Cosmogony

Cosmogony
By: Arnold Keyserling & R.C.L.
Three Worlds, Cosmology, Evolution and Natural Symmetry












Semiotics shows the development of speech power, numbers and music the systemic frame of awareness; together they form the original code of the mind. But matter also follows the same structure by mathematical necessity. We live in three worlds, structured according to the dimensions:

Try and understand this concept by first considering the left row, then the right row, and only then the middle row. In this way the understanding mind can, so to speak, rely on its two feet to support the middle. The left row is spatial, the right row is temporal. Both go downwards as the descending rays of creation. The middle is the ascending ray of negentropy.

The left spatial ray of creation shows the involution of diminishing energy on a microcosmic scale controlled primarily by electromagnetism. Energy becomes more involved with matter and self organizes itself into ever larger and more constricted systems. Going from the zero to the fourth dimension energy becomes more symmetrical, diminished and predictable taking on the characteristics of solid matter. The microcosm world is unfathomably small, and is only visible to Man with microscopes.

The right temporal ray of creation goes down showing the dependency and interconnectedness of matter controlled primarily by gravity. The macrocosm pertains to size scales much larger than Man.

The middle mesocosmic row goes up as the counterpointal ascending ray to the microcosm and macrocosm. It shows the evolution of life forms of increasing complexity of Self Organization and decreasing symmetry. It pertains to information, number and language. The mesocosm is the size scale of the world of Man.

The quantum of action which begins the left spatial row has infinite potentiality and energy, but no extension. The first full step in the involution of energy into form is the Photon which has about a billion electron volts of energy.(1) It can travel in any direction, which can never be predicted, but it is submitted to the velocity of light, 186,000 miles per second. There is only one kind of Photon; it has unit spin and no charge.

Next are the Electrons which come in pairs with opposite spin to the other nuclear particles. While the exact position of an electron can never be predicted, even when it is trapped in an atom, its directions of travel are constricted by the shells of the atoms and by relations between the nuclear particles. The nuclear particles have half-spin and are charged either positively, negatively or neutral. The nuclear particles have more symmetry and less freedom than the Photon.

The next step in the scale is the atom. An atom has a nucleus and up to seven shells. The distance of the atomic shells follows the ratio of the central diagonal of the multiplication table. The simplest atom - the hydrogen atom - has about 10 electron volts of energy. There are around a hundred kinds of atoms with various kinds of chemical properties. Again the atoms have more symmetry and less freedom than the nuclear particles.

The final step in involution is the molecule. The average molecule has about 1/25th of an electron volt of energy and comes in three forms: metal, salt and crystal. It has total symmetry but comes in countless variety with many kinds of properties.

The molecular level is where the direction turns and life originates. With life consciousness begins an evolutionary trek backwards to less and less symmetry and more freedom. But where did all of the energy come from in the first place to begin the process of matter and then life?

Current scientific understanding of the origin of the material Universe in time is called the "Big Bang" theory. It is the creation story of the "Myth of Science", the dominant belief system of modern culture. The Big Bang cosmology is remarkably similar to the ancient Hindu origin myth known as the "Breath of Brahman". Under the Big Bang theory the current space-time Universe was created in a unfathomably large explosion which occurred about 15 billion years ago. At the moment of origin all of the Universe, all matter and energy, existed together in total order and symmetry, called by scientists the "Great Singularity". Then the Universe exploded in the Big Bang, or exhalation of the breath of Brahman, and all started moving away from each other as the directions and time began. The Great Singularity began to break up and space and the different elements began to be formed. With this first breath a countervailing rhythm of arithmetic expansion and geometric contraction began.

We are still in the early stages of the expansion of the Universe where all Galaxies are receding from each other at the speed of light. This is the exhalation of Brahman. Expansion occurs as arithmetical electromagnetic growth. At the same time the force of contraction grows with the geometrical growth of gravitation.

Under one theory the expansion of matter and energy away from the center explosion point is preceded by black spheres. Where they meet, the Galaxies originate fractally. Billions of galaxies have been and will continue to be formed as the Universe expands. Within each galaxy billions of stars then form. In one such galactic arm, the Milky Way, our star the Sun is located. Around the stars planets are then formed and orbit the star. At this time it is not known whether all stars have planets, or only some, but it is known that many planets circulate around our star. The third planet from the Sun is our Earth. Most of the planets in turn have their own smaller bodies, or moons, which circulate around them. We have a single Moon which revolves around the Earth. This macrocosmic expansion process takes trillions of years, as billions of galaxies, stars, planets and moons are formed.



THE MYTH OF THE BIG BANG (a/k/a The Myth Of The Breath of Brahman)











Eventually the force of gravitational contraction will equal that of electromagnetic expansion. At that point the maximum size of the Universe will be reached, and the creative process wherein new galaxies, stars, planets and moons are formed will finally come to an end. The equilibrium point is the pause between the exhalation and inhalation of the Cosmic Breath. After that, the geometric force will begin to exceed the arithmetical, the direction will reverse, and the Universe will begin contracting. The inhalation of the breath of Brahman will begin. As all matter and energy converges, Black Holes will be created with greater frequency. Ultimately the entire Universe will be drawn together again into a single point, a vast black hole into which all space-time will inhale. This final Omega Point, the end, may in turn produce another Big Bang wherein Brahman begins a new breath, exhales again, and a new Universe is formed. If the law of fractal recursiveness holds true, the new Universe will repeat certain basic forms, but it will do so with new and unique variations and differences.

Microcosm and macrocosm are not causes, but parameters of evolution. The world of Man between the macrocosm and microcosm is called the mesocosm. Here living consciousness evolves into progressively higher levels of complex Self Organization. It proceeds from the mineral world, to plant, animal, Man, up to the Great Singularity, the subject of the Universe, God. These are stages of expanding integration of consciousness into individual being. The stages parallel the involution of energy according to the dimensions.

The ability to organize comes from within the conscious being itself, and is not imposed on the being from outside forces. For this reason scientists call this the Self Organizing principal or Auto Poiesis. Although the inherent ability to self organize is not predetermined, or governed by outside forces, at each level its evolution follows the patterns of one of the four chaotic attractors.

Point like Attractor - Crystal.

Circuit/Cycle Attractor - Plant.

Torus Attractor - Animal.

Strange Attractor - Man.


