Tag Archives: self-development

by | March 28, 2023 · 9:23 am

Life is not meant to be easy

“It’s the difficult years that make you ready for a phenomenal life.”
― Hiral Nagda

Our culture is obsessed with youth, happiness, and distraction. Much pain and suffering are caused when we compare ourselves with the “wonderful” lives most people seem to be leading when we read their posts on social media. Very few people admit publicly that they are going through a rough time.

Like the law of nature’s seasons, life goes through cycles of birth, maturity, decay, and death. Conflict, suffering, pain, problems and difficulties are as much part of life as bliss, joy, happiness and abundance.

Our ideas of suffering and pain stem much from religion. Most church-practiced Christianity, today has lost its way into an empty ritual. The earliest of Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Judaic and other teachings were rooted in an archetypical reality and experiential spirituality.

Moving away from empty ritual

Post-reformation Christian teachings particularly emphasize the inherently “sinful” ways of man with Jesus having to sacrifice himself on the cross for the ultimate salvation of all of mankind. Unfortunately, it has led to some denominations and religions causing incalculable harm to the self-worth of many an individual with their definition of “sin” fixated on how to behave and what to believe.

In the archetypical and mystical traditions, the cross itself is deeply symbolic linking life on earth with the non-physical heavenly dimension. The above and below, the left and the right conjoined in the center signify the number five in numerology. The number 5 in the biblical sense symbolizes God’s grace, goodness, and favor toward humans. It is mentioned 318 times in the bible. In Judaism, there are five books of the Torah and the commandments were written five each on two tablets.

The deeper meaning of the crucifixion

The image of Jesus’ death on the Cross in a metaphysical sense represents the dying of personality and ego consciousness attached to form and the transition into Christ-consciousness of the immortal, the dissolving of the physical body into the resurrected spiritual body. It is a powerful image of a complete cleansing of the ego mind during suffering.

It is during these “flat-on-the-ground” moments, in the complete surrender of the mind that the gateway to the soul is ripped wide open. We are forced by the pain, the suffering, and the despair into deep introspection. Procrastination, lethargy, and comfort zones inevitably lead to stagnation, decay, and melancholy fixation on what was and is no more.

The Camino de Santiago: An analogy of life

The ancient pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago in northwestern Spain, has become so popular in recent years because more and more people are seeking a new spiritual truth. The 500-mile route traversed by pilgrims for centuries is very much an analogy of life. In the solitude of lonely walks, the climbing of mountains, and the physical and emotional pains experienced on the route many a pilgrim – after experiencing the trauma of divorce, loss, health crisis, or job burnout – finds liberation from all attachment and new purpose and meaning while walking. Sometimes the revelation happens on the path, sometimes months after the walk.

Leading French thinker and philosopher Frédéric Gros writes that “walking is exploring the mystery of presence. Presence to the world, to others, and to yourself… You discover when you walk that it emancipates you from space and time…”

Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying: “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.”

You are passaging your path on the Camino of life “paso a paso” – step by step. On this path, you will be experiencing bad days and good days, realizing in that moment of crisis when you feel lonely, tired, and exhausted that “this too shall pass.” Ultimately you will be losing the fear of death when form passes into formlessness.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

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by | March 14, 2023 · 7:25 pm

Your community: A key to healthy living

When scientists first published their studies on the earth’s five blue zones where people live the longest most follow-up reports picked up on the nutritional aspect. But a common denominator less debated was that people in all the five regions felt a strong sense of belonging and purpose within healthy and supportive communities.

We are hard-wired as social beings. The people we surround ourselves with have a much higher impact on our health and happiness than previously thought. Your tribe can either pull you down or lift you up. (see my previous blog)

Creating strong social networks

Strong community ties are key to longevity, according to Dan Buettner, author of “The Blue Zones”. The five blue zones were identified as communities living in Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California.

The Okinawans, for example, are known to create strong social networks that provide financial and emotional support to their community members.  

Good communities prescribe healthy habits

People in longevity cultures socialize with one another, reinforcing prescribed behaviors such as adopting good nutritional habits and exercise.

Sardinians and many Mediterranean cultures end their day in the local bar where they meet friends and family. Village festivals and harvests require all members of the community to participate.

Professor Lisa Berkman of Harvard University did a nine-year study in which she found that the impact of marital status, friendships, and the level of voluntary work in clubs or associations all had an impact on how well people age.

