Category Archives: spirituality

by | July 24, 2018 · 8:25 am

Truth recognizes Truth

We all fall for the same trap. You are conversing with someone when you realize that you might as well be talking to a wall. The other person and you are locked in separate belief systems. Communication is impossible when one person believes he is talking about a teapot while the other person tells you it’s a spoon.

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Photo by Kawtar CHERKAOUI 

Much of this phenomenon is currently visible in today’s polarized political world. We are incapable and unwilling to listen to each other.  You make up your mind that the moon landing was a fake and a Google search will inevitably validate that opinion. You don’t even bother to check the sourcing or the scientific facts.

I very much do believe that humanity is on the brink of a raised consciousness. As more and more people follow the stream of this new holistic energy, a lot of people are also being left behind and will even fall back into the old traps of rabid xenophobia and narrow-minded nationalism – fed by reptilian-mind toxic emotions such as fear and hate.

The holistic minded person sees diversity as a principle of creation, creativity and constant transition.  Having an open-minded free spirit requires grounding and self-awareness. What is my self-identity?  What is personality, and what is my true higher self?

That is when truth recognizes truth in the meeting of minds.

You will sense instinctively what is true and what is false. You will sense the nuances behind what someone is trying to say and find out a new perspective. In deep listening when soul meets soul there is recognition of the common thread in humanity and creation.

The new and the old energies currently very much manifest themselves in the events of the external world. For those on the path it sometimes needs much steadfastness and courage to remain true to the higher purpose and destiny. It is a time where we need to conserve energy and avoid the web of negative distraction.

An example in point is the heated debate on whether the French national football team is really French because of the many black players in the team. A national football star of Turkish descent in Germany, Mesut Ozil, resigns from the team  amid an emotional discourse on whether he is Turkish or German. So what! Those black players in the French team are both African and French. Mesut Ozil is both Turkish and German. Why force someone who comes from different background to choose just one identity.  And if it comes down to it we are all a mixture of many cultures and influences – what a blessing!

Reino Gevers – Author, Mentor and Consultant 

http://www.reinogevers.com

     

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by | July 19, 2018 · 8:54 am

Your very authentic body mind

Imagine your body as a recorder of all the events in your life. It is the most authentic barometer of your emotional state of being and the reason why we still dream of when we stole cookies from grandma’s closet as a seven-year-old.

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Photo by Andrei Lazarev 

What hasn’t been dealt with emotionally will be stored away in your body consciousness.  Its the difference between head-mind and heart-mind. The mind is capable of construing all sorts of reasons why taking those cookies was in order while your sub-conscious heart mind knows very well that what you did was stealing.

Training you “heart-mind” to be emotionally mature is one of the reasons why we are here  on earth. We humans are imperfect beings and 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 the connection between our physical and non-physical (soul) self.

First 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 of 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 cardio-vascular diseases top the list in most western countries. We have in a way lost our soul and lost direction.

Regaining that connection to the “heart-mind” comes mostly during times of solitude, during meditation, prayer and mindful walking. That is when we become aware of our emotional state of being. Some of the “emotional memories” stored in the body could lie 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 all developed and refined by spiritual masters over generations. It is why also more and more people are experiencing a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago as very healing.

Animals, especially dogs, are very much in alignment with their true self. They have an amazing way of dealing with stress by just running it off.  See for yourself by watching this video.

Reino Gevers – Author, Mentor and Consultant 

http://www.reinogevers.com

     

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by | July 13, 2018 · 9:26 am

States of transition

The public discourse in much of social media currently seems to alternate between two extremes with a fall-back to the nationalist hysteria of the 1930s to views expounding a free-for all liberalism. It is typical of a collective consciousness in transition and lacking direction and grounding.

Much of the western world appears to have lost its soul to the hungry ghosts seeking immediate gratification. At the same time we are seeing the outlines of an emerging Renaissance in human consciousness. Every crisis carries within it the seeds of transition and change to a new order.

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A growing number of people are unhappy with the current state of things, and seekers of a new truth transmuting the dogmatism that has been imposed by rigid philosophies and religion during past generations.

Theologian and writer Richard Rohr pointedly describes religion has having brought forth the worst and the best in mankind.  Organised religion has the power of fueling the flames of fanaticism, hate and war or it can open hearts in collective prayer and ritual for the betterment of humankind.

When extreme opposites face each other off, as we are currently seeing along party political lines in the United States, each side becomes blind to the shades of grey and the humanness in the other. We stamp off people along party lines and belief systems preventing a real discourse. In a way it has become “a religious war” between opposites.

In the heated exchange between the opposites the voices of the silent masses go unheard. I do believe that most people are by nature tolerant and can intuitively distinguish between the lie and the truth – a reason  why a growing number of people are refusing to vote and are becoming alienated from organized politics and religion.

