Beautiful People Profile...A friend for the Ages: Dr. Bernice D. Griffith of Fairfax, VA

"When nature (twilight) clips her curtain down and pins it with a star, remember that you have a friend, though you may wander far." It took me many, many years after my teacher signed my autograph book, paraphrasing and quoting Author Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942), to figure out just who the "friend" was that she had written about! I was only nine years old at the time, and I had no clue! Fast forward to many years later when I learned the TRUTH about the "friend." Yet, without a Soul to put to that "friendship," you will indeed wander far. It took me years to know the TRUTH about the friendship I have with God, and also to know the full TRUTH about the Spirit of Dr. Bernice D. Griffith, a friend I've had for "ages." You see, I met Bernice the first day of high school, Bishops High School, in Guyana, South America, where we were both born and reared. {Bernice is pictured, here and below, as a senior, in full "Bishops" attire!} There we were just *10 years old. We were getting ready for the "Big Time." We had both passed the British-administered examination, Common Entrance, to be allowed into the elite All-Girls School: Bishops. Competition for entrance was fierce, so if you'd made it to Bishops, you certainly felt you had a right to hold your head HIGH. We did. Both Bernice and I were excited to be joining our many other classmates in celebrating our victory on that first day. But she and I locked hands in a solidarity and friendship that has remained our bond despite the "passage of time" and our individual and discrete interests. Over the five years in high school, Bernice and I stuck "thicker than blood," until I left to begin my life in the United States. {Bernice is pictured in Center, plaid pants and black top, next to Che' on right. This was taken on Che's departure day at the Guyana, "Tamerhi," airport. Other teenage friends surround her on that day. The little guy is Che's nephew, Rocky, then two years old.} It was hardly the end of our friendship. Through those early years of separation, we persevered through the distance and trials of life and all our ups and downs, until Bernice eventually married and moved to the United States. Our paths took divergent courses, but the heart knows what it knows. In recent years we reconnected. Today my "little" friend, Bernice, is now Dr. Bernice D. Griffith, and a top radiologist at an organization in Fairfax, Virginia. Bernice D. Griffith, M.D., has achieved much success in her years in the United States, first graduating from Mount Sinai Medical School, New York, New York. She completed her residency in Radiology at NSUH/Cornell, Manhasset, New York, and received a Fellowship at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Throughout her years of accomplishments, one thing has remained constant about Bernice Griffith: her commitment to family, friends and truly the world at large. The only thing that supersedes that is...her LOVE of God! Bernice is the type of person whose faith runs like a "deep river!" She is not the type to spout scripture, or even claim to know God, except when it comes to FAITH, TRUST and LOVE! From the time we were "little girls," Bernice always has been the person who has reached out and grabbed hold of the "underdog." She always has been committed to "causes" that involve helping peope, and she's always willing to extend herself for those less fortunate. As for faith: have a problem or an issue... and the first words out of her mouth: TRUST GOD! Today, Bernice has fully evolved into the caring, loving and compassionate individual that she always had the tendencies and inclinations to be. She has lived a life of faith where God, working through her, has moved mountains...not only for her but also for others who have been blessed to cross paths with her. {Bernice all "decked out" for a teenage date.} Without a doubt, I'm delighted to know this beautiful, blessed woman. She shares laughter with a freshness and purity; she also is able to see beyond her world into yours. Bernice is one of those rare individuals who, as a child, had an "adult's eye," as she surveyed the world. She always knew the "right thing to do" to keep balanced in the midst of challenges. She always kept those "adult eyes," fastened on how, where and when, she could be of greatest comfort to those around her, and those many, many miles away. The world of patients who cross her path in her work as a radiologist truly are blessed by her commitment to EXCELLENCE in all that she does. Should you, as a patient, have a "positive read" on an Xray, I imagine Bernice telling you, right in that medical setting: Trust God! Bernice is divorced with one daughter, Candace. For her daughter, Bernice is a model of love, compassion and sharing. Candace now has the same tendencies to mirror these traits. For her sisters, Jacqueline and Bonita, she fills more than the role of "Big Sister": she is the mother and the sister/friend. Although our worlds may never again intersect in quite the same way as before, our hearts will always be interlocked in friendship and solidarity. I'll always know that "when nature (truly) clips her curtain down and pins it with a star," I do have a friend ... always "radiating" light and love towards me... Happy Birthday, friend. You are a friend for the ages: rare, loyal and true! (Bernice's birthday is on Wednesday, August 12! Send her birthday wishes!) May you continue to serve the world with the excellence and perfection you always strive for in ALL that you do! Namaste', Che' *NOTE: In Guyana, South America and many other former British colonies, children start Kindergarden at the age of three. We then are able to move into High School at a much younger age.

