Please check out this excerpt from my book, e.g., A Glimpse of Heaven: The Philosophy of True Health – Chapter XII, “True Honesty”…
“Embracing change is often quite difficult, to say the least. Albeit, the happier and more fulfilled we are in our daily lives, the easier it is to embrace change, the state-of-flux which is always going on all around us, and in us. A gauge of true health is a measure of our ability to embrace change, and not run away from it and/or ignore it. Life seems to fly past us at a speed which is congruent with the level at which we detach ourselves from its potentially deepest and most loving and heartfelt aspects. True appreciation of the miracle of the moment necessitates true effort toward embracing our discomfort as much as our comfort. In these health and wellness arts, we are privileged to have what are coined as the Three Marks of Being, as set forth in the following:
~ The world (this reality/state-of-being) is full of change. True health is inclusive of deep realization that there is no healthful means by which to circumvent/run away from the intrinsic state-of-fluidity/flux in the world. It is important to learn the skill of ‘giving up the self’ – lightening ourselves of the pernicious weight of ‘ego,’ and evolving beyond/outgrowing our addiction to our unhealthful discomfort with the seemingly inherent lack of permanency in this world. Deft employment of this ‘skill’ allows us to learn to lovingly embrace the ever-evolving state-of-change.
~ A significant portion of suffering is commonly rooted in resistance and/or purposeful or instinctive denial/ignorance of the constant state-of-flux in this ever-changing world. It is important that we learn to embrace the notion that the world cannot bring us the most substantive levels of happiness, e.g., we must first find it within ourselves, because most suffering is rooted in our fear of looking within ourselves. Utilizing true honesty in looking within ourselves enables us to gather a sense of true strength – strength which aids us in witnessing a truly healthful connection between ourselves and all else – a Glimpse of Heaven – a view of a so-to-speak-existence where there is no state-of-flux, nothing to hide behind. This level of healthful unblemished loving insight allows us to see this world much more clearly, much more like it really is – thus promoting greater and greater resilience in our wherewithal to meet and embrace, and even look forward to the miracle of life’s challenges – the moment to moment change which we can choose not to ignore. In this loving and mindful outlook, it is possible to gather a healthful appreciation of the reality that there is nothing perfect in this world – an appreciation in which we find a wonderful gift: that there is always room for improvement.
~ The primary fault of mankind is the notion that you are there and I am here. Much of our suffering is rooted in our addictive purposeful or instinctive denial or ignorance that ‘we are all in the same boat.’ We need not be so lonely and detached from each other as we ‘wallow in our muck’ – the muck being all the deeper and worse by our sense of being so alone, and/or that we are the only ones suffering from our difficulties. The world does not move so fast when we feel a sense of healthful loving closeness, a truly well-meaning spirit/affinity, a genuine sense of empathy toward others and they toward us. As we learn to realize a greater and greater sense of responsibility for our own health and wellbeing, it becomes easier and easier to enjoy true compassion and empathy for all of our peers.
There is no realistic doubt that much of the time contemporary life does require a majority of us to move quickly in order to be accountable to the myriad responsibilities which are manifest in our daily lives. Add to this mix some version of the emotional baggage which each of us lives with, and the weight on our shoulders can seem untenable: That is a very important point herein – when looking at life as such, without a seeming wherewithal to appreciate deeply meaningful aspects thereof, it can obviously seem impossible to deal with. The world can be a morbidly difficult, nasty, gruesome place. From this vantage point, the notion of taking true responsibility for our own health and wellbeing can no doubt seem quite silly and ‘beyond the pale.’ Be it as it may, without our willingness to try to get better and better in dealing with ‘what life throws at us,’ what is the point? Should we blindly go on suffering? Is that what all of this is about – at best?
There is more – a lot more: There is true happiness, and it can be realized a majority of the time. In this imperfect existence (where succinct perfection cannot be realized), it is a glimpse of heaven. It is learning to witness one’s internal and external environments in an objective, unblemished fashion, without the need for precognitive expectations; a living lightness of mind, body, and spirit; a tool with which we can learn the ability of ‘giving up the self,’ and requiring of healthful true faith and true effort. It is the nurtured ability to healthfully prompt genuine clarity and spine-tingling loving feelings at will.
A path toward such healthful insight and congruent way-of-life, can be found in an understanding of, what are coined in these traditions, as the Four Noble Truths:
~ The world is weighted-down and suffocated by suffering and misery.
~ Most suffering and misery is rooted in unhealthful craving/desire, unhealthful styles of thinking and blemished views, a lack of critical thinking skills and healthful logic, and anger, hatefulness/prejudice, ignorance, and greed.
~ A Glimpse of Heaven – temporarily witnessing what it is like to enjoy true happiness – existing without the suffering and misery rooted in the unhealthful portents of the second Noble Truth.
