Do you see no mystery, no romance,
no wondering what it is all about,
in science?

Does every probability
Exist or only what we see?
There’s mystery!

We and our fellow-creatures
Are made of the stuff of distant stars,
That’s romance.

– Wendy Shutler

The furthest reaches of the mysteries surrounding some of the deep questions of life may be beyond our ken to answer at present but science is peeling back some of the outlying shrouds.

Why take a cue from the behaviour-pattern that is said to typify the Ostridge? We should consider all the new evidence that comes to light. Light arguably is shed on aspects of our belief systems by scientific discoveries. If so, what is their possible significance?

There are several scientists or former scientists who take the view that spirituality and an understanding of th human condition can be based on scientific findings. References to some of these teachers are on the ‘Links’ page of this website under both ‘Spiritual Matters’ and ‘Science’ but what exactly is the science that propels us in this direction; how certain is it? Truth – be it of the nature of the world, or Nirvana, outer space, or numbers etc – is rarely understood by gazing at equations or considering entities such as quarks or neutrons. They can carry someone originating a theory part of the way but fuller realisation can come in a ‘Eureka’ moment. It is rare that a new Big Idea finds instant universal acceptance or acclaim but it behoves us to keep an open mind about some of the thinking that has been going on by people who know their science. Hypotheses based on evidence may fall short of proofs as needed in a court room or a laboratory but may be allowable pro tem even if the jury is still out. Not all scientific experimentation or the conclusions drawn from it stack up but earnest, expert experiments to try to tease out deep meanings deserve an open-minded hearing.

What do the findings, or some of the findings, tell us about the significance of our beliefs?

What exactly are the findings in modern science that may have these far-reaching effects on our perception of our place in the cosmos?

Below are some of the questions in this context:

In what way if any are we connected to everything around us?
Can there be communication perhaps at a distance ‘remotely’ between people and/or other entities? If so, by what means might it be conducted if not by language?
is there a fundamental animating spirit in our biological make-up? If so, what might this animating spirit be?
What kind of universe is it that we are in?
If man is not the architect of himself, does this imply that there is another ‘architect’? If so, what deductions about ‘it’ does rigorous conjecture lead?
We come from the stars; is our composition or consciousness different in kind from what is in the cosmos; if so why should this be the case?
Do the recent revelations about the workings of the human body including its sub-atomic parts have a relevance to what and who we are and, if so, what is it?
What do discoveries about the natural world have to tell us about ourselves?
What Is the connection between consciousness and quantum physics?
Can human biology be physically changed by human intention? If so, how?

The Brain of Einstein

Einstein’s brain was preserved after his death in 1955, but this fact was not revealed until 1978.

Read about Einstein’s Brain on Wikipedia

More on this Subject

A call for reflection

Considers the need for the governance of the UK to evolve

SHIELD

The United Nations should be given teeth.

What is Western Meditation?

Occidental Meditation should come out of the closet. Cults and beliefs emanating largely from the East may have an elevated aim but the time is ripe for a fuller appreciation of Western traditions of reflection. The habit of reflection per se is worthwhile. To meditate is distinct from some fashionable goals of ‘Meditation’. It is a path to practical wisdom and self-realisation and should be fully signposted.

Graham Gibbs‘ Reflective Cycle

The theoretical approach of reflection as a cyclical model was further developed by Graham Gibbs (1998). This model is based on a six-stage approach, leading from a description of the experience through to conclusions and considerations for future events. While most of the core principles are similar to Kolb’s, Gibbs’ model is broken down further to encourage the teacher to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings.

Learning Cycle by David Kolb

David Kolb proposed that if people become better at using all stages of a learning cycle, notably including reflecting on experience, they will become better life-long learners, and be more successful. His concept is among many that advocates 'trial and error' (extending to reflection, conceptualization and experimentation) through direct personal experience

Further Aspects of the Academic Work on Reflection

The Art of Self-Scrutiny The act of self-reflection is a ‘spiritual act’ by taking time out to connect the inner-self with the outer world. A view, Olsen suggests, that parallels Florence Nightingale’s thoughts that providing nursing care to others can be a spiritual act. More importantly, he highlights how reflection is essential to avoid burnout by helping nurses to stay connected with their passion for their profession. Yet, the reality for many nurses and midwives is that their working ...

Four Levels of Relfection

Jenny Moon, a Teaching Fellow and Associate Professor at Bournemouth University, has written much on reflective learning and the use of learning journals to support professional development. In her book ‘Reflection in Learning and Professional Development: Theory and Practice‘ (the word ‘practice’ there refers to practical work), she defines reflection as a thought process: “[Reflection is] …a mental process of thinking about what we have done, learned and experienced…” (J Moon, ...

Some Definitions

Reflective Practice is an ancient concept. There are references to the power of reflective learning in the writings of Confucius, around 460BC, and the ancient Greeks practised 'reflection' as a form of contemplation in search of truth. Their ancient meaning of reflection features in several modern definitions. The following definitions convey distinct meanings of Reflection: "Careful thought or consideration.." Wikipedia, 2015. "Serious thought or consideration..." Oxford ...

Some Famous Names Whose Works Have Contributed to the Study of Relection

Reflection as an academic subject has been considered by many famous philosophers throughout history. Here's some of the best known historical contributors to the field.

Cosmopolitanism: an ideology for the 21st Century?

Iryna’s Faith

A new religion or creed or faith, as yet to be named, that is widely discussed and believed is coming into being.

Review: ‘La Source Noir – Revelations aux portes de la mort’ by Patrice Van Aersel

Editions Grasset Patrice Van Aersel has made a detailed study of near-death or after-‘death’ experiences interviewing hundreds of people who have undergone them. His findings broadly speaking are as follows: There are stages in a near- and after-death experiences and only 10% of people reach the 5th stage. They include: 1. The extraordinary inimitable light which has been described by Walt Witman and the one according to Dante is capable of trans-humanising a man into god. It ...

Articles from The Institute of Reflection

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External Links

A call for reflection

I have generally enjoyed the James O’Brien show on LBC. Sometimes he has gone over the top in his criticism of the Government but mostly his opinions are very entertaining for me as someone who is not committed to a political party. But lately he seems to be in near ecstasy at the fumbling about which the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have brought upon themselves with their clumsy handling of the tax cuts to the richest in society and their having so quickly to change their policy. He loves rubbing in their need to perform a U-turn. Of course, we must bear in mind that the radio show is devised for the purpose of entertainment.

Nonetheless this seems to me to be on the excessive side for two main reasons. Firstly, the Tories currently constitute the government of the UK and we need them to be relatively successful in their endeavours in running the country. Being hyper delighted at their misfortune is not good for the country. In some sense we should be sad that they are fumbling so much as this can’t be good for the general wellbeing of our institutions or for the citizens themselves. In fact, it is not at all clear to me that the media’s intense focus on embarrassing government ministers and other parliamentarians is really helpful at this time. It is abundantly clear that a policy mistake was made and that it was corrected.

The second issue is that we are today surrounded by what one might call wicket problems. Wicket problems is what some people including academics call problems with no obvious solutions. There is no apparent solution in the short term to the fuel crisis and thus inflation. There is no reason to be optimistic that the war in the Ukraine will be resolved in a satisfactory way any time soon. We have all sorts of post-Brexit issues to resolve, including the lack of labour in numerous parts of our society from the NHS professionals through hospitality to agriculture i.e. lettuce pickers, to mention only one category of worker. There is the rubber boat crossing of the Channel problem which will only get worse. The railway and other union strikes are far from being resolved. We have had a lull in the Scottish and Northern Irish issues, but these are coming back in a big way soon, and of course Covid is still lurking in the background.

Does anyone really believe that the Labour Party will handle this cauldron of wicket problems well? I can see them resolving a few of these issues quickly but some of the others they will find tough to handle. We get so engaged in our likes and dislikes for the individuals involved in politics that we sometimes lose sight of the creaky old political party apparatus and the adversarial parliamentary system of government they have to work with. There are so many reforms which could be made which would make the government and management of this country more effective and efficient and would lead to the greater good for all.

What is now required is a period of serious reflection. I think we really need to engage in thinking about a fundaments revaluation of how we do politics in this country and not just muddle along with a system which may have been fit-for-purpose in the 19th century but is clearly out of date today.

SHIELD

I spent fifteen years from the mid nineties promoting this concept which I believe would have prevented the current situation in Ukraine and some of Russia’s earlier military invasions. The current situation in Ukraine shows the need for such an arrangement as Shield. The acid test would now be if Putin invaded another country but not a NATO country. It would prove the value of a collective defensive alliance and the behaviour of Finland and Sweden in the last couple of weeks on potential NATO membership gives further credibility to the viability of an international defensive pact. Indeed, with Shield in place would the water tester of Crimea have happened? I am sure you are familiar with President Zelensky’s address to Congress recently which compounded my sense of failure and frustration. The frustration was bad enough at the time with such significant support, but none from Governments, despite the support of former world leaders and key influential people of stature.

