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Welcome to the second edition of ClifsNews,
In the eighties I visited and worked many times in Stavanger, a delightful city in the south of Norway. One girl in her mid-twenties came to see me. By her staggering walk and the look of her disarranged clothes she gave the impression of someone who was either drunk or very likely on drugs.
In consultation, in a quiet voice, she told me that she was in fact suffering from the effects of the first stages of Multiple Sclerosis and because of her stumbling walk people in the street would often pull away or make hurtful comments, convinced she was drunk or an addict.
The skilful answer, we decided, would be for her to carry a walking stick – even though we knew she did not really need one. Immediately her life changed. People were considerate, helping her across the street, chatting cheerfully at the bus stop and so on. She realised what an act of generosity it was to share her suffering with others and how much people are really thankful for the opportunity to exercise their wish to show compassion.
In our story of the Pied Piper, compassion is asked for the children of today who are drawn away from their joy and happiness. We see that we must drop all the disguises and diversions of the twenty-first century and take up the banner of children’s right to be nurtured by caring, present parents.
You are invited to make bold steps to lead the way out off this tragedy by joining the SonntagsKinder movement.
Larry Dossey MD sends an Endorsement for ‘Knowing Nothing, Living Happy’ and from Portugal, Barry McCutcheon neatly encapsulates feelings he has when ‘dipping into the book’.
Lots of Love, Light and Laughter, Clif
This issue:
Spirited Away
………Where have all the children gone?....... And who’s to pay the piper?……
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Once upon a time, in the little North-West German town of Hamelin there was a plague of rats. There were black rats, brown rats, grey rats; rats with long pink tails – rats with long, sharp, yellow teeth. Rats in the food cupboards, rats under the chairs, rats in the walls scratching and munching. There were rats in the children’s bedrooms and in the babies’ cribs. The rats kept everyone awake with their squealing and squeaking. In the dark of night, rodent eyes glistened in all the damp alleys of the village. Fear gripped the townspeople. The village’s burgomasters were lost in their attempts to solve the problem.
Then at the height of the trouble, a stranger dressed in odd clothes appeared with an offer to rid the town of rats. Everyone pleaded with him to help, and they agreed that, even though he was asking for half of the town’s yearly income, they would pay anything to see the end of the rats.
And so he took out his flute and began playing. The rats came running from under the trash bins, running over the cobbled streets, leaping out of first floor windows. They all had one intent - to follow the man with the music. Truly, it was not long before there were no rats in all of Hamelin.
Now, the clever businessmen of the town council decided that, as there were no longer any rats in the town, they had no need to pay the Piper. Whereupon, with a bitter smile, he began to play again and from out of their bedrooms, and across the cobbled streets and from their cribs, ran and crawled all the children of the town. They danced and sang, blinded by the magical music as they followed the Pied Piper deep into the dark cave of a nearby mountain.
The people were never to see their children again.
But now, many centuries later, the rats have returned to the towns and cities of the modern world.
This time the Piper is playing an entirely different tune. He knows that the rats have already taken over the minds and lives of the population. He only needs wait, ready to pounce. The Piper’s flute is now replaced by the bright, single eye of the plasma screen.
This new insidious pandemic has mesmerised adults and children alike.
Paralyzed, most parents are deeply conditioned and without complaint they quietly doze off, leaving their innocent children to be bombarded with ugly, aggressive images, right in their own bedrooms. By the age of seven, most children will have lost 4,500 hours of sleep when even the loss of one hour’s needed sleep affects their mental performance.
The modern Piper, our new antagonist, no longer dressed in patchwork and threadbare rags, wears designer clothes, and offers temptations of happiness and unimaginable wealth. His modern sidekicks know exactly how to neutralise any resistance simply by playing on the pipes of fear. Their instruments are the tools of propaganda, a lethal mix of truth and fantasy. They are delivered with the precise skill of the most delicate surgeon.