THEOSOPHY: “There is no religion higher than TRUTH!”

You’ve heard of Philosophy. You’ve heard of Theology. Now, you’re hearing about Theosophy.

This teaching is established on the simple truth that TRUTH is the supreme “religion” people should follow.

Yet, the “truth” may not be that simple or easy to discern.

What is Theosophy?

Theosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics.
In 1875, the Theosophical Society was founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891), along with Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge, among others. The teaching promotes that each religion has an aspect of the “truth,” and each attempts to help humans in perfecting the evolution of the species.

Theosophy also teaches that in their “higher selves” humans are immortal. But with their lower self, i.e. the physical, emotional and mental components, being unconscious of this state of immortality, humans decompose and die.


There were three clearly defined objectives delineated by the Theosophical Society as its purpose:

1. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color.
2. To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy, and Science.
3. To investigate the unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.

Beliefs

Theosophy promotes the belief that nature does not operate by chance. Every event, past or present, is part of a universal paradigm. Further, according to the teaching, everything, animate and inanimate, is part of basic building blocks, ultimately evolving towards Consciousness.

In Theosophy, humans are viewed as “Spirit,” called “The Monad,” or the Higher Self.
The Monad has awakened to the human state through myriad lives that progress from the mineral and plant to the various animal stages.




Theosophy, however, differs from other belief systems in that it does not believe regression is possible, i.e. human beings cannot incarnate as animals or plants again, having attained awareness of Selfhood. In addition, Theoosophy teaches that people are considered only as an epitome of spiritual/physical life on Earth. But humans are not the end stage of evolution; this continues through other life stages.

The natural progression beyond Life on Earth includes beings who were once ordinary men and women but have moved beyond their egocentric personalities to concern for the highest good of all beings on Earth.

Theosophy does not then promote the worship of Angelic beings, as these are thought to be beings in a higher stage of attainment. All humans are capable of such attainment, but the difference is through the changing of their current life focus, i.e. from the outer egoic Self to the welfare of all others.

This progression of course takes many lifetimes to occur, as so many beings who come to Earth become so enmeshed in the material aspects of existence.


The Teaching

In Theosophy, benefactors and teachers of humanity are thought to be men and women who have progressed to a stage on Earth where they have moved to an enlightened state beyond Selfhood. By their own actions and behavior while on Earth, these teachers affirm that it is the duty of human beings to follow a Path of self-emancipation from Selfishness to becoming one's own Savior. Atonement, it is believed, cannot be achieved through another’s action. That must be undertaken by each "being" manifesting on Earth.

To support this teaching, Theosophy promotes an immortal ethical life by offering a Heart Doctrine of ethical thought and action through which changes can occur.

History

The teaching traces its origin to no one specific source but finds a base in a compilation of universal striving for spiritual knowledge that existed in all cultures, especially India and Ancient Greece. The writings of Plato (427-347 BCE), Plotinus (204-270) and other neo-Plotinus also reflect Theosophical beliefs and teachings.

During the 1920s, membership and intensity in Theosophical Society was at its strongest with about 7,000 in the United States; today that number is less than 4,000. In India the number of members in the Theosophical Society exceeded 20,000, where the Indian National Congress was founded during a Theosophical conference and many leaders, such as M.K. Gandhi, were associated with Theosophy. Today, membership in the society has decreased to less than 13,000.

Current New Age teachings are said to have roots in Blavatsky’s teachings.


Base of Number Seven (The Septenary)
Theosophy and other such esoteric groups claim that the universe is ordered by the number seven. So, the reincarnating consciousness of our Monad (Spirit) manifests in one of seven forms***:

• The first body is called sthula-sarira : This gross and impermanent body is the lowest substance-principle, manifesting from the harmonious co-working on the physical plane of forces and faculties. These stream through their astral vehicle, or linga-sarira.