I attach the full details, which have not been updated, apart from the summary, but recommend reading the summary, Jim Callaghan’s letter and the quotes of support first. You will also find our US survey interesting. As you will see from the files, we had the matter raised in the House of Lords in years gone by, but were rebuffed by government of both flavours. The time is right to consider the concept again and I am looking for members of the media of vision unafraid to stick their heads above the parapet while the crisis is hot and re-start the discussion. Maybe this will help us succeed where we failed previously, which looking at the TV screen sickens me. But more importantly, change the course of humanity and history for the better.

My late friend Paul Stonor conceived the idea in the early 1990’s, and I worked with him until his death in January 2004, trying to get support from where it mattered. We failed. I continued until the late noughties but still with no success.

But we did have support as the list of quotations shows. However, Lord David Owen said, “Fundamentally, an American President has to run with such a proposal. It will not come from the bottom up, but the top down.” The White House over the years rejected it, but you will read of Jimmy Carter’s support, which was a hand written note.

As the files show we discussed it with RUSI; there were articles in the House Magazine and the Army Quarterly and Defence Journal. How apt now are the words of Alfred Cahen, Secretary General of the Atlantic Treaty Association, “Shield is a project that certainly deserves a large and detailed debate. The realisation of such a project could indeed be vital for our World in transition.” There is no doubt now how true that comment was. We have transitioned to something we sought to avoid, something which could and should have been avoided.

Of course, there would be practical problems of implementation, that comes with any form of progress and maybe the proposal isn’t the finished article, but it is the basis of a future civilised world. We had discussions in Downing Street in both the Major and the Blair tenures, but the persistent reason for rejection was that it would never be needed. The threat we were looking to neuter was no longer real. I remember saying endlessly to people who said that, that it only needs to happen once, reflecting maybe perversely Martin McGuiness’ comment after the Brighton bomb. As a former head of the American CIA , Admiral James Wolsey said, “there will always be a maverick nation.”.

Jim Callaghan said, “When the Charter of the United Nations was agreed, those who designed it looked forward to such a possibility, but any progress was pushed into the background by the Cold War.” Lord Ramsbottom said, “As ever …. the subject of a “quick response unit” came up. Such a body was intended in the UN Charter, but has never been implemented.” And Jean Pictet, the Red Cross lawyer who drew up the humanitarian military code, interviewed by Peter Capella in the Guardian, said, “I am a great-grandfather of two days. I think my great-grandson will see an organised world, with a judicial force backed by military strength that outstrips any other. I don’t think there’s any other solution.”

Whilst Shield proposed a Supra National body perhaps in its simplest from it is a form of NATO at a higher international level. An attack on one is an attack on all. The international law prohibits the invasion of any sovereign nation by another and prescribes the action that will be taken if the law is breached, and the UN is obliged to act in accordance with that law. That action would be military, overwhelming and instant. Unlike the situation we have just witnessed where the offender can veto action being taken against him.

After the First World War the League of Nations, to which America did not belong, was founded.

After the Second World War the United Nations and NATO were founded.

We can but hope that we are not on the brink of a Third World War and that the invasion of Ukraine is an atrocity and horror enough to see “UN Shield – the Elimination of war between Sovereign States” adopted. There will always be one maverick. That is one too many …….

I have literally dusted down old files from my garage, but can anyone now argue that Shield is not a concept whose time has come? Some may say better late than never, which of course is no comfort to the people of Ukraine.

As Swift wrote in 1711, “Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.” And as I have said often over the decades, but never more so than recently, “the saddest words in the English language are, ‘If only …….’”

During correspondence with President Jimmy Carter in November 2011 , he sent us a hand written note stating “I believe that the goals of Shield and the Carter Center are quite compatible”.

The declared aim of the Carter Center is “The waging of Peace”. The declared aim of UN-Shield is “The prevention of conflict”.

WHAT IS SHIELD?

Shield is a concept for the UN to have its own Permanent , Standing Military Intervention Force comprised of professional military personnel recruited directly from member nations in the same way as UN civilian staff. Such a force was envisaged in the original UN Charter but was never implemented, mainly due to the Cold War.

The current structure of UN peacekeeping whereby forces are often hurriedly, belatedly and sometimes unwillingly assembled from a melange of different nations is clearly no longer fit for purpose.

The difficulties in carrying out a rapid deployment in Mali by African Union /ECOWAS forces, combined with the increasing reluctance of major powers such as the USA to assume the role of World’s policeman, show that the time has surely come to create a permanent UN force capable of operating rapidly, globally and independent of any national, political or military control.

This type of force would remove the growing threat of reciprocal “revenge” attacks by terrorists against the nationals or property of countries supplying UN contingents, such as resulted from the French intervention in Mali and the Ugandan troops in Somalia, because no single country would have provided a contingent.

LEGITIMACY

A key factor in the UN-Shield concept is that of legitimacy. No longer is world opinion likely to tolerate unilateral intervention by any super-state or alliance of states. With UN-Shield the legitimacy of an operation is guaranteed.

VISION.

Jean Pictet, the Red Cross lawyer who drafted the Rules of War said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper on 12 August 1999, “I am a great-grandfather of two days. I think my great- grandson will see an organised world, with a judicial force backed by military strength that outstrips any other. I don’t think there is any other solution.”
Jonathan Swift, the Irish Essayist, wrote “ Vision is the art of seeing the invisible”.
Earlier, in the Book of Proverbs, the words were written “Where there is no vision the people perish”.

NOW IS THE TIME TO CREATE THE UN PERMANENT FORCE

On April 25th 1945 , President Truman of the USA, speaking by phone to a formative meeting of the UN in the San Francisco Opera house, said “We must make certain by your work here today that another war will be impossible.”

There has never been a more opportune time to commence forming the initial cadre of the UN Defence Force (UNDF) .Growing numbers of professional military personnel are being made redundant from their own armed services due to budget cuts but many young men and women are seeking military careers, particularly at a time of high unemployment.
These personnel could serve for the whole or most of their careers with the UNDF which would be open to men and women from all UN member nations who would ultimately be fully integrated , irrespective of their original nationality, down to platoon strength .

A FORCE OF ALL ARMS.

The UNDF would be a force of all arms with air force and naval components. It would have the strategic heavy-lift air transport capability vital today for operations in continents such as Africa where 16 countries are totally landlocked and two, the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are virtually landlocked.
The UN naval Force would be deployed in areas of maritime conflict such as piracy in the Indian Ocean, the Straits of Malacca and the West African coast.

WHOSE IDEA IS IT?

Shield was conceived by one man, the late Paul Stonor who, as a boy in England in 1941, saw his home in Liverpool destroyed in an air raid and later that year saw his mother open a telegram announcing that her eldest son had been killed in action in the Japanese attack on Hong Kong.
Devastated by the loss of his brother, whom he greatly admired, Paul Stonor vowed that if ever he became successful he would devote increasingly his time and money to furthering the cause of world peace and the prevention of conflict.
He did indeed become highly successful as a businessman and in the 1990s began to create and promote the idea of a permanent international military intervention force answerable to but not controlled by the UN.
He called this concept SHIELD

HOW WOULD UN-SHIELD BE STRUCTURED?

The UN would be charged with the responsibility to establish an independent supranational Council . This in turn would be in sole command of an armed law enforcement body. Both would be answerable to, but not controlled by the UN

The Council would be similar to a Court of Justice in a nation state and the UNDF to a national police force. Therefore the UNDF would be empowered and required to take immediate action to prevent conflict in the same way as a national police force is empowered and required to take immediate action to maintain law and order.
Consequently the dangers of conflicts escalating while the UN deliberates on agreeing a mandate , such as have occurred in the Near East and in Africa recently, will be avoided.

Thus aggressors, faced with certain instant and powerful intervention by the UNDF, will be doubly cautious before launching their attack
The Supranational Council, would be elected under UN supervision from each of the UN member nations via an agreed formula, for terms of between two to four years.
These elected members , who would be known as monitors, would be required to swear to uphold UN law regardless of sectional or national interests and in accordance with a UN mandate. The oath would be similar to that taken by European Commissioners who vow “neither to seek nor to take instruction from any government or body”.
These measures would be markedly different from the UN’s current multinational approach where members vote in accordance with their governments’ policies rather than pre-established law.

HOW LARGE WOULD UN-SHIELD BE?

