Prof.Dr Lakshman Madurasinghe Chairman's Secretariat

Management

Personal Enhancement

Religious Resources 

Organizational Behaviour

Even though humans are preoccupied with the development of the mind, the key to unleashing true potential lies in awakening the heart which is central to all living. With a shift from head to heart, it would weaken the hold of " Ego" and have a puissant impact on the person to Live, Love , Learn and Laugh, which is the beginning of enlightened living.

There is a tremendous potential lying within each of us to be realized. Once realized and engaged, we will be able to live life to the fullest with peace, joy and sound mental and physical health.  

To be an effective individual, Competence, alone will not suffice. It should be coupled with an ongoing Commitment to God, exemplary Character and an enlivened “Inner Consciousness . 

The fundamental problem is with our negative thinking and inner "ego impulses" that yield negative poor results which continually drain our energy. 

By allowing the thinking habits to be free from traps laid by the ego for its own fulfillment, and bringing them into heart's focus and captivity we will attract positive energy that correct the outcome and give a greater benefit to all.  

Negative traits, such as pride, hatred, deceit, anger etc. which are within us cause stress and irritability on our nervous systems that cause mental and physical dis-ease. These must be eliminated in order to have a fully productive, participatory role in life. 

When we have overcome the inner impulses and transcended the sphere of relative interactions, we have freed ourselves from the traps of the mind. Then we have really fallen on top of our own minds. 

Negative traits must be replaced with positive units of love ,concern and care for others which will only blossom through our deep inner awareness and openness to reality. This would give peace to us and to others around us. 

All forms of life is precious. Therefore, every effort needs to be taken to protect human, animal, plant life and their rights, and the civil government established in our countries.  

Even though knowledge could be acquired from diverse sources, our full development of comes gradually with the blossoming of wisdom as we live closest to God, regular meditating on higher things, coupled with unhurried, focused, tolerant and humble behaviour. 

Overview 

Throughout the twentieth century, the dominant paradigm of management has been changing. As a consequence, there has been an evolution in the concept of leadership and in the way executives think about business strategy . The trend in both leadership and strategy began with an emphasis on the concrete or material aspects of business and focused on production. This was followed by progressively subtler interpretations of business enterprise that emphasized the importance of the human element.

Contemporary thinking about both leadership and strategy focus attention on the knowledge base of the firm and emphasizes the value of creativity and learning in organizations.

However , I wish to emphasize that in  the twenty- first  century, management surpasses   even this level and will be  based not only on knowledge but   on  ” knowingness” – a comprehensive consciousness based model which explores inner realities that touch sensitive core values hitherto unexplored.

The transition of management thought towards the emphasis on continuous learning and leadership at all levels in a learning organization is a progression beyond organizational processes. In the latter part of the century, management scholars attempted to identify the true depository of knowledge in organizations. Recognizing that organizations are indeed knowledge- based, they wanted to know how and where in an organization knowledge actually resides.

Historically the answer has been that it can be found in the databases, files, and accounting systems of the firm, because knowledge contained there is owned and fully controlled by the Institution. But a deeper analysis revealed that a company’s knowledge lies in the Human Resources.  These apply to all levels of staff. The true depository of knowledge in the institution is therefore the consciousness of the knower himself.

My own research has revealed that until and unless the inner core of a person is radically transformed, training undertaken at the outer superficial sensory  level  will not be sufficient enough to penetrate deep down and  make an inner transformation at the “Core” or at an  integral level. This is the level that human beings have often sensed, or have often felt a need for, which is broader or larger or fuller than the ordinary world, and in some sense lies “beyond” the threshold which normally bounds our existence.

 What are some of the results of transcendence experiences of the sort instanced above? In the first place, it is likely that these are experiences of a very high order, of the sort Maslow  terms “peak experiences”, in which the individual is most alive, most healthy, and at the peak of his capabilities. Maslow allows for gradations in peak experiences, and would fit this sort of experience high on the scale, perhaps as the intense most type of peak experience. The results that accrue as a result of peak experiences are: positive changes in the self image, positive changes in interpersonal relationships, remission of neurotic symptoms (at least for a time), increased creativity, increased spontaneity and self-expression, and so on, in the realm of psychological improvement. 

