by Matthew Pallamary: In some ways this essay is a companion piece to my “Theory of the Evolution of Consciousness” in that it touches on the esoteric,
but it also embraces life in the physical sense. I am a member of the Life Extension Foundation and recommend them to anyone interested in anti-aging and nutrition, but this piece is my own and is in no way endorsed by Life Extension.
Recently Life Extension Foundation’s Bill Faloon honored me and a few otherswith an invitation to attend a scientific anti-aging conference sponsored by LifeExtension, hosted by David Kekich’s Maximum Life Foundation. The “Manhattan Beach Project” is an ongoing targeted assault on the human aging process that convenes once a year in Manhattan Beach, California.
This was no ordinary anti aging conference; it was a high-powered brainstorm session to figure out how to reverse aging. Top researchers from around the world combined their genius and expertise to further their efforts at creating a scientific roadmap toward full age reversal.
Each scientist represented a separate discipline from diverse fields such as stemcell research, genomics, nanotechnology, cryobiology, biochemistry, biomedical gerontology, molecular biology, and information technology. Just as the Manhattan Project was designed in 1942 to build the atomic bomb to end WW II, the Manhattan“Beach” Project which originated on June 23rd, 2000 is an all-out assault on the world’s biggest killer – Aging.
As I sat listening with rapt fascination to these brilliant minds, I wondered how did I get there, and what did I have to contribute? As each speaker gave his presentation I heard about nuking aging, this “disease” called death, and a multitude of strategies that could possibly overcome it. Amidst the miracles, I felt something missing, causing me to puzzle over the question of humanity’s hubris, specifically with the question; are we playing God?
As far as I am concerned, dying is part of living, and when the time comes, I am prepared to embrace my death for the magical, transformative moment that it is. I look forward to what the Great Mystery has in store for me.
So what was I doing at an anti-aging conference and where was the piece that eluded me?
The primary reason I was invited is that I am a platinum member of LifeExtension and truth be told, I am sometimes embarrassed at the number of supplements that I take. When questioned I tell my friends and family that I am a walking science fair experiment, but the reality of my choices goes much deeper.
The missing piece that I sought came from Dr. Joseph Mercola when someone asked him about what to look for in an anti-aging doctor. His first response was to correct them, saying, “I am not an anti-aging doctor, I am a wellness doctor.” Dr.Mercola’s statement validated my connection with the spiritual dimension of life extension and catalyzed my reasons for participating in the Manhattan Beach Project.
I have spent years exploring the jungles, mountains, and deserts of North, Central,and South America researching ancient knowledge. Much of my research has been in the Peruvian Amazon working first hand, studying shamanic plant medicines and indigenous cultures. Most of my teaching has come from doing extended jungle plant diets in prehistoric traditions. I have also traveled throughout the Peruvian Andes studying Incan and Pre-Incan cultures, and in Mexico studying the Maya and Huichol cultures, as well as those of North American Indians.
I was drawn to ancient healing practices and shamanism after learning that shamans were the first medical specialists in indigenous communities whose traditional methods are known to be effective in treating both physical and psychological ailments.For thousands of years, indigenous groups have made extensive use of the materials contained in the rainforest to meet their health needs. Shamans employ a whole body,(w)holistic, system oriented approach to healing, not the divide and conquer mentality championed by modern day institutionalized western medicine.
Some years ago I had the good fortune to work with an aging healer in the Peruvian Amazon who told me he was a “plant man” like his father before him, and his father’s father before that, and still more fathers going as far back as could be remembered. He took me on a jungle walk pointing out the healing properties of plant after plant as well as their preparation, use, and the synergistic ways of combining them.
What drew me into Life Extension and their healing modalities is the way that they also combine different plant essences for maximum synergistic effects. I saw the on going evolution and research of Life Extension’s formulas as twenty first century shamanism.
Ancient wisdom from many cultures tells us that our body is our temple. One of the most profound, densely packed storehouses of wisdom on our planet is contained in the temple of Amun-Mut-Khonsu in Egypt. This Temple of Anthropocosmic Man at Luxor is architecturally rendered to exhibit within its design and artwork the same proportions as the proportions of Man, as well as the mathematical and geometrical structure of the Cosmos and its locale within human consciousness. Pharaonic Consciousness not only recognized Man as the center of the Universe, it could formally equate it as well.
In concert with this, prehistoric shamanic wisdom teaches us that our heart is the sun that is the center of and the giver of life in the Universe that we inhabit, and that our personal sun is connected in a holographic manner to the sun that gives life to our planet,and that sun is connected successively on up the line through more suns, all the way back to Source. When I see Life Extension’s illustration of the seventeen daggers that impactthe heart, I don’t see the daggers. I see seventeen ways of loving my heart, the center of my universe.
If I believe like the ancients that my body is my temple, then everything that I put into it is an offering to divinity. I have trillions of cells in my Universe all doing their best to keep me alive and thriving. I want to be a beneficial, loving caretaker and givethem the best that I can in return for their dedication, loving this magical Universe that Iinhabit down to the molecular level and beyond if possible. I don’t do this because Iwant to live forever. I do this because I follow in the footsteps of the ancients whosewisdom has led me to embrace the spiritual dimension of life extension.