• The second body is called Linga-Sarira: This is the pattern or model through which the physical body flows or develops as it grows. This second body also is an impermanent model-body or astral body and is considered only slightly more ethereal than the physical body.


• The third body is prana: In theosophy, this is the breath of life. This life or prana works on, in, and around us, pulsating unceasingly during the term of physical existence.


• The fourth principle is kāma: Desire. This principle is the driving, impelling force. Born from the interaction of atman, buddhi, and manas, kama can be a force of good or evil, based on how it is used by the Mind and Soul. It provides the electrical impulses for our desires, and aspirations.

• The fifth principle is manas: Herein lies the home of the mentation and egoic consciousness. Manas is the human person, the reincarnating ego, immortal in essence, enduring in its higher aspects through the entire manvantara. When embodied, manas is dual. It gravitates toward the higher consciousness of buddhi, the intuitive mind, or towards the lower consciousness of kama , animal and aspects of personality.

• The sixth principle or vehicle is Buddhi : This is a vehicle of pure, universal spirit. It is considered inseparable from Atman, which is the highest plane. In man, buddhi is the spiritual soul! This facility allows us to discern between good or evil and also is the channel through which divine inspiration streams from the atman to the ego. The qualities of the buddhi awaken: higher judgment, instant understanding, discrimination, intuition, boundless love, and universal forgiveness.

• The seventh is called Atman: Self. This “IAM” consciousness. This pure consciousness is linked with buddhi and the other six-stages of manifestation, during incarnation . Because of this bond, atman may take on attributes of the lower aspects through the chain and linkage. For example, the buddhi is linked with manas; the manas is linked with kama; kama is linked to prana; prana is linked to linga-sarira and linga to sthula-sarira.


So even though according to Theosophy, "there’s no other religion but the TRUTH," the “truth” is not so easy!
But perhaps, while you’re manifesting your Beingness in the linga sarira, sthula-sarira or prana states, you just might get closer to it.

Namaste’,

Che’
***NOTE: These seven forms highlighted in Theosophy could be critically important in our understanding our lives and our ability to interact or not interact with another person. This is similar to the nine personality types highlighted in the Enneagram. I find this all FASCINATING. SO, for three consecutive weeks, beginning August 16, I will highlight how our life "form" may be affecting our experience and our ability to "all get along."

Book Review: "The Scapel and the Soul" by Allan J. Hamilton, MD

This was an Associated Press report filed on Sunday, June 7, 2009:

"BALTIMORE – At one of the nation's top trauma hospitals, a nurse circles a patient's bed, humming and waving her arms as if shooing evil spirits. Another woman rubs a quartz bowl with a wand, making tunes that mix with the beeping monitors and hissing respirator keeping the man alive.

They are doing Reiki therapy, which claims to heal through invisible energy fields. The anesthesia chief, Dr. Richard Dutton, calls it "mystical mumbo jumbo." Still, he's a fan.

"It's self-hypnosis" that can help patients relax, he said. "If you tell yourself you have less pain, you actually do have less pain."

Alternative medicine has become mainstream. It is finding wider acceptance by doctors, insurers and hospitals like the shock trauma center at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Consumer spending on it in some cases rivals that of traditional health care."

Then, there comes Dr. Allan Hamilton with his book, "The Scapel and the Soul," published in hardcover in March 2008 and in softcover in April 2009.

You may never have heard his name in metaphysical or spiritual circles, but let me share this with you: Dr. Allan J. Hamilton, a Harvard Medical School trained neurosurgeon, is a deeply spiritual guy!

As for his book, "The Scapel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural and the Healing POWER OF HOPE," Dr. Hamilton delivers spiritual insights of all the pros.


The only reason we may not have seen or heard this book being promoted as pervasively as others on all the major talk shows is probably because it is SO PROFOUND, SO REAL, that many hosts and others may have been SCARED to touch it.

It's THAT HOT!

Plus, it would inspire REAL fear in many, because the events are real. Indeed, some of the experiences, Dr. Hamilton recounts seem "surreal."

Then, they simply may have been INCREDULOUS! A REAL MEDICINE MAN, who once looked like a fully qualified "nerd," now sprouting things about the supernatural? Picture him!


