Monthly Archives: September 2023

by | September 26, 2023 · 6:17 am

Liberating the mind from attachment

Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there. The outward man is the swinging door; the inner man is the still hinge – Meister Eckhart

Life is a rollercoaster of natural and spontaneous changes constantly forcing us to tread unknown paths. While some people may excitedly embrace a new beginning others retreat into fixed belief and ideology, providing the illusion of a safety cacoon in a world of “turmoil.”

But resistance to the natural flow of life and attachment to fixed thoughts, beliefs, and things is one of the greatest causes of human suffering and misery. Staying in the moment and finding peace in the acceptance of reality is thus at the core of the Taoist and Mystic teachings.

Throughout history, wise prophets have faced vilification and persecution for their courage in exposing the hypocrisy of religions based on firm behavior rules, fearlessly shedding light on the discrepancies and contradictions inherent in entrenched beliefs. They especially questioned the existence of an authoritarian Father God figure “out there in heaven” who, like a strict parent, would punish his children for bad behavior. All natural or personal calamities were attributed to punishment by God “for sinful behavior.”

Meister Eckhart, a 14th-century Dominican monk whose writings are more topical today than ever, had to answer charges of heresy before an Inquisition in 1326. He barely escaped a death sentence. His writings were banned. Other Mystics of the time like Giordano Bruno and Marguerite Poret were not so lucky. They were executed or burned at the stake.

Straying from religious doctrine and liberating the mind from externally imposed belief was a dangerous undertaking in the Middle Ages. In modern times political beliefs, sometimes using religion as a cover, tend to vilify opposing beliefs as a threat to justify all means in destroying the “enemy.”

Fanaticists of the political and religious nature see the world only in black and white. The belief becomes closely intertwined with the Ego mind and identity. A different or multi-layered interpretation is perceived as a direct threat to the self.

Words in ancient languages such as Aramaic, the lingua franca during the time of Jesus, allowed much room for individual interpretation. The word for God “Abwun” could mean “Our Father” but also the absolute, pure oneness, creation, source of all power and flow of blessing.

One of the most powerful messages in the Bible is found in the Gospel of John 1:1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. When replacing the “word” with “consciousness” the text is filled with a much broader meaning.

“In the beginning was Consciousness, and Consciousness was with God, and Consciousness was God”.

Eckart describes a process of spiritual transformation when the divine spark within transcends its individuality or Ego and enters into a state of divine consciousness.

It’s a moment of pure presence when the soul feels at One with something much greater than the self.

Aligning with divine consciousness is opening the heart to the universe and detaching from worldly attachments. It is beyond conceptualized thinking and complete immersion in a state of oneness.

“You should know that true detachment is nothing else but a mind that stands unmoved by all accidents of joy or sorrow, honor, shame or disgrace, as a mountain of lead stands unmoved by a breath of wind. This immovable detachment brings a man into the greatest likeness to God,” according to Eckart.

In a world feeding on the messaging of negativity, it becomes a challenge to train the mind to stay the course of positivity. We can easily be pulled into the abyss of grievance culture when emotions such as anger, anxiety, and fear can be triggered in millions of people by one message on social media.

Modern man has largely been disconnected from what can be described as the divine expression through nature of which he is an essential part. Places worshipped as sacred by ancient peoples have been conceptualized as things that could be harvested, exploited, and destroyed. The void is trying to be filled with the addiction to short-term gratifications: Accumulating more things, more food, more kinky sex, and more substance abuse.

Where is your passion?

Is it a surprise that depression has reached epidemic levels on a global level? But in the pain of suffering more and more people are searching for new meaning and purpose. Where do I come from and where am I going? What excites me and drives my passion? What elevates my consciousness and boosts my vibrational energy.

The author Michael Gladwell describes in his book “The Tipping Point” that it takes only a small number of people to initiate social change. We are currently experiencing both a global environmental and mental health crisis. History has proven that such crisis situations can galvanize people into action.

We are at the tipping point of realizing on a spiritual level that the crisis we are finding ourselves in has not been created by a punishing external father God figure for bad behavior. It is a direct result of our own actions and behaviors and we have the power to change those actions and behaviors.

We as a collective humanity have dug our own rabbit hole. We need to liberate the mind from fixated false belief structures and start doing the inner work. More and more people are awakening to awareness through meditation and other disciplines of the mind. There is a growing realization that every thought comes from a state of consciousness, turns into a thought, a word, and then into an action.

