September
2004
Welcome to the September
issue of the Being Human ezine. Autumn approaches and the summer
seems to have petered out here iin the NW. The cooler damper
weather has shown her face; the leaves are beginning to drop off
the parched trees a little early. Welcome to this time of
transition and preparation for winter.With best wishes, Alicia and
Solihin
In this
issue...
A Talk in New Zealand,
AucklandReview –
Scientific & Medical NetworkTales from work – using CFD in
practiceConversation
and ActionBeing
Human Book UpdateCalendar of Events for
2004
New
ZealandAuckland
The beautiful bay in Coromandel, New
Zealand, where, although pretty nippy when out of the sun - for it
is their winter - this pristine wilderness was exhilarating and
unspoilt.
Cranial Talk in Auckland - [picture as header
above]
I was invited out to New
Zealand at the end of August. During the time there, I was able to
put on a rather hurriedly arranged evening talk at the delightful
warehouse-style gallery of Mansur Zwart and also a half day Being
Human workshop, in Auckland.
I canvassed a number of osteopaths, some of whom I had known in my
London days, but it was a great suprise to have about 33
practitioners and osteopathic and naturopathic students turn up for
the talk and demonstration. Furthermore, I found myself greeting
person after person who I had not laid on eyes on for over twenty
or so years!
I took from the audience a cranial colleague from London, Celia
Jennings, who was an apt example for those observing, as I took
them through the protocol for Cranial Fluid Dynamics. I was
presented with a number of astute questions at the end, with the
enevitable question of why we cannot just put on our hands on the
body and do the same - that is not bother with understanding or
knowing the story. We know of course we can, but the kinesiology
and mudras allow us to understand what the client's story is, their
needs and resources. When we place our hands on them without this
protocol we begin to access them through our own references -
however extensive - via our own limbic memories and experiences,
and then place judgement or nous upon what we feel. This is a point
of contention for those who have practiced for many years in
osteopathy and for those who are new in the field and have been
fired-up by the shear beauty and dynamics of the cranial system. It
is often that practitioners do not want to hear of another model as
we place so much on our own learning and experience - me
included!
Another question comes up in reference to what is known as the long
tide - a slow gradual upwelling of a primary tidal flow of fluid
which permeates and rearranges the system. Why doesn't that just do
the job? 'It does', I replied, 'but for some people they actually
need to know why they have become disorganized so they can make the
choice in the future, to change their patterns.' Classical
osteopathy infers that the primary fluid or tide will do the job
for them - a deific approach - and that there is no culpability for
one's own state or situation. Our experience is that this is so for
many people, but more and more people need to know why they
continually make the same mistakes so that they can begin to stop
repeating the patterns.
– Solihin
“We don’t see things as
they are, we see things as we are.”
Anais Nin
Dear Alicia and
Solihin,
we are really happy to tell you: We will get married today!
Both of you started a wonderful process within us by showing us our
life forces.This let the male and feminine part of both of us grow
together. It is a good time to look back, remember and say
"Thank you!"
Erika & JohannesVienna
(Some of you will remember Johannes as
Ferdinand, on the Rajasthan workshop)
North
West Book Tour
At the end of July we set
off on a ten-day book tour of the Pacific Northwest, beginning with
a television interview in Olympia, Washington, through radio
interview and several bookstore events in Seattle, Bellingham and
Vancouver, to an international conference in Vancouver on the theme
of unity where we did a two-hour workshop for a hundred
people. It was interesting to do an event every day, in
different places with different people, to differing sizes of
audience, and, as always, wonderful to meet people who are
interested in the book and our work and hear their perspective on
being human. One seventy-year-old woman was waiting for us
when we came out of the studio after our radio interview in
Seattle. She delivers bagels to offices all over the city and
had been listening to us in her car. She told us how she
could not get out of the car until we had finished and then came up
to meet us as she wanted to tell us how much she loved what we were
saying! At our talk at Third Place Books a woman arrived
minutes before the end and had barely sat down before she started
to challenge us for the model we were presenting! Someone
said to her “if you had been here for the talk you would understand
it better,” and the woman became very defensive and angry, said
“why wasn’t she allowed to speak etc.” We were able to gently
deflect away from her and finish our talk, where another woman came
up in tears and said how healing it had been for her and that she
felt an enormous shift in herself while we were
speaking.