Then, too, this is the first-time book by a guy who is still on staff as a professor of neurosurgery, as well as a clinical professor in the departments of Radiation Oncology and Pscyhology at Arizona Health Sciences Center. Hamilton also is a script consultant for neurosurgery for the television show, "Grey's Anatomy." "They" probably are still waiting to see his next step: into Metaphysics full-time and completely out of field of Medicine?

His Soul will dictate. But meanwhile...

"Profound" is not the word I would use to describe this book by Dr. Hamilton, which of course, came to me TOTALLY by happenstance. A better word would be "breathtaking!"


This book certainly took me by surprise.

I'd had it sitting for more than two months after purchasing it, "new" but at a discounted store for $2.99. I figured the title made it interesting to read "sometime."

Well that sometime came a few weeks ago, and once I started the book, I couldn't wait to get to my next reading session. It's one of those books that captivates your Soul.

First, you read that a psychic, for less than a dollar, had predicted that Hamilton would become a prominent doctor when he was a boy, even though he'd shown no signs of brilliance or medical inclinations. As you continued to read about his IMPROBABLE background in the military, and even as a janitor, you found his eventual rise into a stellar medical career truly fascinating...and yes...the work of the Supernatural!

Then, the first thing that strikes you is the refreshingly candid insights offered by Dr. Hamilton, throughout the book. He writes with a clarity, freshness and purity that comes from being TRULY committed to a key rule in Interpersonal Commuunications: "Become Other Oriented."

In case by case, Dr. Hamiliton shares with us the intimacies of the surgeon's thinking as he approaches the operating room, the fears and confidences he has, the practices...even SUPERSTITIONS...he follows before beginning surgery.

He held nothing back.

Allan Hamilton bares the SOUL of his work as a neurosurgeon, his passion and fears in surgery, the lack of sensitivity that often accompany the development of "muscle" to become a surgeon while a resident in medical training. With a candor that is surprising and absolutely rare, Dr. Hamilton does not spare his views of the insensitivities, arrogrance and grandiose behavior of his profession.

Because of this candor, you get the full picture of Dr. Hamilton as being truly authentic!

He gives some breathtaking accounts of delicate cases he worked on and recounts all the details that led up to the surgery, the drama surrounding the event, then, in some cases, the demise of the patient (s) after surgery.

At the end, you get a TOTAL picture of the details required to perform or not perform certain surgeries.

This is an IMPORTANT book!

Even though, as Hamilton clearly states, he has no training in spiritual matters, we cannot refute the EVIDENCE, the tremendous amount of evidence, that piles up in case after case recounted by Dr. Hamilton: life is more than meets the eye and there are realms beyond our current level of consciousness operating FULLY in our lives.

From the book cover:

1. A doctor discovers he can predict when a patient will die.
2. A clinically dead patient later recounts extraordinary details about the proviate lives of her caregivers.
3. A young burn victim remains in a coma until a ghost appears.
4. A physician needs the help of a Navajo shaman to exorcise the spirit of his dead patient.

These ALL sound like a book of Science Fiction.

And Science it is...as the illnesses and circumstances need Scientific guidance. But Fiction, it isn't... as ALL the stories are REAL and recounted by Dr. Hamilton in full details of how, why, when and where the incidences occurred and to whom.

Based on more than 30 years' experience, in the "The Scalpel and the Soul," Dr. Hamilton recounts these stories in vivid detail and also demonstrates the "elusive , evanescent powers of the soul."

In promotional materials for the book, the stories and the happenings would be recounted by many as "foolishness," or even "outright madness," but Dr. Hamilton saw the TRUTH in the details, he believed and shared them.

In this wonderful, powerful book, not only do you learn about the "delicacies" of neurosurgery and the medical profession, you also get real insight messages of your Soul.

Take a look!

Namaste',

Che'

Is the LOVE of GOD a disease? If so, let it 'kill' you!

I spent an extended period of time a few months ago in the company of and in conversation with a relatively young nun who'd given up her entire career with a major Accounting firm to join the monastery and to lead the monastic life.

She is very aware of all the happenings "out there." But she is articulate about her choice and is very definite in her knowing that the monastic path is not for everyone, only those who feel truly "called."

We talked about nuns who in the old days used to join the monastery to escape from other life issues, and we spent time talking about when you get THE CALL how and when you know it. Then as if on cue, an older ex-nun who lives nearby with her husband, dropped in and added to the conversation: she'd joined when she was 18 years old...and later realized that she was not "called" to serve in the monastic way.