When you are no longer at war with yourself you will emanate compassion, love, empathy, and trust, aligning with divine consciousness.

The “word” in John 1:1 refers to the union with the Inner Christ or what the Buddhists call “Buddha Nature” – the inherent, untainted “seed” that resides in all things. Seeking the Inner Christ or Buddha Nature is the path of the spiritual seeker.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. I’m excited to announce the release of my latest book, “The Turning of the Circle: Embracing Nature’s Wisdom for Purposeful Living.” If you enjoy it, you might also be interested in my previous works, “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul” and “Walking on Edge: A Pilgrimage to Santiago.” You can find all of these titles at reputable bookstores near you.

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by | September 19, 2023 · 5:30 am

Surrendering to humility

Walking the Camino pilgrimage route in northwestern Spain is an analogy of life and a fast-track course in self-development and soul elevation. It is why many people who start this 800-kilometer walk as a sporting endeavor end it as a pilgrim.

A fellow pilgrim once said to me: „If you don‘t walk this path with humility, it will force you to become humble.“ It is a mantra that has remained etched in my mind as one of the many life lessons learned on the Camino.

Life gets in the way of a plan

Life inevitably gets in the way of a meticulous plan or agenda. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a financial plan or pension savings scheme. You should simply be aware that even the best of plans can be scuttled by external events out of your control. You should therefore be prepared all the time to adapt, amend, and surrender to the flow of change.

On the journey of the soul, the pursuit of knowledge is an endless path of discovery. However, within various religious communities, there exists a phenomenon often referred to as the “spiritual ego.” This tendency can manifest as individuals within a group belittling those outside their faith or belief system, portraying them as less enlightened or unaware of profound truths, while they remain blind to their own hypocrisy and failings.

The universe has its own sense of humor in bringing us back to humility if we denigrate others with our inflated pride. 

The Ego-Throne

The Achilles heel of the high achievers who have phenomenal success and then come crashing down is the illusion they created it all by themselves while seated on the golden throne. Their decisions are always infallible. Criticism by underlings is seen as disloyalty so they are eventually surrounded by sycophants and boot lickers.

History is full of examples of captains of industry, emperors, presidents, and superstars who lost everything because they withdrew into a cocoon far removed from the real world and the lives of ordinary people.

The challenges of good leadership

Aware of the temptations of power, the Stoic Roman philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius (161 to 180 AD) had a servant follow him through the streets of Rome whispering in his ear: “You’re just a man… just a man,” to keep him humble. He is remembered to this day as one of the “Five Good Emperors” of the Roman Empire. His “Meditations” continue to be studied and revered for their insights into Stoic philosophy and the challenges of leadership.

During my more than a dozen walks on the Camino I’ve met some extremely wealthy people walking the path with a simple backpack and sleeping by choice on a bunk bed in a pilgrims hostel rather than spending the night in a luxury hotel. 

It was an eye-opener to hear their stories of how they had transitioned from grief, financial ruin, and other obstacles that life had thrown at them. They all shared the same traits: Kindness, humility, and wisdom embedded in the knowledge that nothing can be taken for granted. The most precious things in life are free, and happiness can be found in the smallest of things. 

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. I’m excited to announce the release of my latest book, “The Turning of the Circle: Embracing Nature’s Wisdom for Purposeful Living.” If you enjoy it, you might also be interested in my previous works, “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul” and “Walking on Edge: A Pilgrimage to Santiago.” You can find all of these titles at reputable bookstores near you.

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by | September 12, 2023 · 7:15 am

The biggest obstacle to living your destiny

Just prior to the year 2000 there was a strange phenomenon spanning the globe with large groups of people believing that a catastrophic event would extinguish all life on earth at the turn of the clock into the new millennium.

There was the rumor, that the Y2K computer bug would cause major power outages and computer breakdowns across the world as the calender rolled over into the year 2000. Some Christian sects saw in the year 2000 the Apocalypse and the Second Coming of Christ.

In the end, the year 2000 came and went without much incident. The cults of course found various explanations why things didn’t turn out as they predicted. The calculations were slightly off and the apocalypse would occur at a later date or the reason it didn’t happen was a result of the faith and intensive prayers of the followers. Some followers downplayed the significance of the failed prediction or quietly forgot their predictions.

Fixed belief can completely derail you from your destiny

The event was however very revealing of how a fixed belief can completely derail and capture the minds of millions of people. We are seeing the same phenomenon in the drumbeat of political propaganda and fake news. Once a mind has been locked into a belief. There is no rational argument that will persuade the person to change his or her mind. It is wasted energy to engage with a person who is unwilling to listen or possibly see things from a different perspective.