Do we become outraged when we read that 11.2% of girls in some countries have been cutting or burning themselves or taking poisons? It doesn’t look as though we do.
If 9.6% (nearly one in ten) children in the U.K. have psychological problems, do you think the Piper’s bill should be paid sooner - or later?
Even if we do not have children ourselves, according to quantum physics, each of us is infinitely interconnected. This means that the future is, and always has been, dependent on the present. Now that this has become even clearer than before, we have no choice but to accept our infinite role as caretakers of the future, each of us intertwined and as co-dependent as any particle of existence.
If this revelation means we do act now, we will see such a deep all-embracing philosophical, psychological and physiological upheaval that God must truly begin smiling!
From that higher state we could take in, and make use of, apparently disastrous information without collapsing into ineffective disarray. Crossing the raging torrent is possible by linking arms and bending towards safety for all. Clearly it is not only today’s parents who must acknowledge their part in preserving our world but each generation carries equal responsibility. Only by grasping that unity can we have the collective strength to face up to the truth of the deteriorating social, economic and personal ethics of the early 21st century.
Or does the contemplation of such an apparently enormous burden make us fearful? Truly, are we sufficiently incensed to jump to our feet and, all together, shout, ‘I have had enough’?
If we are moved to do this for ourselves, what of the children? Are they not the ultimate victims? They were born with unconditional hope and expectations of joy. Have we not forsaken them to the Piper’s enchantment?
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Perhaps you are already under the spell of the intrusive music? Perhaps it seems too difficult to contemplate taking part in such a change. Well, there is only one way to find out. Start by asking your friends and your family, or perhaps calling the local kindergarten and asking, ‘what exactly is happening to the children you know?’
In the city of Karlsruhe, Germany, the local teacher of first grade children told us that out of 22 children in her class, 15 were on medically prescribed drugs for disruptive behaviour and for a panoply of other symptoms. Read that to me again: 15 out of 22 kids not long out of the cradle.
Looking deeper into the causes, we discover that few people agree on an all-encompassing reason.
According to the research of American psychologist, biologist and broadcaster, Aric Sigman (2000): watching television slows the metabolic rate, stunts children’s brains and increases ADHD. Is it any wonder considering the negative influences of the ugly, aggressive and violent images they are bombarded with?
Perhaps it is television which is the major culprit (massive numbers of children have TV sets in their bedrooms) but there is no doubt that unprecedented numbers are also badly affected by bad diets, lack of quality parenting, lack of body touching or from little physical movement through constantly sitting at video games and computers.
There is no question that we urgently need to widen the investigation into both the causes and the remedies. One ‘revolutionary’ answer is discussed by the French obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Michael Odent, in his new book, ‘The Caesarean’ he suggests that induced births deprive the child of oxytocin – the natural ‘love’ hormone that is stimulated by labour.
How have we become a society that demands birth to a convenient timetable for doctor and mother? In even such a precious event we have no patience for allowing a longer process to unfold. Conditioned as we are to shorter and shorter mental focus by programs that compete for our attention, we accept brief segments punctuated with violence and sex; and to having our entertainment served up on regular timetables.
On every hand, there is drug abuse, uncontrolled violence, sexual aberration, obesity, negative, hostile and defiant behaviour, hyperactivity, girls taught to hate their bodies, depression, a loss of contact with reality…the list goes on and on….. On the collective level, there is pollution of the environment, disregard for limited resources of land, water and living creatures, and now, finally, some recognition of the effects of global warming.
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THE SONNTAGSKINDER CLUB
The SonntagsKinder movement began in Germany where troubled parents, desperate for help, came together on a Sunday morning to find if DFR could be useful in their search. In many cultures children who are naturally happy, unusually lucky or blessed with joy are known as “Sunday’s children”.
At first the ‘experiment’ slowly caught on, not through long explanations, nor through following conventional psychology. But through silence. Children who had never felt love, mothers and fathers who were crying inside from lack of bonding with their children, beamed with happiness.
