 Dear Friends,
The study of how the African-American managed to rise above
the miserable state he was subjected to can serve as a model to us all. We can
learn from Booker T. Washington, Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin
Luther King the survival value of integrity, passion, courage, and
relationship. And, as Carolyn Voss beautifully illustrates in an interview I
did with her earlier this month, a study of African American athletes is
another excellent source.
Those who have spent time in a traditional African-American
community also know there is much to be learned about love from our black
brothers and sisters. In spite of the tongue-in-cheek nature of this clever
song from the musical Hair:
I'm a Colored spade, A nigra, A black nigger,
A jungle bunny, Jigaboo coon, Pickaninny mau mau
Uncle Tom, Aunt Jemima, Little Black Sambo
Cotton pickin' Swamp guinea, Junk man, Shoeshine boy
Elevator operator, Table cleaner at Horn & Hardart
Slave, voodoo, Zombie, Ubangi lipped, Flat nose,
Tap dancin' Resident of Harlem
And president of
The United States of Love
There
is a kernel of truth within. The depth of the Love and integrity that are part
and parcel of the true African-American heritage are well represented in this
talk by Dr. Martin Luther King.
Seems
like he got it right. His words seem eerily prophetic as he talks about the
"smooth patriots," the dangers of the greed motive, and the war (just for fun,
try replacing the word "Vietnam" with Afganistan or Iraq). Many historians
believe this is the speech that got him killed. How odd that people are often
fondly remembered for exactly the behavior that caused the System to execute
them.
And,
as always, there's more we can say about Love. I've prepared two articles
exploring some aspects of this critical notion for this issue.
Unquestionably, the high point of this Black History Month
was the award won by our son, Yuval, for his work in gaining asylum for
journalists who would be imprisoned, tortured, and killed for their honest
reportage. We are very proud of him. See a brief video that reviews his work HERE.
Enjoy. And Love,
Emmett Miller, MD
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A Vision of Love for Our Future
By Emmett Miller MD
Historians are fond of naming
periods of time according to the most important inventions and tools of that
era. So, we have the Age of Reason, the Age of Enlightenment, the Industrial
Age and we're now in the Information Age.
When historian John Galbraith
was asked how our era would be known in the future, he said that it would be
known as the time "when the Buddha came to the West."
If he is
correct, then perhaps the ever-expanding interest in Buddhism and Buddhist
thinking, highlighted by the current popularity of the Dalai Lama, is a sign of
this.
This movement is, I believe, a
part of a much larger movement that is flooding our Western culture with
notions of empathy, forgiveness, compassion, egalitarianism, and love. They are
burgeoning forth, spawning books, workshops, movies, TV shows, and websites.
Information
on the healing power of these forms of Love has never been so available:
personal, relational, and communal lives can be transformed. Even laboratory
evidence shows we are happier, more productive, and can more easily ward off
infectious disease.
We Are the Leaders We've Been
Waiting For
In spite of this, however, we
are engaged in an epic struggle - personally and collectively. Our planet is
poised on the edge of an abyss. False leaders everywhere unwittingly conspire
with a machine-dominated, information-processing environment to lead us
headlong over the cliff, into a vast abyss of disintegration.
Environmental
pollution, global warming, economic globalization, war, terrorism - Violence of
all kinds create widespread despair, helplessness, and hopelessness.
Our Grand Narrative seems to
have reached a critical chapter.
Soon we all will be able to see whether those forces of domination,
greed, and insensitivity will push us over the edge into a global collapse - or
if a critical mass of us will adopt the New Paradigm. If we do, we may be in
time to strike a balance between creativity and destruction, between separation
and unification.
The denouement of our story is
not yet clear, but we are very near the tipping point. The potential to go
either way is there.
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A Gift of Love for Valentine's Day
By Emmett Miller MD
At the
physical level, light;
At the
mental level, consciousness
At the
emotional level, love;
At the
spiritual level God.
What is love? Hard to say. Plato believed that Love is the
pursuit of the whole. In Our Culture on the Couch, I stated: "Although 'love' is an excruciatingly overused and
abused word, there is a common factor involved whenever it is used. In every
case, the active principle has something to do with togetherness, attraction,
unity and unification, a joining together in some way - be it physical,
emotional, philosophical, esthetic or otherwise.
This unification is obvious in
the example of sexual loving, or in the case of the love between the mother and
the infant, or the love of a worshipper for a
Higher Power.