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But how do I identify and become a member of a healthy tribe:

  • The people you most associate with in your inner circle should be people who uplift, validate, and support you emotionally.
  • Avoid people who are notoriously focused on the negative and emanate permanent grumpiness. Buettner writes in “The Blue Zones. “Of the centenarians interviewed there wasn’t a grump in the bunch… Likable old people are more likely to have a social network, frequent visitors, and de facto caregivers.”
  • Spending time together each day with a positive activity such as walking can make a hugely positive impact on your life. Frédéric Gros, a professor of walking, says: “Walking is exploring the mystery of presence. Presence to the world, to others and to yourself… You discover when you walk that it emancipates you from space and time, from… vitesse.” So-called “philosophy walks” are designed to stimulate deeper thinking while out walking in nature. 

Some people might argue that maintaining a strong family bond is good for you. But for some people sharing time with their biological families makes them feel unhappy, stressed, and unhappy. Human families are extremely complex and interactive.

Whether it’s your biological family or your chosen tribe or community. It should give you a sense of fulfillment, happiness, and a generally positive feeling of being liked and accepted just as you are with all your light, shadow, and uniqueness.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

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by | February 21, 2023 · 2:20 pm

Realigning with the heavenly ladder

The sages of old teach that every individual latently can achieve the heights of mental and spiritual capacity but that most people impose limitations upon themselves that prevent them from living their full potential.

Last week I visited the northwestern German town of Münster, famous for the Peace of Westphalia treaty of 1648 ending the 30-year war. It closed a terrible chapter in European history of warfare between not only nations but between Protestants and Catholics, claiming the lives of about eight million people.

The artist Billi Tanner aptly chose the Lamberti Church in the center of the city to install a golden-lit “heavenly ladder” extending from within the church to the spire on the exterior.

She says about her work: “During these times the heavenly ladder (from Jacob‘s dream in Genesis 28,12) stands primarily for the three divine values hope, faith, and love. If all people were to live by that wouldn‘t that be wonderful? “ The biblical story tells us that while fleeing from his brother Esau, Jacob saw in a dream Jacob a ladder, or staircase, reaching into heaven with angels going up and down it.

The heavenly ladder has become a powerful symbol connecting the heavenly realm with our earth-bound purpose. It can be interpreted as the step-by-step ascent to spiritual growth in becoming who you were meant to become from the day you were born but also as a symbol of the descent from heaven of angels who guide us on this path.

A firm base as a precondition to higher experience

The steps on the ladder are passages of initiation as we progress and grow through life. Alignment with both heaven and earth, our mental and physical capabilities is essential. If you learn to understand yourself you can basically accomplish everything.

A ladder not rooted to earth will fall, meaning that you need first and foremost to have a firm foundation as a precondition to higher experience. The Jewish Mystics were very aware of this, teaching their scholars to master a basic trade to earn a living. Work was seen as an important tool of training for higher consciousness. Taking a proper attitude to whatever we are practicing as a craft was seen as decisive in training inner traits such as clarity of thought, reliability, and self-discipline. Earning a livelihood was seen as central to finding a divine purpose.

While the base of the ladder was firmly grounded the pinnacle of the ladder stretched all the way to heaven and paradise. But action is necessary by taking each step up the rung. Symbolically all that you experience in life is a school for the elevation of consciousness and the precondition to taking the next step. You have to go through a new period of apprenticeship each time.

The ascent up the ladder is ultimately an ascent to another dimension as we walk through the path of life. We are called upon to climb the celestial ladder with growing awareness, and not to be pulled downward by the forces of distraction. What we are experiencing on an individual level is also experienced by humanity on a collective level. During these times of renewed talk of war and confrontation between nations, we should never lose our capacity for faith, hope, and love.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

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by | February 6, 2023 · 9:29 pm

The virus of victim culture

How would you feel when after your passing you were shown by an angel the life you could have lived but didn’t live because you were too afraid to take action or spent a life in misery by blaming everyone else, especially your elementary family for what went wrong in your life?

To some degree, it’s everyone’s story. Families and relationships are strained by divorce, emotional abuse, financial issues or poor physical and mental health. But the external world, especially social media, indoctrinates us with the message that we are always supposed to be happy. Life is never like that. The seasons of nature teach us that we go through cycles of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Our grievance culture thrives on negativity which has become like a virus infecting individuals and millions of people in entire nations. A person infected with grievance culture is incapable of self-reflection and taking responsibility. He would rather wallow in feeling sorry for himself for what all the others did to him in creating the situation he finds himself in. By blaming others he has a perfect excuse for not taking action to change the status quo.

