Awareness, Action, Change: the name of the work system, which is based on the need to create an objective awareness of what needs to be changed, so that we then can act in a methodical, pragmatic way, leading to permanent change in our lives.
chakra: one of the seven energy centers in the human body, according to the Indian tradition. Each chakra contains a particular aspect of our spiritual power. The seven chakras are the root (base of the spine), sacral (just below belly button), solar plexus (self-explanatory; again at the front of the torso), heart (center of the chest), throat (also self-explanatory), third eye (center of forehead), and crown (very top of head).
channeled information: information received through channeling—bringing our awareness to a single point of focus to receive information from our intuitive side. It might be a sound bite of information about how to solve a problem, or in some cases a complete conversation, either vocal or visual.
faulty thoughts and faulty feelings: thoughts and feelings that seem to hold us back and take the joy, peace, and happiness out of our lives.
flaws in the Lens of Perception: the unique individual instances that distort what our senses pick up. The structure of a flaw can be considered as similar to a weed made up of a head on a stalk coming from a root. So if we cut off the head (only address the outer layer of the flaw), then the issue might be attenuated but not resolved. If we cut off at the bottom of the stalk, then on the surface we eliminate quite a bit (this could be akin to eliminating two or three layers of the flaw); however, the roots (the darkest part of the flaw) will still exert their influence.
Lens of Perception (LoP): how our senses distort what we see and hear. Some of the distortions we are conscious of, but others we are unconscious of.
Maslow’s Triangle: a model representing people’s needs. The original had five levels but was updated in the 1960s and ‘70s to incorporate cognitive and aesthetic needs. The base of the triangle represents human beings’ most fundamental needs for existence, which are air, food, water, and shelter.
From bottom to top, the levels are:
Biological and Physiological needs:
air, food, water, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.
Safety needs:
protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, etc.
Love and Belongingness needs:
friendship, intimacy, affection, and love—from colleagues, family, friends, romantic relationships
Esteem needs:
self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.
Cognitive needs:
knowledge, meaning, etc.
Aesthetic needs:
appreciation of and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.
Self-Actualization needs:
realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences
Transcendence needs:
helping others to achieve self actualization
(Taken from “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” by Saul McLeod)
Newton’s third law of motion: states that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
prana: the Sanskrit word for “life force” or “vital principle.” The Chinese call it qi (chi).
persona: the medium through which we present ourselves to the public; includes our personality, social roles (e.g., “parent” or “businessperson”), our “image,” our mannerisms, and our style of speech and clothing (Definition by Peter Shepherd, Trans4mind.com).
qi: also known as chi. Refers to the universal energy that surrounds and permeates everything. Used in conjunction with other words to form names for techniques using this energy, e.g., qigong, tai chi.
Qigong: qi means energy, our life-force energy (see prana above) and gong means skill, or craft. Qigong is the art or craft of working with and cultivating our life force energy with coordinated body postures, movements, breath, and meditation for health, spirituality, and martial arts training.
Reiki: composed of two Japanese words—rei, meaning “Higher Power,” and ki, meaning “life force energy”—Reiki means “spiritually guided life force energy.”
Renovatio Sutras: the original name of the spiritual and psychological expressions that came to me since 2004. I have used them to reshape my view of who I am and the world around me.
RoHun: an interpersonal therapy that utilizes an individual’s spiritual strength to facilitate healing and transformation. RoHun’s in-depth and thorough processes tap into the unconscious regions of the mind to bring to the surface and release negative thought constructs and emotions that restrict, limit, and continually sabotage the self.
roles that we play: our belief that the things that we do (e.g., job, parent, coach, friend) define who we are, thus preventing us from finding out who we are and limiting us. We believe in these roles so much that we can not see ourselves doing anything else, or if a role is removed from our life we can suddenly find that our self-identity is lost. I say that we “play” at these roles to help us understand that while we may perform them, they do not define us any more than the color of the socks we wear on a particular day.
Scalpel of Objectivity: the lack of attachment to what we are looking at that we need to bring into our awareness when we are observing our behavior. A scalpel has a very sharp edge and cuts through anything in its path almost without resistance. It does not differentiate muscle from skin, from organs—all part under its edge. While it might seem callous to look at one’s self this way, it is very important that when we hold the scalpel we are in our meditative energy. It is precisely this feeling that allows us to wield this objective edge without ending up chasing our own tails, digging ourselves deeper into a hole, or cutting ourselves into pieces.
Sisyphus: a king who was punished by the gods for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by being forced to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down when he had almost reached the top, repeating this action for eternity. From this we get the expression “Sisyphean,” meaning a task that is seemingly useless or interminable.
tabula rasa: literally “blank slate.” Refers to the idea that individuals are born without knowledge and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception. Supporters of the concept of tabula rasa generally disagree with the doctrine of reincarnation, which holds that the individual is born already in possession of certain knowledge.
tenacity, fortitude, and willingness: the three key qualities that we need in order to walk our path. The courage to face what needs to be faced and not just what we want to face. The fortitude to keep going and not rest on our laurels. The willingness to look at our obstacles from a new perspective.
Wedge of Awareness: the space that needs to be created initially between our thought/feeling and subsequent actions, and then later on between our thoughts and our feelings. The feeling of peace and calmness that arises in a good meditation is the feeling that should be present when you are in your Wedge.