What follows is an extract taken from the book Become Part of the Solution, by Easton Hamilton.
What is energy?
Energy is such a difficult thing to describe and define because it has so many manifestations, expressions, shapes and forms, so how could a single definition adequately describe its incredible depth and scope? This nebulous, ethereal, multi-dimensional, metaphysical stuff is to be found everywhere, which makes describing it both easy and complicated – because everywhere we look, it’s staring back at us. Defining energy is further complicated because we too are made up of this ‘stuff’, it is the essence of who we are.
The word energy is derived from ancient Greek (energeia) – it is in Aristotle’s work, 400 years BC, that the definition of energy as the operation of ‘something’ or a description of some ‘activity’, was arguably first postulated. However, it wasn’t until much later in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries that more precise interpretations and classifications were conceived.
Russian physicist Lev Okun, Professor at the Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology said, “The more basic is a physical notion, the more difficult to define it in words”. This is how professor Okun saw energy and although science has now provided us with useful definitions of energy, we need to balance that against the fact that energy has no physical essence, which makes it difficult to quantify.
There is a plethora of famous and lesser-known scientists, researchers and contributors who have each added valuable pieces of understanding to this complex subject. If this is a topic that interests you from a more scientific perspective then you can follow the modern trail starting with Thomas Young, a brilliant physician, philosopher and polymath who is credited as the first person to use the word energy in the modern sense. Young has subsequently been described by many great scientists as; “the last man who knew everything”.
He laid a foundation on which others would further develop our understanding of energy. Amongst those others are Gottfried Leibniz in the late 17th century, through to James Prescott Joule and William Rankine in the mid 19th century.
During this period, many different definitions for describing the nature and performance of energy emerged. For example, Rankine coined the term potential energy, and it was Joule who discovered the link between mechanical work and the generation of heat, hence the unit many of us will be familiar with when talking about energy expenditure, joule, was named after him.
The numerous descriptions and ways of quantifying energy did not end there. We now have an extensive list of classifications, which includes thermodynamics, kinetic, mechanical, magnetic, electrical, nuclear, chemical, sound wave and gravitational energy – and subject to which references you consult, there are as many as twelve.
So, it is accurate to say that everything in the known universe is a form of energy and these descriptions are helpful in describing or explaining the many manifestations of energy and how it behaves under certain conditions.
In Synergy: A Cure for All Ills I gave an overview of the four forces, also known as the unified field. The four forces are a summary description of everything in the known universe, classified in one of four categories. These categories are strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force, gravity and electromagnetism.
I don’t intend to repeat my explanation of the four forces here, but I do think it’s worth saying that all twelve types of energy (some of which I’ve listed above) are found under the umbrella of the four forces.
The history and science surrounding the subject of energy is a field of study in its own right – it’s not my aim to focus on that aspect, as the information has been well documented elsewhere. My aim is to explain how we are inextricably linked to the story of energy, from our DNA through to the stars and the planets – as it is pivotal to you and I and our shared reality.
I want to underline the metaphysical aspects of this topic, which do not tend to be given the same credence and importance, certainly in the world of science. This is unfortunate because apart from a few notable exceptions the lack of acknowledgement of the metaphysical dimension, is in fact in my view impeding science’s understanding of this vast subject. I think the inventor and engineer, Tesla, says it beautifully.
“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence”.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)
Thankfully, there is a handful of committed researchers, pioneers and exponents of energy psychology, energy medicine and metaphysics beating the drum despite the scepticism and opposition – individuals such as Norman Shealy. He founded the American Holistic Medical Association in 1978 and is the CEO of the International Institute of Holistic Medicine. He is a neurosurgeon, considered to be a pioneer in pain medicine and depression management. Shealy has numerous patents in the field of energy medicine and is the inventor of the highly successful TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator) machine. He has also written twenty-six books on health and the role of energy in medicine and continues to be a driving force in the field.
Dawson Church Ph.D. is a former student of Norman Shealy, he holds a doctorate in integrative healthcare – and is an author of numerous books, most notably the best seller, Genie in your Genes and most recently Mind to Matter (2018). Church also writes widely for many publications and is the founder of the National Institute for Integrative Healthcare, which is a non-profit institution dedicated to evidence-based research looking at a wide range of healing modalities. His latest book is particularly focused on the relationship between mind and matter and the part energy plays in that.