There is significant evidence that altered states of consciousness hold major personality growth, improved interpersonal relationships, and an enhanced potential for significant psychological benefit, i.e., that ASC experiences are often avenues leading toward therapeutic effect and psychological growth. Some ASCs, in other words, have therapeutic significance for the human person in that they effect positive psychological changes in the person, changes ranging in value from learning control over habit patterns (primarily with Deep Meditation , Bio- Feedback and hypnosis), all the way up to ability to live fully. 

 Such personality changes, most of which are mediated via noetic insight (i.e., self understanding), may be called therapeutic changes if they result in the remission of psychological disorders (e.g., neuroses or psychoses), or the changes may be called personality growth if they are a movement from psychological normality to a state of being which is healthier than the normal.

Therefore , any outside developmental activities devoid of such inner alteration  will only yield short term results which  any Organization can ill afford at this juncture when every effort is being made towards accelerated development.

 Strategies with a  narrow focus would then leave much ” Head” knowledge but little or no “Heart” value shift, thus in the long term leaving the person with an inner sense of restlessness and emptiness  which contributes in no small measure to producing superficial leaders devoid of substance, highly stressed nervous systems and as it has been reveled in Criminology , the possibility of  latent criminal tendencies activated.

Today everywhere we witness a steady erosion of values and morals and  an immense shortage of leaders of substance. Our alcohol consumption, drug addiction, prostitution and suicide rates are leading indicators of our deep inner restlessness and a vacuum within. Vacuous minds can only produce vacuous thoughts so we witness a bandwagon of leaders who promote outer show to cover up their rotten inner core.

The recent international examples, such as, ruthless leaders of the caliber of Bin Laden or deceitful leaders like those in ENRON, make us question the very concept of leadership. It was reported that one top leader of ENRON, Charles Baxter had committed suicide a few days ago. At the superficial level Baxter was also a top leader, ruthless, Type- A, winning the admiration of his subordinates, kind and generous to staff- yet at the inner core he was unsettled and corrupt. ENRON was one of the companies that had the best industrial relations, vacations, bonuses and all that an employee dreamed of.  Alas, they turned out to be dreams only.

There was no harmony or inner calmness within –  but conflict consumed him and led to a depression that cost his life. Today in our own country and at various leading  organizations also there are hundreds of Managers and Executives who are driven by unrealistic demands that may reach their limit if the tendency is not reversed.  Ulcers , High blood pressure & coronaries have a close connection with a stressed up nervous system, and cancer at the root of hopelessness.

Organisation culture and management style can be a source of stress. Poor communications and indifferent leadership also create anxiety. Lack of competence causes stress too. This may arise from poor selection practices at the time of recruitment, promotion or transfer. It may arise because people have been inadequately trained for the new job. Social and economic events outside the employment relationship cause stress and need to be considered.

Research has found that the way people are managed is the biggest influence on employee attitudes. Adoption of enlightened management practices, (e.g. job design, skills development, involvement, work environment and culture, and effective occupational health programmes) is the basis for a positive psychological contract. In turn, a carefully thought through psychological contract supports organisational commitment and job satisfaction – which are associated with higher productivity and profitability.

People who feel under excessive pressure are likely to be working long hours and have a poor psychological contract. Those who find pressure motivating on the other hand also have high levels of commitment, this suggests that a positive psychological contract can help reduce feelings of uncomfortable pressure and help people deal with circumstances. In turn, this will have a payoff in terms of increased performance, job satisfaction and enhanced well-being. However those with a poor psychological contract who are under continual pressure and working harder and longer are likely to suffer stress. This will result in increased sickness absence, job dissatisfaction and quitting the job.

Today we witness a  further alarming trend, a tendency towards cynicism . The only thing that matters is whether you succeed or not . everything is subordinated to success . At this level of reasoning, if you achieve the end the means do not matter. Now that is the hallmark of cynicism.

The teachers and trainers  cater to this group by arranging hundreds of hours of training , with scant regard to programmes that develop use of full brain potential, creativity, reversal of negative emotions of the past etc that releases a person’s true potential. With only the horrendous “Outer show”  and our tendency to focus on short term results, lack of strategic focus, the prospects are bleak and they stand as a monument to the repercussions that  will be felt for decades to come.

Is there as way out 

Along with various value added training programmes that impart knowledge and diverse skills,  specific attention should be focused on the transformation of the leader himself  at the deeper level. With that  inner radiance  now released he or she will be able to lead a calmer, more focused life. This would facilitate an inner dialogue and correct any negative impressions of the past and open the valve of inner release. He will think for himself, develop assertive skills , creativity, higher job satisfaction, and move  away from the IQ trap to EQ – Emotional Intelligence and beyond to SQ , the spiritual intelligence.

