April and May 2010

IIT EUROPEAN PROGRAMS 2010

Please enjoy this month’s article...

Meditations for Global Peace and Healing

by Donna Miniely

We are one connected global family. When one part of the family suffers, we all feel the impact in some way. In Lesson Six of the Sophia & Birth of the New Earth Practicum, Tanis quotes physicist Jack Saratti who “suggests that the universe is composed of “quantum foam,” which consists of mini “wormholes” … [which] are beyond space and time and connect every point in space to every other point in space.” Ervin Laszlo, of the World Shift Network writes, “We humans are inside of nature and nature is inside of us…. In the light of contemporary field concepts and an understanding of the whole as an eternal ocean of information, concepts of segregation and separation appear direly wrong.”

It is in this spirit that I wish us to consider what we, in the IIT community, can do to advance Global Peace and Healing. For years, many of us have been practicing meditation to increase our own awareness and to help us become co-creators in our own lives. It is time to move beyond ourselves to the global community and to answer the calling to be ‘world servers’.

In January 2010, people and countries around the world rallied in response to the massive destruction following the earthquake in Haiti. Our hearts were shaken open and we could see the desperate physical, environmental, and emotional needs of our Haitian brothers and sisters. In Canada, this felt particularly close to home as our Governor-General and many residents of Quebec have family and friends still residing in Haiti. We could also sense the gratitude of the Haitians who, upon seeing this response, realized that they did not have to face this crisis on their own.

Is it enough for us to simply offer financial aid in these situations? Some medical personnel and aid workers hopped on planes to bring assistance, but what about others who could only look on from a distance? I propose that there is more that we can do in situations like this. Instead of merely shaking our heads in dismay and digging into our pockets, we can consciously increase our awareness of the ‘situation on the ground’ and focus our meditations on bringing peace and healing – on all levels - to the areas of the world that are in crisis.

Does this really have any effect? Since the 1970’s, scientists have studied the effects of peace-creating groups, and specifically the efforts of transcendental meditation groups to produce a measurable effect. The results have been consistently positive, for example: reduced warfare in Lebanon (reducing war deaths by more than 70%), reduced worldwide terrorism, and reduced social violence (for more information, see www.permanentpeace.org ). Scientists have dubbed the results ‘the Maharishi Effect.’

As a Reiki practitioner, I have used Distance Healing for a number of years. Edgar Cayce is famous for effecting healing on patients who were personally unknown to him, and who were hundreds of miles away from him. Prayer groups have assembled to influence outcomes of crises. Research has shown that individuals whose healing was supported by prayer or meditation have had shorter healing times than individuals who did not have similar support.

Satellites and the Internet have made it possible for us to connect everyone around the world. At the same time, we are all quite aware that the Earth’s environment affects all of us. We have the tools, the opportunity, and the responsibility to join forces in conscious, co-creative activities that can build a better, stronger future for all on this planet.

This fall, I will be offering through IIT a course entitled “Meditations for Global Peace and Healing”. It will be a journey into increasing our awareness of and empathy for some of our fellow world citizens. We will transform the way that we look at global events and we will explore our role as co-creators, ever mindful of the ethical implications of our actions. Can we influence global efforts toward peace by connecting with our fellow citizens who need our healing energies and support? Connections at the individual and community level do make a difference – not only in the lives of those involved in the crises, but also in the lives of those living far away who commit to providing support.

When hearts open with compassion, miracles can occur.

Check out Global Peace Meditation and Prayer Day on May 16, 2010 www.globalpeacemeditationprayerday.org/index.html and “A Galactic Fairy Tale”

You can order Tanis’s new book Pilgrimage with the Leprechauns (not yet in bookstores) from her website

Click here to go to Tanis's bookstore

Tanis Helliwell M.ED, the founder of the International Institute for Transformation, is the author of Pilgimage with the Leprechauns, Summer with the Leprechauns, Take Your Soul to Work and a book of poems Embraced by Love.

Our IIT German website.

http://www.iitransform.com/german