0) - The highest stage, beyond even the higher Man, is merger with God, the great singularity beyond name and form, as the real subject of Being, through synchronicity, love, and illumination: reaching the eternal moment.












The four attractors create cosmos out of chaos. God is both their origin and aim. The quantum after reaching the molecular stage is a parcel of God. Thereafter it incarnates as a separate self organized entity on the Mesocosmic level.

Self organized consciousness evolves upward on the mesocosm. It starts in the crystal form with viruses and the genetic code. Then it ascends to greater degrees of conscious integration. Entities organize themselves into ever more complicated and ornate systems. Life forms evolve, adapt, and bring coherence to larger systems in new ways. Thus the Universe continues to evolve and change. With each stage of the evolutionary ladder of self organization one direction of symmetry is lost and freedom gained.

(4) - The crystal in the fourth dimension has complete symmetry. The Point Attractors allow the energy in inorganic molecules to self organize as organic molecules. In this way they cross the bridge from the microcosm of lifeless molecules and energy, to the mesocosm of living crystals. With crystals, both organic and inorganic, everything is attracted to a single point, all line up in perfect order. All three axes, up and down, right and left, front and behind are the same. The molecules are in perfect symmetric order. The microcosmical geometric structure is balanced by the Moon, the weather it produces, and the four states of matter: solid, fluid, gaseous or fire. At the crystalline level the essential code controlling all further life formation is created, the DNA/RNA life structure. Life then uses these crystalline forms of amino acids to grow in size by cellular division, by scaling and multiplication.

(3) - The plant looses one symmetry: the vertical, up/down symmetry. The cycle attractors allow the simplest crystalline life forms to self organize to a higher form of consciousness where greater freedom is possible. The top of the plants, the crown, differs from the roots, and the two are connected by the stem. Now, only the left and right and front and back axes of a plant remain symmetrical. This is called radial or cylindrical symmetry: two axes of symmetry. Trees alternate between seed and gestalt, with the axis of all plant life pointing to the earth, and its energy received directly from the Sun through photosynthesis. There is also a vertical flow back and forth, from the leaves to the roots and visa versa, according to the cycle attractor.

(2) - Under the influence of the Torus attractors the next stage in the evolutionary ladder was reached: the animal. The animal has again freed itself of another symmetry, the front/back symmetry, with front as nourishment and back as excrements. The front and rear of animals are different, as are the top and bottom, but the right and left of animals remains symmetrical. This is bilateral symmetry with one axis of symmetry. The animals feed on plants and each other, and are directed by the four drives: nourishment, fear, aggression and reproduction in the double frame of survival and species instinct. Animals follow the Torus attractor, they engage in complex behaviors and are dependent upon each other and the environment in multileveled ecological systems.

(1) - Around 11,000 years ago the first Neolithic Man evolved from Paleolithic animal Man. From that time on we have had the potential to shed the last right-left symmetry by taming the Strange attractors. (2)

Since the human life stage is so relatively new, we are still born with the animals right-left axis of symmetry and must strive to attain true Humanity. Although there are some differences in the symmetry of the human face, overall we are as left-right symmetrical as the other animals. But with our neocortex abilities, our capacities of language and number, we can self organize out of this last constraint.

One of the keys to self organization is the coherent application of chance to ride the strange attractors. In this way we can use both the brains we are born with, the left and right hemispheres of the neocortex. The left hemisphere, turned to the cosmos and structure is digital, linear. The right hemisphere, turned towards chaos and chance has its origin in the nine numerals, the archetypes of fractal scaling. Each should be allowed to develop fully, to be different and totally asymmetrical. When the right brain is as strong as the left, a higher identity is created. The higher self follows the Strange attractors, epitomized by Mandelbrot set, z z¾ + c, and also corresponding to the musical octave and the Tao symbol.

Most of us are still right left symmetrical because our left brain so totally dominates the right. We have to shift our emphasis from cosmos to chaos, from left brain dominance, to right brain balance. Then the right is not just an imitation of the left, it is different, unique. The last symmetry is gone and now the two asymmetrical sides can cohere in a new singularity. The ego, subject of the left hemisphere, becomes the organ of the Self in the right hemisphere. It attains this by establishing true contact with the Other.

Right brain coherence comes through receptivity to the workings of the Strange attractors, to constrained chance. In the moments when this is realized, when we are in a coherent flow with the unpredictable turbulence of the World, we have attained the birthright of Man. We have realized the potential to self organize to a higher stage of evolution. As a whole being, in touch with both sides of ourself and others, we transcend the left-right animal symmetry. With two fully developed, yet distinctly different brains, we are autonomous, asymmetrical, truly free from outside manipulation. We have attained a higher inner coherence, a self organization in the midst of chaos. To animal man we seem like Strange attractors indeed. On the surface, and in the moment, our actions may appear haphazard and foolhardy, but over time the wisdom and beauty of the Human Man will be apparent to all.


The five stages correspond to the dimensions and mind layers:

Zero dimension Awareness makes possible integration of the four dimensions and the four states of consciousness. It allows Man to enter the fourth dimension and gives him access to the fractal forces of the Strange attractors.

By moving from the left to the right brain in regression you can relive past lives, past evolution, back to the origin of the Universe in the Great Singularity, and the exploding force of the primal Fire-Quanta. This regression back to the original primal Quanta puts you in touch with the source of Self-Organization, the Power of CHI. This opens you to the energy and force needed to maintain coherence in the fractal chaos of the fourth dimension.



















Now let us look at all of the energies together which can be understood as an energy field of Cosmic Mind. The following correspondences appear in Cosmic Mind today to make up the basic Myth of Science. Myth is not used in a derogatory sense, as just a myth, but in the sense of a true belief system which gives meaning to life. Science has largely replaced the old religious myths which were in tune with the feudal and ideological structures of the past. The following chart summarizes the overall cosmology of the myth of science and shows the relation of the five layers and the seven constituent parts.

The radiation of the photons is awareness through seeing and sensing. The electromagnetic energy of the electron allows awareness through smelling and thinking; the thermodynamics of the atom through tasting and feeling. The fission of the Galaxy becomes conscious by the power of speech, of the spirit creating new entities out of entropy. The fusion of the sun is the basis of the synergy of the soul, interpretation and reading, the creation of meaning. The gravitational energy of the earth is accessible through the sense of touch.

