I was browsing a spirituality section in the local Barnes & Noble – it looked pretty sad to me. Tarot reading, angel answers, psychic and astrology books – this is what Spirituality is reduced to on book shelves. This is what we have been warned against – lulling ourselves into a state of fake peace where some other supreme being or entity is supposed to send us inspiring messages and energy. “Explore the world of spiritual wisdom” is the underlying theme, but I wonder how much real change people are experiencing from reading these titles. I am not at all against these practices and as a matter of fact, I read horoscopes once in a while to receive encouraging messages. However, this is not true spirituality and it should not be called as such. The “side effects” of meditation and spiritual practices that rely on limited positivity are explained very clearly in Chapter 8 of “Harmony Meditation: from well-being to well-dying.”
In ZEN method for executive leaders today our teacher talked about a spiritual field which is different from the energy field. We were able to experience firsthand the relationship among energy, spirituality and chakras, and what the right attitude should be toward these phenomena and principles.
We learned that there are mechanisms that allow us to grow the ability to connect to higher purpose and wisdom. A study and practice of these mechanisms is the ultimate empowerment as it enables us to progress toward the bigger and brighter Self, toward the authentic alive peace with unlimited power and potential.
In certain situations we may need to make decisions based on limited information. Some rely on a gut feeling consciously or subconsciously. But do we question how well our gut feeling does in retrospect? It’s hard to say because we can’t live our lives in parallel universes.
As a rationally inclined person, I use the gut feeling as the last resort in absence of all other information. After contemplating and reflecting on my past “gut decisions”, here is a few things I’ve been pondering on about trusting the gut feeling.
It’s now a common knowledge that “gut” has its own decision making process via the enteric nervous system, also known as “second brain”, which “can and does operate independently of the brain and spinal cord” [wiki]. So in a sense we resort to the second brain in the gut to make important life decisions.
The second brain takes care of many essential life functions, and produces a myriad of feelings and senses. What we eat and how well we absorb nutrients and eliminate toxins will surely affect our overall sense of well-being. To get a scientific perspective, read an article by Adam Hadhazy “Think Twice: How the Gut’s “Second Brain” Influences Mood and Well-Being”.
So then, can we trust our gut feelings? It depends. There are exceptional individuals who stuck to their gut feeling against all odds and became highly successful. For example, Steve Jobs. For a regular person like me, though, gut feelings tend to be much more banal – being afraid of the unknown and resisting the change.
From a statistical perspective, the second brain operations are largely based on past information and build-in mechanisms of dealing with new information, such as unfamiliar food, feelings, or ideas. If we have an unsettling reaction to the latter, we’ll try to avoid it at all costs. What if it is really good for us and can prove highly beneficial in the long term? What if we need to stick our gut and overcome the challenge? Most of the time following the gut feeling means sinking deeper in the old familiar self and missing a great opportunity.
Of course, we don’t need to challenge every decision our second brain makes. This will be an impossible task. Then how to tell when it’s time to override that decision? The first essential component is the ability to observe one’s own gut feelings and reactions.
With practice of harmony meditation the frequency of moments when a person is successful at recognizing himself or herself resisting new challenges and is able to question the second brain’s defensive reaction increases substantially.
When these precious moments of awakening happen, we can gently steer ourselves out of the rut and see new opportunities. We can take charge of the course of our day and ultimately, our lives. What else do we need? Direction. More on that later.