And
in sports, (or war), we see the same phenomenon of unity that permits one team
to win against all odds -athletes will often speak of the love they feel for
their teammates. Whenever a certain quality of wholeness is maintained -
whether it's of a body, a relationship, or a racecar - it tends to give rise to
enormous power, performance and survival potential."
Love Is a Way of Being
You cannot "do" love. There is
nothing that you can do that constitutes loving someone. There is no action that
is of itself loving. Love is a way of being.
Indeed,
it is simply being - being with another person, however they may be - with no
judgments, prejudices, or agendas. Nothing to demonstrate, no one to impress.
You love when there is total acceptance of another's being - born of your
acceptance of your own.
Love (capital "L") refers to the
attractive force in our universe. It is the inner power and knowing that guides
the carbon atom to share electrons
with its neighbors, rather than steal from them. It is the attractive energy that sustains the integrity of
the membrane of the lowly paramecium and thus, preserves the life within.
Love
binds together the cells and organs, and enables them to harmonize their
functioning to produce health of the whole. Love makes birds of a feather flock
together, and it inspires wildebeests to travel hundreds of miles in the
spring. Love is the magic bond between lovers,...Click Here to read the rest of this article on DrMillerBlogs.com.
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If you
want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes
together.
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Healing Yourself is
Healing the Planet,
Seven Steps to Personal and Community Transformation
A 3-part Lecture/Workshop Series
Location: Nevada County Association of Realtors Building at 336 Crown Point Circle, Grass Valley, CA 95945
Dates:
Session 1 - March 11th, 2010
Session 2 - April 8th, 2010
Session 3 - May 6th, 2010
As human beings, we are part of an immense web of life. Anything that happens to this web ultimately happens to us, and whatever we do has an effect on this web. These truths have been hidden from us by a globalized economic system that benefits from our being victims and consumers.
In his book, Our Culture on the Couch - Seven Steps to Global Healing (OurCultureOnTheCouch.com), Dr. Miller applies his clinical skills to examine and diagnose the root cause of our personal and global symptoms, then presents seven steps you can take to empower and heal yourself, and to heal your planet as well.
Beginning in March Dr. Miller will present these seven steps in a lecture/workshop series, exploring what our families, communities, nations, cultures and planet can do to change our future.
For more information visit our Workshops and Presentations Page (scroll to the top of the page)
What if it
is true that there is a wise leader inside of each of us, and that all our
problems result from our disconnection from this inner source of wisdom, power,
and Love? What if you could take one step forward and enter a new world, where
there is congruity between what you most deeply want and the actions you take?
Our goal is
to heal ourselves and heal our planet. (Recommended but not required: Our
Culture on the Couch (ebook or softcover) and Awakening the Leader Within available on CD or
for download.
View this event on Dr. Miller's Workshops and Presentations Page (scroll to the top of the page)
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Contact Us
DrMiller@DrMiller.com
PO Box 803
Nevada City CA 95959
Phone: 530-478-1807
Fax: 530- 478-0160
Dr. Miller Online
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Healing Times Radio:
with Dr. Miller
HEALING TIMES RADIO with Dr. Emmett Miller explores
Mind/Body Health and how to reclaim our inherent personal wisdom
integrating scientific knowledge and techniques of modern medicine.
Dr. Miller's mission is to help us heal ourselves so
that we can in turn, heal our planet.
Healing Times Radio with Dr. Emmett Miller at OpenMindRadio.com
airs the first AND third Thursday of each month at 11am
(PST).
Show Schedule: February 18, 2010 at 11:00 AM(PST) Patt Lind-Kyle  Patt Lind Kyle will be talking about neuroplasticity, the ability for the brain to create new connections and even grow new cells. We will discuss how to apply this new science in practical ways, to re-pattern our behavior, and counteract what the Buddha called "suffering" and modern psychologists call "stress."
March 4th, 2010
at 11:00 AM(PST)
Marilyn Nyborg
Marilyn Rosenbrock Nyborg
Marilyn has been a spiritually based activist since the '60's beginning with the civil rights movement.
Recognizing the need for women to find their voices and claim their power, she began in the early '80's to work through women's circles and activities to bring feminine wisdom to bear on the world. In 2002 she became a co-founder of Gather the Women.
March 18th, 2010
at 11:00 AM(PST)
Dr. Judith Orloff
Judith Orloff, MD, author of the New York Times and international bestseller Emotional Freedom, helps readers liberate themselves from negative emotions and develop hope, compassion, and courage.
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now through Feb 28th, 2010 receive a free download of Relaxation and Inspiration! VisitShopDrMiller.com!
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