The mathematics of the molecular forces represents the basic structure of the Will. With living forms Will is the capacity for growth and reproduction through the genetic code. The subject self organizes and grows based on the strange attractor. New beings arise through fractal scaling according to the overall structure of the Cosmic Mind using the energies and mathematics of sound, the molecular vibrations or movement of matter, soul and spirit. With Man this process of the growth of being using free will was described by Buddhists as the creation of the immortal Diamond Body or the Golden Flower. By using free will in tune with the Strange Attractor and the energies of sound, our associative consciousness can change into Cosmic Awareness. The subject moves like a fractal in scales from the lower self imprisoned in deep molecular sleep, to the transcendent light of zero synchronistic awareness. This is the final aim of evolution, making sense of life and becoming co-creators of the manifoldness of the Universe.

METHODS/EXPERIMENTS: Further background reading and reflection on these ideas may help your understanding of cosmogony and assist in your escape from the last bondage of symmetry. The ideas of the Big bang theory are well known, see for instance the beautifully illustrated book by Colin A. Ronan The Natural History of the Universe. The ideas presented here on the corresponding dimension levels in the microcosm and mesocosm, evolution and change in symmetry are presently not as well known. These important insights were discovered by Arthur M. Young, the inventor of the Bell Helicopter. He founded the Institute For the Study of Consciousness in Berkeley, California and has authored many books on this and related subjects, see for instance his work: The Reflexive Universe: Evolution of Consciousness. His ideas on symmetry and cosmology represent a major breakthrough in scientific thinking. An earlier pioneer in this field is D'Arcy Thompson with his book On Growth and Form.

For more information on the rapidly expanding discoveries concerning Self Organization, see for instance Paul Davies The Cosmic Blueprint, Erich Jantsch The Self Organizing Universe. For a visual representation of the scaling of the universe, from the near infinitely small to near infinitely big, with Man's place in the middle, see the book: Powers of Ten by Morrison and Eames. There is also a film by the same name by Charles and Ray Eames available from Media Magic.

For Cosmogony to be meaningful, far more than intellectual understanding is required. There needs to be an existential apprehension of the dimensions on all three phases: micro, meso and macro. Here transpersonal psychology can help. Transpersonal psychologists have developed numerous regression exercises to allow a person to access the deepest levels of memory, even memories of times and events which occurred before they were born.

By using PrimaSounds and other tools and methods of guided imagery and active imagination, you can have a conscious transpersonal experience of: your past human lives, past pre-human lives back down through evolution, animal lives, dinosaurs, plant, first molecular life on earth, minerals, earth and moon formation, molecules, atoms, sun formation, electrons, photons, galaxy formation, quanta and even the Big Bang itself.

Through guided active imagination you can also have vivid experiences of future evolution projection: advanced intelligence, peaceful exploration of space, contact with the children of other suns, then other galaxies, up to the pause before Universe contraction, the final maturation of all beings in the Universe in a growing field of love, up to the black holes and the final omega point of cosmic-orgasmic unity of all with all, and then on to next Big Bang of a new Universe. Most regression exercises require a friend to assist you in the experiment, sometimes the guidance of a trained professional is necessary.

The new insights gained from Chaos research and fractals discussed in Chapter Two suggests that an alternative cosmology to the Big Bang theory, called the Infinite Universe theory, may receive further serious consideration and experimentation. Under this theory the Universe is like a fractal, it is infinite. No matter how close you look, how much you magnify, you will still find new smaller layers of form. Between any two numbers, no matter how close, there is an infinity of additional numbers. There is no building block, no ultimately small particle upon which the rest is built. There is only self similarity over scales spanning an infinity of ever smaller forms. In the same way no ultimately small elementary particle of matter may be found to exist. There may instead exist an infinity of ever smaller particles before the pure quanta of energy is reached. The same may hold true on the larger scale. There may only be ever larger clusters of galaxies and clusters of clusters, ad infinitum with no limit. If so, there was no Big Bang; the Universe would be infinitely large with no beginning point and no end


http://www.chanceandchoice.com/course-overview/cosmogony/

Healing Herbs & Spiritual Herbs

Healing Herbs
Comfrey Root
It is not known what makes some nettle plants absorb magical energy from the earth, but we are lucky they do. The strange, bright sheen on the leaves marks such plants. They can grow anywhere, even underground. However, the very same plant growing underground doesn't look like the same as it does on surface, but is more pale and grows weaker, instead.

Comfrey roots are used into healing purposes, both on surface and beneath it. To gain the beneficial effects of the plant, the roots must be grinded in mortar, and mixed with some sort of fluid, most commonly water. Some healers are known to use even resin or other sticky plant-parts in conjunction with comfrey-mass. Once ready, the gained concoction is put into a container that can be easily accessed and is lightweight to carry, usually into a glassbottle.

In times of need, internal usage of the comfrey-mass should be avoided completely, for this may or will be fatal to the imbiber. Instead, the salve should be spread across the damaged area of the user's body, i.e. broken bone or minor laceration.

Even though this quite useful plant is somewhat common around the world, it is still priced very often for it's general healing ability.

Glowing Nettle
Small plants that sparkle of their own accord, glowing nettle contains a magical energy that can be cannibalized for use in various healing potions.

Ember Flowers
Ember flowers are beautiful, sweet-smelling orange or yellow flowers. They have powerful healing properties that make them the essential component in the strongest healing potions and in resurrection balm. They are extremely rare.

Spiritual Herbs
Holly
This thorny green plant with the red berries is renowned for its usefulness in naturalistic rituals and alchemy. It is highly poisonous, and yet, in small quantities and properly treated, can make curing potions as well.

Crypt Shrooms
A rare variety of mushroom used in some poison and energy potions. Studied by Cochran of the Tower of Magi.

Asptongue Mold
A rare, dangerous mold, used in the creation of the most powerful poisons.

Energetic Herbs
Wormgrass
Wormgrass is twisted, wicked-looking, and defends itself with razor sharp edges. The youngest, freshest, sharpest blades are valuable in alchemy.

Unique Herbs
Toadstools
One of many poisonous varieties of mushroom. Toadstools are scattered throughout the land, which contributes to their diversity.

One extremely rare species of toadstool is the Borgia toadstool. It is native to the lower caves.

Graymold
Graymold is a sweet smelling, slimy, dark gray mold. Because of its scarcity and ability to cure almost any illness or injury, it is constantly in demand by healers and alchemists. It is best known for its use in graymold salve, though it is also used in other powerful potions. It is usually only found underground, but has been known to appear in isolated crags on the surface.