Victim culture can poison entire nations

On a macro-level, it is a hallmark of fascist and extremist movements led by demagogues who have the ability to channel the toxic emotions of hate, anxiety, and fear into blaming ethnic minorities, other religions, political parties or genders for everything that has gone wrong in society. The fascists of Nazi Germany found fertile ground in stirring the flames of existing 19th-century Prussian militarism, hurt national pride, and prejudice toward the Jewish minority.

Comparisons with the current situation in Russia are striking. The Russian leadership is effectively using hurt national pride after the collapse of the Soviet Union to justify the invasion of another country. The messaging from state Russian media is that NATO was responsible for starting the war and that the atrocities committed by Russian troops are fake news.

A democratic modern Germany and the European Union could only be built after total defeat of Adolf Hitler and the realization that nationalism can never be a solution. In the same way dramatic changes in Russia will possibly only came after total collapse of the current authoritarian economic and political order.

Grievance culture is an addiction to a mindset. The individual is in total denial that there is a problem. The healing process is then only possible during an epiphany that comes with a flat-on-the-ground moment. The frustration level, disgust, and pain threshold has reached such a level that the first steps toward changing the situation are taken.

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Life is cyclical: Winter is a time for reflection and opportunity

The winter cycles of life when we are in pain, grief and suffering offer also the greatest opportunity to an elevation of consciousness and change. Conflicts in relationships, in a job, or in a family are signposts pinpointing that changes need to be made, and that the status quo is no longer working. You are given an opportunity by the universe to dig deep into your inner resources, your inner truth, and your soul purpose. The winter cycles of life are a time for withdrawal and self-reflection where the ideas, and opportunities for the next cycle, spring, are born.

Some of the most successful start-ups have been founded during an economic downturn or recession. Several of the world’s most outstanding business and political leaders transmuted the winter years of their lives into activism, leadership, and creativity. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison, never losing sight of the long-term goal to become president of a non-racial democratic South Africa.

Martin Luther King wrote about his own suffering:

“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways that I could respond to my situation: either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course. Recognizing the necessity for suffering I have tried to make of it a virtue. If only to save myself from bitterness, I have attempted to see my personal ordeals as an opportunity to transform myself and heal the people involved in the tragic situation which now obtains. I have lived these last few years with the conviction that unearned suffering is redemptive.”

Success for these outstanding personalities came after many trials and tribulations where any normal person would have succumbed to bitterness and blame. We see often only the end result of their accomplishment and not the rough path, the inner work, discipline, and dedication they built to get there.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

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by | January 31, 2023 · 8:54 am

The greatest threat to humanity

There is a common notion that external threats such as a nuclear war or a climate catastrophe could spell the end of humanity but a far greater threat looms in what the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung described as the collective psychosis of the human mind.

In marking Holocaust Memorial Day it is worth remembering that the murder of six million Jews did not happen overnight. It is dangerous to assume that the catastrophe was executed by Adolf Hitler and a small cabal with warped and psychotic minds. Without the support of millions of ordinary people, the holocaust would never have happened. The Nazis became the largest party in Germany with 37 percent of the popular vote in a democratic election in 1932.

Brutal dictators of the last century such as Josef Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, and Pol Pot headed mass movements that executed policies claiming the lives of millions of people.

Beyond the veil of normalcy lies many a dark shadow

It is easy to argue that this is history and that it will never happen again. But the war crimes in Ukraine demonstrate that beneath the civil exterior of many a “normal” person lurks the shadow of evil. Russian leader Vladimir Putin would never have come to power and remained in power without the support of millions of ordinary Russian people.

Crimes of individual leaders do not abscond the collective responsibility of the populace who enabled and supported them. Jung spent most of his life studying the unknown world of the human subconscious mind.

“We need more understanding of human nature because the only real danger that exists is man himself. He is a great danger, and we are pitifully unaware of it. We know nothing of man, far too little. His psyche should be studied because we are the origin of all coming evil,” Jung surmised.

