Sensitivity or hypersensitivity?

Spring has sprung! The burst of raw energy is upon us and will be intensified with tomorrow's new moon in Aries. With this explosion of energy will come a spate of allergic reactions. And, I've just been reminded of how much we cause our own ill health quite unconsciously. And, I'm throwing out a few stories that might seem unrelated, but are essentially pointing in the same direction.

First of all, I have a friend, Dave Choi, who is a well known vegan chef who owns a restaurant in Chicago called Amitabul, Sanskrit for "awakening". Dave is Buddhist and was asked to cook for the Dalai Llama when he visited Chicago for the Parliament of World Religions about a decade ago. One day at his restaurant, Dave told some of us this story.

The Dalai Llama was awaiting his turn to speak as Dave brought him his meal. Dalai thanked him, but said he'd rather eat it after the speech. So, Dave sat down thinking this was a great opportunity to "small talk" with the Dalai Llama.

"So, what's the meaning of life?" Dave asked (small talk!)

The Dalai Llama thought seriously while stroking his chin. Finally, he reached into his robe, which has many pockets inside it mostly filled with toys and other childlike amusements, and pulled out...two Tootsie Pops! He motioned to Dave to take one. Dave thought "Well, I asked the question and this IS the Dalai Llama, so why not?"

The two of them sucked on the pops for about five minutes without speaking. Finally, the Dalai Llama asked Dave to stop.

"So, how is it?" he asked Dave.

Dave made a yuk face and said "Well, I don't like it. The sugar and artificial flavoring burns my mouth."

The Dalai Llama pondered Dave's response and then said "Let's do some more."

Five more minutes passed during which there was a knock on the door informing the Dalai Llama that it was his time to speak.

"Just a moment please. I'll be right there. I'm answering a very important question."

Finally, he asked Dave to stop and once again asked how it was.

"It's not so bad. I'm kind of getting used to it." said Dave.

The Dalai Llama thought for a few seconds then said "I guess that answers your question.", gets up, thanks Dave for the food and leaves.

Dave said he was puzzled by the answer for a couple of years until it hit him that the message was about attitude. It didn't matter as much WHAT you ate as your attitude toward it.

Then Dave told us that right about that time he was invited to a wedding in Wisconsin by some friends and that they didn't have vegan food at the reception. Immediately, people who were listening to the story gasped.

"You didn't eat BRATS?!"

"Of course I did!" beamed Dave. "It would have been much more toxic to arrogantly refuse. They were offered with love and I accepted them that way. It's not what I would have chosen given a wider choice, but I can do that at home."

Dave is also a man who often told patrons that he would much rather see them eating at Tasty Dog up the street if they truly prefered that food to his Korean vegan food.

He told us this story shortly after one of his frequent customers, a woman who was a nutritionist, a macrobiotic food practitioner and about 50 years old passed away from cancer.

It struck me that people misplace their power in so many ways. We focus on everything as if it's outside ourselves and we have to be vigilant and constantly protect ourselves from germs, toxins...all sorts of threats. Meanwhile, we're almost completely oblivious to how toxic and unhealthy our attitude is.

One of my strongest influences is the work of Wilhelm Reich. He observed a corelation between attitudes and allergies. Basically, those people who were uncomfortable with sudden outbursts of raw energy suffered allergy problems in spring while those who were uncomfortable with being and feeling suffered more in the fall. And, those who are the most guarded and hypersensitive suffered all year long.

After 18 years of doing bodywork, I can attest to the validity of Reich's observations. There are several "hypersensitivity based conditions" that I've observed. Fibromyalgia, allergies, environmental sensitivity, chronic fatigue and even arthritis can all very easily be lumped together. All are very fear based conditions and there is a strong contraction of energy involved. Insecurity and anger are huge factors that are present.  There is an attitude of arrogant demand that the outer environment conform to the individual. This is very childish. And, in astrology, all of this falls squarely under the sign of Cancer. And, it's no surprise to me that I almost always find prominent Cancer influences in people with these conditions. Including...myself!

What's my point? If we approach these conditions as forms of hypersensitivty they can be cleared up fairly easily. The same approach works for all of the conditions I mentioned and many more. And, the approach has the intent the Dalai Llama alluded to, changing the ATTITUDE to our inherently imperfect environment. We put all of our intention on perfecting our outer environment so that we won't react to it! Pretty controlling, eh? But, how much effort and attention do we place on changing the way we respond to the inherent imperfection of life? And, yet, our response it what we have the most control over!

If anyone wants specific explanations for how to approach any of these conditions, I'll gladly write it out. This post is long enough!