The conference in Vancouver was at the
University of British Columbia on their beautiful coastal and
wooded campus. One of the gems of UBC is their wonderful
Anthropology Museum. We visited on the first rainy day in BC
for weeks, with a fine mist over the tall cedars. The museum
houses an incredible collection of First Nation totems and
carvings. Through these carvings one could really gain a
sense of the culture, beliefs, spirituality and values of the
different tribes. It was a great example of how they
recognized the connection between all the different aspects of
creation, the earth, the plants, the animals, the human, and the
Creator. The totem poles signified the different aspects of a
clan or family, and they placed the different elements in a
particular order according to the nature or history of that clan.
It was very clear that they have an understanding of the life
forces, and how their relationship with each of those forces was
considered essential to their lives.
– Alicia
Bamfield - on the western coast of
British Columbia; a beautiful idyllic beach hidden from view on the
spit of the western part of the harbor.
Heim or heimat means home,
but it also implies everything that home can represent, all its
culture, its natural surroundings like animals, plants, hills, its
smells, its people and buildings, its spirit – everything. You are
a part of it and it is a part of you. Heim is also deomocracy –
being master to oneself, no king, no duke, no one from the outside
telling you how to live.
NB
We had difficulties getting
the E-zine up and running for the end of last month, as our server
was waterlogged in North Carolina after the floods they had there.
We then sped off to Russia so we had to simply let go of the
project until we returned. Our apologies for the late arrival of
the E- zine.
– Solihin
Being Human workshops
coming up!
Being Human – Vienna,
Austria – October 14 - 17 [daily]contact Harold Gaisbauer
Being Human – Portland,
Oregon – November 18-21 [retreat], contact Alicia
now
This is
marvellous opportunity for those who want to explore the underlying
premise of our book, Being Human. Having just witnessed the depth
of the individual processes and profound changes that our Russian
participants had during their workshop - last week of September -
we are constantly touched by how this work, so easily and
radically, helps change people's state and their understanding. The
workshop was ably translated, so even with the huge drawback of
languages not understood or spoken, the Russians had a fantastic,
profound and often revelatory time, going away with practical
understanding of how to apply this information in their daily lives
- lives that are in many circumstances, much more difficult and
hard than ours.Come
and have a wonderful four days in the countryside of Oregon, just
outside Portland, and explore "the forces that shape you", coming
away with a vital understanding of what it means to be human, aided
by tools to help carry this forward into your daily lives.
[Next month's E-zine will
feature a review and photos of Being Human – Intimacy workshop
which was held outside Moscow.]
Click here for Vienna
linkClick here for
Portland link
Being
Human Book Update
Reviews:
Scientific
and Medical Network.
Being Human - Exploring the
forces that shape us and awaken an inner life
Subtitled 'exploring the
forces that shape us and awaken an inner life', this is a
collaborative book in which the three authors are alternating
voices within the text. They each draw on their own experiences to
illustrate the themes in the book. The teaching explained derives
from Subud but has been elaborated over many years. It gives a map
of the human being at different levels - material, vegetative,
animal and human, broadly corresponding to Platonic types of soul -
and the five essential qualities that feature on the path:
integrity, flexibility, reflectiveness, surrender and value. The
Primary Life Force is the Divine, which is also the Source to which
we can surrender for guidance. Surrender is a key word throughout
and is illustrated at length in the various life experiences
recounted. This is a valuable book for those seeking a deeper level
of self-knowledge and the cultivation of a genuine inner
life.– David Lorimer
MA
"Be very careful if you
make a woman cry, because God counts her tears. The woman came out
of a man's rib. Not from his feet to be walked on. Not from his
head to be superior, but from the side to be equal. Under the arm
to be protected, and next to the heart to be loved."
The Talmud
West
Linn Tidings
Solihin and Alicia were the
front page feature in the 8/14 West Linn Tidings, entitled Seekers
of Solace, West Linn residents Solihin and Alicia Thom publish a
book that examines what it means to be human.
Link
http://www.westlinntidings.com/article/4337
The heart alone knows what
the substance of love is,the eye of reason has no power to behold
it.