It is worth bearing in mind as the world stumbles toward ever-greater totalitarianism even in countries where we thought democracy was deeply ingrained. During psychosis, people lose their sense of truth and reality. Mass Psychosis is when a large section of the populace turns all its attention to a leader or series of events and all attention is focused just on one issue. Millions of people are hypnotized by dogma, ideology, or toxic emotions such as hate regardless of the facts.

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Social media compounds mass madness

It does not come as a surprise that Facebook and Twitter have just reinstated the social media accounts of several prominent spewers of hate and toxic emotions. Studies reveal that negativity spreads more than positivity on social media.  The most controversial, vindictive, and outlandishly ridiculous posts on social media generate the most clicks and therefore advertising revenue. Emotions rule the game. The guardrails have fallen a long time ago. All the more important is that the individual stands guard at the doorway to the mind. What you consume as a reader has more influence on making you into the person you are now than you might think.

Instead of bringing us together, it appears that some social media is tearing apart the very fabric of society with cyber-bullying, hate posts, and fake news. According to a SimpleTexting survey six out of ten people said that they were afraid to post about certain topics for fear of negative feedback. A massive 90 percent of people also said they’ve even seen racist posts by people in their network. In addition, 86 percent say they’ve seen negative content regarding sexual orientation and gender posted by people in their network.

According to research by the Center for Countering Digital Hate the social media platform TikTok, used by two-thirds of teenagers on a daily basis, is responsible for bombarding young people’s feeds with “harmful, harrowing content that can have a significant cumulative impact on their understanding of the world around them, and their physical and mental health.”  Researchers set up new accounts in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia at the minimum age TikTok allows, 13 years old. These accounts paused briefly on videos about body image and mental health and liked them. “What we found was deeply disturbing. Within 2.6 minutes, TikTok recommended suicide content. Within 8 minutes, TikTok served content related to eating disorders. Every 39 seconds, TikTok recommended videos about body image and mental health to teens,” the organization concluded.

The difference between emotions and logical thought

When you are captured by emotions you are out of control. Emotional information is shared more frequently than non-emotional information both online and offline. An angry person can easily be manipulated by external forces. It’s the tool many a demagogue has used throughout history. When in fear, anger, or anxiety your logical brain literally shuts off and puts you into fight or flight mode. You are no longer in control. It is like driving a car under the influence of alcohol. Emotions never tell the truth. They have to be filtered by the logical mind that has the capacity to discern between truth and fiction.

Parents need to monitor and communicate with their children on what they are watching on social media sites. On an individual level you need to train your awareness. What is truth and what is fake? Am I feeding my mind with positive, uplifting, spiritual and educational information or am I being manipulated with information that triggers emotions of hate, anger, fear and anxiety?

By boosting your vibrational energy on a daily basis with exercise, healthy food, and mental training such as meditation you will at the same time attract those things into your life that are of the same higher frequency.

Every generation has its own challenge. We are on the threshold of an age where Artificial Intelligence (AI) will influence and change the lives of humanity in multiple ways. AI could be useful in solving some of society’s most pressing problems such as climate change. But it can also be abused in destroying the social fabric of society as we know it if guardrails are not put in place.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

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by | January 24, 2023 · 9:04 am

Things don’t fall apart suddenly

A leak in the roof of a house will drip by drip gradually weaken the structural walls until the foundations give way and the house collapses. When small repairs are not carried out they become big problems. A health crisis is preceded by many small aches and pains. A relationship breakdown will have a long history of hurts, insults, and betrayals. A company’s bankruptcy comes after years of poor management and missed opportunities.

The seeds of the failed nation are sown with the gradual growth of the tentacles of corruption, poor government, and nepotism. Countries such as Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Argentina, and my home country South Africa once had booming economies but are today sad reminders of how fast the rot can set in.

In the 1990s the South African city centers of Johannesburg, Durban, and Pretoria were bustling with excellent restaurants, jazz clubs, theatres, and parks. Visitors from many countries could move around fairly safely. Today these same areas are a sad conglomerate of dilapidated buildings with broken windows and ransacked and gutted interiors. The pot-holed streets are littered with trash and any tourist walking through these areas would be risking their life. It did not come overnight. The rot was gradual after years of mismanagement and corruption by the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

When Vladimir Putin took over from Russian president Boris Yeltsin in the year 1999, several critics warned that the former KGB agent was a dangerous threat to democracy. Western leaders simply failed to see the early warning signs that presaged Russia’s ever-greater slide into authoritarianism as journalists, opposition politicians, and businessmen were poisoned, shot, or imprisoned. Turning a blind eye eventually led to the invasion of the sovereign country Ukraine.