A study carried out by the Royal United Services Institute in 2008 concluded that a substantial force could be built up incrementally over a period of time starting with a UN Intervention Force of 10,000 . Military experts, in the light of events in Libya, Syria and several African countries have recently said that a starting figure of 50,000 personnel is now required. This force could expand rapidly as the effectiveness of its deployments became globally recognised and national governments reduced their own defence expenditure.

The UN-Shield Force would be bound by Rules of Engagement issued by the UN which would lay down the appropriate response to any crisis.
The existence of UN-Shield would not involve a deadline for UN members to reduce or abandon their own security but its proven, global deterrent effect would enable nations to do so, confident that their sovereignty was safe.

BACKGROUND TO UN-SHIELD

As can be seen from this web-site the UN-Shield idea has evoked considerable positive comment from many notable opinion leaders worldwide. They have seen that , when assessing the viability of the concept, it is essential they cast aside all thoughts of the way the UN operates today in its conflict prevention and peacekeeping roles. It will mean the restructuring of the Security Council or its replacement by another body.

The events of 11th September 2001 have demonstrated clearly the need for the world to look afresh at the way peace throughout the globe can be ensured. Had the UN adopted the concept in 1945 for the prevention of conflict through a permanent UN military force the environment in which extremists cite the USA as the enemies of their culture would not have arisen.

As the President of South Africa and global statesman General Smuts said in 1945. “The UN provides for peace with teeth: for the uniting of peace-loving people against future aggressors”.

Writing on the UN-Shield concept in 1997 the former British Prime Minister, Lord Callaghan said, “When the charter of the UN was agreed, those who designed it looked forward to the world becoming a safer and more secure place if the nations could one day reach agreement on a world system of international law.”
However it should not be thought that Shield is synonymous to World Government. It is not. It is purely a concept for the prevention of conflict.
It is true that some people in power tend to reject the concept of Shield but it is noticeable that many more , who have previously held power but no longer do so, including Presidents Gorbachev and Carter, support the need for further study and discussion of Shield as they see the logic and the need for it.
While they were in power statesmen were often constrained by the accepted policies of their governments or organisations but freed from these pressures many have recognised that the age of military interventions by a single nation, however powerful, or by a coalition of nations such as NATO or a section of a regional grouping such as The African Union, is nearing its end.

The economic problems of an increasing number of nations mean that they no longer have the financial strength or the political will to carry out international peacekeeping deployments.

SHIELD IS NOT A PRESSURE GROUP

Shield is not a “peace” group or lobby group. It is a concept which represents the theory of Defence Diplomacy in action in support of international law. It removes from any single government the feat that its sovereign troops could find themselves engaged in military actions that it or its people did not agree with or support.
Whilst the concept originally addressed purely the issue of war between sovereign states it has adapted over the years to confront the growing dangers of civil conflict and asymmetric war. Thus the UNDF would have the military ability to act in recent and current conflicts such as those in Libya, Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan ,The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mali.

“VISION IS THE ART OF SEEING THE INVISIBLE”, Jonathan Swift.

Two hundred years ago, with the Napoleonic wars raging, it would have been inconceivable that in the 20th century Britain would have twice come to the aid of France to repel an aggressive invader.

Today the concept of Shield may, to some, be inconceivable. Every day brings further news of actual or threatened conflict but, concurrently, accelerated by the speed of modern internet and satellite communications, imaginative and creative minds are trying to think forward to discover possible new solutions.
The League of Nations was a new, but flawed, solution. The United Nations was a new solution but it has not prevented millions dying in war since it was formed. One reason for this is that the structure of the UN has, in essence, not changed since it was formed nearly 70 years ago.
If the UN had created its own permanent armed intervention force, as originally envisaged in the Charter, millions who have died may have been alive today.
The world has changed momentously since the late 1940s and there is much conjecture as to whether or not it is a safer place since the break -up of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

However one thing has become clear : since President Obama was elected for a second term the United States no longer has the political will or the economic and military power to fulfil the role that , to a great extent, it has carried out since the fall of the iron curtain – namely that of the world’s policeman.
Yet, as a one time head of the American CIA , Admiral Wolsey said “there will always be a maverick nation.”.
Even when the United States was, in effect the world’s policeman, the American led intervention in Kuwait resulted in the loss of upwards of 50,000 lives . The second Gulf War provided proof that the age of interventions by one super-power was coming to an end and Afghanistan has shown that even coalitions of militarily well- equipped nations cannot bring speedy solutions to asymmetric conflict.

THE FUTURE

There is now a growing consensus among global leaders and experts in conflict prevention that the organisation of the United Nations, especially in the role and structure of the Security Council, needs urgent review.
Shield provides a solution which has been developed and honed over 20 years during which the rationale of its thesis and the feasibility of its implementation have never been effectively disproven . This despite the efforts of some who realise that its successful inception would lead to the end of their ability to continue their undemocratic and lawless activities.

Quotes

“My Lords, is my noble friend aware that I believe the support given to this document by a former president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, is unconditional as is the support given by a former president of the Soviet Union, Mr Gorbachev?”
– Lord Jenkins of Putney, speaking in the House of Lords

“It is an interesting proposal that deserves to be discussed and debated.”
-Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Former Foreign Secretary

“Shield is a visionary idea, with a lot to commend it, though I have to add that in the present international political and financial climate it will not be easy to make it a reality.”
-Dame Margaret Anstee – former Under Secretary General of the United Nations

“Shield is a project that certainly deserves a large and detailed debate. The realisation of such a project could indeed be vital for our World in transition.”
-Alfred Cahen, Secretary General, Atlantic Treaty Association.

“After the tragedies we have witnessed in recent years, there can be no doubt that the world would be a safer and more secure place if the nations could one day reach agreement on a world system of international law. If it were to be effective, it would need to be acceptable to all and enforceable. ……….. When the Charter of the United Nations was agreed, those who designed it looked forward to such a possibility, but any progress was pushed into the background by the Cold War. In truth, whatever the circumstances, there are several problems in defining its range……..
…. very practical problems that must be faced, but despite them, nothing but good will come from people thinking about and debating these issues, and Mr Stonor makes a very useful contribution to the discussion”
– Rt Hon Lord Callaghan of Cardiff KG

“I wholly agree that the Rule of Law should prevail on a global scale, and this will be possible only if effective military action is available at the disposal of a global authority.”
– The Rt Hon The Lord Archer of Sandwell

“It does sound a most feasible concept ….”
– Lord Grade of Elstree

“I wish you every success with your interesting project.”
– J-M Veranneman de Watervliet, Charge d’Affaires a.i., Belgium Embassy, London

“Preventative diplomacy is indeed a necessity in today’s world and Switzerland is very much in favour of it.”
– Francois Nordmann, The Ambassador of Switzerland to London .

“Fundamentally, an American President has to run with such a proposal. It will not come from the bottom up, in my judgement, but the top down.”
– Lord Owen

” I am very interested and favourably disposed to the concept. It seems to me that in the long run peace in the world and disa rm ament will only be secured if there is an international security arrangement with a degree of automaticity. I do see enforceable international law as the way ahead.”
– The Rt Hon Lord Lamont

“This is a very interesting and imaginative scheme and very well set out”
– The Rt Hon Lord Jenkins of Hillhead

“It looks most interesting …”
-The Rt Hon Lord Steel

“I would like to wish you luck in gaining recognition for the concept of ” Shield “.
– Menzies Campbell, MP

“I am most sympathetic to the concept of Shield …”
– Sir David Knox

“It is clear, an interesting concept”
– The Rt Hon Alan Clark, MP

“It is all extremely relevant and I believe will eventually happen”
– Peter Temple-Morris, MP

” …you are certainly correct in pointing to the desperate need to have an organised international response to the sort of emergencies which are occurring around the world.”
– David Harris, MP

“It is, as you say, an interesting concept but not easy to sell.”
– The Rt Hon Lord Tebbit

” … an idea well worthy of the most serious consideration.”
– Sir Patrick Co rm ack, MP

“As ever … the subject of a ‘quick response unit’ came up. Such a body was intended in the UN Charter, but has never been implemented.”
– Lord Ramsbotham GCB CBE

“The existence of a non-national law enforcement body answerable to the United Nations might indeed be useful, ….”
– Paul von Maltzahn, Minister Counsellor, Ge rm an Embassy, London .

” Shield raised some interesting points.”
– John Humphrys, BBC Today Programme

“May I wish you every success in increasing the exposure and support for the principles that Shield promotes.”
– David Chidgey, MP

“I am sure that your work will add to the important developments in the post Cold War world.”
– Francis Maude, MP

“I wish you every success with your work.”
– Simon Hughes, MP

“I agree that the role of NATO, the UN and the EU in both defence and international law will need to change in the coming decades and info rm ed debate is necessary.”
– Richard Livsey, MP

“Of course I do accept that something must be done because I personally was appalled at the events over Iraq where the Americans and the British seem to have taken on a role as world policeman without authority.