Moslem proverb
Being Human: Exploring the
Forces That Shape Us and Awaken an Inner Life. An examination of
the special forces that make us human & how we can use those
forces for self-actualization.
What does it mean to be human? Authors Solihin & Alicia Thom,
together with Alexandra ter Horst invite us on a journey of
discovery in their book Being Human a journey that will take us
deeper within to where the truth of who we are
exists.
By examining the life forces at play
within us, the authors tell us that we can not only understand
ourselves better, but also become more self-actualized, fulfilled
human beings. The life forces that they claim shape us, consist of
the material, the vegetative, the animal and the human forces, and
this book describes each force in full detail, and how it works in
our lives in either positive or negative
ways.
Using their own personal experiences,
as well as their combined years of spiritual training and research,
the authors present tools and techniques for getting to know these
forces and how they operate in our lives through habits and
patterns of belief and behavior, as well as how we can alter our
beliefs and behaviors to better suit our life's journey and get us
to where and who we want to be.
The lovely quotes, poems and anecdotes
add to the thought-provoking and inspiring prose, making Being
Human a comprehensive field guide to self-knowledge. The
chapter-by-chapter explanations of the life forces, and how we
allow them to shape us, add to our understanding of why we do the
things we do even when we don't want to do them, and how we can
create lasting change for the better.
There is even a wonderful intuitive card game, The Order of the
Forces, at the end of the book which can help the reader understand
which forces they are in touch with, or even more importantly, out
of touch with.
Ultimately, this book is about more than just Being Human. It is
about coming to better know ourselves so that we can better know
the Great Life Force, the Creator. By using the suggestions, ideas
and tools, the reader can find new and powerful ways to connect
with their Creator and allow their actions to be dictated and
guided by their inner self.
Finding our true voice in the world is
the lesson Being Human succeeds in teaching, and I highly recommend
it to any spiritual seeker eager to find their life purpose and
live fully actualized.
Read this enlightening book, and be
sure to visit the authors' website, www.beinghumanbook.com to learn
more about the life forces at play in our bodies, minds &
spirits.
Rev. Marie D. Jones
© 2004 Marie D.
Jones
"Any really good
solution is a good solution for everyone; there are no real
conflicts between the survivals of different human
beings"
Harvey Jackins
Using
the work [CFD]
"I have to tell you about
two of my most recent forays into this work. Both episodes
were with teenage boys that I have used this work with
previously. The first teen just couldn't get his animal in
control so muscle testing just wasn't going anywhere. We sat
down and as we talked he shared why he thought this was
happening. He had heard something at home that had raised his
anxiety level to about 18 million and he was avoiding talking about
it. This allowed us to talk about the issue and what might be
helpful for him to do at home with his parents. I have seen
this youth since and been able to go through the protocol without
difficulty.
"The second came in and basically refused to let me do muscle
testing. As we started looking at what was going on he slowly
revealed he was afraid of what I would learn (and hence think he
was crazy or needing to be locked up). This was secondary to
what his story had revealed during the previous session. This
allowed us to begin to talk about what he was afraid of and how I
might handle this. Ultimately he revealed he did not want me
to know the frequently thought of not living or killing himself and
that he hated himself. The previous session he had revealed
that he "hated" God for what God had done to him.
"What has excited me the most is that it is a win win for me and
them. Even when we aren't able to do the cranial ontology
work, what has come up has been information that I do not think I
would have ever gotten if it had not been for the difficulties with
muscle testing.
"Yes, I remain excited. I have recently agreed to see the
mother of one of the teens as she has been so happy with the
results in her son. Thanks again for sharing this with us."
– Tim Blumer, D.O. [after taking CFD1]
Here
is a cute tidbit, sent in by eagle-eyed Sheila
Cronin:
When children are playing,
psychologists have, as usual categorised their development.
Children learn by imitation, we hope, and then gradually apply what
they see into their own behaviour:
They say that children (and by default us adults) are at first
solitary (on their own) and then engage in parallel interaction
(not really present but engaging and duplicating behaviour, sounds
etc), followed by competitive play - rough housing, games of tag,
me-mine engagement, and lastly by cooperation. Sheila placed this
understanding into our own vernacular and model, by seeing that
they have illustrated a development which takes the children
through a material, vegetative, animal and human process.
M-V-A-H