Some of the outlines of change can be seen in the fast-growing self-development industry with individual change gradually becoming collective change on a global scale.

In recent years I have met hundreds of people from all walks of life and many different countries on the Camino pilgrimage route in Spain.  About 200,000 people are now walking this ancient medieval pilgrimage route each year. I would describe many of them as spiritual seekers asking the age-old questions: Where do I come from and where am I going?

Reino Gevers – Author, Mentor and Consultant 

http://www.reinogevers.com

    

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by | June 20, 2018 · 10:10 am

On the treshold of a Renaissance

Despite the general despondency over the rise of nationalism, xenophobia and fundamentalism in many countries, we are on the threshold of another Renaissance in raised human consciousness.

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A new chapter in the evolution of mankind is often preceded by an era where the shadow side of humanity comes to the fore. We saw this in the dark ages of religious intolerance and suspension of Greco-Roman classical culture of the Middle Ages prior to the Renaissance of the 14th century.

Evolution happens with pauses and setbacks. It is in the tension and confrontation with the opposite that change occurs – the law of yin and yang. The silver lining we see is that science and technology is giving us many more clues into the functioning of the human mind and why we are who we are.

Currently we see two extremes: A rigid belief system and fundamentalism on the one hand versus a Bohemian, free-for-all nihilism on the other. Without the grounding in a personal philosophy and value system, people easily fall prey to demagogues. In a fast-changing world the instinctive impulse is to protect the world we know with inner and outer walls.

In order to move forward into the era of our new Renaissance there are several challenges:

  • We need a real reconciliation between the races and the sexes.
  • Religious dogmatism and intolerance needs to be transmuted by the spirituality of choice, inner growth and tolerance.
  • A new spirituality comes with the realization of a deep inter-connection with the universe and the world we live in.

How far are we down the road and when will we have our Renaissance? Will we see the change during our lifetime or that of our children?  Such a change cannot be measured in years or decades. It could however, come faster than we realize. On average human knowledge is currently doubling every 13 months and the pace is increasing rapidly.

It is phenomenal when we put it into context. In 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every 100 years. By the end of 1945, the rate was every 25 years.

The digital age is changing our world very fast – technologically, economically and on a mind-thought level – whether we like it or not.

Reino Gevers – Author, Mentor and Consultant 
http://www.reinogevers.space

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by | June 11, 2018 · 10:14 pm

When the shadow takes over

The ancient teachers of Jewish mysticism and self-development warned their students to be very watchful of the shadow side of character taking hold the further they walked the spiritual path.

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The universe has a way of rewarding the “enlightened spirit” with power, wealth and influence. Whether these tools are used for the betterment of all living things and the raising of collective consciousness depends on character.

True character shows itself when man or woman is entrusted with influence and power over others. Some film, sports and rock stars have realized that with fame comes responsibility. Too many others have succumbed to substance and alcohol abuse.

Current world leaders appear to be driven by narcissism and self-aggrandizement, taking humanity many steps backwards at a time when vision and sense of purpose are required to address the challenges of our time.

But it is too easy to blame these leaders for “our misery”. They merely reflect what is happening with human consciousness at a deeper level. These leaders did not just happen. Democracy is a fragile plant that needs to be nurtured and protected.

We are living in an age where the shadow side of humanity such as narcissism and xenophobia are fueled by social media. Sound science, research and historical facts are buried in an avalanche of fake news.  Don’t get me wrong. Social media also has many positives with the ordinary person able to access information to an extent, unimaginable two decades ago and connecting people over continents.

But we need to be guardians at the gateway of our soul just as much as we need to be watchful of what our leader are doing to our world. We are living in an interesting and dangerous time.

“Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.space

Start your day by adding turmeric to your meals – one of the best ways to boost your immune system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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by | May 15, 2018 · 11:05 am

Walk your path

I’ve just released the second edition of my book “Walking on Edge: A Pilgrimage to Santiago”  – a novel based on firsthand conversations and insights with many fellow hikers on the Camino. For some people the Camino can be a life-changing experience – for others it is disappointing.

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What Camino you walk depends very much on your expectations and your frame of mind.  After months, sometimes even years, of preparation and planning, and reading some of the many books on the Camino, you are finally on the road.

If you start your walk in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, in southwestern France, in the summer months from June to August you will be disappointed by the masses of people walking the Camino Frances – the most common route.

You will be staying in crowded hostels and sleeping on bunk beds. You might have to stand in a long line for a shower and have to cope with blisters and other aches and pains in your body.  You will be frightened by cyclists coming from behind you at breakneck speed, and sometimes even pushing you off the road.