Then you will come across an enlightened  leader.

This would also increase the creativity and inter- personal skills that would contribute enormously to bring about a society focused on higher values and maintaining unity in diversity, a sure way of laying a foundation for a culture of inner and outer peace. This truly would then become transformational leadership. Downplaying this element and engaging only at sensory level is bound to fail.

What is unique with E- CONSCIOUSNESS

For the first time I am happy to  introduce the concept of transformation from e- business to e-consciousness which will help tap the ” Collective Consciousness” of the organization to gain lasting results.

The elements discovered and the methodology are all unique and original. We encourage the participants to explore the inner realities and revisit Einstein’s famous equation E=MC ^2 now with consciousness added which emancipates and energizes both simultaneously while helping extinguish the raging fires within that makes one helpless if not hopeless.

The therapeutic effects of Altered States of Consciousness

There is significant evidence that altered states of consciousness hold potential for significant psychological benefit, i.e., that ASC experiences are often avenues leading toward therapeutic effect and psychological growth. Some ASCs, in other words, have therapeutic significance for the human person in that they effect positive psychological changes in the person, changes ranging in value from learning control over habit patterns (primarily with Deep Meditation , Bio- Feedback and hypnosis), all the way up to major personality growth, improved interpersonal relationships, and an enhanced ability to live fully.

 Such personality changes, most of which are mediated via noetic insight (i.e., self understanding), may be called therapeutic changes if they result in the remission of psychological disorders (e.g., neuroses or psychoses), or the changes may be called personality growth if they are a movement from psychological normality to a state of being which is healthier than the normal.

The concept of psychological growth is by no means a simple matter, for if we are going to say that a person has made psychological progress away from  disease and toward health, we must have some pre-established notion of what we mean by disease and health. In some cases, of course, there is very little of this theoretical problem. For example, a man suffering from compulsive eating habits which have lead him to excessive obesity seeks out a psychiatrist who hypnotizes him, suggests that the compulsion disappear, that he return to normal eating habits, and that his weight then slowly return to normal. The suggestion is effective, and within a year the man has returned to normal weight, his compulsion completely gone. The therapeutic process may, of course, have taken several sessions and may even have included some psychoanalysis, but the point I wish to emphasize here is that the compulsion was eradicated. In cases of this sort there is very little, if any, theoretical question about what is disease behavior and what is healthy behavior.

Similarly, there is very little, if any, theoretical problem in cases involving other sorts of compulsions, phobias,  anxieties, and the like, which can be helped with hypnosis, dream work, phantasy techniques, systematic desensitization, and other therapies which involve the use of ASCs. Nor does the theoretical problem about what constitutes disease and health arise in the case of manifest psychoses that involve extreme nightmarish, waking hallucinations of the most painful and terrorizing sort. In these cases, the subject wishes to terminate the symptoms, the psychiatrist considers them sick, and there is no question but that to terminate the symptoms would be a positive step toward greater mental health. Thus, when we are dealing with symptoms which are manifestly maladaptive, painful, and destructive, which both the patient and doctor would like to be rid of, there is no question about what constitutes a move toward health.

The question becomes a bit subtler, however, in the case of a “normal” individual who seeks “greater fulfillment”, or a “fuller life”, or “greater happiness”. In this sort of situation, the struggle is not form disease to health (as in the former cases), but is rather form a state of normally toward something healthier than just the average. Physicians have begun to think in terms of higher and higher degrees of healthiness, and psychiatrists (and psychologists) for a long time have been speaking of supra-normal psychological health. But how can we define that supra-normal psychological health? This will certainly be a concern if  we are ever to claim that one who is already “normal” now makes progress in the direction of greater psychological health, for it can legitimately be asked; just what constitutes greater psychological health?

