Happiness and The Power of Thoughts

This paper was the first one I wrote in my recent class Science and Spirituality. Herein, I was asked to discuss what love or happiness meant me and how I applied the concept(s) in my life. I never just answer a question; instead I draw upon and integrate many concepts to choreograph a dance of exquisite interrelatedness that usually adjuncts some important concept that occupies my cogitations.

In mid-December of 2012, I was conversing with friend when she asked me where my husband was.  I told her that he was across the state visiting his brother. My friend asked me why and if something was wrong because we do not travel to that side of the state in the winter unless we absolutely need to. In a rather emotionless voice, I stated that my husband and his mother were visiting his brother because the brother has terminal cancer. My friend’s mouth dropped open and in a shaky voice asked me, “is your husband upset or sad for his brother? Are you upset?” I said no, my husband was not upset or sad because his brother made his choice and I agreed with my husband. In an incredulous voice, she demanded to know why we were not sad and what I meant by choice.  I am offering this example in an attempt to explain my philosophy on happiness that I arrived at through both science and spirituality but not religion.

I never realized, until I had the above conversation, how intermeshed people’s ideas of happiness and personal culpability are with social ideology and religious customs. I believe that people are responsible for their happiness. I believe that happiness derives from what people choose to do with the circumstances in their lives. Circumstances, events, and knowledge are neutral; the individual gives meaning and that meaning determines one’s happiness. An individual is chronically unhappy when  they are fatalists and subscribe to a victim mentality believing that all things are external to the self. I think individuals will only discover happiness when they take responsibility for creating their lives and their circumstances and realize the benefit or learning experience in all circumstances or events . I also believe happiness occurs when people cease to judge and polarize events between good and bad.

Social ideology, at least American customs, are heavily influenced (Sharpe & Bryant, 2005) by early Christian philosophers such as Aquinas and Augustine. From my observations of people, I see a theme emerge that seems to parallel the Christian Bible. Many members of society believe that events happen on a polarized scale of good versus evil or bad. In addition, according to a self-serving bias, the negative events are always done to the individual as an indiscriminate and  pathologically negative force that derives pleasure from the individual’s suffering, while positive events always occur due to the individual’s merit or achievement. Another way of stating this dichotomy is that the individual feels entitled to good things as if they were rewards for righteous living but feels undeserving of the bad things as if he or she were unjustly punished. 

In my conversation with my friend who demanded an explanation of why I said choice, I stated that I do not believe cancer is an evil, indiscriminate killer; I believe that people create cancer in their bodies. I continued with the idea that people either choose to live a life of love, acceptance, and happiness or they choose a life of hatred, cynicism, and anger. In essence, I am suggesting that an individual’s mental happiness, or lack thereof, can alter the chemical structures of the body, including the DNA. Thus one’s happiness can  be a detriment or catalyst for diseases of the body such as cancer which occurs through a multiplication the cells; and since DNA is located in the cells, I believe the DNA was first altered. She argued that people do not choose their DNA to which I replied, “correct, but they can choose to alter it.”

Many researchers believe that 50-80% (Sharpe & Bryant, 2005) of one’s inherited genes account for his or her level of happiness in life with one’s circumstances determining the other portion. One’s immediate circumstances may temporarily inflate or deflate one’s happiness, but, in the long run, the individual will maintain a set level of happiness (2005). Genetics can account for one’s level of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine (2005) as well as how information is processed in the brain; i.e. what portion of the brain does the processing. This seems to back up my friend’s argument of fatalism or genetic destiny, however, further explanation through the combined fields of biology and psychology, a field known as biopsychology, I can back up most of my argument.

For example, one’s level of neurotransmitters are not fixed and neither are portions of the brain where information is processed (Garrett, 2011). Through neurogenesis, or the ability of the neurons, or neural cells that communicate information, the brain can change (2011) where and how information is processed. This often occurs in response to some trauma. This process of rebuilding and rewiring can and does happen in adults (2011); however, it is faster and more efficient in children. In adults, neurogenesis most often happens in response to learning (2011); in other words, the biology of the brain will change to accommodate new information because new information often requires a new skill set. This lends credence to statement that practice makes perfect. Neurogenesis does happen and the brain can change how processing and functioning occur. In addition, certain traumas or diseases can alter (2011) the levels of neurotransmitters; however, basic psychology explains how forms of thought patterning can effect this process. 