“I have to say that I think there is a great deal to be said for having some kind of international force or committed national force under the control of the United Nations and certainly this would be a great deal more sensible than the proposed European a rm y which is a further indication of the obsession of the EU in establishing a single state without democracy.”
– Sir Teddy Taylor, MP

“I …. certainly think that you are moving in exactly the right direction. It is good to see that you have got such a broad-based group of supporters and I wish you well with your initiative.”
– Professor the Lord Alton of Liverpool

“I was most interested to read about the work of Shield . Shield is an imaginative idea, and it raises some very pertinent questions regarding the concept of a body of international law acceptable to all, interpreted in the same way by all and enforceable by all. I am fi rm ly in favour of a high level of discussion on the issues which are addressed by Shield , in particular those which concern the key debate of the effective role of the United Nations in preventative diplomacy as we approach the 21st Century.”
– Lord Moynihan, Opposition Spokesman for Foreign Affairs, House of Lords.

” … I think you make some very interesting points in your letter about global stability and the UN needing an enforcement a rm .”
– Rt Hon Lord Renton of Mount Harry

“I share your views about Shield but regret I cannot manage a meeting with you and Paul in the near future.”
– Rt Hon Lord Healey of Riddlesden

“…….. I believe this is a very important initiative.”
– Julian Brazier, TD, MP

“This looks like an excellent initiatve.”
– Nirj Deva, MEP

“I think your proposals are admirable and certainly worth further debate.”
– Caroline Jackson, MEP

“There is much to be said for the proposition that if the UN is to carry out the peace-keeping role envisaged by the Charter it needs, in today’s world, a very different world from that at the time the Charter was fo rm ulated, to possess its own military capability. ”

“I am further inclined to believe that this should consist of mercenary forces, rather than forces subscribed by the member states….”
– Rt Hon The Lord Lawson

“Obviously, in view of the current debate about the role of the UN, the ideas encompassed within Shield are particularly relevant.”
– Gary Titley, MEP

What is Western Meditation?

Reflection is an Activity that too often does not own up to the name. It is aligned with a horizontal True North of ourselves. It is a cylinder too often uninspected under the bonnet in the engine that drives people forward into life’s choices. It is time in our speeded-up world that it has a more recognised niche in our communal psyche. We are what we have thought. We should think again.

The word ‘meditation’ since the ‘sixties has had an orientation towards the oriental and it has acquired a capital ‘M’. A capital ‘R’ is now the due of ‘reflection’. The West has a vantage point on Reflection that also has been long in the brew.

There is an appetite shared by many to wonder about the Big Questions and the other questions in life so let us take time out to reflect on them.

A clear-minded, rational, serene and detached look at what we truly know and at what individuals and society can do can go hand-in-hand with spirituality. Finding one’s (true) self can build on lateral thinking; reflecting on scientific breakthroughs can shed light on intangible realms. These arguably actuate us and our Faiths and core Beliefs. Much can emerge from our own minds if sensibly and independently used. It is time to refresh some age old, wise – and maybe not so wise – precepts.

Hard-won hallmarks of civilised thinking, open-mindedness, respect for others, care in thought and so forth should be kept clearly in mind. The best habits of mind are rarely a quick fix. Thinking things over may result in better life choices.

This approach should reinforce an understanding of our place in this world and what might be the Hereafter, help query ‘fixed’ landmarks in some of society’s root concepts, and enhance personal fulfilment, peace and happiness.

Graham Gibbs‘ Reflective Cycle

Gibbs’ model is an effective tool to help reflect after a given experience, and is a useful model if new to reflection as it is broken down into clearly defined sections. Feelings: The practitioner is encouraged to explore any thoughts or feelings they had at the time of the event. It is important the practitioner is honest with how they feel, even if these feelings might be negative. Only once the feelings have been identified can the practitioner implement strategies to overcome these barriers. Evaluation: gives an opportunity to discuss what went well and analyse practice. It is also important to consider areas needed for development and things that did not work out as initially planned. Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, lends itself particularly well to repeated experiences. It covers 6 stages: • Description of the experience • Feelings and thoughts about the experience • Evaluation of the experience, both good and bad • Analysis to make sense of the situation • Conclusion about what you learned and what you could have done differently • Action plan for how you would deal with similar situations in the future, or general changes you might find appropriate. Critical reflection is viewed by many as the cognitive process linking theory and practical work, vital in critical thinking. Theory, and especially research and evidence-based facts – help us to understand the world beyond our own experience. Reflecting on theory – combined with personal experience – offers a potent basis for inspiring new ideas to put into effect, to achieve continuous improvement and development. Systematically using reflection to consider what theory has to offer for our own learning and professional work can help us move from thought to action. After all, theory based on solid research evidence is largely recycled ‘best practice’ from the relevant field of study. Organizational theory is mainly drawn from studies in the workplace, and specifically for example, the management theorist Meredith Belbin’s research into management teams has created a body of knowledge and understanding about team dynamics and effectiveness. The business world has used this wider knowledge to understand how to minimize errors in recruitment and team working, and to improve team effectiveness for improved productivity and growth. Dewey supported the idea of theory drawn from practical experience and applied back to practical action – a loop of reflection and action, for learning and development. Reflexivity and reflective learning together empower critically reflective learners for continuous improvement in performance, at individual and organizational levels. These powerful implications for learning suggest that the reflective practitioner can transcend basic training and knowledge transfer, to instead facilitate real growth in people and in groups, and the fulfilment of human potential (US-English fulfilment).

Learning Cycle by David Kolb

Kolb developed a four-stage reflective model. His Learning Cycle highlights reflective practice as a tool to gain conclusions and ideas from an experience. First, practitioners have a concrete experience. This means experiencing something new for the first time in the classroom. The experience should be an active one, used to test out new ideas. This is followed by… Observation of the concrete experience, then reflecting on the experience. Practitioners should consider the strengths of the experience and areas of development. The model draws on the importance of using everyday experiences and educational research. It is not simply enough to reflect. This reflection must drive a change which is rooted in educational research. The aim is to take the learning into new experiences, completing the cycle. Educators need to form an understanding of what helps students’ learning and what hinders it. There follows the formation of abstract concepts. The practitioner needs to make sense of what has happened. Links should be made between what they have done, what they already know and what they need to learn. The practitioner should draw on ideas from research and textbooks to help support development and understanding. They could also draw on support from other colleagues and their previous knowledge. Practitioners should modify their ideas or devise new approaches, based on what they have learnt from their observations and wider research. The practitioner considers how they are going to put what they have learnt into practice. The practitioner’s abstract concepts are made concrete as they use these to test ideas in future situations, resulting in new experiences. The ideas from the observations and conceptualisations are made into active experimentation as they are implemented into future teaching.

Further Aspects of the Academic Work on Reflection

The Art of Self-Scrutiny

The act of self-reflection is a ‘spiritual act’ by taking time out to connect the inner-self with the outer world. A view, Olsen suggests, that parallels Florence Nightingale’s thoughts that providing nursing care to others can be a spiritual act. More importantly, he highlights how reflection is essential to avoid burnout by helping nurses to stay connected with their passion for their profession. Yet, the reality for many nurses and midwives is that their working day is full of emotional extremes coupled with physical exhaustion. As Knight (2015) points out, working in highly pressurised clinical environments isn’t naturally conducive to the idea of pausing, engaging with feelings or staying with uncertainty.

Without some structured support, the focus on self-reflection can be viewed with suspicion and cynicism.

Reflection-on-Action v Reflection-in-Action
Reflection-on-action is the most common form of reflection. It involves mentally re-viewing events that have occurred in the past. The aim is to value your strengths and to develop different, more effective ways of acting in the future.

Reflection-in-action, on the other hand, requires a higher level of self-awareness and the ability to reflect on your actions or those of others, in the moment, as the activity is actually taking place.
If recalling incidents with strong emotional content blocks you from consciously reflecting on your day, try viewing it from a detached, dissociated point of view. For example, seeing the incident play out in your mind’s eye as if on a movie screen.

At the end of a stressful day, this can be a good way to consider what you would like to change about the situation. This form of reflection can also be a useful stress management tool, as feelings that might otherwise have been suppressed can be reflected on consciously, deliberately and openly.

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Objective Thinking

Objective Thinking is a crucial aspect of Reflective Practice.