The first days of walking on the Camino are a real test of mind and body. It is also called the path of crucifixion. A fellow pilgrim once said to me: “Be humble on the path, or the path with humble you.”

On one of my walks I met a very frustrated pilgrim, who had refused advice from fellow walkers, to take it slow during the first days. He was going on and on about his disappointment, criticizing the “boring” landscape of the Camino and lamenting why he had not chosen a holiday on the Canary islands instead.  A lot of people are obviously walking the same route and coming home with very different perceptions and experiences, judging by the comments in many of the social media forums.

My advice is: Don’t be duped by other people’s opinions and what you read. If you liberate your mind from preconceived images and expectations, you will have your very own Camino experience – that can be magical in many ways.

Call it the the Universe, God or just the “magic of the path” has been life-transforming for me and so many people I’ve met on the Camino.  If you walk alone and confront those emotional demons along the way, you will make extraordinary discoveries both within and without. The Camino is certainly not everyone’s cup-of-tea. It can be a hard, uncomfortable, excruciating slog in mud, rain and heat.

At the same time the Camino is exceptionally rewarding on many subtle levels that sometimes only make themselves felt, months after the pilgrimage. The walk is an analogy of life as you deal with the daily ups-and-downs.

Reino Gevers – Mentor and Author – Your Health Matters

 “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

 

 

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by | March 7, 2018 · 10:13 am

Emotions and politics

Globally humanity currently seems to be shifting towards fanatical extremes aimed at building walls rather than dialogue for the greater good.  Rogue politicians are feasting on toxic emotions and making our world a more dangerous place.

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Extremism feeds on basic fears, greed, hatred, xenophobia and narcissism. Currently we are seeing plenty of that in the calls for protectionist trade barriers, blaming refugees and minorities for economic woes and a ruling party in South Africa opening a poison chalice by demanding the confiscation of land without compensation to redress “economic inequality.” The end result is always that everyone loses.

Learning to guard the doorway to your emotions has been a hallmark of all great spiritual teachers. For once toxic emotions capture the “tribal” mind, rational thought, logic and holistic thinking go down the drain.  Facts, truth and proven science lose out to “emotional belief.”

Extremist politicians from Warsaw to Washington would not be having such a field day if there was not a global underlying trend visible in much of the social media fueling the fires of polarization.  Humanity has been at a worse place. In central Europe at least, we have had the longest period of peace in human history built on a foundation of mutual dependency and cooperation. We tend to forget where we have come from and what we stand to lose during times of conflict and war.

It is part of human nature to focus on the negative before seeing the positive. It is a survival instinct going back to prehistoric times in being watchful of the dangers lurking in the wilds. This is why negative news, negative social media feeds, hate speech and hate mail receive far more attention than positive news.

The challenge of our times is to separate ourselves from such “negative feeds” and to stay in alignment with our higher purpose in serving the well-being of humanity as a whole. It starts with a self-love and a self-caring outlook on life that leads us into dialogue with our fellow man.

In dialogue as opposed to confrontation with an “alien” we become aware of our own true identity. We become aligned and grounded. A courageous heart discerns between truth and delusion.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

 “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

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by | February 27, 2018 · 4:18 pm

Our greatest fear

When a close family member dies unexpectedly we are inevitably confronted with our own greatest fear: The fear of death. It is the nature of existence that at some point in our life we will cease to exist in the physical form – something we like to banish from our minds in the daily rat race.

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Those souls that leave before us remind us that life, as we know it, does at some point end.  Most people will quietly fade away at a ripe old age. It is when a younger person is suddenly pulled from life that we become thoughtful – something I have just had to deal with when my younger brother died unexpectedly in his sleep from a heart attack.

When Lady Diana Spencer died in a car accident in Paris in August 1997 it had a global ripple effect. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the London streets mourning her death as if a close family member had died.  Lady Di was a mover and a shaker on many levels.

Being intensely involved in personal health consultancy business, someone recently remarked to me: “What’s the deal? Enjoy life while you can.”

What he really meant: Why go through the “pain” of observing a diet of healthy food and regular exercise  if you are going to die anyway? When your time is up, your time is up.

But that is just the point. We don’t know when our time is up. Living a mindful and healthy life will on average extend your life by at best a few years. But that should not be the primary motive. Who wants to be a centenarian if all your best friends have died?

Research on the blue zones – those places in the world with on average the highest number of centenarians – shows that we are missing the point when we aim for a long life. We should aim instead for a higher quality of life in the here and now that might or might not extend your life.

In the final analysis it is what the great spiritual teachers have been teaching throughout the centuries.

Life is about raising your soul consciousness.

