Discerning Truth workbook

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Welcoming your Heart-Brain The heart has been referred to as a source of not only virtue and love, but also of intelligence. One of the most prevalent themes in ancient traditions and inspirational writing is the heart as a flowing spring of intelligence. Many ancient cultures (including the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Greek) asserted that the heart is the primary organ responsible for directing our decision-making ability. Similar perspectives of the heart as a source of intelligence are found in Hebrew, Christian, Chinese, Hindu, and Islamic traditions. For example, the Old Testament saying in Proverbs 23:7, "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," is further developed in the New Testament in Romans 6:17, "Become obedient from the heart to the teaching with which you were entrusted” & Romans 14:14, “Nothing is unclean in itself; but is rather unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.” Neuroscientists have recently re-discovered exciting information about the heart that helps us realize that it is far more complex than we'd ever previously imagined. Instead of simply pumping blood, it seems to actually align many systems in the body so that they can function in harmony with one another. These scientists have found that the heart has its own independent nervous system – a complex system referred to as "the brain in the heart." There are at least forty thousand neurons (nerve cells) in the heart – as many as are found in various subcortical centers of the brain. In addition, the heart has an electromagnetic energy field 5,000 times greater than that of the brain and this field can be measured with magnetometers up to 10 feet beyond the physical body. This evidence provides support for the spiritual teachings that indicate we humans have energy fields that constantly intermingle with each other, enabling healing thoughts (or harmful ones) to be both extended & received by others. 10
The heart communicates with the brain and the rest of the body in three ways (all documented by solid scientific evidence): neurologically (via transmissions of nerve impulses), biochemically (via hormones & neurotransmitters), and biophysically (via pressure waves). In addition, growing scientific evidence suggests that the heart communicates with the brain and body in a fourth way – energetically (via electromagnetic field interactions). Through these biological communication systems, the heart has a significant influence on the function of our brains and all other physiological systems. This evidence shows that the heart uses these methods to send our brain extensive emotional and intuitive signals. Scientists are also re-discovering that our hearts may actually be the "intelligent force" behind the intuitive thoughts and feelings all sentient beings regularly experience. Numerous experiments have demonstrated that the messages the heart sends the brain affect our perceptions, mental processes, feeling states and performance in profound ways. Indeed, the heart communicates information relative to a person's emotional state (reflected by patterns in heart rate variability) to the cardiac center of the brain stem (the medulla), which in turn feeds into the intra-laminar nuclei of the thalamus and the amygdala. These areas of the brain are directly connected to the base of the brain's frontal lobes, which are critical for decisionmaking along with the integration of reason and feeling. These intra-laminar nuclei then send signals to the rest of the cortex to synchronize cortical activity, thus providing a mechanism to explain how the heart’s rhythms alter brainwave patterns and thereby modify brain function. More specifically, one of the functions of the amygdala is to organize what patterns become "familiar" to the brain. If the rhythm patterns generated by the heart are disordered and incoherent, especially in early life, the amygdala learns to expect disharmony as the familiar baseline; and thus we feel "at home" with incoherence, which can affect one's ability to learn, create and maintain emotional balance. On the basis of what has become familiar to the amygdala, the frontal cortex mediates decisions as to what constitutes appropriate behavior in any given situation. Thus, subconscious emotional memories and associated physiological patterns directly affect our perceptions, emotional reactions, thought processes and behaviors. Finally, the heart's “brain” has a direct effect on the available stimuli each person's neocortex uses to construct its version of “reality”. In essence, the heart not only emits an electro-magnetic field around its mind-body (discussed above), but it also is responsible for the regulation of “ANF” – the hormone responsible for the regulation of the limbic system's emotional memories. Thus, as a person's emotional state shifts, so too his/her EMF field changes – which in turn alters the accessible stimuli upon which that person can choose to focus. Negative emotional states of being generate a “negative” EMF field, which in turn generate a “negative” set of data from which that person can create his/her version of <strong>Truth</strong>. This more “negative” set of available stimuli leads more often than not to a more “negative” world-view, which in turn directly alters the emotional memories of that individual – making it more likely to experience such negativity in the future! Thanks to the re-discovery of heart intelligence, with its premise of the heart as a primary source of both emotions and emotional memories, we have a new paradigm for understanding the way we view Reality – and the control we all have over that view. ~ various sources, including the Institute of Heart Math (www.heartmath.org) 11
Page 1 and 2: Discerning Truth A guide to accessi
Page 3 and 4: Step One: Glimpsing Grace As consci
Page 5 and 6: The Illusion of Reality While our f
Page 7 and 8: Synchronicity: your life's external
Page 9: The Dynamic of Conscience: your Inn
Page 13 and 14: Seeing Reality Anew Take any object
Page 15 and 16: Myth-busting Meditations You are no
Page 17 and 18: The 5 th Facet: Right Actions are K
Page 19 and 20: Charting your own Truth(s) Graphing
Page 21 and 22: Charting your own Truth(s) Re-Disco
Page 23 and 24: The Power of How Life’s 3 primary
Page 25 and 26: 3. The True Guide (and his/her Teac
Page 27 and 28: A fond Fare-well There are many ind

Discerning Truth workbook

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?