A successful company begins to decline when market signals are ignored and customers are taken for granted or their complaints are ignored. How many successful brand names of the past are today no more. Some iconic brand names that have disappeared are Pan Am, once the world’s largest air carrier, Polaroid, the pioneer of Instamatic cameras, the bookstore Borders which failed to make the transition to a new business or digital business model and many automobile brands such as Pontiac, Saab, Oldsmobile, and Borgward.

The boiling frog syndrome

The phenomenon of the boiling frog syndrome is that the water in the pot is gradually heated so that the frog hardly notices the gradual rise in temperature until it’s too late. Does that not tell us something about the climate debate? Scientists have warned since the late 1980s that we would be seeing extreme weather patterns as the result of the warming of the earth’s atmosphere because of the excessive burning of fossil fuels by the middle of this century. They were off the mark by at least two decades. Nobody could have predicted the ferocity of summer temperatures and storms that we are seeing in many countries at this moment in time.

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Tunnel vision

A hallmark of an entitlement culture is the tunnel vision of the ego mind. When in tunnel vision there is no evolution or progress of mind and spirit. The head-mind or “ego-mind” is caught in a belief. Its mind is made up of what is right and wrong in the world.

Head-Mind is incapable of listening to the alternative argument and will interrupt you before you have finished your sentence. They will tell you that 1+1 = 4. Nothing will persuade them otherwise. Their lives have been taken over by an alternate reality and they will be reaffirming their belief daily with similar believers in social media bubbles. Once entrenched in a tunnel-vision bubble it is virtually impossible to break down the walls the person has surrounded himself with. The person is addicted to a certain belief or thought.

When the human is in puberty you will be warning him with greater urgency of the train ahead. He will nevertheless deny that there is a train coming until it’s too late. It’s what parents all too often painfully have to go through. The child in puberty has to make its own experience, learn its own lessons and draw its own conclusions from the pain it suffers.

An alcoholic will very often only seek help during an epiphany that comes in a “flat on the ground” moment. The person is so disgusted and pained about his own behavior that he will admit finally that he has a problem. It is the first step in the healing process.

Negative and destructive behavior has the habit of sneaking into life in many subtle ways. It is one of the reasons why so many New Year resolutions fail. Typical sabotaging self-talk could be: “It won’t make much of a difference if I skip my workout this morning.” “I need to reward myself with a shopping spree after saving for two months.” “It won’t affect my relationship if I cheat on my partner just this once.”

Creating a life of bliss with positive habits

Transmuting pain and suffering leads to higher consciousness and positive change. Meaning and purpose is found after years of depression. A fulfilling, loving relationship is found after enduring years of abuse in a dysfunctional marriage. A different and more fulfilling work is sought after job burnout. An exercise routine and a healthy diet are followed with passion after overcoming a life-threatening disease.

The underlying reason for procrastination and indecision is often the fear that a change might be worse than the status quo. Starting with small “baby steps” in taking the first doable actions can make all the difference. You don’t have to wait and experience pain. You will know by now in what areas of life you need to make a change.

What can you do today? What can be done that will start the ball rolling? If you enter an untidy room filled with junk, you start by clearing one small area, then the following day the next, and so on. Getting physically fit could start with a walk of 2,000 steps and then gradually increase it day by day to 10,000 steps. Reducing a stressed out and fearful mind can begin with a short meditation lasting three minutes until 15-20 minutes is done with ease because you feel so much better afterward. Training body, mind, and spirit to a new level of consciousness and bliss comes after a reawakening from the shadowlands.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

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by | January 10, 2023 · 12:41 pm

The power of self-love

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”

Richard P. Feynman

The need for self-love as the precondition to giving love is a key to many spiritual teachings. At the heart of much self-destructive behavior, and the addiction problems we see in the world today are the rejection and contempt of self.

You cannot love and accept yourself without unconditionally accepting the shadows within. You have to learn to accept that you are an incomplete human being.


The hypocrisy that often underlies institutionalized religion stems from the notion that those who don’t believe and behave the same way that we do are in some way inferior and lesser human beings. When you are in denial of your own inadequacies and weaknesses you will see them more pronounced in others.

The beginning of forgiveness


The beginning of forgiveness begins with the forgiving of self. The seeds of inadequacy and lack of self-esteem are planted early in life by social norms or misguided parental pressure.


