News, Blogs & Updates from Shining Tree

“You can recruit “nice” people and teach them skills, but can you teach people how to be nice?”

December 23rd, 2011

We have recently had a wood pellet boiler installed in the centre to replace the oil boiler. Those of you who also use oil know how the companies seem to charge whatever they want. Every time I make an order for oil, I almost feel violated, definitely shafted!

We were recommended to a company called CPL to buy our wood pellet. The marketing manager David came up to see us and was really helpful, even advised us on how to create a fuel store, as we would would be needing five tonnes of pellet per delivery. From there, I was directed to the sales department and spoke to a chap called Oliver who was in charge of ordering and delivery of pellets. After speaking to him, a day was set for delivery. The eventful day arrived and my electrician and heating engineers were all waiting for the delivery with eager anticipation. By three o’clock there was still no sign of the delivery, so I called CPL to find out when the delivery was coming . After speaking to someone who was no help whatsoever, I eventually got a call from Oliver…..apparently they couldn’t load the pellet this morning , so there was no delivery. I asked him why he didn’t call me this morning….no answer. I informed him that I have a team of people standing around who I am paying and who could have been somewhere else today. Did he care….no! I wanted a discount as compensation for what I have to pay my guys…..he said he wan’t authorised to do that. I asked to speak to his manager…..he was in a meeting; although Oliver said he would pass the message on. I felt that I would have got more help and sympathy from an Indian call centre. Eventually we did get our delivery, no discount, no apology, no acknowledgement from the manager.

Since then I have found another supplier called Billington Biofuel and spoke to a guy called Andy McIvor. Andy was very helpful in setting up an account for us. Typically we got caught out and required an urgent delivery on the week of Christmas. No problem, Andy sorted it out and we got our delivery two day after our order was placed.

At the end of the day, it is people that matters. People that we interact with,not organisations. It really does not cost anything to be sympathetic and helpful, maybe a heartfelt sincere apology is what a customer requires. Andy is a nice person. You can hear it in his voice and see it in his action. In me,he has gained an admirer for life. Just by me thinking about him and sharing this experience with you, his karma has changed . positivity creates positivity. Negativity and indifference creates more negativity and indifference. Niceness is unconditional, it’s like the sun, it is not selective in what it shines on.

One of my patient use to be in human resources for five star hotels. She tells me that their policy was to recruit nice people to train up, as you couldn’t train people to be nice.

In nearly thirty years of nursing, I have met nurses who were not very nice people, at best, they were competent…..but its a job and the patient can feel it. Whereas other nurses are like angels, and besides from working very hard they really care. Every one of us wants to be treated nicely when interacting with others, so why do some people think it should only be a one way traffic?

Can horrible people become nice people? The question should be : why can’t some people be nice? Is it to do with their upbringing? Weren’t they given love and made to feel secure when they were children? Why do some people feel so small that they fear to do anything different?

I met a very lovely gentleman call Pershant many years ago, time when I was in need of spiritual guidance. Pershant heads the Cambridge branch of the Bhrama Kumaris, an international spiritual organisation. Before moving to Cambridge Pershant was a Ears, nose and throat Consultant working in London. He told me that he wasn’t a very nice person then, he was always angry, irritable; horrible to people. Then he came across the Bhrama Kumaris and was introduced to meditation…….the rest is history.

Niceness, compassion, empathy and love is our true nature. Meditate, find that stillness within, feel it, connect to it. Find your Buddha nature.

Contemplation of imperfection and peace of mind

December 3rd, 2011

Achieving peace of mind is a lovely way of describing the meaning of life. It is something that everyone aspires to. However, peace of mind is often like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow- it tends to be elusive for most people. I would like you to reflect on the times when you were the happiest. You would probably find that your happiest times were when you experienced a deep sense of contentment or peace of mind. But when you reflect on these experiences, you realise they didn’t occur because everything around you was perfect. On the contrary you realized that peace of mind occurred in spite of your surroundings not being perfect in spite of difficulties problems and imperfections of life.

