​Take full responsibility for your own life. That’s one of the fundamental principles of the Reintegration System, and one of the direct implications of the so-called Holographic Principle.

Holographic point of view can sound bizarre to our rational mind. It depicts the phenomenon of any provisional part containing complete information about the bigger system which it belongs to. In other words, we, as parts of the Universe, have within us all information about the Universe. That also means that we are the Universe. We are the source. And this implicates that we are responsible for everything, as we are the source.

But what exactly does “taking full responsibility for our life” mean? It does not mean to take full control, nor it implicates blaming ourself for anything. It merely means to truly acknowledge and feel that we are the genuine source of all events in our life that are of any personal significance to us.

To be fully responsible for life can also have two meanings: one is responsible for their own individual reality (limited responsibility) or the entire Universe (Existence). These meanings stem from two interpretations of the Holographic Principle: limited and total view.

Two Points of View of the Holographic Principle

According to the Limited View of the Holographic Principle, all entities are symbolically volumes with their surfaces. Those surfaces have all information on the volumes.

On the other hand, the Total View of the Holographic Principle assumes that the entire Existence is inherently indivisible, so every entity has complete information on the Existence.

First, here are some thoughts on the “limited” interpretation.

The Holographic view of the universe has been relatively recently proposed by several renowned theoretical physicists (Leonard Susskind, Stanford University; Charles Thorn, University of Florida; Gerard 't Hooftand, Utrecht University; and several others) that were exploring string theory and an information paradox related to black holes.[1] The outcome of their analysis was: the surface of any volume contains all the information about that very volume. In other words, all particles, structures, or events within a limited volume of space-time are mirrored on the surface of that volume, and vice versa.

Now, this leads us to a significant consequence to our everyday life. For us, if our being is a kind of the “volume,” what would be its “surface”?

It is the external world that we perceive.

[1] Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_principle

The reality is being experienced through our senses, on the “surface” of our being. So, our individual experience of the outer reality is that surface! Therefore, the outer reality and our inner being must correspond to each other. Each has complete information on the other. Whatever is inside our being, is perfectly mirrored in our external world, although in a strange and symbolical way. Note that this relates to our individual reality only, not to the whole universe.
​
However, the Limited View of the Holographic Principle has an inevitable consequence: every human being is fully responsible for their individual life, in all its aspects.

The second and much broader way of thinking about the Holographic Principle is the “total approach.” It originates from the idea of indivisibility of the Primordial Oneness (or the Source, God). As the Primordial Oneness is not prone to any division due to its very nature (oneness), any limited entity or structure is actually an illusion, and it still equals to the same Primordial Oneness.

This also means that any entity potentially has the entire information within itself on the whole Existence. Although it is hard to believe in this, there is a possibility to extract any information from any subject, as that subject is an illusion and there is only Oneness, which is independent of the space-time limitations.

Chief consequences of the “total approach” to the Holographic Principle are: We are one. Inherently, we are the Primordial Oneness, God. And yes, we are responsible for the whole of Existence.

Layers of Holographic Reality

From our individual point of view, there are several layers of reality. Their main differentiating characteristics is the level of apparent influence we usually exert on them.

Beyond our inner world, in the external world, first, there is our physical body. It is an intersection between inner and outer reality. It actually belongs to the external reality, but our mind is deeply attached to it. It represents the first and closest layer to our inner being. Seemingly, we have a robust, continuous, and decisive influence on this part of our reality.

Then there are people and circumstances we are surrounded with: family, home, friends, co-workers, various life events, accidents, etc. Typically, we exert occasional but considerable influence on these people and events.

Going further on, we experience our wider environment – neighborhood, broader organization/company we are working at, many acquittances, and so on. This environment is whatever we have some slight or rare influence on.

Then there are social and global events around us. We perceive almost zero influence by us on those people or events.

​The layers are shown in the figure below.

Now, let's take a look at each layer from another angle. What exactly is mirrored in those layers? What is the practical value of recognizing them?

