There is nothing pleasurable except what is in harmony with the utmost depths of our divine nature.—Heinrich Suso (ca. 1295 – 1366), German mystic
The primary hindrance to spiritually awakening is a consciousness of separation; a consciousness of fear. Fear, a sense of separation, not only keeps us from our divine nature and bliss but affects our body’s immune system. Our fear is not just in our mind. It’s in our body and affects our immune system as does our other thought processes. The mind and body are not separate but blended.
Three Points:
First: The latest data suggests that brain immune surveillance communicates with the immune system and can generate adaptive immune responses. The brain directly affects the immune system. And the immune system has a wireless communication system between itself and brain cells. Keep in mind that the brain is not our only thought process, “our heart also thinks!” It is an intelligence system. In fact, the brain receives more orders from the heart than the heart receives from the brain.
Second: T-cells are a type of white blood cell that circulate around our bodies, scanning for cellular abnormalities and infections. T-cells are essential for human immunity. Almost every aspect of the adaptive immune response is controlled, in some way, by T cells. These multifunctional cells have the ability to:
- Scan the intracellular environment for foreign invaders
- Directly kill virally or bacterially infected cells
- Naturally eradicate cancer cells
- Activate and help other immune cells that ingest germs or that make anti-infection molecules called antibodies
- Remember a germ that they encountered decades ago
T cells are also responsible for immune responses that lead to:
- Rejection of a transplanted organ
- Virtually all autoimmune disease (diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis etc.)
- Some allergic reactions (gluten intolerance etc.)
Third: This points us to… Keep your mind strong, don’t attach to fear—stay in the moment of the present day. Mindfulness has become a common term. Where is the focus of your mind at this moment, and the next moment, and next… Along with this concept of mindfulness is “mind emptiness”—detachment and no mind chatter. This is a state of the immovable no mind. Best said from the Last Samurai: too many mind… [pause] No mind. This is Immovable Wisdom. Please ponder this: The Mind as such is at once movable and immovable; it is constantly flowing, never “stopping at any point,” and yet there is in it a center never subject to any kind of movement, remaining forever one and the same. This is the state of spiritual and martial mastery. This shift in consciousness may be difficult in the beginning but to discipline yourself is to be your own master. (Please see Part Two: The Mind, the Brain, and Consciousness)
Today is the only reality. Yesterday is now a dream (real that it was) and the future is yet to come – do not focus on it as fear may be its sole inhabitant.
Take this time to express “who you are”, from your heart. Make your heart your face. If you were pressured to be a lawyer or an accountant but you wanted to be a painter, musician or writer (maybe all three). Now is the time to paint, write, and make music. Be creative and most importantly, focus on what you do have—the love of family and friends.