The nature of thought is obviously personal, being the product of our own brain, so our own thinking tends to be subjective to some degree. Where our thinking is very subjective, for example when we feel very emotional about something, this subjectivity can become unhelpful, especially if we are stressed or angry which can substantially distort interpretations. If reflective thinking is to be useful for our learning and development, and for improving our actions and decisions, then this reflective thinking must include some objectivity. If decisions are based on wrong data, then outcomes tend to be unhelpful, or worse.

We need to be more subtle in understanding what objectivity and subjectivity mean in relation to Reflective Practice. We can increase our objectivity by increasing our awareness of our assumptions and expectations. Or put another way, we will reliably increase our objectivity in Reflective Practice by recognising our assumptions and expectations, and being able to differentiate this data from objective facts and evidence. Each of us has a different individual outlook on the world. This develops from the circumstances and influences that shape us into adulthood. Our reflections are filtered through these beliefs, values and attitudes, so that our interpretations are likely to be biased. Our thinking is instinctively ‘value-driven’.

Metacognition

"... Metacognition can take many forms; it includes knowledge about when and how to use particular strategies for learning or for problem solving. There are generally two components of metacognition: knowledge about cognition, and regulation of cognition... This higher-level cognition was given the label metacognition by American developmental psychologist John Flavell (1979). The term metacognition literally means cognition about cognition, or more informally, thinking about thinking. Flavell defined metacognition as knowledge about cognition and control of cognition. For example, I am engaging in metacognition if I notice that I am having more trouble learning A than B; or if it strikes me that I should double-check C before accepting it as fact,.. (JH Flavell 1976)." Wikipedia

Metacognition is an important aspect of modern Reflective Practice. There is a broad correlation between metacognition (being aware of one's own thinking) and conscious competence (being aware of one's own capability) - because, for example, people cannot go beyond their limits until they know what their limits are. Metacognition is awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes. To achieve a more objective view, we can reflect on our prejudices and assumptions.

We can also use objective evidence to support our reflections, and in this way reduce bias in interpreting events and experiences. Truth requires objective confirmed evidence. Subjective reflections can be faulty, especially when based on perceptions alone. So particularly when reflecting on human values and social relationships we can increase the validity of our reflections by using evidence. Subjective reflections can be valuable, provided we are aware of the dangers of bias. Moreover, while isolated reflections are often unreliable and transient, a collection of subjective reflections can produce a meaningful picture. This 'whole picture' tends to be greater than the sum of its parts.

Searching for new knowledge or truth towards our own personal development requires more than merely increasing objectivity, and reducing the potential for bias inherent in subjective interpretation; we must draw on both of these data sources, weighing and balancing them to formulate thinking which is informed by:
• Facts and evidence, and other objective data, and
• Personal relative reactions and feelings, and other subjective data, and
• Our analysis of what these things mean, their relative validities and their most reliable blend.

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Reflective Practice

Reflective practice is a core component of professional development for all health professionals. Without it, learning and self-growth become harder, and job satisfaction can suffer. It could be argued that at its best, reflection on what’s gone well or badly in the day is a natural yet unstructured aspect of a nurse's role. It’s part of being a good practitioner.

Reflective practice encourages innovation

Reflective practice allows you to adapt lessons to suit your classes. You can create and experiment with new ideas and approaches to your teaching to gain maximum success. By varying learning and experimenting with new approaches, students have a richer learning experience. They will think more creatively, imaginatively and resourcefully, and be ready to adapt to new ways and methods of thinking.

Reflective practice encourages engagement

Being reflective helps you challenge your own practice as you will justify decisions and rationalise choices you have made. It encourages you to develop an understanding of different perspectives and viewpoints. These viewpoints might be those of students, focusing on their strengths, preferences and developments, or those of other colleagues, sharing best practice and different strategies.

Critical Reflection

The National School for Healthcare Competence describes Critical Reflection in the following terms:

It is highly relevant as you transition from training into practice. It is particularly valuable during periods of unusual/rapid change to maintain safe clinical practice; will help with ensuring that you enter future practice with insight of what will be required of you and from you and foresight on how you will manage those expectations; will help you realise where you need to focus your energies as you continue to develop in your role as a Clinical Scientist

The Scamper method was proposed by Alex Osborne in 1953. In 1971, American psychologist Bob Elerle advocated the SCAMPER method in his book SCAMPER: “Games for Imagination Development.” It is a way to stimulate people’s creative thinking and it is one of the easiest graphic techniques of mind mapping for critical thinking and brainstorming ideas.

Transformative Learning

Jack Mezirow was an American sociologist and Emeritus Professor of Adult and Continuing Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is generally considered to be the founder of the Transformative Learning concept, which divides knowledge into three types: Instrumental, Communicative, and Emancipatory.

Mezirow asserts that examining our outlook on the world, and challenging the assumptions and preconceptions underlying our values and beliefs, can be emotionally threatening. Transformative learning "...Incorporating the examination of assumptions, to share ideas for insight, and to take action on individual and collective reflection..." Challenging the values and beliefs that form part of our self-identity can challenge the very core of who we are. Conversely Mezirow's work suggests that self-reflection can empower us to be more open and emotionally capable of change and reflection: a liberating process of intellectual and emotional growth. In his 2000 collaborative book 'Learning as Transformation - Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress', Mezirow defines Transformative Learning as incorporating the examination of assumptions, to share ideas for insight, and to take action on individual and collective reflection. Mezirow offered the following transformative learning structure:

1. Critical reflection on one's assumptions
2. Discourse (communication) to validate insights from the critical reflection
3. Action

Four Levels of Relfection

‘Thinking on our feet’ (immediate reactive reflection) can solve immediate challenges, whereas critical reflection (i.e., after-the-event proactive reflection) can produce more complex changes for future improvements. Put very simply, thinking about a task as we are doing it can lead to making changes to improve the outcome of the task.

Reflection can help us:

• Understand our own strengths and weaknesses, and become better learners,
• Encourage and plan development of our capabilities,
• Adopt and apply Reflective Practice in the workplace, in professional situations, so that:
• Very serious risks are minimized,
• Quality on a wide scale is optimized,
• Others adopt and use similar Reflective Practice methods,
• And ongoing improvement and risk avoidance become deeply embedded into organizational culture, to avoid stagnation and encourage innovation.

We can start using Reflective Practice by simply (and mindfully, intentionally) thinking about things that have happened in our lives, whether in a personal or professional situation. We can reflect in lots of different ways on a range of different events or experiences that are important to us. Using Reflective Practice does not require any extra time.. For example, on our journey home from work or study, (especially on public transport when we don’t need to concentrate on traffic) we can devote a little time to consider things that happened during the day.

We can reflect while walking the dog, doing the washing-up or ironing, cutting the lawn, cleaning, and even when watching TV – you’ll be surprised at how much time is spent sitting in front of a TV not actually engaged with what’s on screen, just day-dreaming, in a trance. Instead, we can use and build on these moments to trigger deliberate reflection. During this process be mindful of the requirements to:

• Reflect at the right time – Reflect at appropriate times in relation to any experiences which are stressful or intense (intense experiences need a cooling-off period before ‘cold’ reflection is possible).

• Balance subjective and objective reflection – Be aware of the difference between your subjective reflection and your objective reflection – both are useful and relevant, but you must understand what is subjective and what is objective, and you must strive to balance each in arriving at the most helpful and clear overall understanding.

• Understand how and why you think in the way you do – generally and about specific things – this is ‘metacognition’ – (“Awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes.”)

• Consider your personal role and responsibilities – examine your strengths, skills and development needs (for example assess your multiple intelligences to understand your different skills and abilities – and perhaps find new ones)

• Seek external clarifications – Refer to external references, advice, information, clarifications, facts, figures, etc., especially where you believe that your thinking is not factual enough, or you are not fully informed about situations. (See heuristics tendencies within Nudge Theory, which offer helpful alerts to our natural human vulnerability to making assumptions, blind faith, unsupported fears, following the crowd, etc).

Some Definitions

The following definitions convey distinct meanings of Reflection:

"Careful thought or consideration.." Wikipedia, 2015.

"Serious thought or consideration..." Oxford English Dictionary, 2006.

"Quiet thought or contemplation..." Collins Free Dictionary, 2003.

"The action of turning (back) or fixing the thoughts on some subject; meditation, deep or serious consideration... (and philosophically) the mode, operation or faculty by which the mind has knowledge of itself and its operations, or by which it deals with the ideas received from sensation and perception..." Oxford English Dictionary, 1922."...A mental process of thinking about what we have done, learned and experienced..." Professor Jenny Moon, teaching expert and author, 1999.