The principle is called hugging! Quietly. One parent to one child. In the gathered group the children see their parents, perhaps for the very first time, sitting silently with their eyes closed hugging their child. What an amazing sight! It is enough to make the most restless child sit without distraction for twenty to thirty minutes.
One eight-year-old boy from Brazil had been sold as a baby by his grandmother. He had never allowed his adopted mother to touch him, yet we watched amazed as he climbed onto her lap and hugged her. Tears all around.
Another six year old, banned from school through violence, mended his ways and went back to school.
We have shown that during a SonntagsKinder meeting, the greatest benefit is to avoid any form of teaching. There is no conversation around perceived problems. No one needs speak without their choosing. And the children are always within sight of their parent.
© 2007 Clif Sanderson
Visit www.sonntagskinderclub.com
‘Pied Piper’ illustration and SonntagsKinder Club logo by Stefan Stutz (www.stefanstutz.de)
First published in the International Journal of Healing and Caring, January 2007. www.ijhc.org |
Making Kids happy
Henk Modderman, a former school headmaster in Holland has fully embraced the practice of the SonntagsKinder Club and has been holding meetings regularly there. He has also welcomed the opportunity to be the European organizer; presently he is registering SKC as an Organization within Europe.
To learn progress on the establishment of our teaching programme for those who wish to become SKC leaders, email Henk at henkmodderman@home.nl and please visit www.sonntagskinderclub.com
The stories from SKC meetings can be amusing and often very touching. Be prepared to shed a few tears when you come to visit ‘our’ kids when they reveal emotions they have held back for years.
Ruth is in Henk’s group. He tells us that ‘She is 4 or 5 years old.... She visited SKC for the second time. She didn’t want to sit on her mother’s lap.... So sitting on the chair next to him she looks fragile and lonely..... After the session she volunteers to be the one who has to guess what is changing in the circle, a game we play. When she comes back, because she can't be in the room while we choose someone who starts the changes in the group, suddenly she starts to cry........ She cries for over 5 minutes! Sitting on the lap of her mother...... And everybody being present experiences it as completely normal.... just waiting! What a safety in the group!
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Her one year old brother Olaf, sat in the middle of the circle during the session looking at everyone... At the end he stood up, and walked! His mother told this was the first time he had walked for so long! She said: You can tell Clif this is special!’ www.sonntagskinderclub.com |
Happiness is……..
What is the secret of happiness? That is the question – do we become happier when we have more money, a better love life, or good health and abundance around us?
The popular film, ‘The Secret’ appears to think so. It translates into satisfying the ego or the ‘me’ syndrome.
Science is not so sure.
The Buddhist philosophy towards happiness is based on very attractive, simple advice. First, make your circle of involvement much bigger than your own family and friends. This creates a space which allows others into your heart, in this way letting go of old stories and agendas meanwhile connecting with strangers in the most practical, down to earth way, don’t just focus only on spiritual ideas.
When you move beyond religion and belief, that is, to become an altruist, you find joy in giving without expectation of reward or the benefits of recognition.
For most of us it is a natural desire to give, each one wants to serve, unfortunately most of us are too busy surviving – or fighting off depression.
Buddhism has never been big on faith in concepts that are not borne out by real-world experience. Scientific research confirms that people who are geared toward service are much healthier than those who are not.
Allan Luks studied 3,300 people who volunteered work every day and described his findings in the 2001 book “The Healing Power of Doing Good”. These volunteers were 10 times likelier to report good health than people who only volunteered once a year. It also emerged that it is important that the work involve personal contact.
Simply donating money doesn’t contribute to what Luks called “the helpers’ high.” Doing good not only leads to better health and more vitality, but also is a good pain reliever. In fact, Dr. Robert Benson of Harvard Medical School in Boston discovered that do-gooders experience the opposite of stress: “If we do good, we apparently relax. Metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure and breathing all grow calmer. And tension, depression and anger decrease.”