Failure and missteps are part of the human condition. As the sages and Mystics teach us: They are the stepping stones to self-awareness and self-love. By learning to forgive yourself you can accept and learn to forgive others.

The scriptures teach us that “If you forgive others their sins, they are indeed forgiven. If you withhold forgiveness from one another, they are held bound.” (John 20:23).

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The more addicted we become to a preferred self-image the more judgemental we become. But it is precisely the relationship difficulties, conflict situations, failures, and disappointments of life that mirror the shadow aspects within. These are the aspects in need of acceptance or transformation that help elevate you to a higher vibrational energy, your inner power, and strength.

Surrendering to life


Surrendering to life is complete surrender to that which is greater than any image of self and the essence of what is the vulnerability of body, mind, and soul. It is what Paula D’Arcy describes as “God comes to us disguised as our life.”


As the spiritual teacher, priest, and author Richard Rohr explains: “Surrender is not giving up, as we tend to think, nearly as much as it is a giving to the moment, the event, the person, and the situation.”

Life happens. You cannot change what has happened in the past. Taking a different perspective can transmute feelings of pain and guilt. A personal mantra of forgiveness could be:

“I release at this moment the attachment to the pain and the melancholy sadness to that which was and is no more. I love and accept myself the way I am. I love and accept my true soul nature. I am in loving care and kindness to myself and others.“

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

One more thing...If you have found this article interesting you might want to subscribe with the “follow” button above or recommend my FREE weekly Blog to friends and family. My books can be ordered at all places that sell good books in both paperback and kindle.

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by | December 27, 2022 · 9:50 am

The tree of life

Some 2,000 years ago a soul incarnated into the family of a simple carpenter and his wife in the town of Nazareth of what was then part of the Roman province of Judaea.

Jesus of Nazareth was to change the world for generations to come and elevate human consciousness to a new level.

From an early age, the scriptures tell us, Jesus astounded the temple priests with his knowledge and wisdom. By the time he was a young man his revolutionary teachings and miracle healings were drawing huge crowds and followers.

The threatened priesthood

The priesthood of the day saw him as a grave threat when he exposed their hypocrisy and their literal interpretation of the scriptures.

Jesus led by example showing us that service for the downtrodden, the sick, the vulnerable, and the discriminated minorities was the stepping stone to creating a life of bliss.

The God-given meaning and purpose of life is closely intertwined with the unraveling of the veils covering the soul and living who you were born to become.

It was far removed from abiding to the rules and regulations of a belief structure controlled and imposed by the priesthood.

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Ancient scriptures revealed

The long hidden texts of St. Thomas, discovered only in recent times, reveal early Christian teachings deeply embedded in experiential Spirituality and multi-layered interpretation that read much like Zen Koans of Buddhist tradition. Jesus is quoted as saying:

“Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.”

This reminds much of the inscription in the Ancient Greek Temple of Delphi: Knowing Thyself, Knowing who you are not and then finding the God within – or your truth

Jesus was crucified in a place called Calvary in Jerusalem at the age of 33. In Kabbalistic teaching 33 is a magical number. It is the number of steps on Jacob’s ladder on which the angels walked bringing the wisdom of heaven unto earth or aligning with the higher (Christ) self.

Calvary in its original Hebrew form means “place of the skull.”

The arbor vitae in the brain is also described as the tree of life. It lies within the center of the cerebellum and helps provide valuable sensory information to the brain, protruding from the skull.

In Kundalini Yoga energy rises up the 33 vertebrae of the spinal cord to the seventh chakra located at the crown of the head, illuminating the third eye or pineal gland, your spiritual consciousness.

Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection after three days is ultimately a story of salvation from suffering, after transgressing through the dark night of the soul.

There is a surrendering to forgiveness and grace. After a point of great suffering and doubt Jesus could look upon the people causing his suffering and forgive, knowing that it all ultimately had a higher meaning.

Sacrifice and expansion of consciousness

Making sacrifices expands your conscious awareness. When you transmute the lower energy vibrations rooted in the emotions of fear, anxiety, greed and hate, you achieve Christ consciousness – the 33rd degree of consciousness – unconditional love.

According to the Mystics God is un­separated from all things, for God is in all things and is more inwardly in them than they are in themselves.

St. Augustine is quoted as saying that the soul has within her all knowledge, and whatever we practice outwardly serves only to awaken that knowledge.