While the term “sin” in the religious context is often equated with moral transgressions, the deeper spiritual meaning is more complex. It could be explained as a disruption of spiritual harmony, causing harm to the self, and straying from the path of your destiny.

The universe finds expression in nature

A principle in nature is constant flow, adaptation, and evolution. The universe, or God, finds expression in nature. And, we humans are very much part of the interaction with all living beings.

In the coming decades, humanity is at the cusp of making a major leap in the evolution of consciousness. But it can also go the other way with a major breakdown in civilization as we know it if we fail to do the internal and external work.

Internally we need to confront the demon of addiction. It is the addiction to the immediate gratifications, like substance and food abuse but especially the fixation to limiting political or religious beliefs. The new spirituality is cosmic by nature, emphasizing a deep, interconnected relationship between the individual and the universe as a whole. It transcends traditional religious boundaries and is characterized by a sense of awareness and awe for the natural world around us.

This is the stepping stone to the external transformation. Since the industrial-revolution humanity has seen the earth as a material object that needed to be exploited, in contrast to the ancient traditions that saw the divine in every object and living thing. The earth itself was seen as the Mother, a living entity. Certain places were pinpointed as locations with a high-energy vortex and portals to the hereafter. They were chosen for ritual and worship.

The cathedrals, chapels, and churches in Europe were often built on such ancient locations which is why these quiet spaces offer particular sanctuary for quiet stillness.

Especially during times of stress, uncertainty, and emotional turmoil time spent in solitude or in nature will calm the mind and open the senses to the whispers of the soul. When surrounded by the beauty, sights sounds, and smells of nature you become realigned with the bigger whole.

Allowing the mind to recover from stress and mental fatigue in nature helps restore cognitive functions and clarity. When you practice deep walking in nature you will regain your natural pace and rhythm.

Exposure to sunlight and the natural day-night cycle can help regulate and improve sleep patterns. Adequate sleep is essential for mental well-being. Sunlight plays a crucial role in the production of Vitamin D in the body, essential for bone density, muscle function, immune support, and cardiovascular health.

A principle of nature is constant change

A principle of nature is the cycle of change. Plants, animals and insects are constantly adapting to changing environmental conditions and seasonal cycles. Part of God’s evolutionary plan is constant refinement and perfection. By embracing nature’s wisdom you rediscover purpose and meaning.

The disconnect from our natural environment is responsible for much of the emotional turmoil and imbalance we see around us. With the pull of technology and digital distraction becoming ever greater, it is becoming more important than ever to take a time-out in nature to rediscover who you really are and who you are destined to become.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. My new book “The Turning of the Circle: Embracing Nature’s Wisdom for Purposeful Living” has just been published. You might also find my other books “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul” and “Walking on Edge: A Pilgrimage to Santiago” of interest. They are available where all good books are sold.

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by | September 5, 2023 · 6:57 am

Connecting to your inner wisdom

Understanding and managing your emotions is key to achieving personal growth and accessing a higher vibrational energy. You can only tap into your inner wisdom by transmuting the charge of your toxic emotions such as fear, shame, anger, and grievance.

This poses a particular challenge during a time when social media and the political narrative feeds on negativity and our darkest toxic emotions.

Your body is the most authentic recording device of everything that has happened in your life. You will dream of events that happened decades ago because those memories are stored away somewhere in the depths of your body cells.

When you dream of when you were a seven-year-old and stole the cookies from Grandma’s closet, you have in some way not closed with that incident emotionally.

Your head-mind probably made up all sorts of reasons why taking those cookies was in order, while your sub-conscious heart-mind knew very well that what you did was stealing and that you hurt Grandma because you lied to her.

A tension or dissonance between head-mind and heart-mind, like acting against a gut feeling or doing something where all the alarm bells are running at a heart level, are just those things that the body will always remember.

Training your “heart-mind” to be emotionally mature is one of the reasons we are here on earth. We humans are imperfect beings, and probably the most disconnected of species from ourselves and our natural environment.

We have incarnated as souls to use our bodies as instruments of learning.

The heart is not merely an organ of the cardiovascular system that transports nutrients, oxygen and hormones throughout the body and removes metabolic waste. In the spiritual sense the heart is described as the “seat of the soul.” It is the first organ that develops in the fetus and is the connection between our physical and non-physical (soul) selves.