Serving others with compassion involves looking after our own needs, not allowing to be burnt by the pain of others. Being above pain, physical or mental— we can stay positive and constructive in the face of painful situations. Learning the lesson of how not to hurt others but at the same time not to take on other’s grief.
The Institute of HeartMath, a non-profit organization in the U.S. well known for its research, developed a method we can use to care for others without getting burned out. This “Cut-Thru” method teaches us to reach “higher heart qualities” such as compassion and sympathy, and research shows that people who practise it produce 100 percent more DHEA—a hormone that counteracts the aging process—and 23 percent less cortisol—the “stress hormone.”
It certainly looks as though being useful to others is a more difficult, but practical, long lasting ideal, than searching for illusive happiness.
…Galina Sanderson |
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Compassion without action remains impotent pity….Clif
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Wild nature?
The nature of Nature is astonishing. In Richard Attenborough’s ‘Jewel of the Earth’ he films a frog no larger than a thumbnail. This incredible being climbs high into a tall tree in the tropical forest, carrying one of its tadpoles on its back, then, finding the upturned bowl of the flower of a parasitic vine, carefully lowers its young into the little pool of water in the flower. Then, marvel on marvel, it returns often to feed the tadpole. How does it know to do all that? I mean, among other things a tadpole does not look anything like its parents! As they say, some mothers can love some pretty ugly offspring but this is taking it to the extreme.
In Indonesia there is a beetle which is, as you can imagine, called a ‘man-faced beetle’. How does it know and how does it form itself knowing that its camouflage as a human being threatens predators? The size difference between the bug and a human being is enormous to say the least. How? We don’t know. Finally we have to agree that there has to be some plan operating here. I call it the ‘Information Field of Creativity’. It is not wise to use the term ‘Creation’ because that implies something static, something completed, whereas moment by moment the universe is re-creating itself. Similarly, the idea of putting a calendar date to the action of universal transformation (as predicted in some circles as 2012 AD) serves only to avoid the reality that Time and Space cannot be clocked by slow brains who yearn to nominate a pre-ordained instant. |
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What readers are saying about ‘Knowing Nothing, Living Happy’
An endorsement from Larry Dossey MD.
"Clif Sanderson is a master storyteller. He has a huge talent for paying attention to life's continual twists and turns, and he knows how to communicate what he's learned in a light-hearted, engaging style. Knowing Nothing, Living Happy will not only make your day, it will also help make your life."
Larry Dossey is a distinguished Texas physician, deeply rooted in the scientific world. He has become an internationally influential advocate of the role of the mind in health and the role of spirituality in healthcare. Bringing the experience of a practicing internist and the soul of a poet to the discourse, Dr. Larry Dossey offers panoramic insight into the nature and the future of medicine. http://www.dosseydossey.com
Dr. Larry Dossey is the author of: The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things
From Barry McCutcheon (Portugal):
“I was dipping into Knowing Nothing, Living Happy this morning, as I often do. I was particularly struck by one sentence – “But you can never know exactly the outcome of any decision you make.” (p.215) This resonated with something that I had been thinking about in my own way without my really knowing I had been thinking about it. I suppose it comes down again to the limits of the local mind; or, more accurately, the misconceptions of the local mind.
What struck me was that it seemed to me that this one sentence was probably the product of a great deal of reflection and was an important aid against the tyranny of the mind over the spirit (Armageddon…).
From one perspective, actions (and inactions!) are like stones thrown into a pond, sending ripples in all directions, not just in the directions we think are relevant.
(Chou En-lai, when asked on a visit to France whether he thought the French Revolution had been a positive development, replied, “It’s too early to tell!”)