 Now I do not wish to minimize the importance of this problem, rather I wish to emphasize its importance for the difficult task of assessing personality growth. Yet, on the other hand, it seems to be the sort of question that is best answered by the theoretical psychologists. I shall rely specifically on the ideas of the humanistic school of psychology, sometimes referred to as “third force” psychology, represented by the work of Gordon Allport, Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls, Victor Frakl, and Abraham Maslow. I shall rely specifically on one central concept that has been developed in that school of thought and that is the concept one full humanness, or rather the concept of approaching full humanness. That concept declares that some persons are more or less fully human than others, i.e., that some persons have actualized more of their potential for humanness than others. Maslow, in this connection, speaks of self-actualizing persons, applying the term to those persons who are well involved in the process of actualizing their potential for full humanness. Without examining the matter in all its detail, it will suffice here to mention only a few of the characteristics of self-actualizing persons. They are generally more creative, more spontaneous, are very much engaged in what is to them a life-important task, they seek solitude and enjoy it more than average persons, are more able to fully engage themselves in a task or project or concern, and are less ego-conscious and timid. They are generally more concerned with the traditionally “higher” or nobler values (Maslow’s B-values), such as truth, justice, liberty, moral goodness, beauty, authenticity, and so on. Their interpersonal relationships are more fruitful than most, less superficial, and more in line with Buber’s concept of the I-Thou way of being (Maslow’s B-Love, Rogers’ unconditional positive regard). Self-actualizing persons, to add one final characteristic, are more acceptant of them selves (in Fromm’s sense of self love, or self-esteem), more acceptant of others, and generally more acceptant of the cosmos and their being in it. They are, in other words, healthier persons than the average, and they are healthier in the sense that they are more human, more free, more fully expressive of their person hood.

With this notion of full humanness in mind, for which notion I have relied on the work of the psychologists we can now considered the theoretical question mentioned earlier: what does it mean to say that a person has experienced therapeutic benefits from ASCs, or what does it mean to say that he has undergone personal growth? In light of the above considerations, I take it to mean that he has made progress toward approaching fuller humanness. Perhaps he has removed some obstacles of blockages (therapeutic remission of neurotic or psychotic symptoms), or perhaps he has found the strength to take steps he had never before taken, or perhaps he discovered something which allowed him to move in a direction that he had previously not been able to see.

For whatever reason, personal growth means the movement toward a greater actualization of human potential; in Maslow’s terms, toward greater self-actualization.

Keeping this in mind, it can now be said that in innumerable cases ASCs are responsible for personal growth. In fact personal growth occurs, to one degree or another, in ASC experiences at all experiential levels, from the more shallow sensory level to the most profound integral level. It must also be said, however, that the deeper the level of the ASC experience, the more profound and thorough-going will be the personality growth. For example, the growth that occurs as a result of peak experiences at the sensory level will be far less profound, far less thorough-going, and likely to concern only certain aspects of the personality; whereas growth that occurs as a result of ASC experience at the deepest integral level is likely to be more profound, more lasting, more complete, and likely to concern one’s entire person hood from top to bottom. One is liable, in that case, to find his whole being re-oriented, liable to find that his foundations have been shaken and rebuilt anew, and that he has been, so to speak, reborn as a new person. So personal growth occurs as a result of ASC experiences at all of the various levels, but is more profound, lasting, and complete if it occurs as a result of ASC experiences at the deeper levels.

The personal growth that occurs as a result of ASC experience at the sensory level, the lightest of the four levels, is likely to be along the lines suggested by Maslow as after effects of peak experiences: the person will feel more integrated, less at odds with himself, more creative, more expressive of himself, more perceptive, better able to relate openly with other persons, more acceptant of self and others, etc. This in fact is what is meant by personal growth, but at this more shallow sensory level, the change will likely not be so fully profound as in deeper levels. At the recollective-analytic level, the level of human consciousness that Freud was so aware of with is emphasis on dreams, free association, phantasy, hypnotic revivification, and the like, similar personal growth can take place. Freud was well aware of this, and was also aware that the completeness of growth depended on how deeply a person was able too go into his subconscious, and then how well he was able subsequently integrate that material into his waking consciousness. Freud was well aware that personality growth depends on integration of the different layers of human consciousness, but he was aware of only two of these layers, the waking consciousness and the personal sub consciousness (which is the layer probed at the recollective-analytic level of ASC experience). Personal growth, thirdly, can take place as a result of ASC experience at the symbolic level of consciousness, one stop deeper than the first two, and growth that occurs at this level will be far more profound than at the previous two levels. It is at this level, as C.G. Jung was well aware, that the person experiences the more primitive, the more ancient levels of this being, the deep primordial foundations of his being, foundations which underlie everything that has more recently been built upon them. It is at this symbolic level that the person plunges far deeper than the level of his personal subconscious, and begins to explore the vast regions of the collective unconscious, the regions in which are found the great symbolic archetypes described so effectively by Jung. Here again personal growth occurs, though now it will be far more complete and fundamental than that which occurs at earlier, shallower levels of consciousness. And here again, as Jung was also fully aware, growth occurs as a result of integration of the different levels of consciousness. It is not enough that one simply experience these various levels, but he must somehow assimilate their contents, and integrate the matter found there with the other levels of his being. Profound personal growth toward fuller awareness, fuller humanness, fuller being in the world, can occur as a result of such integration. Finally personal growth can occur at the most fundamental level, the integral level, and here the growth is most profound, most complete, and most lasting, as a survey of the great mystics will quickly show. James and Poulainand Underhillhave recorded such profound changes in a person’s being as a result of mystical experience. Here the experiences are most fully integrated into the total being of the person (hence the term “integral” level), and affect all the various dimensions of his self, and his relations with the world. At this level a person finds himself able to integrate all the various layers of his existence, all the various levels of his consciousness, and able to orient them in   a unified way toward the life goal at which he wishes to aim his being. It is at this level that his foundations will have been shaken most profoundly and the structures rebuilt a new; a new person is born.