Fear of death is a necessary survival instinct, stemming from the reptilian brain. Transmuting that fear into a raised consciousness of your individual true soul purpose is the real challenge during what is basically a short lifespan.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

 “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

 

 

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by | December 18, 2017 · 7:15 pm

Home and the heart of things

In the past few days I have dissolved a home of 21 years in northern Germany and moved to the Spanish island of Majorca. It poses the question of what we define as home and where to let go of meaningless material attachment.

One of the key lessons of walking the Camino is that the less you carry in your back pack the easier your walk.  You have to go lean to go far. Essentially there is not much we need to feel contentment of heart.

There is not much that remains of those things we clutter our homes with when it comes to downsizing. A rule of thumb is what you haven’t worn or used during the past six months is no longer of value to you.

img_0405Within the word Home, is one of the most powerful mantras OM.  In the Sanskrit origin  it translates as the vibrational Source and connection to the Supreme.  Peace of mind and contentment can only be found With-In. You always take yourself with you wherever you are and with all that with which your mind is preoccupied with.

The bottom line: If you are a grumpy old scrooge at the place where you are now, chances are good that you will remain a grumpy old scrooge wherever you choose to go.

Its an illusion to think that everything will change for the better if you change your wife, your house, your job and your country, if you don’t change your mindset as well.

But its not the whole story.  Who you are is determined largely by your associations and the environment you live in. We are social beings who interact and need to interact with each other all the time.

If the people you surround yourself with and your immediate surroundings are no longer conducive to your further development, then its time to move.

Yet, attachments mainly in the form of material things and emotional baggage of the past subconsciously hinder us from taking a big step forward to new things, new perspectives, new relationships and in the end more lessons learned on the path to a raised consciousness.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

 

 

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by | October 30, 2017 · 6:04 am

Are you being brainwashed?

I’m sure you’ve  had the experience recently. You are talking to someone when you  notice they have switched off with their “cemented opinion”.  But you continue talking, still hoping to convince that person with your “rational argument.”

Donna parla con lettere su sfondo biancoI fall into the trap every time, knowing full well that no matter what information I provide, it will not convince the other person to adapt or change his or her mind.

A medical doctor friend of mine recently vented frustration at the growing number of patients questioning his diagnosis with information they had found on the Internet. It is mind boggling that the expertise of scientists, who have spent a good part of their lives becoming experts in their fields, is ridiculed by persons with only scant knowledge at best of the topic they are talking about.

We surround ourselves with friends and associates who share our opinions and mannerisms. We subscribe to media that feed us with information we want to hear. Its human nature. A questioning of our belief system is perceived as so “dangerous” that it might alienate us from our tribe and leave us cold and alone. The unfortunate part of this human trait is that it makes us prone to manipulation, especially if the perceived threat to group identity is threatened.

What happens to the individual manifests itself into what I call the mass brainwashing and fogging of minds. Political strategists and the master manipulators understand this part of the working of the human mind very well.

Take for example my home country South Africa. The media is churning out almost daily evidence of the looting of the country’s state-owned enterprises and national treasury by the ruling president and his cronies. In any normal situation President Jacob Zuma would have been booted out of office and sentenced to a long prison term for crimes ranging from massive tax evasion to personal enrichment and treason.  He is only getting away with it because he has convinced his electorate that they are poor because the wealth of the country is controlled by “white monopoly capitalism.” Worse still, the media controlled by this “monopoly” is spreading lies in a bid to re-install apartheid.  That is all you need to communicate in a country still deeply divided along racial lines.

Feed into already existing prejudices or fears by spreading half-truths, lies and misleading information and you control the masses who believe what they want to believe. Adolf Hitler understood this mechanism perfectly by feeding into existing anti-Semitic prejudices of a highly educated society until he had them all screaming “Sieg Heil” as the rail carriages rolled into the death camps of Auschwitz.  The economy of the oil-rich country of Venezuela was ruined by a despot riding the mantra that all the troubles could be attributed to American imperialism.

This is why I find the rising nationalism in so many countries so dangerous. It appeals to the most basic of human instincts, whispering into the ears of the masses: “Someone is out there taking or denying from you something that you regard as very precious and dear.”

The wise teachers from all the major religious traditions teach us that you need to “neutralize” your mind in order to open yourself to true spiritual experience. It sounds so easy but is probably one of the hardest things to do. Don’t we all have toxic emotions, prejudices and fears that we desperately hold on to?

A first step toward neutralizing the mind is the admission of those existing pre-conceived ideas, or emotions and in analyzing their origins.

  • What made you think the way you are thinking?
  • Do you really have an open mind to a new angle or perspective?
  • Are you versed in the art of listening?

Inside each human lie embedded the seeds of doing either good or evil. What you feed your mind with on a daily basis is what you become. You make your decisions based on your belief system.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

http://www.reinogevers.com

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