That is my first important point. Don’t think peace of mind only comes once you have fixed up all your problems and finished all your business.All your worrying, all your striving and struggling, has it ever got you where you really wanted to be? You can’t control the world and change it the way you would like it. Therefore you can only find peace of mind and achieve the meaning of life by embracing the imperfections of life. How do you do that? By knowing that imperfection is the nature of the world. So make peace with imperfection. Another thing you can’t change is the past and yet lingering on the past, people worry about and feel guilty and angry about it but since you can’t change it the only wise thing to do is to make peace with it. But how do you do that when there is so much unfinished business? You make it finished.

by Ajahn Brahmavanso

Jesus was a Yogi

December 3rd, 2011

“Father Gabriele Amorth, who for years was the Vatican’s chief exorcist and claims to have cleansed hundreds of people of evil spirits, said yoga is Satanic …” He obviously hasn’t seen the Jeremy Kyle Show. Ignorance, fear, bigotry and hate……wonderful tools of control and subjugation aren’t they?

Blogs are wonderful things; they give people a chance to express themselves, to rant and rave and sometimes even to share some wisdom or knowledge which others might find useful on life’s journey. It is always rewarding when you find that others share you view point, but the main objective is to help others think about issues that they might take for granted; even if it means they disagree with you to the point of being angry.

When I did my training in the Smae Institute, one of the tutors told us never to talk to patients about religion and politics. It is not something that I totally agree with, as I like to get to know my patients, but then again,they haven’t come to my clinic to hear my view on those subjects. The irony is that although religion and politics is the most contentious issues that most people would engage in. A lot of our opinions and viewpoint are based on fear, ignorance and bigotry, and those who don’t have an opinion…….,well, are they just ignorant or don’t they have the energy to care beyond just living from day to day?

How wise is it to blog about religion? Is there a danger of offending Christians? Well, that’s not a problem, because I am actually a Roman Catholic; so I can’t be accused of being a heathen Chinaman attacking the Catholic faith.I suppose I could be ex-communicated…………am I bothered? Kim and myself went to Rome for a long weekend several years ago and we went to see the Vatican. Two observations I made while I was there: 1.Why was the people who crucified Jesus of Nazareth running this massive organisation in his name? 2. If there was a God, he certainly didn’t live there.

When I give an opinion, it is usually backed up by my own experience. I would advice you all to beware of people who quote research at you, or who gives you an opinion which is of the general consensus; those who quote research often won’t have any practical experience of what they are talking about, and those who believe what everyone else believe definitely don’t know what they are talking about. So I wonder what Father Amorth actually know about Yoga? My opinion would be that besides from bigotry and fear, he would have very little practical knowledge if any of what Yoga is. To be honest, a lot of people I have come across who profess to have done Yoga for many years don’t really know what Yoga is. It’s the same when you get some “expert” who tells you that Acupuncture doesn’t work. When you ask him how many years of acupuncture training and practise he has had to come to such a conclusion, he will tell you that he hasn’t….but he has read a report on it. Well, in the early part of the last century, there were reports that Negroes and women had smaller brains….so that must be gospel then, mustn’t it?

I digress, let us get back to Father Amorth contention. For us to assess his assertion, we must understand what Yoga actually is.

The word Yoga means “union” and Yoga evolved almost 26000 years ago in India http://www.medindia.net/yoga-lifestyle/yoga-orgin.htm Union with what? Union with your self , union with others, and if you so believe, union with your God. There are eight limbs to Yoga:

1.Yamas- your attitude towards others and the world around you, including your environment.

2.Niyamas- how you treat yourself and look after your body.

3.Asanas- system of physical posture to keep your body supple and strong.

4.Pranyama- way of breathing

5.Prathayara- withdrawal of the senses, so that we look inward for wisdom and not to be deceived by our outer senses. Interestingly enough, it was material wealth and pleasures of the flesh that Satan was said to have tried to tempt Jesus with out in the desert.