We have seen now that personal growth occurs at all the various levels of consciousness, and that the deeper the layer that is experienced, the more fundamental and thoroughgoing will be the growth achieved.

Introduction

Very few would disagree that a powerfully developed memory is an asset to any human being. While we talk, read and hear so much about memory sadly only a few have taken the trouble to systematically develop the memory retention and recall. Regrettably students continue running from one class to another without any understanding about their learning styles or study techniques, resulting in poor grades and discouraged youth who worry about a bleak future.

Students who are preparing for academic or professional exams would readily benefit by remembering more with ease. They will also have a greater focus on what they are doing. Those who follow and practice memory techniques will then achieve  better grades with lesser effort. Blank memories would be a thing of the past. Such initial training continues to develop latent faculties as years go by.

Those in Leadership and Executive positions would thereafter effortlessly remember facts, figures and a host of other day- to – day activities. Those who prepare speeches and dread the thought of forgetting the contents right before a vigilant audience can now look forward to an effective delivery with increased confidence.

It is estimated that  an average adult uses only 10 % of his full brain capacity. The older people tend to under utilize the frontal parts of their brains, which deteriorate with age. Techniques such as, making associations and creative visualization have proved very beneficial in such instances.

The good news is that with a little focus and effort, and systematic training, even an average person can  develop a super memory. These tried and tested techniques  are available in Sri Lanka under the personal coaching of Prof. Lakshman Madurasinghe PhD, Consultant Psychologist,  who has taught and used these techniques for over 18 years, and who introduced this programme to Sri Lanka six years ago. He uses over 12 popular  memory tools including Rooms Rooms, Journey method, Pegs and other Neuro Linguistic & Cognitive methods, visualisation etc to enrich your memory and unleash the untapped potential. In addition , students will receive Exam Secrets and study methods which will cover the following:

• Study environment
• Mind Mapping
• Speed reading basics
• Sensory tracking
• Learning style identification
• Goals
• Study tips
• What to avoid
• On the day of the exam what to do

The number of items that can be remembered is far greater than the total number of brain cells. It has been estimated that after 70 years of activity, the brain may contain as many as 15 trillion separate bits of information. Thus your memory is a treasure house whose size and strength are almost beyond human comprehension. It is a pity that so many of us store up so much less learning and experience than is possible.  This may be due to the fact that we have not paid much attention to such areas of learning and the traditional education  focuses on accumulation of knowledge without a holistic model of individual development.

How the brain stores its memories is still not fully known. Some scientists believe that each item of memory is contained in a loop of cells connected by tiny tendrils with an electrical current going around and around the loop, which might be hundreds or thousands of cells in length. Other theories suggest that the memory is somehow impressed, or “etched” on the cell, or exists on a chain of cells like knots in a string. We do know that for the first 30 to 60 minutes after being received, any sensory impression is “floating around,” so to speak, in the brain, not yet firmly registered. This may be why, after a sharp blow on the head, people often permanently forget what happened to them during the previous 15 or 20 minutes.                                                                    

The belief that there are several memory stores comes from the fact that memory may reach back for years but may also concern events that occurred just moments ago. We usually think of memory in terms of a past that is reckoned in hours, days, or years. But a moment’s reflection tells us that memory comes into play as soon as the stimulus has disappeared from the scene. An example is a telephone number we look up and retain just long enough to complete the dialling; here the interval between acquisition and retrieval is a matter of mere seconds, but it is a memory all the same.

