After taking a break for three months, there were a few responses to the last e-mail, but so far as I can tell, of the thousands of subscribers, less than 10 have modified their e-mail providers. For me, this means that most people, 99%+ either do not know that their e-mail provider is censoring or they don’t care. Does this also mean that you are satisfied hearing only one side of a story without even listening to a single sentence from the other side? Please think about it.
Subjects in Today’s Post
Today’s post is about two subjects that fit the season. The title is a quotation from Nechung Rinpoche’s first press interview after arriving in Hawaii. It actually speaks to paying it forward though he framed the idea in terms of karma and the wisdom of building credit for our future.
Thanksgiving is being celebrated in this country on Thursday and yet most of those who are feasting have ancestors who were not born here. That includes me. I am third generation: all four grandparents were born in Northern Europe and came here just before the First World War. Being a Pacifist, I am grateful that they did not own or use weapons, not against the First Nation People and not against other Europeans. However, when I look out on the world situation today, I am thinking of what would have the most profound effect in shaping the future of human civilization. The answer that came to me is that we should each of us try to do at least one good deed every day. It can be as simple as talking to a friend who is ill or as difficult as launching a community project for the homeless and hungry. Or, it can be enormous such as fund raising for a worthy cause, creating teaching materials for home schooling, or finding a cure for autism or Lyme disease. If we are not paying it forward, we are not in balance because life should embrace a sense of responsibility for one’s footprints and a willingness to share at least a part of our blessings with others.
If we make a commitment on this Thanksgiving to do this and to suggest that others follow suit, the world will change very fast. Everyone has family, friends, penpals, and social media platforms that can be used to promote energizing the good and resisting the bad. We might not all have the same views on all subjects, but we know when we are doing something that feels good to another person . . . so do this. Set goals you can easily reach so you do not experience failure.
Music
The second topic is distantly related. It involves sound as well as music. I have written on this topic for many decades already, but over the weekend, I watched a charming video with a 90-year pianist who was demonstrating different ways of interpreting music.
I wrote a book on music therapy and reincarnation in the early 80s but it is still not published. The introductory chapters dealt with how music shapes civilization. There were quotations going back many centuries. With the passage of time, these ideas have deepened, and I realize that civilization is uplifted by some music and degraded by some sounds. The reason is that we live inside an etheric body that is, in turn, shaped by sound. We can organize our energetic body through sound or shatter and scatter the vitality and connection to the physical body through dissonance and/or volume.
In my life, I have gone to places where I expected a certain type of energy and encountered instead something intolerable to my sensitivities and ears. Once, I went into a hospital room with closed circuit television. The patient was dying and the video that she could not silence was a spy thriller in which they repeated every few minutes something like, “Where is Svetlana?” I was thinking that when one might only have hours left to live, is this what one wants as the last experience of this incarnation?
Other times, I have gone to dinner with friends or colleagues and not been able to converse because the music was deafening. I have even been to concerts where some conductor wants to introduce some new composition and people walk out. Instead of getting the message, the audience is accused of not understanding music and the piece is repeated. Audiences may change their mind over time. We read of many historic performances that bombed on opening night but later came to be regarded as masterpieces. New styles often take time to become accepted.
Tastes vary and they may change with time. What I am going to suggest is that we consider the fact that sound impacts much more than we realize. Does the television have to be on when no one is in the room? Have we thought about who likes what kind of music? I know that some of you enjoy the links I sometimes post and others send me links to what they like . . . and, I have to say, most are torture for me, but I get the message: our likes differ so what I feel to share and what someone else might want to share might not be appreciated. That’s fine, all I am saying is think about whether the music leaves you feeling blissful or exhausted? Do you feel inspired or maybe sad or angry?
If you listen very attentively, you may also feel more deeply and discover something inside that makes you more aware of what is inside you. This can free you from concern about what others think. Most of all, take into consideration the fact that sound has a very powerful influence so when you are subjected to sound, use discernment. There may be times when you want to change the music or lower the volume or turn it off . . . and when those feelings arise, honor them.
Wishing you all a very pleasant start to the holiday season!
Blessings,
Ingrid
Copyright by Dr. Ingrid Naiman 2021
First posted to subscribers on 23 November 2021
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