According to psychology, the brain processes information through schemas. A schema is a mental shortcut or flowchart of sorts to make rapid judgments (Myers, 2010) on incoming information. Think of it as in if-then statement, “if a then go to b, but if not a then go to c” sort of thing. Various forms of psychological therapy can alter (2010)  these schemas and rewire the decision-making process and thus alter the behavior. One example of a therapy that can do this is cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) which causes individuals to question their thoughts (2010) on a subject which effectively rewrites their schemas and thus alters their behavior. Since behavior is biologically based in neurotransmitter reactions and specific locations in the brain (Garrett, 2011), I believe that altering behavior also alters the biology of the brain and changes how information related to that behavior is physically processed. I believe that changing one’s schemas is a form of learning. Therefore, one’s thoughts will affect the biology of the brain through neurogenesis and neurotransmitter release; thus changing those thoughts will change one’s biology and alter neurotransmitter release.    

A this point, science can no longer support my argument and I turn to my spirituality. I define spirituality and religion as different because I believe religion denotes that one follows specific dogmas, doctrines, methods, customs, ideologies, etc. in an attempt to aggrandize, idolize, or elevate a God-like entity or creator above the self. A spiritual person flows with life and changes as he or she needs to; he or she is not bound by dogma or customs, but rather experiences affinity with a greater power through expressions of self-mastery rather than self-subservience. I am not bound to any specific subset of religion, therefore, I am free to pick and choose what I believe to be the choice morsels in each belief and make them into one philosophy that serves me and my spiritual growth. Many yoga masters have proven that in altered states of consciousness, that they can change body functioning such as slowing breathing and heart rate to imperceptible levels. Many New Age philosophies discuss the power of thought to change one’s life and physical circumstances. Even some Christians believe that fervent prayer and belief can alter the physical condition of the body by bringing someone back to life or eliminating a disease. Because I believe in the power of the self through acceptance of responsibility, I accept a New Age adaptation of this idea that fervent belief can change circumstances through the assistance of the divine. New Agers believe that each individual is a part of the divine or God, therefore, they work in harmony with God and the God-self to affect change. Another form of evidence is a cross between New Age and science by author Masaru Emoto (2001), in his book The Hidden Messages in Water. He produces evidence that positive or negative thoughts (2001) directed at a container of water will affect the crystal structure of the water when it freezes. The crystals of the water that received positive thoughts were larger and stronger while the crystals of the recipients of negative thought patters were weak and ill-formed (2001). I could list many more examples, because I have studied many, which have contributed to my belief that I can change my biology, but this is sufficient.

Therefore, based on biopsychology, psychology, and my spiritual beliefs taken from many sources, I have formulated the opinion that the individual human creates his or her physical circumstances. Science and religion do agree that happiness is a state of mind; however, they disagree as to its source. I posit that there is even a difference between spirituality and religion as to the source of happiness. Science suggests that happiness is merely a response of neurotransmitters, genetics, and biological processing that causes happiness or a lack thereof. Religions suggest that happiness is a response to living a higher purpose in subservience to other people or to God; but the self-awareness takes away from happiness. My spirituality suggests that happiness is a result of my actions and my beliefs and whether I choose to be encumbered with dogma or embrace my divinity and partner with the greater divine so that I may affect the physical condition of my body. According to my belief, then cancer is something the individual causes. In the case of my brother-in-law, he is a very angry and cynical individual. To him happiness is in the pursuit of material  wealth and scientific reasoning; but, not all scientific reasoning is valid and he eschews many findings to the realms of pseudoscience. He has no love and acceptance for other individuals unless he feels they follow his intellectual beliefs. He is not open to alternatives and is very set in his ways.

To this my friend argued, “fine, I can see that he might be an angry individual, but what about a child or a happy person? How do you explain their cancers if you posit that it is the happiness of the individual?” I told her that we humans are not privy to the spiritual journey and decisions of the individual. Even if he or she says that they want to live, they may have come into this world deciding to take on that role of cancer to assist others in their development or to learn a spiritual lesson that he or she felt was needed; but they may not be consciously aware of their own spiritual planning. The realms of the spirit are not up for consideration by the mortal mind. Needless to say, she did not agree with me and promptly told me that I was a narcissistic, egoistic, uncaring, pagan and heathen because I did not give this dying individual the courtesy to feel sorry for him or put aside my petty beliefs to make his last hours on this earth happier.