Impulses or thoughts flow first from the heart and then to the brain. The brain dissects, rationalizes and analyzes. The “heart-mind” is authentic and closest to the true self or soul purpose. Knowing the difference between “head-mind” and “heart-mind” is the spiritual learning part.

Our body is constantly sending us signals about what we need to hear and work on. The problem is that we are so caught up in the world of distraction that we mostly fail to listen until the body gets really angry and calls a time-out with some illness or malady. It is no surprise that cardiovascular diseases top the list in much of the Western world.

Regaining the connection

Regaining that connection to the “heart-mind” comes mostly during times of solitude, during meditation, prayer and deep walking. That is when we become aware of our emotional state of being. Some of the “emotional memories” stored in the body could go back many years or even decades.

These energies can be transmuted very well with the ancient body arts of tai chi, qi gong and yoga that were developed and refined by spiritual masters over many generations.

It is only fairly recent that these ancient arts have reached the Western world. One of the great tai chi masters, Cheng Mang Ching, was ostracized by the Chinese community in New York when he began teaching tai chi for the first time to Western students in the early 1960s.

If you walk the main Camino Frances, you will be walking for five weeks or longer. After two or three weeks on the road you realize that the Camino is much more than a mere physical exercise.

Not only does the body start detoxing, but I have noticed on my walks that dreams, childhood events, and memories of traumatic relationships that occurred many years ago return with a particular clarity.

These are particularly precious healing moments when old trauma is released to open up the channels for a flow of new energy.

Whatever the heart-mind hasn’t transmuted emotionally will at some stage come back to haunt you. It is why the mother on her death bed has that last wish before dying to reconcile with the son she hasn’t spoken to for years.

Volunteers and therapists companioning the dying have told me that the deepest regret is most often not having made amends with innermost family members. A peaceful death then only comes when that “something” has been dealt with.

What Chinese medicine has known for centuries, modern medicine is confirming with latest research. Many a serious illness has its origins in emotional baggage stored in the body-mind.

There is a particularly poignant passage in the third Beatitude of the Bible: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

In the original Aramaic language, spoken by Jesus, the meaning is more subtle: “Tubwehun l’ makiche d’hinnon nertun arha.” This roughly translates to: “Renewal to those in emotional turmoil and blessed are those who can soften that which has hardened in their bodies.”

While walking in solitude you will inevitably be confronted by the same phenomenon as when lying alone awake at night: Hundreds of thoughts will be passing through your mind of past and future things.

One thought chases the next as you wind yourself up and down in a spiral of dancing monkeys in the head.

You won’t control those thoughts by practicing mind control methods. The mind does become aware of what it is thinking about and can extract itself with an accusatory finger of “why can’t I think of something else? Why can’t I let go of these worrying concerns in my head?”

You will notice that as the body releases tension during your walk, those dancing monkeys gradually start disappearing as you begin the descent from the head into feeling the body.

This is best done by aligning to the present moment by focusing on your breathing and counting the inhaling and exhaling of breaths.

You can also start by feeling each step touching the ground, feeling the ground and how the energy of the earth moves from your foot up your legs, spinal cord, neck and the crown of your head. Start by walking very slowly, aware of the present moment, just concentrating on these small things to liberate your mind.

Our ancestors practiced ceremony and rituals to transmute trauma on a body level. Animals still have this mechanism intact. A herd of antelope will run apparently haphazardly in all directions when one of them has been killed by a predator. Their bodies shiver and shake, but minutes later all has passed and they will resume grazing as if nothing has happened.

Calming mind and body

Transitioning from the depths of our lowest emotional frequencies, such as anger, shame, resentment, hate, greed, fear, and anxiety, towards the pinnacle of human evolution involves embracing the transformative power of compassion, love, empathy, gratitude, peace, and serenity.

Even as you ascend the ladder of higher consciousness, the complete liberation from toxic emotions and feelings remains an elusive goal; you are, after all, only human. However, through unwavering commitment and diligent practice, you can expedite your exit from the rabbit hole of negativity.

It will empower you to savor extended periods of vitality, hope, and inner tranquility, enhancing your overall well-being and vibrational frequency. It is the recipe for longevity and good health.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

P.S. This is an extract from “Deep Walking for Body, Mind and Soul. All my books are available on Kindle, and paperback where all good books are sold. If you would like to order in batch to gift to friends, family and employees you can contact me by DM for a special discount.

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