Here are some insights on each of the layers:

​“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.” ― Rumi

Can you remember how much you were afraid of the dark during your childhood? Can you still feel the fear of monsters that were lurking from that darkness?

Although those monsters do not exist, the fear still does. It is our fear of the Unknown. It is one of the greatest obstacles to our inner freedom. It forces us to contract into our well-known boundaries, to deny the opportunities that lie beyond our everyday life, to renounce our inherent, natural powers.

​The Unknown is everything we are unconscious of. There is a vast field of reality that we are aware of, and that is known to us. The rest is the Unknown. At least it seems so. 

Change

Every single time I had a difficult period in my life, it was before a significant change. The old structures were beginning to crumble and transform into something new. Understandably, they were trying to survive, and the result was always suffering. The old structures always have a lot of inertia which resists any change. But what is inertia whatsoever? It is our fear of the Unknown! And physical inertia (mass) is merely a material representation of that fear within our perceived world.

Every change leads to the Unknown. If we fear the Unknown, we fear the change; we perceive the Unknown as a threat. That’s why darkness is so menacing. But it’s only that which we are unconscious of, what is not lit up by our consciousness.

When we feel threatened by the Unknown, we limit our consciousness of expanding. We don’t allow ourselves to evolve.

The Unknown is not a threat - it’s an opportunity. It’s the only real possibility for expansion of consciousness.

Opening

We must open ourselves to the Unknown, completely. We must believe it. Only then we will unlock our full potential.

​We have to embrace and accept the Unknown since it is our true necessity. We need it if we want to evolve. We need it if we want to live a happy, fulfilling life.

The Unknown has to become an integral part of our lives. We should accept everything with a sense of awe, with a sense of freshness and novelty, like we’ve known absolutely nothing about it.

When we say “I don’t know,” we enter Pure consciousness. Just Presence. Our mind does not “know,” but our consciousness is fully present. This proves that the Unknown is not a threat. On the contrary, it’s divine. It brings us into Presence, without thoughts.

However, the apparent boundary between the conscious and the unconscious, between the Known and the Unknown, is false. Ultimately, our consciousness is not “our” at all. It is present everywhere and anytime. But when we claim it for “ourselves,” we constrict it to our “boundaries.” Ultimately, that is an illusion.

How to Embrace the Unknown?

For this purpose, an ideal approach would be one of the basic Reintegration techniques, called the “Freshness & Acceptance” (FA). It is straightforward:

1. Freshness--perceive the content as though it is entirely new to you.
2. Acceptance--fully accept the content with all of your heart. You will know you’ve done so when you have neither adherence nor aversion toward it.

So, you notice something within yourself or outside of you, and observe it as an innocent child. Feel the awe of a kid seeing something entirely new. Accept the experience totally, be fine with it.

Then go even deeper. Open yourself to the Unknown completely. Have faith in the Unknown and the hidden forces behind it. Remember that everything happens ultimately for good. If you believe in God and angels, have faith in their guidance and love. If you don't, just be aware of an infinite consciousness which is behind the Unknown in the same way as it is behind the Known, and which ennobles anything beyond your sight.

Place yourself in a state of pure Not-knowing toward the experience. Just feel that you know nothing about that and be okay with that. Feel that you don't know anything about its possible outcomes, too. You know nothing about the future, and that’s absolutely fine. Accept your ignorance. Just feel at the moment that you literally know nothing and be OK with that. You will enter a state of pure consciousness. Practice this as an exercise as much as possible.

​Meanwhile, do not underestimate the power of love and forgiveness. They will further weaken and diminish your fear of the Unknown. Forgive yourself. Love yourself. You deserve that. Forgive all other beings that were involved in the situation of your interest. Forgive them deeply and compassionately. Love them, like you love your child, brother, sister or pet, unconditionally and wholeheartedly. 

​With love in your heart, you will easily open yourself to the vast fields of the Unknown. Love itself will lead you and will be an immense protective force as well. You will also unlock your creativity and deeply hidden virtues. You may uncover the inner powers, and even experience the Ultimate Truth within yourself. Eventually, you may become free from suffering.