Mandrake
Since the earliest dawning of magical power, mandrake root has been the key ingredient of the most powerful rituals. In addition to containing much energy waiting to be unleashed, proper treatment can turn mandrake into a vicious poison.

Animal Part Ingredients
Fangs
Fangs and glands from asps, spiders, and even drakes are sometimes used in the creation of poisons. Intact sets are hard to come by, as most venom sacs rupture soon after a creature dies. Fangs from especially strong, magical creatures, such as spider queens and drake lords, are particularly valuable.

Retrieved from "http://encyclopedia.ermarian.net/wiki/Alchemical_ingredients"

The Magic of Five Seconds of Silence

The Magic of Five Seconds of Silence

You have heard that "silence is golden," right?

There are many teachers of the power of silence and you can buy books about the benefits of silence.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls."

Many of us spend our lives waiting to speak, forming our words, anxious to respond, ready to answer instantly when another stops speaking.

Today, as I was talking with one of my beloved spiritual partners, I suddenly felt a prompting to purposefully practice five seconds of silence before responding to my partner's statements. I suggested this to my partner and we both began to observe the five second rule.

The results were profoundly amazing - so amazing that we both became giddy with joy.

During those five seconds of silence, we experienced peace and a connectedness to spirit that I had not experienced before. Those five seconds of silence felt like pure consciousness, an acute awareness of my spiritual self.

We both became the Observers of ourselves, watching as our consciousness shifted and our energy vibrations were raised.

We began to giggle as we talked about how others would react to us if we began to exercise our new power of silence by pausing for just five seconds before responding to another's words.

Just five seconds.

We realized that during those five seconds of silence, we were in a state of allowing, receptive to Divine guidance, without the necessity of racing to be ready to speak immediately.

It is so simple, yet not easy to do. Can you imagine?

If you observe just five seconds of silence in a conversation on the telephone, others will respond with, "Are you still there?"

And if we practice our five seconds of silence with friends and family, they will say, "Did you hear me?"

And we can respond with, "Yes, I am here... Yes, I hear you... I am simply observing five seconds of silence before I respond."

Perhaps they will hear the peace in your voice or see the joy in your face as you begin to practice the art of truly listening, knowing that in your five seconds of silence you are in a state of receiving, trusting that your next words will be perfect and Divinely guided.

Try it! Simply pause to observe five seconds of silence before speaking in any conversation. Watch the shift in your consciousness and observe the peace that washes over you.

That is the magic of five seconds of silence.

http://www.whatismetaphysics.com/powerofsilence.html

About Koi Fish Symbolism

About Koi Fish Symbolism
The koi is an ornamental carp and there are at least 14 different classifications of koi distinguished by their color and markings. Many people believe that the koi originated in Japan; however, much of the ancient historical accounts place China as the first home to the koi fish. This fish has been used as a feng shui symbol and cure for thousands of years. Feng shui principles state that the koi is auspicious and attracts prosperity and abundance.

Koi Attributes
Regardless of its origins, the koi is a prominent symbol of feng shui. Many of the attributes of the koi symbolize several lessons and even trials individuals often encounter in life. The koi fish has a powerful and energetic life force, demonstrated by its ability to swim against currents and even travel upstream.

In fact, one of the oldest Chinese legends tells about a brave koi that fought its way upstream to reach the Longmen's Dragon Gate, a series of caves in the mountainside bordering the Yi River. The fish endured many hardships and overcame innumerous obstacles, but its tenacity helped it to be victorious. Its reward when it finally leapt over the falls at the gate was the transformation from a simple carp into a magnificent dragon god.

Koi as a Chinese Food Source
No symbol in the Chinese culture has a singular meaning behind its status, especially when it comes to feng shui symbols. The koi has a varied background of how it was elevated to the symbol status of being auspicious. One of the things to remember is that in less modern times, the koi was a vital part of the Chinese diet. The farmers raised the fish in their rice fields in a perfect ecosystem. The fish provided fertilizer for the rice crops while the aquatic life found in the rice fields sustained the koi.This is a good example of the balance in life that the koi represents. When times became hard, often during the winter months, the rice farmers would survive by eating the highly nutritious koi. Some feng shui experts believe this history of the koi and its importance in sustaining the Chinese people first as a fertilizing source for the rice crop and then as a direct food source was the beginning of the koi becoming a symbol of prosperity.



The koi is used in feng shui as various symbols. The most prominent one is as a bringer of good fortune, wealth and prosperity. If you wish to be successful in your career, or if you need courage when asking for a promotion, a koi symbol will imbue you with the fish's positive attributes.

Good Luck: The koi is a tried and true symbol of auspiciousness. If you're in search of a good luck symbol then this colorful carp is the perfect choice.
Wealth and Prosperity: If you wish to draw wealth and prosperity to you and your family then buy seven red carp and one black one. The number eight is an auspicious number of prosperity. The black fish will attract and absorb any negative luck destined your way.
Auspicious Happiness: The official symbol of auspicious happiness is that of a young boy holding a carp. The fish is vital to the Chinese culture and the symbol is often combined with other good luck symbols.
Decorative Symbolism: Red envelopes presented as wedding gifts, birthdays, and on New Year's Day are typically decorated with colorful koi often highlighted with gold.

History of Hajj

Hajj literally means ‘to set out for a place’. Islamicly, however, it refers to the annual pilgrimage that Muslims make to Makkah with the intention of performing certain religious rites in accordance with the method prescribed by the Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.

Hajj and its rites were first ordained by God in the time of the Prophet Abraham and he was the one who was entrusted by God to build the Kaaba - the House of God - along with his son Ishmael at Makkah. God described the Kaaba and its building as follows:

“And remember when We showed Abraham the site of the [Sacred] House [saying]: Associate not anything [in worship with Me and purify My House for those who circumambulate it [i.e. perform Tawaaf] and those who stand up for prayer and those who bow down and make prostration [in prayer etc.].” (Quran 22:26)

After building the Kaaba, Abraham would come to Makkah to perform Hajj every year, and after his death, this practice was continued by his son. However, gradually with the passage of time, both the form and the goal of the Hajj rites were changed. As idolatry spread throughout Arabia, the Kaaba lost its purity and idols were placed inside it. Its walls became covered with poems and paintings, including one of Jesus and his mother Maryand. Eventually over 360 idols came to be placed around the Kaaba.