I found this individual’s beliefs about self-responsibility to be misplaced and thus I felt a bit sad for her. I realize that many of her beliefs derive from what society and the media has told her. She believes, for example, that happiness comes from physical beauty, material wealth, fashionable clothing and accessories, and social status.  Furthermore, she defines happiness as the influx of income and medical insurance; when she recently lost her job, she lost her status, insurance, income, and ability to afford her lavish lifestyle. She recently turned 30 and began to realize that there is more to life and happiness than the pursuit of material wealth and physical beauty; however, she still has a long road to traverse. She is not happy right now and life is giving her a chance to determine the true meaning of happiness. Will she discover that happiness comes from within or will she continue this path of believing that happiness is only found in the external circumstances and fortunes from a whimsical divine being? As of this writing, I believe my theory about abdication of self-responsibility as a harbinger of disease in the body to apply to someone outside of myself; she is manifesting disease in her body and lives in utter fear of her own mortality. She does not want to change and believes that she is right while everyone else is wrong. That is not a path to happiness.  

Reference

Emoto, M. (2001). The hidden messages in water. New York, NY: Atria Books.  

Garrett, B. (2011). Brain and behavior: An introduction to Biological Psychology (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

Myers, D.G. (2010). Exploring psychology in modules (8th ed.). New York: Worth Publishing.

Sharpe, K. J., & Bryant, R. I. (2005). Has science displaced the soul? Debating love and happiness. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Pondering my Contribution to the World

A few months ago, I took a philosophy class entitled Science and Religion. We read the book Has Science Displaced the Soul: Debating Love and Happiness (Sharpe & Bryant, 2005). This book represented a final lecture of sorts for the author Sharpe, because shortly after its publication, he died of terminal cancer. As a final reflection in the class, we were asked to envision what our final lecture would look like and ponder the contribution we would like to leave with the world once we were gone. A few months ago, I wrote a post entitled Insight into Growth where I discussed my insight about my future with psychology and how I had to let go of my personal drama and find a new source for sustainability. With this reflection, I was able to take this concept a step further. Also related to this insight was my increased understanding of how forest gardening and psudosciences connect the two diametrically opposed concepts that I explained in my post A Philosophical Discussion on Weed Aversion, Psychology, Religion, and Science. Also related was my increased understanding and accetance of my forest garden, it purposes in my life, and where I want to go with it; I discussed this in the post partially titled Winter Musings. This post also discussed the gift my brother in law left me when he ridiculed my garden. Basically, I have been building a greater understanding of myself and I felt this class paper contributed to that self-knowledge, so I decided to add it to this blog.

This class [Science and Spirituality] helped me to resolve some cognitive dissonances I possessed that were blocking me from my goal of truly helping people. This was more of a process of repairing some schemas rather than absorbing factual knowledge; therefore what I learned was perhaps not what this class intended to convey. In this class I learned how to distinguish the arguments of science and spirituality, how to affirm that all life is connected by having greater insight into a previous insight about my practice of psychology, and to find some final pieces to an identity I have worked to create for quite some time. These three things will contribute greatly to my further development and ultimately be a part of my final lecture that culminates my life work.

Before taking this class, I suspected that there was a connection between science and spirituality and I thought the debates were pointless; however, I never paid much attention to the debates. In my mind, there was no distinction; now I better comprehend the distinctions, the players in the camps, the ideological stances of each, and the desire to remain disconnected and unique. Teasing apart the multivariate constituents of an issue is always necessary to find any solution.

This led me to clarify my feeling that that all life is connected and yet distinct; as such, it is the responsibility for the human to repair and build more connections. A few months prior to this class, I had a foundation-shaking realization about my future with psychology; I realized that I would never assist people by continuing the path I was on. I realized I had to change my source of motivation from understanding my personal drama and attempting to apply this to my understanding of humanity to embracing the awesome expanse of human individuality and how that uniqueness can contribute to the whole. In addition, I realized I needed to stop shouldering the burden of people’s pain and I should provide them the tools to confront their pain, heal, and create a new life direction. Realizing the distinctness the people adamantly embrace by understanding the staunch ideological stances of the religionist and the scientists, I see that people are unconsciously cutting the threads of connection and feel they should be islands of self-promotion. People may want this, but this desire portends great pain for both humanity and our home, planet earth. I feel it is my duty to help heal these wounds of separation but I cannot do so without understanding the uniqueness of each individual and helping them to see their place in the whole.

Finally, I found some pieces that I was missing from my identity. For me, this was a final piece in the puzzle of my spiritual identity; it allowed me to completely free myself from the guilt that somehow I was incorrect for not being a Christian. This realization will also help me to be more effective in helping other people disentangle their identities from the menagerie of socially acceptable ideologies. The more I can realize the distinctions between ideas and tease apart their contributions rather than looking at a jumbled mess, then I am better equipped to assist other people find their unique contribution to the interdependent whole.

