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Serving a community of private individuals and professionals
who have the desire to cultivate a life of clarity, compassion,
and creativity. We warmly welcome our new subscribers. Thanks
for joining! Your feedback is encouraged. Please feel free to
contact us.
Dear Pure Heart, Simple Mind Readers,
We're doing our best to listen to what you say you want! Based
on your feedback we have a number of new offerings we are making.
Teleclasses for Europe and the US, and workshops in both Europe
and the US as well.
As a way of saying "Thanks", the first ten people signing
up for one of our telecourses or workshops will receive a
gift from us:
A new piece of ambient music composed by an European musician
Henri Roggeman and Charlie Badenhop (me).
This music is the result of our long-term research and efforts
to meld the beauty and power of music to the Seishindo Practices.
If you listen to the music as you practice, you'll increase
the benefits you receive. This is so because the music is designed
to help draw the rhythm of your brainwaves and heartbeat, into
the Alpha range of meditation, relaxation, reflection, and
creativity. When you find yourself resonating with the music,
you'll add a new dimension to your experience of being relaxed,
energized, and connected to life.
I look forward to working with all of you.
Warmly,
Charlie
1. Self Hypnosis and The Human Spirit
Over time my stories about my ex-wife's grandmother have proven
to really touch people's hearts. I hope what I write today
will help you to have greater faith in your own ability to
persevere in difficult situations.
Grandma's ability to enter into a self-hypnotic trance state
likely saved her life during WWII. Her ability to enter into
a self-hypnotic trance state when telling a story made her
a treasure to be around.
One evening I asked grandma what WWII was like for her. Here's
what she said:
"Much of Tokyo was destroyed by U.S. fire bombing during the
end of World War II. It was very dangerous, because fires would
rage nightly and spread rapidly.
It was devastating to lose all one's worldly possessions and
the very house you lived in, in a few minutes time. But it
was even more devastating to hear the screams of those writhing
in pain as they got trapped in-between fires and had no way
to escape the inferno.
The safest place to be during the fire bombings was on the
grounds of a neighborhood temple. With only two buildings on
the large property the bombers did not target the area. Most
importantly though, there was a large pond on the grounds.
If you submerged yourself in the pond up to your chin, you
could protect yourself from the flying sparks coming from the
many wooden buildings on fire."
"Going in that pond every night took a bit of strength," she
said. "It was winter time after a while, and the air and the
water were cold. Some people didn't have the fortitude to stay
in the pond until the bombers left. But staying alive was more
important than comfort, so getting out of the pond early was
not an option for me."
"What I did," she said, "Is this… I wore several
layers of clothes to help keep my body heat in. Once I got
to the pond I would quickly immerse myself up to my chin. I
felt it was very important to not slowly suffer through this
process."
"Next," she said, "I would look for the largest blazing fire
in the distance and make believe it was one of the large fires
built during one of the summer festivals. I would imagine myself
getting a bit too close to the fire and needing to cool off
by immersing myself in the pond. I would then look at the sparks
flying everywhere and imagine they were the famous Tokyo summer
fireworks display. Remembering vividly how hot it was at that
time of year, it felt great to cool off in the pond."
At this point she stopped talking and we looked at each other
while also looking off into the distance.
"On January 1st for the last number of years, you've come
with us when we go to the temples in the old neighborhood to
pray. Now you know the story of the one temple we always visit
last. While there, I give thanks for being spared and I pray
for the souls of all those who departed during the bombings,
asking that their pain be erased from their souls."
"Now," she said, "we have come full circle. You are American,
and you have married my granddaughter. I pray this means the
suffering of WWII is being transformed into friendship and
love."
"Japan is a very different country as a result of the war," she
said. “Perhaps such terrible suffering were necessary,
to bring about such great change."
We both sat there for about a minute while saying nothing.
In telling her powerful story with such a wonderful gentle
intensity, the two of us had slipped off into a lovely state
of self-hypnosis. It took a bit of time to travel back into
the present, and find ourselves sitting in the safety of her
living room. Powerful stories are often magical in that way.
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