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What is a paradigm?
A paradigm is a sort of cultural, consensual pattern of thought or model. A paradigm shift occurs when enough people 'see' the new paradigm for it to become mainstream in culture.
 Here's an example of a personal paradigm shift of perception. Look at the image until you can see both the young girl facing away and the crone in threequarter view facing forwards. Then flip the images back and forth in your perception.
One example of a paradigm is the 'current consensus in scientific medicine'. Paradigms change, like the impact of Galileo's work on disproving the flat-earth theory or Copernicus' heresy that the Earth moves round the Sun. These new ideas met a great deal of resistance from orthodox philosophy but eventually gave rise to a changed perception of the world we live in.
We live now in a time of 'paradigm shift' which creates fundamental changes in our assumptions about the world, and even this contributes to modern stress! Although our physical sciences have discovered new fields of quantum reality, medical science is lagging far behind. Philosophy has traditionally been an important part of medical practice since the medieval days of Paracelsus, even Hippocrates, an ancient Greek (and originator of the Hippocratic Oath).
Philosophy has traditionally been an important part of medical practice since the medieval days of Paracelsus, even Hippocrates, the ancient Greek and originator of the Hippocratic Oath. How we perceive the world and our part in it is central to how we perceive the role of dis-ease and our reaction to it. One of the present problems of finding effective treatment for modern diseases within Western scientific medicine is a 'paradigm gap'. There are different perceptions of the world at work speaking incompatible languages. These have deep roots in our philosophy. This gap is presently condemning millions of people world-wide to suffer medical treatment that is often as destructive as the disease itself. New practises such as Reiki have a great relevance in tuning us into an energy dimension.
Paradigm 1: The mechanistic view
This paradigm can be traced back to Descartes and other scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton. 'The universe is a vast machine and we are all cogs, all with our part to play in its function'. 'The healthy body in a clockwork universe is a well made clock and if it goes wrong we simply take it apart and tinker with the insides until it goes again'. If it breaks it doesn't really matter because there are plenty more where that came from. Nothing exists unless it has been proven through logical, reductionist methods. If it goes wrong take it apart and short-circuit the problem.
Paradigm 2: The anthropomorphic view
This paradigm is central to the philosophy of Darwinism and others who helped set humans as 'apart and above', or at the head of other life forms. Humanity is the supposed crown of creation, we are created to lord it over every other creature as 'head of the food chain'. The planet is ours to dominate and exploit to our own demands. We must conquer every mountain and battle against disease. We are the most evolved and dominant species in a process of natural selection. We exist for no purpose and have just evolved through sheer luck. In this world our media fantasy industries create pigs and fish that can talk human. Animals are anthropomorphised through culture to have the same needs, desires and dreams as humans. The animals, forests, oceans and environment around us exist purely for our convenience. This paradigm is human self-centred and exploitative to the environment and to ourselves. If something goes wrong with the body we must fight it out and win.
Paradigm 3: The Gaian view (an emerging paradigm)
This paradigm started with Einstein and the science of energy. Its inception combines an age when we saw the first images of the Earth as a whole entity from space. James Lovelock and his search for life on Mars is a central figure in its development through his identification of the Gaia Hypothesis regarding Earth.
 This planet we inhabit is a self-balancing, homeostatic system similar to our own as single biological entities. It maintains the optimum conditions for life despite our best efforts to pollute it. Our bodies are a miracle of biology, constantly flexible and adaptive but easy to harm. Anything we do to it or each other, we do to ourselves as we are part of the same 'web' or 'circle' of life. We are part of an evolving cycle of life, a happening miracle. Ourselves, and the environment in which we live are inseparable. Our bodies are a self healing mechanism given the right environment.
Get in touch with this new Gaian paradigm through changing the way your energy exists in an environment. Recycle, reduce, re-use and repair things - live lightly on the earth. We live also in an age of energy and enlightenment. There are many ways to tune in to this new paradigm of energy. One quick way to attune to a higher vibrational plane and manifest the positive benefits of energy is by studying Reiki. It is a great introduction to the whole subject of an energy reality. Click the cover of 'Rapid Reiki Reader' to immediately download a free PDF introductory ebook on this subject.
Your road to an Energy Dimension
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