clear Book in which every letter manifests a true meaning.” -Amir al Momenin Ali (7th Century) A discussion on human spirit will take us beyond the realm of dust into the realm of celestial, from body to spirit. It is said our spirit represents our identity. This is what we must come to know if we are to appreciate our personal identity. If we enter this realm of spirit, then we need to discuss corporeal appearances, physical manifestations, and qualities and stages which exist in the transition between the world of physical manifestations and the ultimate realm of inner meaning, all of which are explained in the teachings of Islam: in verses of the Holy Qur’an and the teachings of the Prophet. It is important to remember that no matter how we categorize the “construction” of a human being, a human being is not merely a structure of heavy physical and fine spirit. There are many levels and stages between the absolute matter and that of the absolute soul; many gradation between the dense material world and the fineness of the spiritual world exist in the human being. Many cultures and spiritual beliefs have ascribed to the levels and stages of the human soul, including the existence of souls after physical death until one arrives as the level of the holy spirit. Muslim philosophers and thinkers have written volumes of interesting and most fascinating books on this subject. While relying on the verses of the Holy Qur’an, they have offered their discoveries to the readers. Hujatul-Islam Ghazzali says: “You are created of body which can be seen by the physical eye and an inner being, or meaning, which can be loosely called nafs, heart, or life. Your inner being and reality can be understood by your insight or clear-sightedness. The meaing of inner being is the reality of a human being, and the physical system is like the object to this King.” This reality is called heart, and sometimes nafs. the heart is the seat of Divine understanding. This heart is not a physical heart, it is not a heart similar to that of other animals. Rather, it is a spiritual heart, a heart that is eternal; a center to understanding God. . .