6.Dharana- concentration and mindful intention

7. Dharma- meditation, reflection, looking inwards, union with your higher self and wisdom.

8. Samadhi- Enlightenment and self realisation

That is what Yoga is. Not just some girlies in leotards contorting themselves in a village hall or gym , but a whole system of spirituality and way of living. It’s gentle and tolerant,and not about guilt, fear and punishment and subjugation that Christianity is based on. Sure ,as a species, men have always fought wars and killed each other, but to kill in such vast numbers in the name of a person who represented love and peace?

No Farther Amorth, Yoga is not linked to Satan, although my spider senses tells me that you are decidedly dodgy. I would conclude by saying that Jesus was a Yogi. What do you think?

Pensioners and prisoners

November 29th, 2011

The following is part of email from Paul Roche…..hilarious!

Let’s put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in a nursing home.

This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies and walks.

They’d receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc and they’d receive money instead of paying it out.

They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance.

Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.

A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell.

They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose.

They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool and education.

Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ’s and legal aid would be free, on request.

Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens.

Each senior could have a PC a TV radio and daily phone calls.

There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to.

The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised.

Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week. Live in a tiny room and pay £600.00 per week and have no hope of ever getting out.

“If if makes you feel better,do it”.

November 27th, 2011

Picture the situation. You are at your doctor’s surgery. You have a chronic health problem and nothing that he gives you helps, in fact, you have developed secondary symptoms and problems as a result of the medication that you have been taking. You do feel grateful, as you have had a battery of tests, investigations and seen loads of different consultants . You ‘ve got IBS, chronic arthritis, hormonal problems, migraine, you are overweight, stressed and you are getting on in years as well. Is it any wonder that you feel you will never, never get better or have a better quality of life.

Out of desperation you seek”alternative” therapies to help yourself. Often we pick a therapy by what we have read in magazines, what celebrities have had done and what friends might have recommended……..not exactly a very scientific way of trying to find someone to help improve your life! Some people are so debilitated and desperate they even have Colon Hydrotherapy! A very good treatment, I might add, although you might think I am biased! So you pluck up the courage to tell your doctor that you are seeing another therapist. You are nervous because you don’t want to offend him/her. In fact, in decades past, some GPs have taken patients off their list for seeing an alternative practitioner. Times have changed and some doctors will now recommend patients to see various therapists. My only concern is that often they have no experience themselves of the therapy they are recommending. I like to think that if I was recommending something to you, be it Colon Hydrotherapy or a new biomass boiler system; I would bore the pants off you with the intricacies of the subject matter, as I know both areas intimately. My GP sometimes recommends patients to me . He tells me that the patients who come from him are generally satisfied with my treatments. I don’t think he actually know what I do, other then I use to be a nurse and I treated one of his family ( successfully thank God!). His recommendation is probably based on the fact that I have a nursing background and that he knows colleagues and family who has been to me. Most of my patients who comes to me don’t really know what my qualifications are……….because they come to get better, not just for a therapy.

Once you have told him, you might get two reactions. He would either be defensive , as you are basically telling him that he is not able to help you. Or he will say to you: “If it makes you feel better,do it”. Strange comment! If you adolescent son came and informed you he was taking up hard drugs, would you say “if it makes you feel better,do it”?

Now what does he mean. He could mean that he really really wants the best for you. As conventional medicine can’t help you, he supports you in exploring a holistic and naturopathic approach to health, where you want to be educated and empowered to take control of your life and make a good relationship with your body, learning to understand and respect it.

Or he could think that you a gullible idiot with more money than sense. don’t you know that chronic health problems can’t be cured? Why do you think they are called chronic? You are over sixty years old, you should have pain, shouldn’t you? Even if you do improve, it’s only the placebo effect, purely mind over matter.