I suspect that people engage in faux displays of love and happiness because of these ideological, unconscious prisons, which obscure the meaning of true love and happiness; in essence, people do not know there is anything better. However, if people actively remove those barriers it is like lifting a veil and, for the first time, they will be able to experience the ultimate manifestation of the experience of what God and the brain create. It is realizing that the two are distinct, but ultimately creating connection between the two realms, such that the individual receives guidance from both and unites them in the heart.

These three, when taken together, represent what I wish for my life work to contribute to humanity. I wish to discern the sides in an argument and recognize the uniqueness of each, I wish to recognize the connection between each, and I wish to help people forge a new identity Basically, I see the world as stuck in a quicksand of ideology and custom; people are literally holding themselves prisoner through unconscious cognitions. My life work is to first learn about them: how these prisons are built, how to deconstruct them, and how to reconstruct a new existence from the pieces. Then it will be helping people through that process.

In my final lecture, I would like to say I succeeded at creating a system for people to escape their unconscious prisons and experience true love and happiness. I would discuss the three-part system. I would admonish the attendees to always discern and clarity their own unconscious processing before attempting to help other people. In essence, I would remind them to take care of their baggage rather than being a hypocrite; thus, they practice what they facilitate. Finally, I would pass the baton to future generations to pick up where I left off; helping them to understand the importance of continuing.

 

Reference

Sharpe, K. J. & Bryant, R. I. (2005). Has science displaced the soul? Debating love and happiness. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

 

 

Insight into Growth

At a certain point, growth cannot continue unless something changes. Growth is energy and unless energy is exchanged, it cannot change. A decline in something is a change of energy; however, that energy is no longer facilitating the desired direction because it is moving on to something else. I realized with my psychology studies that I need to change something to continue. If I continue on my same path then my knowledge will not grow and I will stagnate; worse, I will never be able to help people with my knowledge. The change that must occur is the application of my knowledge and the source that drives its initiation.

Currently my knowledge is driven or sparked by my personal drama, my baggage, my pain, my disorder, my dissonance, my separation; in other words, the things about myself that I feel have somehow damaged, insecure, or limited me. I need a new source to continue. If I continue to wallow in self-pity then my knowledge will cessate or plateau at some point and I will never successfully apply this to anyone; to do so would assume that everyone is like me. If I continue to wallow in self-pity then I will fail to appreciate the awesome expanse of human individuality. If I continue on this path then my efforts are for not. I can only learn so much about myself and examine my motivations so many times and from so many different angles; at a certain point, there is nothing new to discover/recover. What then? What is the purpose of my pursuit of knowledge of human cognition and interaction if I never take the leap toward understanding the awesome expanse of human individuality?

Over the past two weeks or so I watched the entire series of Full Metal Alchemist and Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. Both drew me in, both caused me many hours of serious cogitation, both caused me feelings of expanded self, both caused self-awareness, both caused contemplation on the purpose of life, and both caused me to question my motivations. Basically, both caused a considerable earthquake that cracked my foundation. The first series caused cracks but the second series lead to fissures in my subconscious; I will never be the same.

My insight came from observing the maturation of the main character Edward Elric. I noticed that while he always had a crabby disposition, he went from being relatively happy to very angry as the show progressed. At the same time, he also grew considerably in his abilities and understanding of life. I wondered how an individual could attain such a high level of understanding and yet grow more bitter and angry. At the end of Brotherhood, Edward decided to give up his alchemic ability to bring back his brother from the other side. At this point, he was happy, secure, confident, and assured of his decision to become a regular human.

I wonder, is it possible to give up such an important part of oneself and still find happiness? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. He did not give up his ability but he gave up his catalyst for that ability. If he found a new catalyst, a catalyst of love, then he would regain his ability and it would be much stronger. His catalyst was drama: pain, isolation, separation, “oughts”, “shoulds”, and all the other things he had to make right. He felt compelled to protect the weak and fight against injustice and for that he grew angrier and angrier; he lost his joy, and became encumbered in cynicism. In a strange dichotomy, he was helping people but he became more burdened than ever.

This revelation did not bode well for me; after all my purpose is to help people reach their potential by helping them to remove their psychological barriers that block success. If I continue on my path of exploring psychology from the catalyst of my own drama then I too may lose my joy. I also feel I may never properly help people. How could I help people if it meant that I would grow bitter and loose my love of life and my innocence?