In places of solitude and in the quiet spaces of nature the cracks open to the wisdom and window of your soul’s longing, to the depths of your purpose and destiny – to the Christ within.

Reino Gevers – Author – Speaker – Mentor

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by | December 20, 2022 · 10:09 am

The twin threats to humanity

It’s the time of year to reflect on the major events of the past twelve months and how they will possibly affect humanity’s very survival. While the media narrative is focused on mostly external threats we are losing sight of mental well-being that will equally determine our capacity of dealing with the major challenges ahead.

The sages of old and the great Mystics teach us that God expresses himself in and through nature in experiential spirituality. God can only be experienced. He cannot be believed. Religious doctrine mainly tells us what to believe and how to behave but possibly it’s biggest sin has been in elevating man as a separate entity from a nature that had to be subdued and conquered.

The spiritual disconnect

It has inevitably led to a spiritual disconnect of modern man who sees the hill as a mineral resource, the indiginous plant and tree as a threat to monocultured agriculture, the animal as expendible if it cannot be put to domestic use and the rivers and seas as a resource for harvesting fish.

Within our lifetime we are therefore seeing the largest extinction of species since the Mesozoic era (252-266 million years ago with the multiple effects of climate crisis, desertification, deforestation, burning of fossil fuels, factory and monoculture farming all playing their part in this mass extinction.

We are just beginning to see the first signs of climate impact on food chain supplies, and what it could ultimately mean for the survival of future generations. Coffee, a must-have drink in most western countries, could soon become a luxurious rarity. Already many coffee bean producers are having trouble with harvests because of extreme drought and rain periods caused by climate change. Some of the world’s major staple food regions will in less than one generation be unable to produce food for ten billion hungry people if water shortage and desertification continues at the current pace.

Dr Florian Schierhorn, research associate at the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies, cites latest research showing maize yields in the world’s major breadbaskets under increasing pressure worldwide as a result of climate change. 

Photo by Zetong Li on Pexels.com

We are an integral part of nature

It is part of modern man’s delusion that he sees himself as external to nature, failing to realize that he/she is an integral part of creation and that the way he lives, impacts and shapes the world. The bottom line: If we don’t change the way we live, think and what we believe, we as a civilization will not survive the next century.

But all hope is not yet lost. A crisis is always a wake-up call that something needs to change. In 1987 the world signed the landmark Montreal Protocol phasing out the production of ozone depleting substances. A report in nature magazine reveals that if nothing had been done, many of the world’s plants would have disappeared by today, destroyed by harmful UV rays piercing through the earth’s protective ozone layer.

So, if humanity could do what it did it 1987, why has it so far lost at least 15 years in seriously addressing climate change? The reason is that a large portion of educated, well-meaning and decent people are being brainwashed by grievance culture that thrives on rage, negativity, and hate. We are finding ourselves in an era where values and common norms of decent behaviour and kindness have fallen by the wayside. The basic tenets of science are being questioned with the environmental and climate protection movements becoming part of the culture wars.

The big brainwash of grievance culture

Negative news sells and generates advertising revenue. The tabloids, and the Twitter feeds are constantly feeding the minds of millions of people around the world with “junk” and false information. If we feed our bodies with junk food we will become ill and it is the same way with feeding the mind. A mind constantly in anger, fear, greed and anxiety will eventually also impact the physical body.

If your mind has been hijacked by toxic emotions, you are unable to reflect and think rationally. If you are fearful your instinctual or reptilian survival mode part of the brain will have been triggered into fear and flight mode. You will believe the strangest of conspiracy theories spun by the tabloids. One of the recent ones: Meghan Markle a sleeper agent of the U.S. government while another that Harry and Meghan were secret British agents wanting to recolonise America?!

Depression and anxiety has become endemic

It might be funny but there are people who actually believe what they read and want to believe. Depression and unhappiness has become endemic in our culture. It is human nature to compare with others. Millions of people feel deeply unhappy, a failure and inadequate if they cannot conform to the physical and material attributes of the rich and famous. Could this be one of the reasons why we are seeing so many suicides among teenagers who spend much of their time on social media and following the lives of “influencers”?

The mental health of the collective unconscious mind is under siege. More than ever before we need to teach ourselves and our loved ones on the importance of standing guard at the doorway to the soul. What serves me in a higher sense to become a happier, kinder and better human being? What interactions and conversations with my fellow human beings serve me and others and what do I need to stay away from?

