I entered the church to such intense quiet as it was filled to capacity. So many of these funerals of someone one hundred years plus were a true celebration of a most remarkable life…… but not this one.
This Super Centenarian at 111 years old was truly a Rock Star in every way. She lived in her home with a helper that came in the morning for several hours, took no medicine, went infrequently to the doctor, drove her car until age one hundred and only stopped after she got a speeding ticket. At the time of her passing, the four generations of her direct relations numbered almost one hundred and fifty people who were experts in their field of endeavor.
The affluence and dedication of this clan to her was a primary factor that added years to her life. Her passing was sudden and accidental after bumping her head on a nightstand while sleeping. This went unnoticed as her brain swelled; she passed in two days. The autopsy revealed a pristine heart in fantastic condition.
I surmised that God needed her in the Home Office and quickly summoned her to begin her new assignment. The shock stunned this entire community… she was gone.
Yet as the weeks proceeded, I began to examine her life and why “auntie” was just so amazingly healthy. Like so many people in my sub-culture, she hated doctors and never went to them as she saw them as a source of sickness and not health. Health was a matter of lifestyle and she was the best physician that could heal herself…. Health was all a matter of Simple Choices. At one point in her life she went almost sixty years without ever consulting a medical professional.
So I examined her remarkable existence not through the lens of Western/ Allopathic medicine but Eastern/ Holistic practices whose wisdom was established two thousand years before our present system even had its beginnings.
BODY- SPIRIT-MIND
Lao Tzu was the best of all these ancient practitioners in writing about the balance of Body-Spirit-Mind. You could see this in her lifestyle as she attended great care with all these aspects of Self. This focus created a success recipe which she replicated over and over those many years to effect incredible results. Having researched the systemic categories used by these ancient practitioners, I developed a more user friendly schema to explain how this balance was achieved.
SHEN (Spark of Life) was combination of understanding your Essence and how to learn the flow of your Energy developing a Self-Discipline that worked in conjunction with your bodily rhythm. This Synchronicity brought about a pattern of life which becomes a Cumulative Lifestyle that brings great harmony, as it eliminated harmful stress and accelerated healing stimulation. The individual needs to accept this as their single minded priority which comes before anything else in their life…for Healthful Longevity is the Ultimate form of Wealth
JING ( Body) is the House of Energy that has four primary life perpetuating actions
SEED
This is the most significant part of our existence in which we release and contribute our SEED to the propagation and creation of our species. It expresses itself in Five Loves. Celestial Love connects us to Divine Wisdom. Compassionate Love brings our warm embrace into the world. Collaborative Love is our relational contribution with others. Creative Love is the aspiration of Our Best Self to attain a divine-like status on expressing our unique essence. Carnal Love satisfies our procreative and sensatory needs.
FUEL
This is all the elements that your body has to process which include food, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, medicine and even noise. The careful strategy of ingesting these Essential Ingredients has a vast impact on the quality and lengthy of your life. I divided them into two types of transactions, one that adds to live and the other that subtracts from our life-force energy.
REST
I explore Rest not solely from the Bodily perspective but also from the Spiritual aspect. Purposeful Stillness is an essential part of a healthy body. In our world of so much useless noise; quiet time adds years to your life.
MOTION
A body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest stays at rest. The concept of Exercise is examined from its physical, mental and spiritual aspects. Perpetual Motion is a Creative Eloquence in which we increasingly learn more about our Energy Rhythm. More than just beautiful bodies, it creates sound minds and strong souls
QI (Spirt) is the Breath of Life and the major determining energy in the quality of not just Health and Longevity but Mindfulness. It is precisely this Mindfulness Factor that provides the individual with the Toolbox to pull all the other attributes into this Symphonic Harmony. Quantifying what emotional and spiritual qualities took a little time and then sequencing them into a cohesive process that produced consistent results required another month of research.
There are Five Spiritual Levels of Selfhood that build upon each other. As the individual advances, the greater their Cognitive Mastery becomes with all aspects of their life. I once again referenced Lao Tzu and used my Super Centenarian as the template. The final schema provides an informative manner to assess your “spirit health”.
EMBRACE in what I called the Cheerful Zephyr demonstrates the beginning of the Spirit Journey. Soulful Sincerity, Unconditional Acceptance and Boundless Joy define the foundation of a Bright Spirit
LEARN is a critical piece in bringing the Spirit to the next expansive level. Illuminating Silence is the art of listening, deliberating and integrating your experience into practical application. Alertness, Listening, Processing, Acquiring and then Polishing elevates the Spirit with enhanced skills that makes it more effective with each passing day.
SHARE is where this wisdom is not used for self-gain but is given back to the Community of Purpose where you acquired these skills. An Unquenchable Love which finds Endless Enjoyment in Collaborative Creativity that produces victories of Ceaseless Celebration are hallmarks of this level’s successful execution.
IMPROVE is to Expect Wonder every day with a Noetic faculty that seeks constant improvement. This is a mature spirit that possesses many great experiences and is always adding to its depth and life force dynamism.
THANKFULNESS is the supreme spiritual state, the highest form of prayer that forms a Joyful Song that lifts the soul above the confusion of this world. This Grateful Generosity manifests in smiles, laughter and Pulsating Positive behavior. Our Super Centenarian was a very funny lady; quick with a joke and through all circumstances seeing the best in every situation.
SHEN (Mind) is the Presence of Mind that is a treasure to possess in its complete capacity. The individual possess the Correct View, Correct Intention and the Correct Action. With these gifts of perception in hand; life is far easier to direct.
CLEAREST LUCIDITY is the Correct View that is the foundation of Mindfulness. Our perception in our Self-Awareness, Self-Identity and Self-Esteem filters out all of the distractions to empower an extreme resourceful mind.
BRIGHTEST SINCERITY is the Correct Intention which focuses the mind from disruption as the Spirit works in coordination with all the other faculties to affect order. It manifests itself in Self-Direction, Self-Expression and Self-Empowerment which shines through and above all challenges that it encounters.
NOBLEST DEEDS is the Correct Action where all of these internal processes producing high level functioning skillsets. It is a Contemplative Energy that finds its expression in Self-Reflection, Self-Transformation and Self-Transcendence. The vast majority of people never experience the complete experience of these Noetic qualities as it requires a tremendous amount of personal investment, silence, reading and attempting to use that information to further understand the total mystery of life.
SHOU is this Benevolent Innocence.; a state of Body-Spirit- Mind that seeks to place everything into a Creative Balance that is harmonious and harmonizing.
From the outside looking into the process there appears much complexity and work but to slowly begin the journey and day by day acquire a new pearl of wisdom, it is all a matter of Simple Choices.
These Simple Choices direct the flow of these Simple Energies that like a river flow naturally with an intention that greatly benefits our Longevity.
So Mindful Longevity is nothing more than learning the Art of Living Well. In Following the Way as we move within the buzz of our present world in a State of Wellness that is not impact by any of its toxic elements.
The surprising secret is this…
The Way to transcend the world is Right in the midst of involvement in the world. It is not necessary to escape society but we must embrace humanity.
As I rose to the pulpit… my wisdom echoed this Simple Energy Zen….
Let us give thanks to her long life…. A Flower of Love.. an Inexhaustible Expression of Beauty and an Inspiring Gift of which we gained many insights into the Mystery of our Life on this Earth…
…… Glory to the Grace that We all Share on This Day