It's a powerful life...this WALK WITH GOD...the trials and tribulations, which even the nuns don't deny. They, too, have daily challenges and tests of faith. Hearing their side of the story gave me some good insight into this path of "walking with God."


Even when you know that you know you could have chosen NO OTHER way, yet life keeps serving you lemons, your faith still can become sorely tested. Again. And Again. And Again.

Then there are those people who are looking on from the outside of those trying to walk diligently in their spiritual path. Some may even point fingers and mock others, asking without words, "Where is your God, now?"

If there are "devils," and "demons," these people, who taunt and provoke without words, are them! Oftentimes, too, it is the folks closest to others and whom they formerly held close and dear, who provoke them the most.

Without any compassion or sense of decency, some of the "devils" and "demons" may point and say, "Let your God deliver you NOW!"


For most people who feel called to serve God in some capacity, whether it is through a monastic life or simply by living life with a full Consciousness of Spirit navigating their way in the world, none would have chosen otherwise, even with the trials and tribulations.

If following Spirit and answering the call of God, indeed, the LOVE of God is a disease, many would pray to catch "it." Even more, they hope and pray that the "disease" of loving God "kills" them to their former ways of walking in the world, i.e. led by EGO.

It's like what the late Philospher Leo Tolstoy says in one of his lessons: "At the beginning of life, a person does not think that the spirit of God is enclosed in a body, believing his life is found in the body. The longer he lives, the more he understands that his true life is found not in the body but in the spirit!"


What is interesting, too, is that the more disruption that occurs in a person's life, the closer becomes his or her connection with God! It's as if, according to Marcel Proust," We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey no one can take for us or spare us."

The disruption occurs and continues so that prior ways of operating in the world are eliminated. There MUST be a break from seeing and being in the world with the intellect and EGO self BEFORE there can be a full connection to Spirit and a view of the world that comes solely from the heart.


Until we are able to walk in the world solely from the heart space and with a sure knowledge and comfort of a Partnership of God, then the eruptions and the disruptions truly DON'T make much sense.

It's critically important at those times NOT to give up and give into EGO! That's what it's willing and challenging you to do. But...DON'T!

That's truly the time that the "devils" and the "demons," too, can try to influence a person's spirit, if he or she is not strong enough in Faith. That is the time that the person is most vulnerable, too, to fall back into old ways and patterns of walking in the world; it's familiar territory and quite frankly, it's an easier walk IN the world.

Don't do it! Walk the walk of faith to the end. There is ONLY ONE purpose for our life and that is to discover, then uncover, then reveal, the Spirit of God walking in and through our lives in US and as US!

"Be ye not comformed to this world but by be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good , and acceptable, and perfect, will of God!" Romans 12:2



Let the devils and the demons have their way. Let them mock you and throw stones at you. You're strong enough to take it!


Of one thing you can be sure: God will never, ever leave your side! Yes, no matter what you may be going through, no matter how heavy the burden you may be carrying, God will not leave you to walk alone. He is in the midst of all you're g(r)o(w)ing through!


I heard one of Michael Jackson's friends, actually one of Debbie Rowe's and Michael Jackson's friends, say that "It's too bad it took his death for so many people the world over to realize what Michael Jackson meant to them."

Yes, sometimes, in life, it will take DEATH for many to be appreciated. But if, as those who are walking through the "valleys of the shadow of death" realize that God is forever at their side, then people's words, mockery and stones can never truly hurt them, unless they allow those words to creep into their Consciousness.


Jesus was the key example and set the standard for us all of human suffering, mockery and pain. Jesus also was the key example of the ability to rise above the pain and ultimately to be resurrected.


There are people like Michael Jackson, too, who were mocked and scorned in life,

but in death have become"larger than life."

Whatever you may be going through in this day, this moment, this time of your life, know that your day of Resurrection, too, is at hand.

"Never no mind," as I heard a minister recently say. Tell your problems, "Never no mind."

By and by, they will disappear.

I promise!

Namaste',

Che'
NOTE: See this piece about a showdown between Science and Astronomy on Wednesday, July 22 by cutting and pasting URL...http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090720/ts_afp/scienceastronomyeclipseasiatourismsuperstition