The Total Human

Allyson Rice’s TheTotal Human ™ and
Malcolm Ringwalt’s Earth-Heart Institute of Vision and Healing


Vision Quests, Spiritual Retreats, Women's Retreats, Kundalini Yoga & Meditation,
Creativity Retreats, Personal Intensives

April 2008

Welcome to the quarterly newsletter collaboration between The Total Human™ and the Earth-Heart Institute of Vision and Healing. Collectively, we offer Vision Quests, Spiritual Retreats, Women's Retreats, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation, Creativity Retreats, Personal Intensives, Healing, and Spiritual Counseling. If you have received this in error, and you are not interested in receiving these newsletters once each season, you can click on the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of the page. Click on our names (above) to visit our complete websites.

PERSPECTIVES

We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.

-The Talmud-

“Judgment and Being Right vs. Being…”
According to physics, while the entire world and most things in it appear solid and clearly defined, in reality they are made of energy and are fluid. It is only our physical senses that are tuned to the stable surface of the world that makes it appear stable and permanently set. If we had the senses to perceive energy directly, we would ‘see’ a very different world, one constantly in motion, somewhat like the ocean surface rather than a static photograph.

We see the same dynamic when we, humans, look at each other with our physical senses. Each of us looks basically the same from day to day, from year to year. Of course, in longer time periods the aging process changes our bodies, but the change is slow and we are still recognizable to those who know us. And while our mood may change from moment to moment, we tend to see ourselves as constant and our friends would recognize our behavior as consistent.

Of course, just as this sameness in the physical requires the physical senses that are only tuned to a narrow band of energy to sustain it, the sameness of our personality is equally illusory. The part of our personality that is called the subconscious mind is quite literal, and it ‘thinks’ through pictures and emotion. Every experience we have, and have ever had, is stored in the subconscious mind, whether it is contradictory to what is already there or not.

So, not only is the perception of the physical world’s solid and consistent appearance illusory, but so too is our personality’s appearance of sameness illusory. Every experience we have is stored in memory, and each experience changes us in some subtle or not so subtle way. It is only the personality that makes judgments about our experience, which emphasizes some of our experiences and ignores the rest. Basically, it emphasizes the experiences that confirm our previous judgments about life and ignores the rest.

For example, if we judge people to be threatening, then when we are walking in a mall for an hour and encounter a hundred people and ninety-eight of them are behaving harmoniously and enjoying themselves but two people are fighting, the personality will ignore the ninety-eight and focus on the two and say, “see! I told you people are threatening”.

This feature of the personality is the source of tremendous conflict in our world because it highlights two of the most destructive habits human consciousness is particularly prone to right now, judgment and the ‘need to be right’. We are all familiar with judgment, but there is one aspect of it that you might have overlooked. Our judgments come out of our past experience.  A negative experience of something in the past tends to make us judge a similar experience in the future negatively. In other words, our experience and our judgment becomes the filter through which we view life. The frightening thing about that is that this function of the personality is always facing towards the past rather than at the here and now. It brings the past as a filter into the now so we never actually get to the present! Rather than living in the present, we are always living in the past.

The second function or habit, the need to be right, is perhaps the more destructive. While judgment keeps us facing the past, the need to be right isolates us and destroys our ability to communicate with anyone who even slightly disagrees with us. Worse, it seals us from the parts of life that do not fit our preconceptions or agree with our judgments.

These two functions seem to be the dominant functions on the world stage, where social discourse is spinning wildly out of the bounds of decency and compassion, and our social interactions and arguments with family, friends, and our communities are marked by disharmony. Whether it is terrorists, politicians, family, or friends, we see the rigidity of attitudes that come from both judgment (living in the past) and our need to be right (fear of the present) resulting in isolation and violence.

And yet, if everything is always changing as both physics and psychology tell us, then these two functions distort the world. They project an inaccurate image of the world so the question is, “why would we hold onto them?” Clearly they are not conducive to harmony and success in the world and all peoples want those qualities in their lives.