During the Hajj period itself, the atmosphere around the sacred precincts of the Kaaba was like a circus. Men and women would go round the Kaaba naked, arguing that they should present themselves before God in the same condition they were born. Their prayer became devoid of all sincere remembrance of God and was instead reduced to a series of hand clapping, whistling and the blowing of horns. Even the Hajj call was distorted by them with the following additions: “No one is Your partner except one who is permitted by you. You are his Master and the Master of what he possesses.”

Sacrifices were also made in the name of God. However, the blood of the sacrificed animals was poured onto the walls of the Kaaba and the flesh was hung from pillars around the Kaaba, in the belief that God demanded the flesh and blood of these animals.

Singing, drinking, adultery and other acts of immorality was rife amongst the pilgrims and the poetry competitions, which were held, were a major part of the whole Hajj event. In these competitions, poets would praise the bravery and splendor of their own tribesmen and tell exaggerated tales of the cowardice and miserliness of other tribes. Competitions in generosity were also staged where the chief of each tribe would set up huge cauldrons and feed the pilgrims, only so that they could become well-known for their extreme generosity.

Thus the people had totally abandoned the teachings of their forefather and leader Abraham. The House that he had made pure for the worship of God alone, had been totally desecrated by the pagans and the rites which he had established were completely distorted by them. This sad state of affairs continued for nearly two and a half thousand years. But then after this long period, the time came for the supplication of Abraham to be answered:

“Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own, who shall recite unto them your verses and instruct them in the book and the Wisdom and sanctify them. Verily you are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” (Quran 2:129)

Sure enough, a man by the name of Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullaah was born in the very city that Abraham had made this supplication centuries earlier. For twenty-three years, the Prophet Muhammad spread the message of monotheism - the same message that Abraham and all the other Prophets came with - and established the law of God upon the land. He expended every effort into making the word of God supreme and his victory over falsehood culminated in the smashing of the idols inside the Kaaba which once again became the universal centre for the worshippers of the one True God.

Not only did the Prophet rid the Kaaba of all its impurities, but he also reinstated all the rites of Hajj which were established by God’s Permission, in the time of Abraham. Specific injunctions in the Quran were revealed in order to eliminate all the false rites which had become rampant in the pre-Islamic period. All indecent and shameful acts were strictly banned in God’s statement:

“There is to be no lewdness nor wrangles during Hajj.” (Quran 2:197)

Competitions among poets in the exaltations of their forefathers and their tribesmen’s’ achievements were all stopped. Instead, God told them:

“And when you have completed your rites [of Hajj] then remember God as you remember your forefathers; nay with a more vigorous remembrance.” (Quran 2:200)

Competitions in generosity were also prohibited. Of course, the feeding of the poor pilgrims was still encouraged as this was done in the time of Abraham, but God commanded that the slaughtering of the animals which was done for this purpose should be done seeking the pleasure of God rather than fame and the praise of the people. He said:

“So mention the name of God over these animals when they are drawn up in lines. Then, when they are drawn on their sides [after the slaughter], eat thereof and feed the beggar who does not ask, and the beggar who asks.” (Quran 22:36)

As for the deplorable practice of spattering blood of the sacrificed animals on the walls of the Kaaba and hanging their flesh on altars, then God clearly informed them that:

“It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches God, but it is Taqwaa (piety) from you that reaches Him.” (Quran 22:37)

The Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, also put a stop to the practice of circling the Kaaba in a state of nudity and the argument that the pagans put forward to justify this ritual was sharply rebutted in God’s question:

“Say: Who has forbidden the adornment [i.e. clothes] given by God which He has produced for His Slaves?” (Quran 7:32)

Another custom which was prohibited through the Quran was that of setting off for Hajj without taking any provisions for the journey. In the pre-Islamic period, some people who claimed righteousness, having total dependency on God, would travel to perform Hajj begging food the whole journey. They considered this form of behavior a sign of piety and an indication of how much faith they had in God. However God told mankind that to have sufficient provisions for the journey was one of the preconditions for making Hajj. He said:

“And take a provision [with you] for the journey, but the best provision is piety.” (Quran 2:197)

In this way, all the pre-Islamic practices, which were based in ignorance, were abolished and Hajj was once more made a model of piety, fear of God, purity, simplicity and austerity. Now, when the pilgrims reached the Kaaba, they no longer found the carnivals and the frolic and frivolity that had once occupied the minds of the pilgrims there before. Now, there was the remembrance of God at every step and every action and every sacrifice was devoted to Him alone. It was this kind of Hajj that was worthy of the reward of paradise, as the Prophet said:

“The reward for an accepted Hajj is nothing less than paradise.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/663/

Persevere

Persevere with all your might
Persevere and put up a fight
Persevere and do what's right
Persevere through the night
Persevere through the pain
Persevere through the rain
Persevere and you will gain
Whatever is on your mind.

Sufism

Sufism

http://www.deepspirits.com/spirituality/sufism/

The word Sufi somes from Arabic and means pure, as in pure from differences and distinctions. In Persian sufi means wool, hence the supposition that Sufis were named by their woolen garments. Al-Rudhabari combined the two meanings defining the Sufi as 'one who wears wool on top of purity'. The Sufi path rises above the I, me, he or she, and as such it is also above gender issues.



"What is a Sufi?
One who does not separate himself
from others by opinion or dogma;
and who realizes the heart as the Shrine of God.
What does the Sufi desire?
To remove the false self and discover God within.
What does the Sufi teach?
Happiness.
What does the Sufi seek?
Illumination.
What does the Sufi see?
Harmony.


What does the Sufi give?
Love to all created things.
What does the Sufi get?
A greater power of love.
What does the Sufi find?
GOD.
And lose?
self"

Hazrat Inayat Khan

According to the traditional Sufi view, Sufism (or tasawwuf) and its teachings were passed on from teacher to student through the centuries, since Muhammad. Some call Sufism the inner mystical dimension of Islam. It aims to repair the heart and help it on its journey to the divine. Someone practitioning the tradition of Sufism is called a Sufi or Dervish.


Sufi Teachings & Beliefs
To overcome beliefs and disbeliefs by self realization;
Never to be enslaved to principles;
Best moral is love and praiseworthy is beauty;
To be pure from distinctions and differences by merging in the One;
Wisdom is the true religion;
Harmony is in justice, justice being in reciprocity;
Music is food of the soul and source of all perfection.