What are your reasons for having complementary treatments?

A passionate discourse on the placebo, intention and Yi

November 26th, 2011

Had a discussion with a colleague recently about the so called “placebo effect”. As far as I am concerned, there are three views of this.1. the conventional medical view , 2. the view of the general public and 3. my view.

Wikipedia defines the placebo effect as: is a sham or simulated medical intervention. Sometimes patients given a placebo treatment will have a perceived or actual improvement in a medical condition, a phenomenon commonly called the placebo effect.

So basically it is an action based on lies, deception, smoke and mirrors. It is usually talked about in context of medicine and medical research. What seems to happen is that a belief in something i.e. perceived medication , can result in an actual physiological change and relief of symptoms in the body. This is generally the perception of the public as well. My colleague who is an acupuncturist say that new patients actually asks her whether the improvement from the treatment they are going to receive is due to the placebo effect? She feels that the placebo effect is important to her as one of the reason why patient improves with treatment and also because she does scientific research, she has to speak the same language as others do in the field of medicine and medical and research An example she gave me was how she was given some painkillers for a headache when she was six years old, as soon as she took the medicine, her headache went. Thus she saw as the placebo effect, as the medication would not have had time to act yet. I would disagree with her on this . Yes, there was a definite physiological change in her body leading to a cessation of symptoms; but there was no deception on the part of the person giving this to her. This I would call the “intentional effect”. Now, some of you reading this will query whether I am splitting hairs here. What does it matter what we call it as long as the effect is the same?

Intention or Yi

It does matter. For a start, relationships matter. The karmic outcome of a relationship built on lies and deception is going to be different from one built on respect and understanding. To put it simply, do you trust the person who lie to you or the person who is honest with you?

When a talented racing driver enters a race. He will win if he has the talent and skill, the best car, and lastly, the confidence and intention of winning the race . The Chinese call intention mindfulness or Yi. Another word to describe this is focus. When we have intention backed up by knowledge and skill…..we will always win through. If you have no skill or knowledge, than no matter how positive you are ,you will not win. We hear this sometimes from people who have been told they have cancer and are embarking on a programme of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. They will be positive and say they will fight the cancer. Yes, having a positive attitude is essential in everything that we do, especially if we are fighting cancer. But all too often, the patient do not do anything else to help themselves while undergoing medical treatment .The answer is usually that the consultant they are seeing has told them they there is nothing else they need to do for themselves. Is it not plausible that to make the body as healthy as possible could help ? For most cancer patients, sadly, it isn’t plausible.

It seems that the placebo effect is often talked in context of illness . Even if taking a sugar pill can fool the body and create physiological changes, how long does it last? Will the patient eventually get better or will he lose out to the disease process? Why not focus on actually helping to educate patients to get healthy? The reason is because the people working in the NHS are experts in diseases and not health. They don’t seem to understand that unless you know about health, you cannot cure diseases.

It seems to me that some people will always be part of the “placebo effect” group.These people will never ask too many questions, do as they are told, keep taking the tablets, blame everybody else for their woes. Whether they get better or not will have very little bearing on what they actually understand about their bodies or actively done to help themselves. While others will be of the “intention/Yi effect” group. This group of people will find out what they can do to help themselves, make positive changes such as changing their eating habits, taking up Eastern Yoga, Tai Chi , Qigong, meditation; and generally get to know and make a relationship with their bodies. Intention backed up by action will create real change and growth. The perception and mentality of the people in the above two groups do not just affect their health but every other aspects of their lives. Which group do you think you belong to?

