Issue: 4

February 18, 2010

Dear Subscriber,

Forgiveness, the Path to Unconditional Love

Feature Article

The word love is used very loosely. "I love my girlfriend." "I love God." "I love cheese." Clearly, there are different kinds of love in the world, and the word means different things at different times.

The highest kind of love is often referred to by the Greek term agape, which means "divine love." This is a completely unconditional sort of love, one in which the giver requires nothing of the receiver. It doesn't expect love in return, and it doesn't insist upon justice or fairness. To embody this level of love is to have achieved true enlightenment and to understand truly the meaning of universal Oneness.

How does one move toward the attainment of unconditional love? It is difficult since we are all stuck in the illusion of our separate selves. We feel a need to protect the egoic self-that which we perceive as "me" or "mine." Love is easy when we feel we are being loved in return. Love gets hard when we feel we have been wronged or insulted in some way. Resentments of this type can build up over a lifetime until our hearts feel deeply wounded and love in any form becomes a frightening proposition.

Forgiveness is really the only medicine that can cure a heart burdened by past hurts, and it is the only way we can return to the divine element of unconditional love. Unconditional love means that you recognize the divine within all people and in doing so you demonstrate your own divine aspect.

Real forgiveness means a willingness to forgive the unforgivable. The 2006 documentary Forgiving Dr. Mengele illustrates forgiveness in this radical form. The subject of the film is holocaust survivor Eva Kor, who suffered terribly through horrific medical experiments at the hands of the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele while she was just a little girl. Late in life, she made a clear decision to forgive Mengele and all the Nazi perpetrators. Her public decision to forgive Mengele was met with universal disdain from fellow survivors.

But perhaps the other survivors had not discovered what theologian and author Lewis Smedes,  described when he wrote, "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." Through forgiveness, Eva Kor was finally liberated from the Nazis.

For most of us, the resentments and emotional scars that prevent us from loving fully are small compared to Eva Kor's. If you really want to open your heart and love fully, take her example and forgive extravagantly. True love cannot be given with the condition that someone else change or give an apology to you. Unconditional love can only exist if it first exists within your own heart.

Secrets for a Happy, Healthy Heart

Health Matters

What is your vision of a happy, healthy, heart? Is it the image of the four-chambered organ pumping blood through your body?  Or do you think of the more sentimental and energetic aspects of your existence? Perhaps total heart health is best attained from a body, mind, and spirit approach.

According to the American Heart Association, heart diseases are the number one cause of death in the United States.  In 2006, statistics showed that one in three U.S. adults had one or more types of cardiovascular disease. Risk factors can range from hereditary conditions and infections, to overall lifestyle choices.

Choices we make everyday can have the greatest impact on our physical heart health. Experts advise us to eat a healthy diet and lose weight, get at least 30-minutes of aerobic exercise every day, avoid tobacco and excessive alcohol, and get regular health screening check-ups.

Stress significantly impacts the heart, and new research shows that many emotions can damage this vital organ too. In an article posted on WebMD, Dean Ornish, MD says that anger, hostility, loneliness, depression, and isolation can be toxic. Learning how to manage your mind and lift your spirit are key to overall heart health.

Researchers have shown that when we experience positive emotions, especially love and gratitude, the beating of our heart becomes regular. Rhythmic breathing and the conscious self-generation of sincere, positive emotions promotes heart rate coherence and overall health. This phenomenon, known as "psychophysiological coherence," is a state of increased synchronization and harmony between the cognitive, emotional, and physiological systems within our bodies.

In Healing Chakras, Ilchi Lee writes about the energetic heart, or "heart chakra." Its health is dependent upon an open mind and loving nature. Just as your anatomical heart distributes blood throughout the physical body, your heart chakra expands your energy and emits it out equally in all directions. Two exercises that Lee advocates for attaining a healthy heart chakra are chest breathing and chest tapping. These daily practices, combined with healthy lifestyle choices, can lead you to a happy, healthy heart.

Contributed by Dawn Quaresima, Senior Dahn Yoga instructor at East Meadow and Franklin Square centers in NY.

The Virtues of Organic Chocolate

Mago's Message

• Endangered Species Chocolate -- 10% of net profits are given to preserve biodiversity.
• Ithaca Fine Chocolates -- 10% of profits support arts education.
• Newman's Own Signature Series Chocolate -- Organic and Rainforest Alliance Certified
• Theo Chocolate -- Operates the only organic, Fair Trade chocolate factory in the U.S.

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