Sufi Practices
Common spiritual or mystical practices include Sufi Whirling (or Sema), Dhikr (Chanting), Muraqaba (Meditation) and Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music.

The Five Spiritual Powers

The Five Spiritual Powers ...Sarah Doering
IMS Dharma Talk / Three Month Retreat / October 1999
www.Dharma.org

[Sarah Doering has had a long association with the Insight Meditation Society and with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. On both boards for many years, she has been a devoted practitioner of insight meditation, and has been teaching at IMS for the past several years. Sarah is currently one of the resident teachers at the newly opened Forest Refuge.]


For forty-five years after his enlightenment, the Buddha wandered about northern India teaching. He spoke publicly as many as ten thousand times. But he was not teaching in order to argue philosophical theories. He was teaching for one purpose only: to bring to an end all the suffering which he saw around him.


The assumption underlying all his teaching is that we don’t have to be the way we are—that all the sorrow and pain and grief and fear that we all know is not necessary. It can be eliminated. New ways of being can be cultivated. He taught so that we may know not suffering, but happiness and peace. These teachings are trainings for a spiritual way of life. This means a way that is real and true, and beneficial for all beings, both now and in times to come.


Tonight I want to speak about five qualities of heart and mind which are known as the “five spiritual powers.” They’ve been called “five priceless jewels,” because when they’re well developed, the mind resists domination by the dark forces of greed and hate and delusion. When the mind is no longer bound by those energies, then understanding and love have no limits. These five powers are also called the “controlling faculties.” When they’re strong and balanced, they control the mind, and generate the power which leads to liberation. The five are faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom.


When I first heard this list, I was puzzled. I come from a Christian background. Faith seemed, of course, exactly right to be there. Wisdom, too, belonged on the list. But the others—effort and mindfulness and concentration—sounded very clinical and psychological and dry. Where, I wondered, was love? I did not in any way understand then that the cultivation of these five factors leads directly to love. They’re all necessary. They all work together and interweave very closely.


Faith—which here means trust and confidence in the Dharma—inspires an outpouring of energy. When energy is strong, then the effort to be alert and pay attention is easy. Mindfulness prospers and becomes more and more continuous. The stronger the continuity of mindfulness, the more focused and steady the mind. Concentration grows. As concentration deepens, in the stillness of an attentive mind, wisdom emerges. It’s the wisdom of emptiness, whose only expression is love.


FAITH


The first of the five faculties, faith, actually is a rather suspect word today. The most conspicuous examples of faith are in the various extremes of religious fundamentalism, where faith is often a coercive force, a force which is used to control insiders so that they’ll stay within the confines of the faith. It’s also a force that’s sometimes imposed upon outsiders in order to encourage them to believe. But faith in the sense that I want to speak of tonight has nothing to do with force. It has nothing to do with conventional belief. It’s an innocence of conviction, an open heart that is not afraid to trust, and so can move beyond the known. It senses the possibility of transcendence—that what seems to be, isn’t all there is. It senses that there’s some profound human possibility to be realized, even though it’s not immediately apparent.


Such faith is born in experience. It can’t be given. It arises spontaneously, out of seeing and knowing for oneself. From it flow devotion and gratitude and commitment. It’s a natural self-giving. It stems from knowing the problematic nature of life, from realizing that human existence is very imperfect. Because of this one is sensitive to what else might be, to some other way of being. Faith may arise from hearing the Buddha’s words that say there’s a cause for suffering, a cause that can be removed so that suffering comes to an end. It may arise from seeing someone whose presence, whose manner or words, are so compelling, that they suggest possibilities not at all understood. It may come from reading something that suddenly reveals a meaning that speaks to the heart. It may dawn through music or art or, as happened to me, from a glimpse of something seen in nature.


Each of us has our own story, which brought us here tonight. No one here is without faith. You came in response to an attraction to some wordless possibility—some possibility of discovery, of change, that’s implicit in these long weeks of silence. Faith is critical for a spiritual journey, for it’s through faith that we move from the known to the unknown. Without faith, not much is possible in any endeavor. If there’s no end goal which we particularly value, or if we lack faith in our own strength and ability to get to it, we tend to stay in a rut. We don’t go much of anywhere.


When faith first dawns, the mind is filled with brightness and love and devotion. But faith that’s new is vulnerable. If it meets a skeptic who doubts, and has many views and opinions, faith wants to run away and hide. At least I did, in those years. Because the source of faith is outside ourselves, we’re very dependent on its not changing in any way at all. But gradually faith is internalized. We see for ourselves that the teaching works. We discover that we can sit with physical pain and not be overwhelmed. We begin to taste the happiness of a concentrated mind. Faith deepens, and gives the courage to go beyond our former limits. We begin to allow ourselves to feel more of what we’re feeling. So much of what we feel, we close off, because we fear the pain will be too much to bear. But faith that’s been tested in the crucible of experience comes to know that even in the midst of suffering, there is calm.


When we meet difficulties, faith gives the courage to go on. It’s important to note, however, that faith is very different from hope. Hope is for a specific outcome. Hope is associated with expectation and desire. If hope is disappointed, sadness and fear or anger are the result. Faith is different. It’s trust in the ongoing process. It’s confidence that we can handle whatever comes—for in faith, we can. It’s knowing that each step we take is an unfolding of our life’s journey, even if we don’t know at all where we’re going.


Faith in the truth of the Dharma, by its very nature, implies faith that we have the ability to realize that truth. The whole movement of deepening faith is inward, toward more and more trust in ourselves, more and more trust in the understanding and the love within our own hearts and our own minds. Faith has a very great influence upon consciousness. That’s why it’s the first of these spiritual powers. It removes the shadows of doubt that are so debilitating. It gives a clarity to the mind, which is energizing


EFFORT


Energy, or effort, is the second spiritual power. These two words are linked, but they’re not quite the same. Energy comes first, and effort channels it, and puts it to use. Nothing happens without effort in any kind of endeavor, but especially, perhaps, in spiritual practice. This practice isn’t easy. The instructions are simple, but carrying them out isn’t simple. To be with the breath, feeling it, knowing it, and not identifying with it; to be with an emotion, a mind-state, feeling it, knowing, not identifying; to be with sensations, thoughts, the whole spectrum of experience, seeing it clearly and dispassionately—such work is not child’s play. A lot of energy is expended here just to get out of the pull of habit, the kind of gravitational pull of the mind that would get us and keep us in the grooves of habit that have been worn over years of time. The mind is used to wandering, just erratically wandering from one thing to the next, keeping itself busy with planning and hoping and fantasizing, fearing, complaining, judging. It doesn’t even know that anything might lie outside of its own limited scope.