I realize that help should not be about burden but about equal exchange where quality matters. If I give help with expectation of righting some wrong or fighting someone’s battle or acting as a protector then my intentions are to shoulder the burden and burden is exactly what I will get in return. Esther and Jerry Hicks in their Sara books bring up a concept they call the chain of pain. We can never participate in making the world a better place if we contribute to the chain of pain; if we assume to be a champion for someone weaker by inflicting pain on the bullying party. Pain begets pain; pain will not beget freedom. That is not equivalent exchange.

However, if I can help people to gain more and more mastery over their lives and have more control over their situation then I am not asking to shoulder burden; I am asking them to stand on their own two feet. In essence, I would say, “Here are some resources you need but you must make them work”. Jesus said that you can give a man a fish and feed him for one day or you can teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime. This is entirely dependent upon the individual’s desire to help himself. Neither of us are helped when I shoulder the burden. I am taking away their life lessons and in return putting them in a state of dependence. I am acting like I can control their lives.

I theorize that helpful behavior is directly dependent on my state of mind and belief about my purpose and my self-worth. If I feel I am worth something then I will not shoulder the burden. If I love myself, then I live in love, accept that everything happens for a reason, and know that knowledge and evetns are neutral. Events are also neutral; we give them meaning. If I am open to the synchronicity of events, then I realize that everything that happens occurs because I asked for the next leap of understanding. That is equivalent exchange. Quality matters and it is not dependent upon delusions of righteousness but on what was actually given in the first place. In return, because this is an exchange, we are both satisfied and each of us has made significant steps toward righting our own malfunction.

The primary principle in permaculture is the concept of stacking functions. Everything has more than one purpose; nothing is isolated to one solitary purpose. Everything is interdependent and functions as a whole; however, without each piece, the system is fragmented and the whole will not live up to its potential. Even the individual pieces will not live up to their potential if they do not have their needs met by interdependent association. Help is given when it is needed and out of love rather than obligation and thus everyone thrives toward potential. Equivalent exchange stacks functions because it has multiple inputs. All events have a purpose and that purpose is what the individual needs to function at potential or fix the critical errors that are leading to loss of potential. Everything happens for a reason and nothing has only one reason.

For example, someone I know lost her cat. She is upset and heartbroken. On my path I am learning what it means to live in reality but still recognize where other’s are on their journey and not impose my beliefs or suggestions on their current state of affairs. It is not right of me to assume that I know what is best for someone else. I feel this individual needs to let go and I have felt for some time that she would lose her cat because she clung to him so desperately; the cat was the epitome of everything she ever lost and she expected that he would make things right. This individual does not want to deal with her pain and chooses to drown it in substances or hide it in object displacement. I know she needs to deal with her pain. Unfortunately, as part of my growth and disentangling myself from my enabling of this situation, I became crass and unfeeling toward her; I did not want to be a part of her drama and I made sure I confronted her with her drama. In her pain today, I rubbed salt on her wounds and I heartlessly told her that everything happens for a reason and she needed to face those reasons. One purpose for this loss was to help me understand that I cannot assume to tell others how they should conduct their affairs. I need to let go and let her evolve of her own volition rather than assuming that I know how her life should play out. I am a mere outsider; I am not privy to her personal torment therefore I cannot assume to know how to fix it. Only she can fix her life; but she has to want to. Nagging will not help. I am thankful that this individual had this painful experience and was willing to share some of the reason for it happening. Now this was one reason this event happened; however, there are many more and most of them are for her. It is not up to me to decide what the meaning of this event is for her. The functions are stacked; there are many reasons this event happened and one of those reasons was to help me reevaluate my need to facilitate someone else’s life.

As a human, I am one. My efforts are the result of one. However, I am a part of the whole. I have my purpose and in fulfilling my purpose, I allow others to do their job as well. If I am broken then others will not function. My existence affects others but I am still just a part of a bigger whole; the wholeness of humanity. Humanity is broken and the machine of our collective potential is laboring and exhausted because the life giving flow of human potential critically damaged in many places as many humans have chosen to shut off their flow and interaction. I am one but I can affect the many. Long ago, I read the words of Jesus that I can do all this and more and I accepted it; I accepted that I was capable of much more than I give myself credit for. The bible also states that where two or more join their abilities are exponentially increases; no longer is it a matter of addition but it becomes multiplication. When I am a one with others, I am more powerful. I am a part of humanity and it is my duty to do my job the best I can. When I properly function then others around me will have an easier time repairing themselves because I am fixing my malfunctions so they no longer have to compensate; I am reducing their burden so they are freer to focus on their own development if they so choose.