We all want to be happy and to avoid suffering. These are the two tendencies that characterize the entire living world. Every life form will strive to satisfy its needs and thus be content, but also to avoid any form of suffering.

Although being self-aware and highly intelligent, we humans are also unable to avoid pain. Whether it be physical or emotional, pain is inevitable even to the most mature or spiritually developed people.

However, Buddhism claims that one can become entirely free from suffering. That final stage of human existence is being called Nirvana, or Enlightenment. It is not our topic here, at least directly. Still, if we cannot completely transcend suffering, at least we can diminish it.

I will describe here instructions for dealing with various difficulties. These guidelines are based on three stages related to the hardship:

1. The normal state, in which the troubling experience has not yet appeared. In this stage, you have to do the most of your preventive work.
2. Within the hardship. This is the trickiest part of your practice, as it’s very hard to become present or stay present in the middle of the troubling experience and to deal with it consciously.
3. After the hardship. In this phase, you take advantage of the freshness of your recent trouble. You can work thoroughly on the unpleasant emotions that you still can easily recall and feel.

Note that it’s essential for your inner work to accurately recognize at which stage you are at that point in time.
Here are the three-stage instructions:

1. Prevention - the crucial stage

In your normal, everyday life conditions, in which you don’t feel any pain or suffering, you must take some time for the work on yourself. It is not only the work on preventing the hardships; it is rather the work for achieving inner transformation in a positive sense.

In other words, we must face the negativities of our life, but it is not good to focus on them too often and too much. We could define it only as a preventive work, but that would imply avoiding something negative. Instead, to be more aimed at a positive transformation, we will also call it the happiness work.

​It should include:

• Meditation
• Mindfulness
• Reintegration work
• Self-Care 

​Meditation
​
This work should be well organized and scheduled. It would be great if you could create an everyday habit of meditating twice a day, at least 15 minutes in the morning and the same duration in the evening. These sitting sessions should be scheduled for the same periods of the day, if possible. This regular practice should also include loving-kindness meditation. 

There are countless types and variations of meditation out there. For example, you may practice vipassana, breath meditation, body awareness, walking meditation, pure awareness meditation, Kriya Yoga or something else. Or, you can concentrate your mind on something, e.g., on a single dot on the wall, on a figure of Buddha or another divine being, on a flame of a candle, etc.

However, the Reintegration System has several meditative practices to offer, too:

• RS meditation
• Loving-kindness meditation
• Total Acceptance meditation
• Meditation Lying Down
• Conscious Thinking meditation
• All-Inclusive Awareness meditation
• Walking meditation
• Relax and Reintegrate

​In all of these methods, you don’t ignore or suppress the emerging thoughts and emotions during the sitting. On the contrary, you reintegrate them entirely with your whole being. Check out the above links to learn how to meditate.

An essential part of your sitting practice should be the loving-kindness meditation. So, don’t forget to include at least 5 minutes of this practice into your regular meditation sittings, preferably at the end of each. 

​​Meditation brings you:

• Deep calmness and freshness during the day;
• Reduced stress and anxiety;
• Increased energy and focus;
• Reduced blood pressure;
• Improved quality of sleep;
• Increased overall productivity;
• Improved overall health.

These are not claims; these are the facts. Scientific research has confirmed them, and you can check it out on the Internet and numerous scientific magazines.

What’s more important for some practitioners, meditation, together with mindfulness, will expand your consciousness and can ultimately lead you to spiritual liberation or enlightenment. The veils of ignorance and suffering will gradually (or even suddenly) lift up, and you will eventually experience Pure Consciousness as a permanent state of being.

Mindfulness

Another vital part of your regular happiness work is mindfulness. It simply means to live in the present moment consciously. If you want to be mindful, you will have to do any activity in such a way that you are fully conscious of yourself and of the activity itself.

Although many people don’t consider mindfulness as strictly spiritual, it is indeed a spiritual practice. It leads you to your True nature while dissolving your inner conflicts softly and imperceptibly. Moreover, conscious moments in the Now will gradually accumulate and make your whole life easier.