The reason we cling so rigorously to these functions is that they give us a sense of continuity in our experience and in our world. And even if that continuity is painful, we feel we need the predictability in life that results. So we unconsciously choose to live in the past through our judgments and live in fear through our need to be right, rather than surrender to a true dialogue with the now. This is a dialogue that will bring us fully to life, to the change that opens our true vision and purpose in life, and that brings us to the true love and enthusiasm for life and living that we so desperately yearn for.

In reality, by living in the past and in fear, we live in the illusion of continuity. We see continuity only by ignoring our ongoing experience. Of course, there is a true continuity to our life experience, and that is the goal of our spiritual awakening. And we don’t have to work arduously for years to glimpse it. We know it now. It is that sense of self that has remained with you from your earliest experiences of self-consciousness, that remains unchanged no matter what mood you are in, what you are thinking, or what you are doing, including being judgmental and being right. It is that inner experience that allows you to recognize yourself as the center of your experience and that sense has been the same when you were a child, a teenager, and an adult. And it will always be the same.

Sadly, judging and militantly believing we are right, tend to dim our experience of that self that resides inside, and replaces it with the illusory continuity of judgment and fear. However, the choice is always open to confront our past and the judgments that arise from it, and to surrender the walls we have built out of our fear the maintaining of which results in our need to be right. In other words we can learn to awaken to the only true continuity, the one beyond fear and judgment, the one that establishes true harmony, peace, compassion, and love in our hearts and in the life of the world. If we fail to do this work, why would we be surprised at the dark reflection the world gives us.

                                                     …. Malcolm

 

HELPFUL PRACTICES

Exercise #1: For a few minutes a day, pay particular attention to the judgments you make. As soon as you notice yourself in judgment or being “right”, direct your attention to your emotion and to your body and notice how they both feel. Are they relaxed, open, and content? Or are they feeling otherwise. The purpose of this exercise is to help you see how much time you spend in judgment and how corrosive that mind set is to your health and happiness so please don’t shortchange it by stopping when you get uncomfortable by what you are learning. Stick with it for a couple of weeks. Only if you allow yourself to fully feel the impact of your judgment will you begin to change.

Exercise #2: Sit and relax. Simply direct your attention to your inner sense of self, that which is present no matter what you are doing, thinking, or feeling. When you find yourself wandering off into thoughts or feelings, simply return to the sense of self by asking, “Who is it that is thinking this, or feeling this?” Just relax into the feeling of being present, that sense of “I” that resides inside, and when that feels deep and almost solid, briefly direct your attention to your emotions and body to see how they are feeling with this awareness. Then return to the simple awareness of your self and enjoy the brief vacation from all the doing that you typically engage in.


RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

Here are some great companies for summer entertainment.
Commissions from all sales generated from clicks of these links will help fund scholarships, without your spending a penny extra!


Journey to The Wild Divine: biofeedback, breathing, and meditation skills. Build stairways with your breath, open doors with meditation, juggle balls with your laughter, and so much more. The Journey makes biofeedback, a popular method of alternative healthcare, easily accessible and empowers you to take mind-body wellness, literally, into your own hands.

 

NEWS

You may have noticed that the newsletter came from a different email address (and now has it’s own URL). Please update your address books to reflect the new address:  MalcolmAndAllyson@EarthHeart-
TotalHuman-Newsletter.com

Click here to listen to an interview that Allyson recently did with Nicole Whitney on News For the Soul – “The #1 life-changing internet radio talk show in the world according to Google and AOL” Allyson’s Internet Radio Interview The online promo says it’s ½ hour, but Nicole extended the interview for the full hour show to talk about Allyson’s retreats and the life path that led to this work.

New pieces have been added to www.Handmade-Healing-
Jewelry.com
, handmade jewelry that Allyson makes and works with in ceremony and  prayer. Each piece is one-of-a-kind and is a powerful healing object. Allyson utilizes her work as an energy healer to implant specific healing intent for the wearer of the piece.  Email Allyson if you’d like to be on the notification list of the first people to hear when a batch of new pieces are uploaded.


UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Click on the underlined links below to read about a particular class, or go to The Total Human™ Programs or Earth-Heart Programs to read about other classes not listed here, and TTH Student Comments or E-H Student Comments to read comments from past participants.

Allyson's Sedona Women’s RetreatReconnecting With the Power of the Sacred Feminine”  April 23-27, 2008 at Angel Valley Retreat Center has only a couple of spots left! Come and spend 5 days in an extraordinary setting with a group of women as amazing as you. Once again, we have 5 generations of women represented! Ancient  women's power teachings, plus much, much more. You will LOVE this week. Extended payment plan over a full year available for this and other programs. Call to inquire if this would help you to be there.

Malcolm has a couple of spots that have just opened up for his long-distance, one-on-one Mentoring program. 6-month minimum commitment required. Call or email for details.

The next Earth-Heart Vision Quest  is scheduled for May 17-24 in southern Oregon near Ashland. The one in the NJ Pine Barrens is scheduled for July 26–Aug 2.

Allyson and Malcolm teach together in the always wonderful Lighten Up Retreat. This year it is back in their favorite location, Joshua Tree, CA from June 11-15. If life has been shrinking around you, and your practices have gone by the wayside, or you’ve been in survival mode trying to make ends meet, THIS is the program to come to for a powerful jump-start. Amazing health and well-being benefits, as well as expanded awareness and an opening of the heart center. No experience is needed for any of the activities we do there. Check out the description and the past participant comments to see how great people feel after this program. Long-term payment plan available if it helps you be able to join us!

Malcolm has a limited number of 6-day  Personal Intensive dates between now and Oct. Call soon - dates fill up very quickly.

Allyson is accepting a limited number of people for her 3,4, or 5-day  Private Intensives  which are being scheduled in May and July.

And, for the first time ever, Malcolm’s 7 Levels of Quest program will be open to anyone, even if you have not done a Vision Quest.  This may be the ONLY time it is ever run without a Vision Quest prerequisite!! So if you are not interested in doing the 4–day Quest, but have wanted to learn the extraordinary teachings in this class and how to apply them in daily life, this may be your only chance to experience them.It will run July 24-Aug 2, simultaneously with the NJ Vision Quest.


WORLDWIDE “WEB OF LIFE”

We want to support organizations out there who are working for the uplifting of humanity. If you know of websites that are doing really good work in the world, email them to us for possible inclusion in a future newsletter. We’d like to help get the word out.

http://www.giveshoes.org
Soles4Souls has a simple concept. They get shoes and give them away. In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that hit Southeast Asia, Wayne Elsey, the Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls™ Inc., felt compelled to do something. Like many of us, he did not know what to do. He was at home one night, watching TV and he saw a picture of a single shoe washing up on the beach. That triggered a few calls to some other executives in the footwear industry and the subsequent donation of a quarter of a million shoes to victims in the devastated countries.  A year later when Katrina hit, Wayne called the same group of friends, and they sent three-quarters of a million shoes down to the gulf coast communities affected by the hurricane. In all honesty, he admits that he did not expect such an immediate and successful turnout. This left him wondering, why not start a non-profit and do this all the time? One year later, Soles4Souls was formally created.

http://www.mentoring.org
For more than a decade, MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership has been working to expand the world of quality mentoring. MENTOR believes that, with the help and guidance of an adult mentor, each child can discover how to unlock and achieve his or her potential. MENTOR is widely acknowledged as the nation's premier advocate and resource for the expansion of mentoring initiatives nationwide. As such, MENTOR works with a strong network of state and local Mentoring Partnerships to leverage resources and provide the support and tools that mentoring organizations need to effectively serve young people in their communities. MENTOR recognizes that, although nearly 17.6 million young Americans need or want mentoring, only 3 million are in formal, high-quality mentoring relationships. That means more than 14.6 million young people still need mentors. That unmet need constitutes what we call the "mentoring gap." MENTOR works to close that gap.

Many blessings to you all,

Malcolm

and

Allyson

 

 
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