Holistic dimension

Etymologically speaking holistic comes from « holos » in Greek which means “entire”. This is a methodology to perceive and appreciate the reality with a global (or glob-ALL) approach. It corresponds to a new grid of reading the Great Book of Life not with a skewed and limited vision from a keyhole but integrating all pieces of the puzzle as a whole in order to admire the beauty of the masterpiece of life.

The reason of being of the holistic dimension is to aspire to YOUnity: individual & collective (Unity) in addition to the inwards and outward harmony.

Simply, the notion of Holism is based on the philosophy of the Emerald Tablet: “as above so below” (and “as a bow so be Love”): all is in all. It means that the segmented (fragmented) YOUnity (unity in the sense of subset) is a reflection of the whole as a unity. It is inspired by the Veda philosophy: “Find your place which is already yours in this cosmic breathing” with a notion of resonance. It exists an interconnection in between the all subsets of our visible and subtle reality (realities): at a microcosmic and macrocosmic level. There is a force entangling and interlocking all the pieces of the puzzle since the big bang bringing the understanding of the principle of the oneness. But in the end, the objective is to experience this oneness (Samadhi, Universal soul, Tao, God… whatever the name). Feeling this oneness vibrating through us, within us as a part of it: a complete dilution in it as a drop in the immensity of the ocean as the great Sufi poet Rumi said: “you are not a drop in the ocean, you are the ocean within a drop”.

Scientists agree unanimously that our universe is made of 4% physical matter, 27% dark matter and 69% dark energy.  It means that if we think like Saint Thomas who believed only what he saw, we would believe in 4% of the reality equivalent to the visible part of the iceberg.

Our western consciousness is based on duality, the Descartes method which can be summarized by black or white… By applying the holistic approach in our daily life with different tools we enlarge the perspectives of the binary vision. Concretely, we stimulate both sides of our hemispheres – the left hemisphere of the brain being the seat of rationality, structure, and physics while the right hemisphere is the seat of creativity, intuition, and metaphysics in order to activate the pineal gland (organ and actor of holistic perception). In Ancient Greece, Pythagoras, Plato, and many great thinkers were scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, and mystics (Pythagoras’ mystery school, Plato’s solids) because they applied this method.

This is changing our way of thinking with the notion of  “we” or “High”, no more the limited “I” the strong ego which is a kind of prison: “High” is linked to your Higher self, your true nature. The holistic dimension is based on many values like the respect of all what exists. Indeed everything has in own reason of being in the giant body for which we are a cell. No more a cell from the prisoner for which the prison is the ego but a cell in the sense of the smallest structural and functional unit of an organism, typically microscopic and consisting of cytoplasm and a nucleus enclosed in a membrane. The holistic approach is the search for the good balance of life, the equilibrium of the tree of life for which the roots until all branching are echoing and animated by the same sap…

The mission of the holistic dimension is an evolution or a rEvolution, a change of a new paradigm aspiring to the (individual and collective) awakening, from there the enlightenment of each of us radiating on each other: « without shining but radiating to enlighten other people to find their own way » referring to the art of the maieutic.

We design Shambali retreat in the light of a holistic vision. I invite you to see our learning concepts

Issa