Soul connection forms the essence of BEING. If you are connected to the essence of your BEING and you begin to realize that you are a unique individual, with unique talents and a unique purpose in life, you will begin to live a happier and far more fulfilling life.

The journey of life is a pilgrimage. When you have climbed a hill you realize that you are not yet at the end of your journey. There is another hill to climb, another valley to traverse. Another lesson to learn. Every crisis and a wrong turn in the road can also be an opportunity to turn back, to press the reset button and to start afresh.

Take a walk in nature to clear the mind and to realign body, mind and soul. Take a moment to reconnect with your breathing rhythm and connect that inhaling and exhaling sequence with the breath of life all around you. What do you smell, hear and see. Do you notice the harmonious cadence of the bird song, the fine texture of a leaf, the beauty of a flower growing from the crevice of a rock?

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” – Henry David Thoreau –

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

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by | December 6, 2022 · 4:26 pm

And the cow jumped over …

Hey diddle diddle,
The Cat and the Fiddle,
The Cow jump’d over the Moon,
The little dog laugh’d to see such Craft,
And the Fork ran away with the Spoon

A 16th-century children’s rhyme has us believe that a cow managed to jump over the moon, filling children going through difficult times with happiness and delight.

We can just imagine a stubborn and bored cow steadfastly munching grass in the same meadow every day of every year until something happens that changes her entire life when she tries something that she has never done before.

Be the cow that jumps over the mind

There is something the champions in our world do very differently from most other people: They have learned that their habits, mindset, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes determine the outcome of everything they do.

But most of us are caught in the treadmill of fixated beliefs and thought patterns. Albert Einstein refused to believe in the unpredictability of the world, saying:

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

As we begin to end another year, you might be frustrated about all those unfulfilled wishes and dreams you had at the beginning of the year.

Most intentions and vision boards stay dreams, because they are not followed up by action. One method of counteracting such a trap is by reverse engineering. Set an exact time and date by when you want to achieve something and then go back in time to the present day with a clear plan of action by when you want to do what.

Let us say you want to do more for your physical fitness to boost your health and metabolism, and at the same time losing a certain number of kilograms. Your target could be walking 10,000 steps per day in half a year. If you start walking 10,000 steps on the first day you will soon lose motivation. Start with small steps: 1,000-2,000 just to give you a kickstart, and then gradually increase that day by day.

The same applies to saving or getting rid of debt. Start by paying off the smallest credit card debt. Once you have achieved that you will be motivated to pay off the next credit card and then the next until you are finally free of debt.

Stress puts you into tunnel vision

A major obstacle to fulfilling your dreams and getting rid of old habits is emotional stress. If your body is regularly flooded by stress hormones such as cortisol you are permanently in fight or flight mode. Your body is programmed to survival and you will be in tunnel vision. You will be stifled in your creativity, missing out on opportunities that the universe is laying out right in front of you.

Monitoring how you breathe is one of the best methods of stress control. A stressed emotional body will breath through the upper chest and throat. Place one hand on your heart and the other hand on your lower belly. Try inhaling and exhaling through the nose at least twelve times, feeling the exhaling sequence deep down into your lower belly. Already you will feel your body and mind relax.

Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

Head mind or heart mind

The stressed head mind is constantly dancing in the past and future. It is fear based and often rooted in trauma and fear going back to some distant past. Grievance culture on social media feeds on toxic emotions of the head mind. These are all those feelings of hate, greed, regret and judgment. The opposite is heart mind. In our digital and media-based culture, the word “love” is used all too commonly in everyday language. The common definition is an “intense feeling or affection” for a person or a thing. The ancient Greeks had four definitions for the different types of love: Philia, Eros, Storge and Agape. 

  • Philia – the type of love found in strong friendships
  • Eros – the love found in romantic relationships
  • Storge – the type of love found in close family bonds
  • Agape – the highest form of love that is selfless and unconditional

The cow has decided to jump over the mind to reach the highest form of love that lies deep within the heart within authentic soul nature, liberated from external conditioning and programming.

Reino Gevers – Author – Mentor – Speaker

One more thing...If you have found this article interesting you might want to subscribe with the “follow” button above or recommend my FREE weekly Blog to friends and family. My books can be ordered at all places that sell good books in both paperback and kindle.

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