These simple facts provide the starting points for the stage theory of memory. One of its assertions is that there are several memory systems. Of these, the most important are short-term memory, which holds information for fairly short intervals, and long-term memory, in which materials are stored for much longer periods, sometimes as long as a lifetime. The second, and even more important assertion of the theory is that information enters these two systems in successive stages, to get to the long-term system, information must first pass through the short – term store .

Major Benefits

 First and foremost, memory training can enhance problem solving skills of brain. These skills are known as fluid intelligence.

Another benefit of following memory techniques is that these have great capacity to enhance brain power. In fact, these techniques push the brain to process all that it remembers.

In case, you have learned the name of a person, just imagine how that individual will be important to you in the near future and where would you see him or think about him.

Another important and beneficial memory training would be to tell yourself the reason on why you want to remember a particular thing and the way you will remember it. The process of remembering a particular thing will work towards stimulating the brain in order to hold the name and extra associations in the brain.

Memory techniques can make you solve many problems in a jiffy. All you require to do is to keep exercising with these memory techniques and give your brain power a boost.

Simple, systematic memory training can help some people with early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD). This finding points to a possible psychological intervention early in the course of this devastating brain disease. It also lends some urgency to early diagnosis, when patients who still have the ability to learn can use it to sharpen their memories and reduce disability.

Best known techniques in the world today

Repetition

Link method

Story telling

Connection

Rhyme technique

First letter association

Snap shot

Movie

Journey

Roman room

Alpha method/ numerical phonetic

Concept maps

Memory fallacies

            1. Mystery formula

            2. Easy street

            3. Memory cure

            4. Memory super hero

            5. Old geezer

 Medical conditions that affect memory

           1. Cancer 2. Diabetes

            3. HBP  4. Parkinson’s

            5. Thyroid imbalances

            6. B12 deficiency

 Nutrition

•          Cut back on fat

•          Avoid too much sugar

•          Limit Sodium intake – 300mg daily

•          Eat a Variety of foods

•          Calcium / Serotonin

•          Selinium- Gotu-kola

•          Gingko- Biloba

•          Vinpocetine

•          Cut down starch and white sugar

Recommended Books

Tony Buzan
Use your perfect memory The Master memory work book Douglas Mason

Memory- Herbie Brennan

The memory book- Harry Lorayne

Your memory- how it works- Kenneth Higbee

The memory work shop- Cynthia Green

Why does the date for Easter change every year? Have you ever wondered
why Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25? And
why do Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on a different day
than Western churches? These are all good questions with answers that
require a bit of explanation. In fact, there are as many
misunderstandings about the calculation of Easter dates, as there are
reasons for the confusion. What follows is an attempt to clear up at
least some of the confusion.

In Western Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday
immediately following the Paschal Full Moon date of the year. I had
previously, and somewhat erroneously stated, "Easter is always
celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon
after the vernal (spring) equinox." This statement was true prior to
325 AD; however, over the course of history (beginning in 325 AD with
the Council of Nicea), the Western Church decided to established a
more standardized system for determining the date of Easter.

In actuality, the date of the Paschal Full Moon is determined from
historical tables, and has no correspondence to lunar events.

As Astronomers were able to approximate the dates of all the full
moons in future years, the Western Christian Church used these
calculations to establish a table of Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates.
These dates would determine the Holy Days on the Ecclesiastical
calendar.

Though modified slightly from its original form, by 1583 AD the table
for determining the Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates was permanently
established and has been used ever since to determine the date of
Easter. Thus, according to the Ecclesiastical tables, the Paschal Full
Moon is the first Ecclesiastical Full Moon date after March 20 (which
happened to be the vernal equinox date in 325 AD). So, in Western
Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately
following the Paschal Full Moon.

The Paschal Full Moon can vary as much as two days from the date of
the actual full moon, with dates ranging from March 21 to April 18. As
a result, Easter dates can range from March 22 through April 25 in
Western Christianity.

Historically, western churches used the Gregorian Calendar to
calculate the date of Easter and Eastern Orthodox churches used the
Julian Calendar. This was partly why the dates were seldom the same.