Balance and harmony

November 25th, 2011

Fools will rush in where angels fear to tread; but he who hesitate is lost. If you can steer the middle path between the two in life , then you will have balance and harmony

Dharma Quote of the Week

November 17th, 2011

In general, most non-Buddhist religions meditate on the deity as being outside the physical body. In these cases the deity takes the form of a refuge, or of a protector or messenger. Thus do they meditate, and of course this is fine. In the Buddhist tradition, however, the deity is not meditated on as being outside the physical body. One meditates on the deity as being one’s own essence expressing itself through oneself arising as the deity. One therefore thinks, “I am the deity,” and with this conviction one meditates.
Why is it justifiable to meditate in this manner? As previously seen, the five afflictions are actually self-expressions of the five kinds of primordial awareness; thus our own mind is in essence exactly the same as the mind of a Buddha. In the philosophical treatises this is sometimes referred to as ‘sugatagarbha’ or ‘buddha-nature’.
Because all beings possess this innately pure buddha-nature, they are pure by nature and not at all impure. Being pure by nature it is perfectly justified to meditate that you are the deity, because this is exactly how it is!(p.95)
–from Everyday Consciousness and Primordial Awareness, by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, translated and edited by Susanne Schefczyk, published by Snow Lion Publications

Vibrational medicine……the basis of all healing

November 17th, 2011

I saw a feature on the news about how singing appears to help symptoms of Parkinsons disease and Altzeimers as well. So sound and breathing can strengthen the body and promote healing? Would it surprise you to know that Yoga and Chinese Shamanic practises of sound and breathing were recorded as far back as 3000BC in the East?

Look beneath the surface

Typical of “Western Science”, it looks at the surface i.e. reporting an effect of a certain action but never seeming to looking at the cause of the effect. So do you have any idea how singing can improve our health?

Everything is vibrational

I’ll keep this simple…because I am a pretty simple kind of guy. Often when someone makes something complicated, either they don’t understand it themselves and/or they really do not see passing on practical knowledge to you as necessary….. after all you are only a pleb. Okay, here we go.

1. Everything is made up of atoms.

2. Atoms are held together by energy…… energy vibrate and has frequency and amplitude. Example- if you clap your hands, the number of times you clap per minute is the frequency, and how hard you clap is the amplitude.

3. So looking behind the physical manifestation of our physical world we see energy. When you massage someone, you are expressing that action with frequency and amplitude , coupled with your intention……. these are the energetics behind the body. When you breathe, there is frequency and amplitude depending on how you breathe .A body absent of energy is………a corpse. This is where the age old debate of God is about. Is the energy that powers the Universe just an impersonal source or is it a super sentient being up there somewhere?

How singing improves health

Therefore when you sing, the vibrational and energetic effect will specifically affect body structure through the thorax and abdomen, increasing oxygenation and stimulating all vital organs and systems. The physiological effect of healing normally includes an increase in neurotransmitters such as endorphins and serotonin, increase in immune function by increase in red,and white blood cells, optimising blood biochemistry and absorption and assimilation into body cells and optimising healing.When our body feels stronger, normally we are emotionally stronger and able to effect positive changes in our lives. This is not rocket science, when we remove as much negative influences from our live….such as eating crap, smoking, destroying our liver with alcohol and watching Eastenders; implement more positive support systems in our lives (check out www.shiningtree.co.uk ) , and the described positive cascade will take place. The structure of our bodies, the physiological processes, our emotions and our perception of spirituality, combines and defines who we are – body, mind and spirit.

Applying the science

Yoga, Taoism and Buddhism all have comprehensive and powerful systems of breathing and meditation techniques. Whether you practice the stillness or dynamic aspects of these arts, you body will be vibrating and pulsing, balancing itself energetically and optimising itself physiologically. We also practise a Taoist system called the Six healing sounds. We teach this in relations to the Five Elements of Chinese Medicine, this incorporates the seasons and emotions as well. Really cool! So come over to Shining Tree and check it out.

However, I do believe though that there are some of us, myself included, who should never, never, never be allowed to sing in public.

Feedback from October retreat

November 16th, 2011

This for me has been a wonderful experience and an important first step. I have felt loved, respected and cherished- thank you for that.I think that my time at Shining tree has been very important to me and I hope to come back.

Thank you both so very much. L

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