I mentioned to one of my few good friends here, who has been going through a turbulent time for about 18 months now, the mantra “I’m doing the best I can”. Her eyes immediately filled with tears – it’s a wonderful way to connect with one’s own heart and to support oneself. |
| “Forgiveness” postcard, #1 in a series.
While it is an entirely commendable thing to forgive another, we must be clear what we intend by offering forgiveness to someone who has hurt us in some way.
Could it be that we are simply congratulating ourselves on our wonderful ability to forget the details of that pain caused by an unthinking person?
We need to be careful that we are not assuming a position of superiority.
Perhaps we should replace the idea of forgiveness with a broad attempt to understand why the other person acted in such a way. It would be much more useful for us to take the event as a unique opportunity to learn something about ourselves.
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” Anon
“Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.” Lewis B. Smedes
(Open copyright, please print and send to friends) |
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Despite huge numbers of requests not to create panic in the general population by mentioning the coming end of the, well, all of the universe I guess, we again present some further essential information needed for survival As The World Turns – literally.
Once Again This is the ClifsNews ‘End of the World’ supplement.
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THE PIZZA PILLAR
Sometimes known as "the one with the lot" by dedicated tornado tyros whose many hours of careful study lead to such exclamations as 'Phew', and 'When you're in it, you're in it'.
Beginners and people who have never been in it may remain confused without some explanation. "THE PIZZA PILLAR" is a 'very special hurricane which has passed through any downtown fast food centre collecting "ingredients" as it goes. One may expect to, and usually does, find such things as neon signs, menu boards, greasy aprons and bowls of spaghetti and meatballs flying past in a kaleidoscope of culinary specialties.
A report has even been filed of an entire squadron of pizza trays formation flying at 10 feet heading in a North-Westerly direction followed in quick succession by a dilapidated array of parmesan cheese (grated), anchovies, olives (black & green) and Tony Piagnini. |
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THE HOLLYWOOD SPINNER
Despite it's name the "Hollywood Spinner" is found only in Kansas. However, you should be familiar with the characteristics of this rather transitory whirlwind.
The most obvious feature is that during the passing of the storm everything will be seen only in black and white. Watch as it approaches and you should be able to see a cottage swirling amongst the other flying debris (In fact without the cottage, and an old lady pedalling furiously on a bicycle, this cyclone does not qualify as a "Hollywood Spinner"). Immediately the hurricane has passed (some experts contend that it is actually in the "eye") everything will become luridly colored and you may have hallucinatory experiences, imagining such things as (sic) Tin men, Lions talking, Scarecrows with the stuffing knocked out of them, and Australian Wizards from OZ. Medical consultants describe these delusions as an overdose of OZone but prognosticate early recovery for most people.
One word of advice: In preparation, immediately go out and buy yourself a pair of red patent leather shoes and take the time to learn the rudiments of hot air ballooning. |
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THE REVERSE TWIST
More familiar to inhabitants of what is presently known as the Southern Hemisphere, this hurricane resembles the Northern Hemisphere "Counter-clockwise Rotater". It can be used as a guide to whether the Southern Hemisphere has become the Northern Hemisphere yet or not. Precisely categorizing the "Reverse Twist" requires close observation (not too close) and you will need a certain amount of readily available equipment. Prime among these is some form of timepiece. Almost anything except a digital clock is usable.
Perhaps a wristwatch, a working alarm clock, or in extreme cases if none of these are available you should find a clock tower, which has fallen on its side, dial uppermost. Lay the timepiece on it's back with the 12 o'clock position facing the on-coming cyclone. Now, with your magnifying glass (it's possible but not ideal to use the convex bottom from a broken bottle) closely check the movement of the minute hand (that's the big one) for about 10-15 minutes then relate this to the direction of rotation of the twister approaching. If they coincide then you have indeed identified a "Reverse Twister". |
Of course, by the time you have worked out the specie of hurricane, there will be little time left, running will be superfluous and you should utilize your last piece of equipment - a shovel. Start digging. |
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