Transformation | Spirituality & Health Magazine

Neuroscience

Transformation
by Peggy La Cerra, Ph.D

Our sense of our self arises from the activity of a neural network self-representation in our brain, and this self-representation arises from neural networks that represent our experience. When we’re operating from a particular self-representation, it’s determining the information that our brain is using to create our reality, and it’s generating our behavior and influencing our future experiences. And it is these experiences that are going to be creating our ‘self’ in the next moment. This is the brain’s normal ‘self creation’ process. Nature designed it so that our self could change with each new experience. But if nothing very new happens, the tendency is for one self-representation to keep re-creating itself, with very minor modifications. Serious self-transformation requires the ability to change the information input to the self-creation process. That is what spiritual practices do – they change our experiences, thereby changing our perception of reality, and altering our thoughts, and our feelings and our behaviors. These changes result in our having new experiences, and our brain creating a new neural foundation for our ‘spiritually transformed’ self-representation.

Rabbi Rami's Reflections

Transformation
by Rabbi Rami Shapiro

We often speak of spirituality as being transformative, but I am not quite sure what to make of this. Am I being transformed from one thing to another?

There is no fixed you from which to be transformed, and no fixed you into which you can be transformed. There is just transformation, on–going never–ending change. While we often speak of having a willingness to change, the fact is, willing or not, change is the only constant.

So why speak of transformation in the context of spirituality at all? What can it mean?

Spirituality is the art of living with truth, and transformation and change are the truths of our existence. Spirituality is the art of surrendering to what is. And what is, is change. You can resist reality all you want, but in the end you cannot defeat it. Being unspiritual doesn’t mean you can avoid change and transformation, it only means that you will be more troubled and beaten up by the unavoidable reality of change and transformation.

So we should merely go with the flow?

In a sense, but you must be careful to know what the flow is. You can get caught up in the passions of a crowd, lose your sense of self and conscience, and permit and commit acts of real evil. This is a kind of going with the flow, but not the kind we are talking about with regards to spirituality.

There is a direction to spirituality; the spiritual flow is always toward compassion. If the flow is toward compassion, then go with it, if it isn’t then you can be certain that this is not the true flow of life but simply a tempest.

And yet you say God is reality and reality includes all opposites, so how can you say the true flow is always in one direction?

Think of a river. It can drown people, destroy lives and town, wreak much havoc; even as it gives life to the very same people it sometimes kills. And, regardless of what it is doing, its current is always and only one-way. God is reality and reality includes terrible tragedy, but its flow is toward more life, more consciousness, more love. At least as far as we humans can discern.

How do I cultivate the quality of transformation?

Rather than try to cultivate transformation, I would learn to lessen my resistance to transformation. Cease to cling to things and ideas, and stay open and hospitable to whatever you encounter. Measure everything against the quality of compassion, and trust that change is inevitable.

Best Practices

Practice
The Work of Byron Katie

Before her transformation, Byron Katie, a mother of three and self-employed businesswoman, described herself as "completely depressed, suicidal, stuck in total pain and self-loathing." Sometimes she couldn't get up for days or weeks to bathe or brush her teeth. Eventually, her self-esteem became so low that she didn't feel she deserved to sleep in a bed and began sleeping on the floor.
One morning, she awoke on the floor when something crawled across her ankle. She opened her eyes and saw a cockroach -- and in that exact same moment, something else awakened in her. She realized that all of her suffering came from her thoughts about her situation -- my life is horrible. I don't deserve happiness -- not from the situation itself. She began to laugh. It suddenly seemed so clear. When she believed her thoughts, she suffered, and when she didn't, she was happy. And she saw that it was the same for everybody: all suffering comes from believing our thoughts. . . .
What she now calls The Work consists of asking yourself four simple questions about your painful thoughts and beliefs:

Is it true?
Can you absolutely know it's true?
How do you react when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without the thought?

Then you apply a "turnaround" statement, a sentence expressing the reverse of your thought or belief.
For each turnaround, find three genuine examples of how the turnaround is true in your life. This is not about blaming yourself or feeling guilty. It's about discovering alternatives that can bring you peace.
When we do The Work, we free ourselves from the effects of believing stressful thoughts such as "I am not good enough," "He does not love me," "She doesn't understand me," "I'm too fat," "I need more money," and "Something terrible is going to happen." We can turn our stress, frustration, and anger into a freedom that we never dreamed possible.

Root for Your Rival’s Happiness
Judith Orloff, M.D.

Fat chance, you might think. But doing this changes the wavelength of negativity. Begin with an attitude change, though it may take awhile to really mean it. Say to yourself, “I want my rival to be happy.” This points you in a more positive direction. Then, as you get more comfortable with this attitude, try going further. Tell someone you envy, “You’re doing a fantastic job.” In addition, pray for the person — not just that God removes his or her countless faults! Get it right. Pray for his or her happiness and prosperity. The constructive intent will gather momentum of its own.

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