Right effort is the effort to be mindful, and to bring the mind back when it wanders, so it knows what is happening right now. To do this is really a very delicate balancing act. On the one hand, hard work is needed, in the attempt to keep paying attention. On the other hand, there’s nothing to do, because awareness is already present. It’s just that we’ve been distracted. Right effort is not striving. Striving leads to clinging. It reinforces the sense of self, and can be very painful. Right effort isn’t trying to get anything, for there’s nothing to get. It’s not trying to penetrate something and go deeper and deeper. Rather, it’s the effort to listen with greater sensitivity. It’s a soft receptivity. Just total surrender, receiving and welcoming whatever is here.


When effort is balanced, without any strain, there’s no sense of, “I should do this.” Rather, there’s just a willingness to do. Out of that willingness there comes a more and more constant flow of energy. This quality of energy is bold and courageous. A Pali word describes it as “the state of the heroic ones.” It gives patience and perseverance in the face of difficulty. If pain arises, the heat of the energy burns away fear, and makes it possible to do what ordinarily is very difficult to do—to go right to the center of the pain.


There are many levels of effort. Like the gears of a car, one level leads to the next. But the key to them all is being willing to start fresh, to start all over again. At the beginning of each day, at the beginning of each sitting, at the beginning of each breath—to bring back the wandering mind and start fresh. As we become more skilled, effort becomes smoother and steadier, and mindfulness grows.


MINDFULNESS


Mindfulness is the third of the spiritual powers. It’s the one factor of mind of which we can never have too much. Mindfulness is the observing power of the mind, the active aspect of awareness. Mindfulness means not forgetting to pay attention, not forgetting to be aware of whatever is happening within us, around us, from moment to moment to moment. It’s a very subtle process.


When first we notice something, there is a fleeting moment of pure awareness, before the thinking mind jumps in. It’s a moment that’s nonverbal, pre-verbal. It has in it no thought. It’s a moment of seeing with very great clarity and no thought. The thing noticed is not yet separated out, but is simply part of the whole flow of the process of life. Perception then fixates on the thing, puts boundaries around it and labels it. Then the thinking mind jumps in, and the mind is back in its everyday mode.


Under ordinary circumstances, that first pristine moment of awareness is very brief, and it goes unnoticed. What this practice of mindfulness does is to prolong the moments of pre-verbal knowing. The effect of doing that, over time, is profound. It’s a kind of deep knowing which changes the way that we understand the world.


When mindfulness is present, it’s like an empty mirror. It sees whatever appears before it with no distortion. Mindfulness has no likes and no dislikes. There is no passion or prejudice to color what is seen. It knows things in the round, as it were—in their totality, just as they are.


The question, of course, is, “How can we come to such clarity?” “Interest” is the answer. Get interested in what’s going on. Krishnamurti once said that the way to watch thoughts is the way that you would watch a lizard crawling on the ceiling of a room. This seemed to me a very odd recommendation when first I heard it. I had no connection with it at all, until a few years later. Then I found myself on the island of Antigua, in the Caribbean. I had just arrived. It was late at night and I was half-asleep, but too tired to go to bed. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something moving on the wall. Attention woke up. It was galvanized. Now, what was moving was a lizard. It was a big one, maybe between nine and ten inches long from the tip of its tail to its nose. It was a dull, mottled brown. Nothing remarkable; it looked very ordinary. I sat, attention just riveted, as it climbed the wall, slowly crawled across the ceiling, down the other side, and then slithered out an open window.


The intensity of that brief little moment was so great that I can see every detail in my mind’s eye right now. Interest was amazingly total. Awareness was complete. There wasn’t a thought, an emotion, to disturb what was seen. All that was there was the seeing of each movement of this little creature from the moment it appeared to the moment it disappeared. Krishnamurti’s words came back into my mind then, and I knew exactly what he had meant. Interest makes the difference. When interest is there, awareness is total, and it’s effortless.


Now, the breath may not have the same compelling quality as seeing a lizard crawling on the ceiling, but the more careful attention we pay to it, the more we get into the habit of paying attention. Interest grows. Careful attention in itself creates interest, for it brings us close to experience—increasingly close, so that we see the texture, the detail, the remarkable wonder of experience. In the doing there comes a brightness and a vividness to things.


Emily Dickinson knew this quality well. She lived a very quiet life, saw few people, and spent most of her time alone in her room. Yet she was so attentive, and saw with such sensitivity and precision, that she could only sum up her experience in this way: “To live is so startling, there’s little time for anything else.”


Close attention opens the heart. When there is interest, real interest, there’s no judgment. Whatever appears is welcome. Acceptance is unconditional. Awareness has a benevolent quality, a friendly quality, about it, which leads to bodhicitta. This welcoming acceptance allows whatever comes to reveal itself in its fullness. Ultimately, mindfulness opens into the realm of the sacred. To speak of knowing things as they are, as they really are—what is that but spiritual talk?


CONCENTRATION


Faith… effort…mindfulness…The fourth spiritual faculty is concentration. Concentration arises naturally out of the effort to be mindful. It gives the power which makes mindfulness so effective. Concentration is often defined as “one-pointed attention.” In the context of insight meditation, it is steady, one-pointed attention upon a succession of changing objects. Concentration keeps attention pinned down upon whatever object mindfulness is noticing. As mindfulness moves from, say, the breath to a sound, concentration moves with it, and again keeps attention focused and steady. In each case it lasts for just a moment, because the mind moves so quickly. But it begins again in the next moment, with the same intensity. This so-called “momentary concentration” provides the power for the work of our practice.


The key to developing concentration is one word: effort. It’s the effort to pay close attention, to keep coming back. Usually the energies of the mind are scattered in a thousand different directions. The mind is all over the place, and its energy is simply frittered away in random thoughts and desires, hopes, fears, feelings. All the huge potential power that it has is wasted. But as the effort to be mindful becomes more consistent, these scattered energies come together and converge around a single point, and the mind becomes focused, like a lens. If parallel rays of light fall upon a piece of paper, they won’t do much more than warm the paper. But if the same amount of light is focused through a lens, the paper will burst into flame. In the same way, concentration focuses the energy of the mind, and gives it the power to cut through surface appearance.