​When mindfulness becomes your natural way of living, you will enjoy every task; you will become light and, in a strange way, even transparent. You will start sensing some inexplicable joy and deep inner peace. You will feel love more and more, both for yourself and for people around you.

We often hear of self-care as a complement to other areas of our lives, such as supporting a fitness goal or reducing our work-related stress. Self-care can also be instrumental in helping us make personal growth decisions. Much more than pampering, self-care methods such as mindfulness, meditation, and yoga helps us see deep inside ourselves to find answers to important questions. Here are some of the benefits of mindfulness in personal development and ways to harness the power of meditation in your life.
 
Personal Development Challenges
 
There are many hurdles to growth and happiness in life. One of the biggest obstacles is indecisiveness. Because of our difficulty in making decisions, we often stay in situations or avoid changes in life that can provide us with more joy, income, and opportunities. There are several ways to seek guidance in personal development, including self-help books, discussion with mentors, scanning online forums and practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is particularly helpful because it doesn’t return generic advice, but rather insights directly related to us. Mindfulness lets us know who we are, what we want, and what we need for happiness.
 
What Mindfulness Accomplishes
 
Introspection unlocks some under-utilized powers of the brain. It changes the way you handle stress by putting life’s challenges into perspective. Mindfulness helps people of all ages deal with life’s struggles, from a child having problems at school to a retiree struggling with senior life. It’s been effective in lowering anxiety, countering depression, aiding in addiction recovery, and dealing with eating disorders. Meditation has also been found to stimulate brain development, so your memory and cognition improves -- both of which help you make informed decisions in your quest for personal growth.
 
Meditation is also recognized for its ability to boost career growth. In addition to relieving stress -- which can kill productivity -- meditation improves focus, creativity, and emotional intelligence. This emotional intelligence helps people collaborate more effectively with others.
 
How to Meditate at Home
 
A home mindfulness retreat is easy to create. Ideally, the space should be separate from your work and living areas. A quiet room with minimal decoration is a good starting point. The area should be away from the noise and distraction of your home, too. If you do not have a room to spare, you can create a mindfulness zone in any room -- just make sure it is quiet and distraction-free. Meditation requires concentration and a low-stress environment, and we are profoundly negatively affected by disorganization and clutter. If you want to meditate in your home office, for example, it would be helpful to clear away papers and work materials that will draw you away from introspection and back into outside noise.
 
Meditation is Not the Only Path to Mindfulness
 
Although quiet contemplation and inner reflection is the easiest way to attain mindfulness, there are other methods for those who do not like meditation. The following are additional tools to tap into calm self-knowledge when you cannot (or don’t want to) meditate:
 

• Practicing kindness. Take time to appreciate the actions of others and be thankful for people in your life.
• Get a good night’s sleep. Sleeping and opening yourself up to dreaming can work as a type of involuntary meditation.
• Try some quiet exercise, such as walking or long distance running -- both of which have meditative qualities.
• Yoga. Although it incorporates many of the tactics of meditation, they are combined with physical exertion, which may make things easier for those averse to meditation.

 
Mindfulness opens us to possibilities that are often closed off to us when we are scared and in the dark about ourselves. Meditation and other techniques help us find answers that propel personal advancement in all areas of our lives.
 
 
Photo Credit: Pixabay

Total Acceptance is such a powerful practice that its regular utilization in everyday life can profoundly and irreversibly transform our individual reality.

What is Total Acceptance? (I’m writing these words in capital letters to point to the specific meaning of this term.) It’s a state of the complete openness to any experience. It means to fully embrace all arising impressions, without a slightest inner resistance. Here, the word “Total” is maybe even redundant, but I have added it just to emphasize the absence of any resistance.

We can say that Total Acceptance is Pure Awareness and, at the same time, the state of Not-Knowing, which signifies an absolute openness to the Unknown. It is a temporary absence of mind and its habitual thoughts. In other words, it is the state of Presence.

