The Sixteenth Unifying Principle relates to both the strengths and deficits of my personal development thus far in my existence. The deficits were in the isolated, fragmented manner of which I navigated from one aspect to the next without comprehension of how these aspects of experience or objects of knowledge were actually interconnected. I had been taught this false underlying belief that each field was entirely separate, and must be kept separate; “I must choose only one field and forsake all others.” This view of separateness kept me blinded to the Fifteenth Unifying Principle, “Wholeness is contained in every part.”
I started off my quest as a curious young lover of knowledge. I excelled academically but was a very tall, awkward, ungraceful physically (and socially). I wanted to become active and proficient in sports. I joined every sport where there wasn’t conflict within each of the seasons’ scheduling. I loved sports, and became a well-rounded athlete (lettering or making All-Star in each sport), with fast advancement and many opportunities. However, at the time, there was this false dichotomy that I could not be both an academic and an athlete. I no longer was accepted by my fellow nerds, nor was I integrated into the social realm of jocks.
I continued my quest for belonging and became involved in church. I had a very intense spiritual experience, and at first, was gloriously welcomed into the church body. It was incredibly wonderful to be so well-received. It was short-lived, not my spiritual experiences, but being a welcomed part of the fold. I was bombarded with reasons why I could no longer play sports, or study certain subjects, or belong to certain school-sponsored clubs. I was told a ‘good’ Christian girl should be modest (no wearing shorts and tank tops), and certain groups of people or topics were taboo and an affront to God, Himself, and shouldn’t be associated with, but rebuked or abhorred. This deeply saddened me. Deep within I had an understanding of the Fourteenth Unifying Principle, “Harmony Exists in Diversity.” It was deeply tied to my understanding of the verses, “How strange a body would be if it had only one part!” “Love your neighbor as yourself…Love your enemy.” I left the church and set out once again to find my place of belonging.
After a semester of college, I joined the military. What could be more noble and unifying than serving your country, developing your mind, body, and spirit; and being part of a UNITED military? Little did I know, in as much as I enjoyed my military training and service as a triage medic — The hindsight review was that this would be a continuation of the absence of the Fourteenth Unifying Principle. It was a systematic stripping away of all diversity in individuality, and making us operate by a very strict coherence to follow orders, behave on command, regurgitate information, and recreate us as an assembly line government issued soldier. This was under the guise of the Sixteenth Unifying Principle. It most certainly obliterated the Fifth Unifying Principle, “Seek the Highest First,” by instilling that the structure of the chain of command may never be broken.
After the experience of all this ‘unity’ of being part of a flock, a team, an honor society, a military company; I wanted to experience being an ‘individual,’ so I became a model in the commercial print industry. I learned many beneficial lessons during this experience but quickly realized that this had very little to do with the substance of my inner being (where my individuality resided), and everything to do with only the appearance and measurement of my outer person. This imbalance greatly grieved my heart, even though it gave me many opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. This experience was definitely a lesson from the Fourth Unifying Principle, “Outer Depends on Inner.” I was primarily only tending to the stem, petals, and leaves while neglecting the roots that fed the fruit of my inner being; growing the bitter fleshy skin, at the expense of the withering away of my inner fruit.
I revisited each of these areas throughout my life plotted out on the map, in search of connecting my affinity for each, multiple times with the same outcome. Never entirely fulfilled, stopping short of the worldly attributed definition of success and notoriety. It wasn’t until experiencing a crisis that would attack my brain/mind, body/nervous system, and spirit/who I am, that would ultimately make me come to the realization that each must be tended to as interdependent, not separate or exclusively independent from one another to be intrinsically whole. It was through reflection of addressing this health crisis that I discovered that I was watering the roots of my mind, body, and spirit together as a unified whole, that included meditation, nutrition, exercise, adequate rest, supplementation, and spiritual enrichment. I also worked on emotional release, overcoming false or limiting underlying belief systems. This was a partial implementation of the Ninth Unifying Principle, “Purification Leads to Progress.”
Adhering to these straightforward practices was the catalyst, not only for healing but for developing a thirst for deeper and deeper understanding of each. This increased the desire to heal more completely, to live more fully on all levels, which then lead me to discover upon Ayurveda. This destination on the map, was a completely acknowledged demonstration of the First Principle of the Science of Creative Intelligence, “The Nature of Life is to Grow.”
I searched online for whatever information I could find to deepen my understanding, purchased and read several books, but felt as if I needed a more qualified approach and instruction to learn the ancient principles and not a commercialized understanding of Ayurveda. I prayed, I meditated and believed that everything I needed would be revealed, and within days the Ayurveda Wellness online course showed up on a search inquiry. I called, requested information, and was informed about the Transcendental Meditation Technique, as a requirement for the course. Everything fell into alignment; my prayers, my heart’s intent/desires were all being met with swift means to do exactly what I had hoped to accomplish. I feel that this was the field in which I had planted the seed. The most recent spot of my Map Quest, the Tenth Unifying Principle, “The Field of All Possibilities is the Source of All Solutions.” — which I believe is the mission and embodiment of the Maharishi University of Management.