As concentration deepens, the mind becomes calm and centered. It’s less reactive. It comes into greater emotional balance. We can more easily let go and let things be. The mind has a spaciousness which gives room for pain and anger and fear all to arise and pass, without our being broken by them, or needing to act them out.


Concentration is very powerful, but it’s only a tool. Despite its astonishing power, it cannot of itself lead to wisdom. When it’s balanced with mindfulness, the two together cut through conventional reality, and understanding unfolds by itself.


WISDOM


Wisdom is the last of the spiritual qualities. It is ongoing inspiration for the work of the other four, and also their fulfillment. Wisdom is not knowledge. It cannot be learned from books, for it is intuitive understanding that arises from close observation of experience. It is insight into reality, into the nature of things as they are.


One aspect of wisdom is seeing the omnipresence of anicca—impermanence. Wisdom knows that nothing in this conditioned realm will last. It knows that everything that arises passes away. It knows that change occurs at every level from the cosmic to the microscopic. A star, a civilization, a tree, a thought—each arises, evolves through time, disintegrates and disappears. Timetables differ of course, for every phenomenon and event. And change can be so rapid—or so slow—that it is not ordinarily seen at all. But the trajectory is always the same. Whatever is, will be was.


We may think we know this truth, and perhaps we do. But is it living wisdom? For each of us, the mark of impermanence reveals itself most intimately in our inescapable mortality. We all are going to die. However unwelcome that thought may be, death is at the end of every life. You and I are no exception. Everything that is born will die. But because we do not live our lives from this place of understanding, we suffer.


There is a constant clash between the nature of existence and our desires. In a world of radical change, we want permanence and security and enduring happiness, and they cannot be found. We live in an imaginary world, and grasp and cling to the way things used to be, or how we want them to be, and find it hard to accept the way they actually are. The result is dukkha—suffering, all the dissatisfactions and sorrows of the human heart. Dukkha is the second truth, which wisdom more and more deeply comes to know.


But the deepest lesson that wisdom has to teach is the fact of anattà—the fact that nothing is inherently substantial and real. We think that we are separate, solid entities, and struggle to protect and satisfy and gratify our precious sense of self, not understanding that at the closest level of examination, no permanent, unchanging self is ever to be found. The constituents of mind and body are, in fact, in constant flux. Body, sensations, thoughts, emotions, arise and disappear, arise and disappear, moment by moment by moment. Keen observation reveals that mind and body are an ever changing process, a moving energy field. There is no permanent being behind phenomena to whom it all is happening. There is no one here to suffer. A Sri Lankan monk summed this fact up very simply: “No self. No problem.” Yet this truth is baffling, and eludes us until the mind is purified.


The doors of perception are gradually cleansed as the spiritual powers gather strength. Mindfulness sees ever more deeply, and greed, hate and delusion diminish. Our endless likes and dislikes thin out and fall away. The confusion that clouds perception begins to dissolve. We glimpse the interweaving laws of impermanence, suffering and selflessness, and the knowledge is transforming. The way that we understand ourselves and live our lives begins to change.


We don’t hold on so much, and make fewer demands upon existence. We begin to relax, and ease more into the flow of things. We can delight in the good things of life when they are present, and accept change without protest when they end. The heart opens wider as it learns there is nothing to lose…


The sense of self lessens. We become less selfish, less self centered. As mindfulness reveals our dukkha and we experience its pain, we begin to feel the suffering of others. Boundaries disappear, and we turn to the needs of others as if they were our own. Gradually the delicate art of loving without possessing becomes apparent—the art of how to care, yet not to care. There is a growing sense of similarity, of oneness, of communion with all—which more and more means that the only possible response is concern and care for all.


Wisdom is very hard won. It comes from facing our own suffering and learning the profound lessons that suffering has to teach. The lessons are all about letting go. Not holding on to desire, but letting it go. Wherever we hold, the sense of self is present together with suffering. When we let go, self vanishes and suffering dissolves into lightness, ease and peace.


It is in the deep understanding of suffering that compassion comes to full bloom. For when the heart/mind no longer holds to anything, it is fully open. There is no self-centeredness and so, no separation. No I, no you. Love then is boundless, and ceaselessly responsive.

What is an ion bracelet?

What is an ion bracelet?

The ion bracelet is a balance bracelet that contains mineral ionizers. The Tourmaline Bracelet, for example, is a processed combination of silicone rubber, titanium, tourmaline (a silicate mineral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourmaline), and ceramic. The Tourmaline Bracelet closely resembles the Rayma bracelet. The only difference between the two is that the Rayma bracelet simply contains “special metals” which contain alternate types of mineral alloys. However, despite their differences in composition, these bracelets, along with almost all other ion bracelets, work on the exact same principles. These bracelets (along with necklaces, rice cookers, washing machines…) are primarily a product of Japan and are one of the numerous products associated with using “minus-ions.”


What does an ion bracelet do?

The purpose of the ion bracelet is to reduce pain and restore bodily energy. Golfers, for example, may use a bracelet to help relieve stresses in their wrists, which enables improvement of their golf swing.

How is the ion bracelet supposed to work?

The bracelet uses yin-yang therapy and what is known as the “autoinduction principle.” According to bracelet advertisers, the yin-yang ideal works by giving off specific alternating electrical currents (like your wrist). The currents are composed through different interactions between positive and negative ions.

Positive and negative ions are found everywhere—from the air, to the ground, and in our bodies. In salts, such as common table salt, sodium chloride (NaCl), the molecules are connected with ionic bonds. Once the bond is broken, (may it be through water, wind, or some other outside force) the salt forms a cation and anion. Cations are positively charged and anions are negatively charged ions. These different types of ions circulate all throughout our bodies and serve as everything from the constituents of our pH level, to chemical signals for proteins. (Tocci & Viehland, 1996)

According to advertisers, through the autoinduction principle, the bracelet absorbs the static electricity given off by the body in order to seek balance between these ions. Pain is caused by an imbalance when organs or tissues lose some of their energy. As energy is given off, it may fall within the bracelet’s range of frequency; then bracelet will give off an opposite form of energy. This process returns the organ’s or tissue’s energy to its original state, thus negating the pain.
http://healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu/TourmalineResearch.htm