However, Total Acceptance is not a dry, cold indifference. Somehow, it’s filled with deep love, as it requires not only the stillness of the mind but also the openness of the Heart.

​Here is an excellent quote from A Practical Guide to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes and Kirk D. Strosahl: “Acceptance should not be confused with tolerance or resignation, both of which are passive and fatalistic. Acceptance involves taking a stance of non-judgmental awareness and actively embracing the experience of thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations as they occur.

​Another important aspect of acceptance is the strong inclination to cope with all experiences, to face everything, either pleasant or unpleasant: “Acceptance refers to an attitude of nonjudging or openness about experience, and refraining from attempts to avoid or escape it.” - Fabrizio Didonna, Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness

Everything we resist, persists. Even more, it’ll grow up over time. Therefore, the remedy for any unpleasant state or content of the mind is to accept it completely. Whenever we entirely and honestly accept any thought, emotion or sensation, we become free of it. It will not bother us anymore. It will disappear from our individual universe, as we have learned that lesson.

Total Acceptance has a transformative power virtually in every field of our existence – spiritual, mental, emotional and even our physical life. For example, its strength is fully harnessed in one of the most effective methods for overcoming physical pain, “Accepting and Dwelling in Pain,” described in this article: 5 Powerful Pain Relief Techniques.

The bottom line is: whatever you Totally Accept, it disappears from your field of consciousness. You become free from it.

What’s also important is that this practice will not take you into passivity and non-action. On the contrary, the fruit of a regular practice of Total Acceptance will be your perfect action, whenever needed, just at a right moment. It will also yield a great deal of creativity.

​Nevertheless, the balance between action and non-action will be naturally achieved. 

​Could It Be Dangerous?

When we Totally Accept something, we have embraced it wholeheartedly. But there is a troubling question that naturally arises: Is it dangerous to embrace negative, or harmful things? Can accepting an aggressive person’s behavior, ugly gossips or our friend’s problems jeopardize our security?

It can not. If it does, that only means we haven’t accepted it completely.

​By accepting the negativity, we are removing the negative burden on our mind and heart which has been attracting those circumstances. Moreover, the very fact that our heart is open and our being is filled with peace and love, deeply ennobles and transforms everything we do and anything we embrace. That indeed makes us safe and leaves us unharmed.

​Yes, for the beginning, you can accept apparently evil, harmful or dangerous things and situations with your mind only, without opening your heart. You can say something like “OK, that’s it, I don’t care.” That means you can simply become indifferent and neutral toward the experience. No repulsion, and no attraction. No warmness, no embracing, no “risk.” It is an entirely disinterested position which blocks the experience to reoccur in your personal reality. But that’s only temporary. Without opening your heart completely, you cannot fully face the experience. Therefore, it may come back to you one day.
Remember, your Essence, or True Self, cannot be hurt or endangered. Ever.

​Ultimately, you will have to open both your mind and heart to all experiences. It’s similar to the state of Not-Knowing – total openness to the Unknown is also a genuinely transformative attitude.

If you are still concerned that Total Acceptance of negativities could open your inner door to those things to happen to you, the solution is to Totally Accept its opposite, too. But first accept that very concern, your fear of any negative reperccusions. Then accept the negative thing itself. Finally, accept its opposite – a normal state, or a wanted, positive thing.

If you cannot accept any of these, you might be dealing with a complex subconscious structure. Those structures should be thoroughly reflected and processed with some of the main Reintegration techniques (preferably the Inner Triangle), or with some other psychological or spiritual method.

​Finally, with both polarities Totally Accepted, while being free from the ingrained fear, we’ll be able to act from Presence genuinely. 

​How to Totally Accept 

The skill of Total Acceptance should be learned progressively. It is always easy to accept something you like, or you are being neutral to, but accepting unpleasant or painful experiences is a completely different story. Therefore, we should start learning acceptance on neutral things first (because you have no intimate relationship with them), then on positive ones (although you have a positive relation toward them, it is still a kind of attachment), and lastly on the negatives.

Here is an exercise for learning this skill thoroughly: