Earth
Mars
What the Bleep...
What the Bleep...
What the Bleep...
What the Bleep...
What the Bleep...
What the Bleep...
What the Bleep...
Polluted water crystals
Water crystals after a prayer
Neuron forest
Neurotransmission
Vizualisation
Zenlatitudes Class
Aquazen at la Rasante
Coherence and nervous balance
"Zen Attitude" Seminar
Chemical straightjacket
Presentation of the philosophy of Zen activities at La Rasante
The world we live in is magical. Open your mind, let go for a moment and…be honest with yourself… This world is totally crazy and doesn't run on any logic… The forces that run it, like gravity, electromagnetism, and the speed of light are mysterious and cannot be explained… And if they were different, we couldn't say much about that either. Radio waves and radar are closer to magic than they are to anything else. As for synchronicities (events linked by meaning but not by cause), they go well beyond the probability of chance… What kind of a world are we living in?
We are living on a huge marble that rotates majestically in space around a great ball of fire at the far end of a galaxy…in a cosmic jungle… Even the idea of infinity is a crazy one to grasp for our Cartesiam minds mapped to four dimensions. The greatest physicists and cosmologists now agree that the universe is probably made up of multiple dimensions and that we have as yet absolutely no idea how it works and what goes on in it. Out there, time and cosmological rules are different. Maybe, without us knowing it, other stories are playing out around us. Maybe our own story and our smallest gestures influence things in other dimensions and the destiny of entire worlds is being played out through our intermediary without us knowing it…(?)
It may even be that space is full of doors to other universes and that the one we see is as limited and narrow as the horizon of an ant wandering around a tree trunk…
Galaxy of the Sombrero
In fact, we know very little. Over time, what we thought to be true yesterday turns out to be completely wrong… We used to think that the veins of the sick had to be cut open to cure the patient… Until not that long ago we still believed that there were several races of humans… And we long believed that the sun turned around the Earth… The Earth was flat, according to the greatest scientists of another era…
Twenty years ago we still believed that Mars could be resown! Today we know that Mars is dead forever (!) because its core no longer rotates and it no longer has a magnetic field to protect it from cosmic rays. Life will never be able to start up again on Mars. Life is a miracle in our solar system…and so are we! Let's get out of our hypnotic state and stop thinking that all of this is "normal". The reality in which we live is nothing short of amazing and fantastic!We are conditioned to think in a certain way. And we are creatures of habit. This doesn't make things any better from the perspective of behavioral evolution… So, since the beginning of humanity, we have continued to teach war and competition instead of empathy and mutual aid. Some humans who are less hypnotized than the others keep the population of the planet in slavery when we could be living in total abundance. We are poor and we feel powerlessness against the global mechanisms to which we are so tightly tied. How can we change and improve human society? For example, how can we save rather than destroy the ecosystem?
But rather than wanting to change the world, shouldn't we start by changing our own vision of what is real? The outside world doesn't seem any more real to us than our inner world. Experiences with a brain imaging device has made one thing very clear: when people were asked to think about an object, we were able to verify that the neurons that go into action are the same ones as those that work when the same object is actually in front of them and the image is decoded by looking at it… This means that which we imagine seems (psychologically speaking) as real as reality itself! The quality of our life depends on our ability to imagine the real.
In addition, it's true that reality is not that easy to know. Reality is unknowable and, in fact, depends on our channels of perception. The more sophisticated they are, the more complex reality appears to us. We only perceive an extremely small part of it… For example, a dolphin with its ultrasound sonar perceives the real and sees reality very differently from us.
In addition, the reality we see also depends on our way of perceiving reality and the prejudices that we freely develop! An example of this is whether we see the glass as being half full or half empty.
In conclusion, we can say that reality depends on our perception of it but also on our desire to see things in a particular way.
We see what we want to see! That may be good news…simply because it means that… we are at least in control of something:-)!
By observing the infinitely small and the way elementary particles react when they are observed (their location varies depending on the observer) scientists have begun to ask themselves to what extent it is possible to impact reality… and if quantum changes could also alter reality at our level.
In addition, looking at time, we see that the past seems immutable, but that this is not true of the future which can change direction at any moment…
Contrary to certain fatalistic beliefs, there is no single possible future but rather billions of possible futures…It may be possible that reality is in fact an overlaying of infinite possibilities and that we are only aware of a single group of them:… the famous "present moment". The present moment which, by the time it becomes a conscious thought in the devolved areas of our brain has already become…a stored memory, that is, a memory which can no longer be changed.
Our actions and, before them, our thoughts could therefore determine all that is about to happen. We may be creating our future more than we know and making it, more than we might believe, a certain future… Visualization may literally cristalize reality…! This new belief is the paradigm of the global movement embodied in the success of the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know" which makes the individual responsible and puts forward free will.
But we don't trust ourselves enough! And what's more, we do what our circle and society want us to…and that's why we always feel that we are subject to an implacable fate…when in fact we have a very good chance of changing the course of things…
It is true, on the other hand, that our ability to influence reality is limited. Not just because we are to a large extend conditioned to react in such and such a way… but also because our consciouness is particularly limited. Of any 400 billion bits, only 2,000 make their way into our consciousness… But, many of the things that we believe to be impossible…are in fact possible!
We just need to open ourselves up to the possibilities and develop our faculties of concentration…and dream reality.
Our behavior is also contagious. If several people change their thought model then their reality becomes different and their world changes…From wave to wave, spreading around them like the radiance of a magnificent star…that's how the world can change. On the other hand, in the past century Nazism proved that a small group of determined men (the Thule Society) can gradually tip the world order using completely crazy beliefs that today we consider to be ridiculous, nearly absurd! (see "The Morning of the Magicians" by Pauwels and Bergier)… So, of course, the principle doesn't apply solely to constructive beliefs…
The power of the mind may even be much greater than we ever dreamed. In fact, the power of the mind may be monumental! If, as in quantum physics, an observer can modify the location of observed particles…and is able to literally create the spatial observation coordinates of the observed object then we may be, without knowing it, living in a world of infinite possibilities but filled with diagrams and pre-programs that are stopping us from changing and evolving… Is it possible that the real present moment (the one that exists just before our perception of it) is really a juxtaposition of all the probable presents possible from among which we choose to become aware of just one?
It is an appealing theory to believe that the observer plays a part in "defining" reality. It also seems to be confirmed in practice in certain instances:
A group of 4,000 people changed the rate of acts of violence in Washington by 25% by meditating for two days. An aggregation of consciousnesses spreads and propagates a field of consciousness. If more of the world begins to think differently about reality, it can be changed more easily and instead of duplicating the same non-evolving and dangerous patterns of behavior from generation to generation…we can change.
Our emotion-tinged thoughts are transported thanks to neurotransmitters and the synaptic receptors of neurons which over time adapt to the products generated by our brain. The more there are of them, the more receptors develop and the fewer there are, the more atrophied they become. Our emotions therefore dictate the structure of our intimate brain tissue and its addiction to certain biochemical substances as powerful as heroin (endorphines, acetylcholine, adrenaline, ACTH, etc.). Sadness, melancholy, anger, and hate create substances that modify and define neural tissue over the years… and impact its own needs… If we become depressed, it is not easy to "get out" of that state because the brain is locked into a very specific pattern of biochemical consumption and energy use. The structure of connections is itself modified. A sort of viscious circle takes over. Our mood becomes set…and so do our thoughts!
By modifying our thoughts and by generating positive emotional states like peace, serenity, joy, Love, tolerance, forgiveness, non-resentment, compassion, empathy, etc., we can change the quality of neurotransmissions and the way in which the neuronal networks of our brain work. Likewise, we change the drug receptors, some of which are harmful and dangerous for the quality of our consciousness. By regularly using exercises like the ones learned in the "Zen Attitude" class, for example, you can gradually change your neural tissue and your ability to view reality from a positive, ecological, and constructive point of view.
Refocus on the essential. Learn to "Be"… and don't just live over and over and forever in the appearance. Learn to modify your emotions and induce them in yourself…You can change reality. Let's learn to dream together…
A certain amount of brain gymnastics is required to learn imaging and visualization. Developing a sharp imagination and being able to invent new things; to anticipate, create, imagine… Your focus and concentration are also required to direct your mind like a lightbeam to a particular area of consciousness… The first meditation exercise learned in this class helps to maintain consciousness in a high state of alertness and to empty the mind.
Once your mind has been emptied and you are in a comfortable sitting position, we can move on to the second stage: visualization and how to develop it.
The third stage begins with the generation of thoughts tinged with positive emotion. When you are able to generate the emotions you want and be happy with them, you will have become master of your own reality and able to put a certain amount of distance between yourself and problems that you no longer "own" (…).
A certain amount of Zen philosophy is required to mentally reach this new way of understanding reality. For example, to reach the emotional maturity needed to take deep pleasure in sharing your feelings rather than just taking them from others. Enjoying giving, that is, sharing positive feelings rather than waiting to receive them from others. This will take you to a new level of independence.
Letting Go of focus
The suite of the course first teaches you how to let go of focus. The second step is generally an alpha-theta state (a state on the edge of sleep) and is used to anchor the teachings of the first stage.
The course is intended to provide a framework. The goal is not to continue attending classes forever but to get direction for work at home or at the office during breaks in the workday. Attendees can come back to the course if they find that they are lacking motivation and to get advice on how to re-motivate themselves to work alone. Beginners who feel helpless alone can also purchase the recorded audio-guides available by download from this site.
Recorded guides for focus breaks
Beginners who want to develop the relaxation breathing skills learned at the beginning of class can also use Aquazen, a controled breathing and apnea technique done in a hot swimming pool.
There are also several seminars to perfect both breathing and positive visualization techniques. They can be learned at the ZEN ATTITUDE seminar using a cardiac coherence software program. It provides a true picture of nervous system balance and its changes in real time while the exercises are being performed. This feedback enables quick learning of techniques which can otherwise take years to learn…
There are also other seminars including OBJECTIVE ZEN which is a logical continuation of ZEN ATTITUDE. This seminar offers Zen philosophy and a new system of beliefs designed to take the poison out of life.
Letting Go with variable frequency audiovisual simulation
Gradually decrease the amount of sleeping pills, anti-depressants, and anxiolytics that you are taking… then stop taking them altogether. They are dangerous for your health and, especially, for your mind. The Belgian Ministry of Health cited "Audio-Medicine" as a good alternative to sleeping pill abuse in its 2006 campaign to reduce their overuse…