Easter and its related holidays do not fall on a fixed date in either
the Gregorian or Julian calendars, making them movable holidays. The
dates, instead, are based on a lunar calendar very similar to the
Hebrew Calendar.

While some Eastern Orthodox Churches not only maintain the date of
Easter based on the Julian Calendar which was in use during the First
Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 AD, they also use the actual,
astronomical full moon and the actual vernal equinox as observed along
the meridian of Jerusalem. This complicates the matter, due to the
inaccuracy of the Julian calendar, and the 13 days that have accrued
since 325 AD. This means, in order to stay in line with the originally
established (325 AD) vernal equinox, Orthodox Easter cannot be
celebrated before April 3 (present day Gregorian calendar), which was
March 21 in 325 AD.

Additionally, in keeping with the rule established by the First
Ecumenical Council of Nicea, the Eastern Orthodox Church adhered to
the tradition that Easter must always fall after the Jewish Passover,
since the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ happened after the
celebration of Passover. Eventually the Orthodox Church came up with
an alternative to calculating Easter based on the Gregorian calendar
and Passover, and developed a 19-year cycle, as opposed to the Western
Church 84-year cycle.

Since the days of early church history, determining the precise date
of Easter has been a matter for continued argument. For one, the
followers of Christ neglected to record the exact date of Jesus'
resurrection. From then on the matter grew increasingly complex.

Mary Fairchild

There is a wonderful anachronism for FEAR:

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

Much of the fear in our lives is based on false evidence.

Our bodies are designed to respond with the fight or flight mechanism to real and present danger – such as being physically attacked. In the face of real and present danger, the adrenaline flows and the blood drains out of our organs and brain and into our limbs to prepare us for fight or flight.

Yet many people spend much of their time in the anxiety and stress of fight or flight when there is no real and present danger. This is because the body responds the same way to imagined danger as it does to real danger. The body thinks that the false evidence coming from our thoughts is real.

This constant state of fear and anxiety often leads to various addictions in the hope of numbing out the difficult feelings. Food, alcohol, drugs, nicotine, gambling, sex, TV, shopping, approval, attention, work, anger, rage, violence to self and others – all can be used in attempts to block out painful feelings.

Yet, the addictions themselves are an abandonment of self, in that they are not a healthy and loving way of dealing with painful feelings. And it is self-abandonment that causes the most fear, anxiety, and depression.

Thus, many people are caught in a very negative circle based on self-abandonment:

• Thinking negative thoughts about the future – about rejection, failure, loss of others, loss of self, loss of money – creates fear in the body and is an abandonment of self.

We are abandoning ourselves when we allow ourselves to make up thoughts about the future that scare us. This would be like saying to a child, “You are going to end up alone. No one will ever love you. You will be out on the streets with no food and no help.” Saying this to a child would be considered child abuse, yet many people tell these same things to themselves over and over when there is no objective truth to these statements.

• Once we have created fear with our negative thinking, we try to avoid the fear with our various addictions.

Avoid responsibility for creating our fear by turning to addictions is another self-abandonment. This is like offering a frightened child a cookie instead of addressing the source of the fear. The self-abandonment creates deep inner emptiness and aloneness, which perpetuates the addictive behavior. It also creates neediness, leading to pulling on others for love, approval and attention.

• Addictive behavior perpetuates the original fears – an endless vicious circle of self-abandonment.

Moving Beyond Fear and Addiction

There really is a way out of this! While the process of moving beyond fear and addiction is simple, it is not easy. It takes deep commitment and devotion to your peace and joy.

1) Choose the willingness to feel your painful feelings and take responsibility for creating them, rather than continue avoiding them with your various addictions. It is only when you are willing to be with your feelings rather than avoid them that you can learn about how you are creating your own pain.

2) Consciously decide that you want to learn about what you are thinking or doing that is causing your pain.

3) Dialogue with the part of you that is in fear and pain – you can think of this feeling part of you of a child within – about how you are causing the pain. Discover your thoughts and actions that are causing your pain.

4) Open to learning with a Higher Power – your own highest wisest self, an inner teacher or mentor, a guardian angel, God – about what is the truth regarding your negative thinking and what the loving action is toward yourself.

5) Take the loving action for yourself that you are guided to do in Step 4.

6) Notice how you feel. If you feel more peaceful, then you know that you have taken loving action. If not, then you need to go back through these steps to discover another loving action.

By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.