Reflect - "Turn one's thoughts back on, meditate on, ponder.." Chambers Etymology

Reflective Practice - "...the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning..." (Schon 1983:102-104), and "...paying critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice [life/work experiences] reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental insight..." (Bolton 2010:xix) Wikipedia, 2015.

Reflexivity - "Finding a way to stand outside ourselves to get a more objective view of ourselves..." Kitchener, 1983

Critical self-reflection - "To know how and to what extent it might be possible to think differently, rather than legitimating what is already known … a test of the limits that we may go beyond" Michel Foucault, 1992.

Critical Reflection - "The [Brookfield] 'Lens theory' suggests that apart from reflecting on our own personal beliefs, we reflect through other 'lenses', on multiple perspectives including theory..." Brookfield, 1995.

Reflector, critical reflector, non-reflector - Terms derived from the above, referring to people and the type/extent of reflection they use. For example 'the reflector' refers to a person who uses reflection of some sort. A 'critical reflector' more specifically refers to someone who uses Reflective Practice as a learning tool to question and evaluate themselves, others and situations. A 'non-reflector' is a person who rarely or never uses reflection. The terms are used commonly in academic or technical writing, when describing or reporting on reflective methods and activities.

Metacognition

"...To monitor our own learning progress to become aware of the limits of our own knowledge and values, assumptions and expectations (frames of reference)..." Kitchener, 1983.

"Knowing about knowing" and "Cognition about cognition." Traditional informal definitions, Wikipedia 2015

"Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes." OED, 2006.

Some Famous Names Whose Works Have Contributed to the Study of Relection

Immanuel Kant

German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is considered one of the founders of Western philosophy. Kant wrote the 'Critique of Reason' in 1781, which supported ideas for a scientific logical and rational thinking approach, enabling reasoned thinking, being superior to dogma and other received opinion from authority.

Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell an English philosopher, mathematician and supporter of Kant's scientific approach, considered that knowledge is 'a belief in agreement with facts'. He asserted that to believe in something with no evidence is inadequate, and instead we should check if there are accurate and agreed supporting facts, and who agreed them.

John Dewey

John Dewey was an American philosopher and educational reformer. He is seen as the founder of experiential education, linking reflection and action, so as to enable new experience and knowledge. In 1910, he wrote a book for teachers titled 'How We Think', in which he described critical thinking as reflective thought, moving reflection beyond contemplation. Dewey used and defined the term Reflective Thought to mean:

"...Active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief, or supposed form of knowledge, in light of grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends..."

Crucially here, reflection is seen as more than impulsive thinking or day-dreaming with no purpose. It is a way of deliberately thinking in a reflective (i.e., deep and interpretative) way about experiences, beliefs or knowledge, to make more careful judgements (US-English, judgments), based on objective grounds.

Thus, reflecting on things that have happened in our lives can open up more options and enable sound reasons for action.

Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault was a French philosopher and social theorist. Significantly his view was mainly of society, and he saw personal reflection as an aspect of societal health. In 'The Use of Pleasure: The History of Sexuality' built on his original 1976 'History of Sexuality' book. He discusses using reflection to consider how to go beyond the limits of our existing knowledge, in order to work towards intellectual growth and freedom. He defined critical self-reflection as being: "To know how and to what extent it might be possible to think differently, rather than legitimating what is already known … a test of the limits that we may go beyond..."

Cosmopolitanism: an ideology for the 21st Century?

Though there is no general mobilisation, NATO and its allies are at war with the Russian Federation. China is poised to invade Taiwan but it may not. These realities are the unresolved conflicts of the last century’s wars. Fashioned in the West as an ideological struggle between liberal democratic values and autocracy, the global situation appears bleak. In the midst of these realities, undercurrents of visionary hope continue to emerge. Cosmopolitanism, engenders a secular concept of difference and diversity willing to engage with other expressions of Truth and its values. Cosmopolitanis m is a stage we must embrace while on a journey towards a more socio-political-spiritual goal of Universalism. A concept redolent of healing, even healing nations.

Cosmopolitanism as a concept

The concept of cosmopolitanism is associated with the idea that all humanity belongs to a single community. It focuses on social relations between global citizens and has a global outlook. Cosmopolitanism as an ideology has expanded in the 21st Century, is often referred to as cosmopolitanization. Cosmopolitanism advocates global citizenship, cosmopolitan education, and political cosmopolitanism. Global citizenship is the philosophy that we as human beings are local and global at the same time, global citizens who can establish a lasting peace, decrease social and economic injustices, and promote environmental sustainability.

Educational Cosmopolitanism

Cosmopolitan education projects are an educational framework including peace, human rights, and sustainability. Cosmopolitanism advocates the idea that individuals can regard themselves as citizens of the world without giving up their national or local citizenship. Those who believe in cosmopolitanization believe that education can have an impact both on a local and a global community.

Political Cosmopolitanism

Political cosmopolitanism reflects a commitment to universal standards, human rights, and democratic values and seeks to specify general principles on which the world community could act. As a political agenda, “cosmopolitan democracy” is aimed at globalizing democracy and creating broad avenues of civic participation in decision-making at both regional and global levels.

Cosmopolitanism: a Controversial Ideology?

However, while the developments around cosmopolitanism have been significant, there are multiple underlying issues. The ideology has divided people into primary identities and reinforced existing subcultures. Arguably it has also overlooked the more complex interplay between identities and their environments and has failed to incorporate an awareness and appreciation of diversity in modes of thought and ways of life. Some cosmopolitanists argue that individuals should thrive not beside each other but with each other celebrating one another’s cultures and diversity. Thus for example, the multiculturalism associated with the Blairite educational reforms that could be regarded as having resulted in more segregated faith schools, would run counter to mainstream cosmopolitanism. And yet there are those that would argue conversely for a “melting pot” integrationalist approach. This too would run counter to cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitanists argue that you should respect the differences but live together. Integrationalists might conversely argue that present-day controversy over what constitutes ‘human rights’ results in part from differing religions, social practices and customs and might never be resolved as long as cultural diversity persists. Conversely multiculturalists might argue that states and their roles remain vital within an international community, and that issues such as individualism and nationalism must also be considered when discussing what the future holds for cosmopolitanism.

Iryna’s Faith

Introduction

A new religion or creed or faith, as yet to be named, that is widely discussed and believed is coming into being.

If we are in a Brave New World of newfound explanations concerning the eternal verities, what might we expect of a new religion? What context and tendencies in society at large gives rise to it? How would be coloured by the thinking going on in the wider world? Below are suggestions and possibilities of what might be expected:

It would be democratised - with everyman-and-woman having more say in his and her own perspective.
There could be an emphasis on the new power afoot, that of empowered women. If so, a premium may be set on the attributes traditionally ascribed to women more than men, like intuition, the importance of feeling, of love and compassion.
The ramifications of scientific discoveries are feeding into people’s perspectives, ranging from the views about dimensions other than space and time to some quainter aspects of the allegedly ‘unseen world’. 'Waves' and 'Vibrations' and so forth are demonstrable; the cosmos itself and nano-biology are opening up new perspectives even on divinity in the eyes of many people. All this has a ripple effect on core beliefs.
Over-Civilised western man is perceived as losing touch with his true nature as well as nature at large, a connection retained by Indigenous peoples. There is an attempt to recapture some of that fundamental hinterland in our minds which has been obscured by a widely-held Cartesian world view.
Revelations that struck biblical figures may be more common to the generality of people that previously supposed, and we can read about them, the internet having a big part to play in the circulation of ideas.
Many of the old certainties no longer hold good. The idea of ‘certainty’ itself is under fire, even in science. People still feel the old need for certainty but can pin more faith in new, and fascinating, hypotheses.
Many exponents of New Age faith set themselves up as teachers, there being less call for an identifiable founding prophet. People today - with traditional religions often on the wane - relish a freedom to pick and choose.
Sanctions characterising traditional religions such as hellfire - a need to underpin good ethics and the need for a ‘stick and carrot’ encouragement remain but surface anew under the guise, for instance, of a more ‘user-friendly’ law of karma; people are less liable to transgress if they will get it in the neck themselves.

There are a number of ways that such a faith or religion - if the theory finds favour - is interpreted though an umbrella corpus of writing is yet to be codified. There are certainly many new articles of faith that find increasing acceptance.

Reincarnation is more widely given credence today though it has had mention in the major religions, the Jewish teaching going one step further than most by suggesting that souls are reincarnated on earth into the same tribe or group in which a former existence took place. Reincarnation has an intellectual saving grace. It helps explain injustice. Question: What did innocents killed do to deserve this fate? Answer: it was retribution for what they did in a previous life. It is incidentally cold comfort for those who feel that the world's dangers are becoming so threatening that they do not want to bring children into it: they aren't going to escape this cycle so easily, not if there is reincarnation.

There are a whole clutch of esoteric speculations about the power and godhead in all of us, often originating in Eastern traditions. These are sometimes lent new credence by the latest scientific discoveries. They comprise a new Vade Mecum on Faith that people appear to need as a bedrock for their lives. They include - in a non-exhaustive list: the rays from the universe that affect us; 'synchronicity' replacing in the minds of many mere 'co-incidence'; a vogue for the 'Unseen World' in its many guises; different non-human dimensions which our minds being biologically-constituted with five senses are unable to grasp; energies, waves and vibrations affecting all of us; 'Guardian angels' replacing those angels vaunted in scriptures; and so forth.

This new religion has its leading light, votaries and a variegated methodology. Reiki is but one instance, a form of energy healing in which practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which a "universal energy" is said to be transferred through their palms to the patient to encourage emotional or physical healing. The idea that the body is a 'temple' - a telling use of the word - has spawned a whole industry dedicated to nutrition that updates the concept of 'a healthy mind in a healthy body'. Life Coaches and spiritual teachers wax lyrical about their nostrums. Mindfulness has become for many a way of life. And so on...

In PERSONAL CREDOS, Tsuruko, Valerie, Akako and 'Helen' are perhaps devotees of this new Faith though they have different ideas from one another.

Iryna, see below, is a proponent of this new religion. She would jib at the idea of being 'a Priestess' let alone a Prophet - this is a non-exalted religion for everyone and everyone has the right to their own take on it.

Iryna has written in Russian and what is below is in the main a computerised translation. Irina spoke and wrote in a flow of dialogue or writing that was not a structured lecture. On occasion below, the exact nature of what she was trying to get across may be adrift on nuances.

Iryna says

We are in harmony with the cosmos, feeling vibrations and energy. The last generation understands more. Our senses circulate and come back to us. We have past lives and we learn in every life.

We must love everyone or our negative feelings will be restored to ourselves.

Everything happens with a purpose. Our Angels look after us and see what we need better than we can.

I know this from experience. If we open our brain – our chakra – we will see the truth of what I am saying.

Stress causes its own problems. You have to trust yourself and love yourself. You must speak to your angels; even talking to water can help. Water stores information. You program yourself. The wrong foods can destroy us, such as sugar. Eat garlic, lemon, fruits, nuts, vegetables….

What is planetary meditation? This is a meditation aimed at raising the vibrations of the entire planet Earth for its purification and healing, in order to accelerate the process of spiritual awakening of all mankind. These meditations affect every person on earth, especially those whose higher selves agree to it. Therefore, through these meditations, you can directly influence this reality and help in raising the vibrations of planet Earth.

We are not just spectators or passive observers, each of us can do the work of Light since you are conscious workers of Light, in order to awaken All of humanity that is sleeping and cannot come to spirituality through their daily worries and entertainments that take a person away from his true destiny and awareness of who he is on this planet and why he came to this World.

I am Divine Light bringing Peace, Unity and Love to people!

The law of receiving energy is the key to all doors.

Correct energy exchange with the surrounding world is the ability to admire the beauty of the object in front of you. You need to look at the object until you feel a surge of positive energy, love. It seems that you are admiring, but you immediately reproduce the higher energy, automatically you begin to give energy to the outside, through positive emotions-vibrations. Thus, you open from above for higher energies - vibrations for positive egregors. For this, the Universe begins to give you energy several times more than you gave. You become just a conductor through which the higher energies of love begin to circulate in space. You do not parasitize, you do not take it away from other people, but you develop it yourself. You become a mini-power plant connected by positive thoughts with a higher infinite source of energy.

As people usually exchange energies, they pull from each other. They are forcibly taken away during scandals, claims and other conflicts, or they complain about their lives or criticize the government.

These are all low frequency energies that take away strength and health. People run away from such people as quickly as possible. But if you know how to be filled with energy competently on the vibrations of love and gratitude you become like a higher principle. You become an energy millionaire and a conductor of higher vibrations. You are just a wire through which an endless stream of energies flows.

You are a walking firefly, you are like a flashlight illuminating everything around, you are a harmonizer of space on earth.

You reproduce positive emotions through admiration and immediately receive three times more energy from above. This is the most environmentally friendly way to fill with the energies of the cosmos.

After that, you can direct this energy to any object or person. You can give it without harm to yourself, even to energy vampires.

If a person is in the dark about how to save energy and fill up, then you can help him.

Remember the principle, the more you give, the more comes from above. How to calm a brawler, aerobatics - work with this exercise. When they shout at you, and you send this person sympathy and gratitude for something real and sensible. Send him sympathy and love until a counter, powerful stream of love for this person comes from above. As a rule, after that, any person calms down, since you thereby calm him down on a subtle plane and fill his bio-field with positive vibrations. He also goes upstairs with you.

Of course, one must grow to such consciousness. I give first and expect nothing in return. I give, and I get tripled and even more. These laws must first be believed, and then simply verified. And they work 100 percent. Train every day and you will feel that this skill of filling with energies is growing day by day and becoming better. Where your attention is - in that world your energy.

The widely practiced methods of magical and energy protection no longer work. You do not need to protect yourself from each other if you are surrounded by the most powerful protection of a multi-dimensional radiant shell of the energy of love, this shell allows you to remain yourself. To keep one's strength to oneself to be invulnerable to any evil and at the same time not to be separated from the whole, not to oppose oneself to the world. Any opposition to the world right now will do you harm everything that unites you everything that you find in common with others is good for you.

Unification does not mean equalization; a single whole can consist of different parts that are completely different from each other; your biological organism is also a single whole, but how many different cells does it have. They have completely different functions, principles of action, and all the groom form a single whole living organism. If all cells were the same, it would be a very primitive organism; if we imagine each person as a cell of the universe organism, one can imagine how complex and earthly this organism is

Treat with understanding dissimilar different people to each other.

Now the time has come for the planet of new energies, there is a change in the planet and people at the cellular level. This is called the quantum transition of the planet earth into a new higher dimension. In the space of the planet, the earth is vibrating all this time, we have been in three-dimensional density all this time and now we are rising above the fifth dimension. Our planet for the universe is also a living organism, just like we are for it. We are in a universe where there are certain planets that belong specifically to our universe, and together with them our planet ascends, it goes through its development path just like people we are on this plane. The planet is a large organism and it is alive, it has chakras just like ours, it has thin bodies, and it glows, it breathes, it gives us life and every cell and it is also the creation of the creator

I consider myself an old soul on this planet, and since all my cells, my whole body feels it, I know and am sure that I am the creator of this planet and I came to this world. We are old souls and we are the creators of this planet before it even existed, our reincarnations have been going through this stage of rebirth for a very long time.

Three years ago, my soul opened up and I began to observe myself as changes took place with my consciousness that new people began to come into my life, new events and everything around began to change. All this happened at the level of intuition, I received signs from the space of the universe, but I still could not explain what it meant and the Internet gave me a very big impetus, I began to develop, look for programs that spoke for my soul.

Why is it given to Russian people to lead our planet into development? It goes very deeply from the roots of our ancient Slavic history. We are conductors of light on this planet, which means that our bodies, as conductors of light, pass through themselves a large amount of energy, dissipating it around and launching it deep into the earth. This is how we connect with our earth, cleanse its inner space with light through ourselves and let the flows back into space, this means that we are connected to outer space through our bodies. You must always remember who you are on this planet and who you are inside yourself. This is the understanding of the God of man, because God prevails in us. This is the spark of the original creator of the source from where we left.

When we are happy within ourselves, these energies are transmitted around the entire space, we begin to fill and glow with this light, and people feel it. This is our inner joy, that spark of creation.

The Universe guides us, and all thoughts and words reach the addressee.

Now the Earth is vibrating much higher than what Tesla wrote in the past.. And all people adjust to these vibrations.
Everything must be in harmony. If someone does not cope and falls behind, he receives his soul lessons and the universe's clues about what needs to be changed in his life.

I give people FACTS. They wake up when they see them. You can train yourself to understand them.

I will tell a story that happened to my friend in Windsor, he works with autistic people who are not able to speak or think correctly.

He looked after the sick at night and sat at the table at his desk writing documents with him sat his head of his department. And at that time, a patient of this hospital approached them from one of the wards and began to explain to him in an indistinct language and shout that something was standing behind him, pointing his finger. My friend and the boss looked at each other, could not understand what was happening, he began to wave his hands and point his finger behind his back. And then my friend realized what he meant behind him was an angel that a simple person could not see with his eyes, because people capable of feeling subtly space they were given this vision. And Yefim, my friend explained to the boss that he saw a creature called an angel of light, so he waved his hands like that and showed that something was standing behind him. My friend is a very bright spiritual person and therefore he understood that in his field there are bright beings such as our guardian angels. Our body has a chakra system; it consists of meridian energy centers and subtle bodies; ethereal, causal, mental and emotional. Old souls came to this planet to help the planet rise and awaken people, this is the most important task in our incarnation. They came to this planet from different stars that's why we are seed stars on this planet. And each seed was determined by the creator in the place where it should be located either in a country or in another continent, each seed - this person must carry his mission and his destiny. Therefore, we are conductors of light, beacons of light where we are, we are changing space, we are changing reality, and people around us are awakening. It depends on our awareness, on how correctly we think, how correctly we express intention and how correctly we bring light to people, showing love, joy, removing fears, removing all obstacles.

Iryna describes below an incident she experienced with fellow practitioners:
We were at a fireworks festival. It was amazing; there was a lot of light and energy, and so much joy, so much admiration. There were a lot of people, children and the elderly, and everyone was waiting for a miracle. No one yet knew what would happen here. When it got dark fireworks were set off. A lot of lights were above and admired.

Everyone was joyful and happy and everyone was filled with light and love. Music played and everyone rejoiced and was in the flow of energy., I entered the stream, attuned the space and I started doing meditation. It consisted in accepting energies and strengthening their effects on the entire environment through our inner joy. We accepted the message of energy and transfer them to the space of people and everything that surrounds us. When I accept streams as a conductor of light, I accumulate them in myself and transmit them through my light and body to the entire environment of people and to all space. Our inner state gives us more energy when we are in joy, in love, in happiness, in acceptance and share it with everyone. Mentally I directed the streams to all people, the entire stream of light of fireworks, so that particles of light would enter into every heart, into every soul. Space reflects these situations because people came up to me and asked me to take a picture of them, because I shot all this beauty of fireworks on the mobile phone. Everyone saw my joy and felt my inner (spirit) fill all space and people with light from this place I sent streams to the entire planet to every state each continent to our entire planet so that the light reaches every corner of our planet and affects

The next day I talked with my friend from Russia, I sent photos from the fireworks festival and talked about my meditation, how I spent in this space. And she heard my story, she stopped me and, in surprise, began to tell me what happened to her that same night at 1:00 am, she went out onto the balcony with her husband and saw fireworks and fires shooting She could not believe it because she said that they had not had fireworks and fireworks for a long time, only on some big holidays.

What does it mean that when we transmit energy at a distance, space reflects it and people feel it? This is how angels show us how energy works and how miracles happen When at 11:00 pm I did a meditation on a large field of space - this was transmitted to Russia and at 1:00 am since they have a two-hour time difference.

Iryna believes in angels

Iryna suggests the following videos are worthy of exploration

https://youtu.be/lSIBR0Lads8

https://youtu.be/bGe5ttl243Q

Review: ‘La Source Noir – Revelations aux portes de la mort’ by Patrice Van Aersel

Editions Grasset

Patrice Van Aersel has made a detailed study of near-death or after-‘death’ experiences interviewing hundreds of people who have undergone them. His findings broadly speaking are as follows:

There are stages in a near- and after-death experiences and only 10% of people reach the 5th stage.
They include:

1. The extraordinary inimitable light which has been described by Walt Witman and the one according to Dante is capable of trans-humanising a man into god. It is a super-orgasm of the ‘Yes’, which can be called ‘a ravishing ecstasy’.

2. Intellectual illumination – it is impossible to describe as it ‘takes your head’, bliss or intuition such that you know the sense of the universe. You identify yourself with creation

The transformation people undergo after having this experience can be summarised as follows:

Total compassion for all human beings
No more fear of death
Interest for material possession disappears.
Your intelligence reveals to you your own latent genius. Memory becomes fantastic.
Your whole body reveals awareness.
You want to share the experience with other people
Your personality becomes very charismatic – you exhale a strength to inspire others (like a guru)
You develop psychic powers which can be dangerous with an inexperienced person and can make for a monstrous ego

A person sees all of their life as if in a tunnel.

After the 4th stage experience, one’s being is totally transformed. So much so that sometimes the people nearest and dearest to them can hardly stomach the alteration. Example: a former policeman no longer could bear violence to the point where he thought it was totally wrong to show violence on tv.

The near-death experience changes values; one no longer cares what people think of one:

You say what you think.
You realise that a good part of your attitude to life is dictated by the fear of public opinion. All ideas such as the fear of being laughed at disappear, like childhood illnesses.
One loses is the attachment to material goods. One discovers that this attachment is a source of our feelings of insecurity.
Other values get higher – for the taste of living ‘I never get bored any more’ is a phrase often used by people who have gone through all the stages.
Nature assumes an enormous importance. Colours, odours and shapes all sorts of details impinge on the senses more.
The primordial importance of the dictates of everyday life, and the importance of compassion also are accentuated.
A spiritual life has awakened in people undergoing this experience. It is not to do with religion.

The more occidental they are, the more attracted they are to the orient. Reincarnation becomes evident for them. The modern individual with his big ego doesn’t understand that it doesn’t survive death. They are in a different state of consciousness.

Three quarters of these people develop gifts since their travel into the light, so of them can feel by hands or can read thoughts of people, or see the colour of the aura, or visualise illness from a distance. They have ‘prophetic visions’ some of them seeing into the future, ‘flashes forward’. One lady had the same experiences just picking a flower with friends without having had a near-death experience – it is modified consciousness. The light that people see is the same light as is seen in the orient under the name of the Brahamic Splendour.

There is an awakening of the kundalinis; at the bottom of the spine there is a giant reserve of vital energy, when you awake it is like a snake coming up your spine. In certain conditions the snake which never sleeps can come out and lets the energy come drop by drop like a leaking tap. The yogis have known for thousands of years how to awaken the kundalini. By doing it the yogi can give the impression of a super-man – but it isn’t that, it is simply a man who has awakened.

Out of body experiences can be induced, for instance by sound.

It is not however all good news: the belief there is a dazzling white light and a realm of happy tranquillity inevitably awaiting us at the end of our lives is not a thing guaranteed. Some people have much worse experiences.

The Brain of Einstein

More on this Subject

A call for reflection

SHIELD

What is Western Meditation?

Graham Gibbs‘ Reflective Cycle

Learning Cycle by David Kolb

Further Aspects of the Academic Work on Reflection

Four Levels of Relfection

Some Definitions

Some Famous Names Whose Works Have Contributed to the Study of Relection

Cosmopolitanism: an ideology for the 21st Century?

Iryna’s Faith

Review: ‘La Source Noir – Revelations aux portes de la mort’ by Patrice Van Aersel

Articles from The Institute of Reflection

Further Reading

A call for reflection

SHIELD

What is Western Meditation?

Graham Gibbs‘ Reflective Cycle

Learning Cycle by David Kolb

Further Aspects of the Academic Work on Reflection

Four Levels of Relfection

Some Definitions

Some Famous Names Whose Works Have Contributed to the Study of Relection

Cosmopolitanism: an ideology for the 21st Century?

Iryna’s Faith

Review: ‘La Source Noir – Revelations aux portes de la mort’ by Patrice Van Aersel

External Links

A call for reflection

SHIELD

WHAT IS SHIELD?

LEGITIMACY

VISION.

NOW IS THE TIME TO CREATE THE UN PERMANENT FORCE

A FORCE OF ALL ARMS.

WHOSE IDEA IS IT?

HOW WOULD UN-SHIELD BE STRUCTURED?

HOW LARGE WOULD UN-SHIELD BE?

BACKGROUND TO UN-SHIELD

SHIELD IS NOT A PRESSURE GROUP

“VISION IS THE ART OF SEEING THE INVISIBLE”, Jonathan Swift.

THE FUTURE

Quotes

What is Western Meditation?

Graham Gibbs‘ Reflective Cycle

Learning Cycle by David Kolb

Further Aspects of the Academic Work on Reflection

The Art of Self-Scrutiny

Objective Thinking

Metacognition

Reflective Practice

Reflective practice encourages innovation

Reflective practice encourages engagement

Critical Reflection

Transformative Learning

Four Levels of Relfection

Some Definitions

Some Famous Names Whose Works Have Contributed to the Study of Relection

Immanuel Kant

Bertrand Russell

John Dewey

Michel Foucault

Cosmopolitanism: an ideology for the 21st Century?

Cosmopolitanism as a concept

Educational Cosmopolitanism

Political Cosmopolitanism

Cosmopolitanism: a Controversial Ideology?

Iryna’s Faith

Introduction

Iryna says

Review: ‘La Source Noir – Revelations aux portes de la mort’ by Patrice Van Aersel

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