~ True Happiness – a healthful way-of-life in which at least a slight majority of time one exists without the suffering and misery rooted in the unhealthful portents of the second Noble Truth, e.g., the Eightfold Healthful Path.
While nothing is perfect on this Earth, the Eightfold Healthful Path is a means by which to appreciate, to realize the miracle of true health. It is True Health Through True Responsibility – the living expression of the Bright Beautiful School of Thought. It is in congruent harmony with all loving and well-meaning religions and belief systems. The Eightfold Healthful Path is as follows:
~ Healthful View: avoidance of employing the lens of hate, greed, and ignorance; a sincere absolute practical respect for the notion of True Health Through True Responsibility – taking true responsibility for one’s own health and wellbeing.
~ Healthful Resolve: employing a healthful intention of Acting Without Acting – doing the right thing for the right sake, without the need for selfish recognition; avoiding preference for the sake of preference; ongoing effort to educate oneself, face and embrace change, and work toward ongoing self-improvement; avoiding anger.
~ Healthful Speech: sincere practical respect of the significance of the true responsibility of healthful interaction and true honesty.
~ Healthful Action: endeavoring to make one’s world, THE world a better place on a daily – even on a momentary basis; a true awareness of the notion that the primary fault of mankind is the notion that you are there and I am here; and once again, Acting Without Acting – doing the right thing for the right sake, without the need for selfish recognition.
~ Healthful Life: ongoing work toward realization of emotional, physical, and spiritual true health – inclusive of the notion that all illness is on some level rooted in an unhealthful dietary way-of-life, a lack of mobility/exercise, and a deficit of skill in dealing with stress and anxiety; embracing the notion that one of the greatest gifts is that there is always room for improvement; sincere practical respect of the significance of the true responsibility of supporting others in their ability to succeed in healthful endeavors; realizing happiness in a vocational way-of-life which serves to make the world a better place.
~ Healthful Effort: True effort in realization of true appreciation of the miracle of the moment – appreciation of the miracles in both our internal and external environments; embracing our comfort and discomfort equally; true insight into the notion that “most suffering and misery is rooted in unhealthful craving/desire, unhealthful styles of thinking and blemished views, lack of critical thinking skills and healthful logic, and anger, hatefulness/prejudice, ignorance, and greed”; practical realization that success in any healthful effort necessitates working at it…working at it…working at it…until nothing short of success is enjoyed – never giving up – No Matter What; life should be (seen and acted upon as) the highest of art forms – the more and more selfless one becomes in creating one’s art form, the more and more beautiful and healthful the art, the artist becomes; formulation of awareness of the practical benefits of curtailing the need for immediate gratification – while feeling and displaying a true sense of gratitude; once again, taking true responsibility for one’s own health wellbeing; honest application of the notion of true forgiveness towards others and towards oneself.
~ Healthful Thinking: the goal of true mindfulness, e.g., an unfearful true awareness of one’s inner self (acute emotional/mental and spiritual awareness) – an unfearful true awareness of one’s outer self (acute physiological awareness) – and an unfearful true awareness of one’s external environment (an acutely objective, unblemished view of the world); realization of a mindful lightness being, light of the heaviness of self, inclusive of a Visual Meditative Demeanor (eyes open or closed) – in total: a mindful lightness of deportment and carriage, without heavy pernicious weight of stress, anxiety, tenseness, and precognitive, preset patterns of thinking and expectations; true relaxation and true freedom – devoid, or nearly devoid of suffering and misery described in the Second Noble Truth; an unblemished unmitigated healthful true love of being – the living embodiment of untarnished deeply-felt gratitude.
~ Healthful Meditation: The significance of true meditation within the philosophy of true health is difficult to gauge, and is why aspects thereof are commonly described in various contexts within this writing – to ‘connect-the-dots,’ between it, and most of the concepts set forth herein. True meditation is a composite of practices which cannot be completely exclusive of one another, and are meant to promote a healthful harmony between one’s physical, emotional/mental, and spiritual dimensions. In order to enjoy a deeper perspective into this notion, it is important to contrast this “harmony” with a ‘harmony between heaven and earth,’ both in analogy, and to some degree, literally. Most significantly, true meditation must be devoid or mostly devoid of preset, precognitive patterns of thinking – without expectation, rumination, cyclical thinking, and MOST particularly, without the pernicious weight of hate, greed, and ignorance. It is the embodiment of a truly healthful sense of lightness in being: It is playing the part of a less and less blemished witness – in most simple terms, it is a tool with which one realizes the wherewithal to witness one’s internal and external environments through an untarnished or almost untarnished lens. It is a tool which diminishes desire and craving of the need for something to hide behind: Such true honesty is not inclusive of unhealthful self-deception.” – Dr. Glen Hepker (Copyright 2011)
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A Glimpse of Heaven: The Philosophy of True Health 