Bruce Lipton is a developmental biologist most famous for his pioneering work in epigenetics. He has also more latterly become part of the global movement that is quite rightly trying to put consciousness and energy onto the map of science and human understanding. His ground-breaking book, Biology of Belief has proven to be a seminal piece of work highlighting how consciousness moulds biology at every level.
Eckhart Tolle is a renowned spiritual teacher specialising in psychology and metaphysics. He has written several bestsellers, including The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. His work focuses on inner transformation through consciousness and the act of being ‘present in each moment’. He is an advocate for changing one’s own energy as the primary vehicle for global transformation, a message that is echoed throughout the centuries.
Dr. Joe Dispenza is a neuroscientist, author, researcher and lecturer with interests in neuroscience, epigenetics, quantum physics and healing. Dr. Dispenza travels the world using science and research to elevate human understanding in order that we might become more passionate about our own healing and ability to facilitate that. Amongst his contributions to the field of neuroscience, epigenetics and energy are films such as: Heal (2017) E-motion (2014) Sacred Journey of the Heart (2012) People Versus the State of Illusion (2011) and there are numerous other written and audio-visual works that could be added to this list.
There are other spiritual teachers, scientists, motivational speakers and researchers who are credited for playing a part in placing consciousness and energy on the radar including: Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Caroline Myss, Gregg Braden, Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Thich Nhat Hanh, Byron Katie, Michael Beckwith, Charles Eisenstein and Rupert Sheldrake to name a few. My reference to these individuals is not an endorsement of their work, because although I believe their contributions are very valuable, I also believe as I said in the preface that we need to beware of a ‘siloed approach’. My point is that it is important to acknowledge their contributions to the debate and to challenging the current paradigms. It’s for you to work out for yourself how much of what they are saying fits with your own philosophy and beliefs.
Energy psychology, although still referred to by many as pseudoscience, is establishing itself as a discipline that needs to be taken seriously, with the rapid expansion of techniques such as Thought Field Therapy (TFT), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique also known as tapping) and Tapas Acupressure Technique (TAT), all of which involve working with the mind and body in an energetic way, using affirmations, positive statements, visualisations and specific rituals to bring about the energetic release of negative issues. These techniques have had notable success dealing with anxiety, depression, irrational fears, pain, phobias, negative patterns resistant to change, addiction and a host of other psychological hurts/injuries and physical issues/challenges.
There are now numerous energy focused organisations emerging around the world offering information, research and training, endeavouring to expand the individual’s understanding of the topic. There is also the opportunity for therapists and practitioners to become qualified and accredited in the energy disciplines.
Before going any further, I’d like to give credit to the past and many of the Eastern masters, scholars and giants, who first mooted many of the principles that are now being held dear in the spiritual field of energy. I believe they have left us a priceless legacy. These include Buddha, Lao Tzu, Patanjali, Confucius, Mahävïra, Mohammed, Guru Nanak, Bãdarãyana, Wõnhyo, Yi T’oegye, Al-Kindi, Shõtoku Taishi, Rabia al-Adawiyya and many more who are generally not recognised in the West. I offered my tribute to them in Antiquity Comes Full Circle. If you are interested in finding out more about them and their invaluable contributions, then you don’t need to buy the book because there are significant extracts on the Reach website (www.thereachapproach.co.uk).
By the end of this chapter, I hope you will see that I’ve chosen to focus on that which I think is most likely to improve your relationship with yourself, your fellow human beings, and your destiny. I hope you will be encouraged to pursue a nobler path, one full of grace, conscience and right action.
Now, let’s go back to my first question… what is energy? There are so many definitions of energy, here’s how I invite you to see it:
Energy is the incredible fabric that binds all of life together. It is subtle and multi-dimensional. It is complex yet simple, infinitesimal yet vast and expansive. Energy is the very substance of the universe as well as the primary architect – organising the countless functions and activities at the microcosmic and macrocosmic levels. It can be defined both by its work and its many and varied manifestations. It is the narrative behind life’s diversity and rich expression… and the keeper of the secrets yet to be told.
As we journey together, I will try to unveil further the mystery and magnificence of energy – and in doing so help you to create a positive and special bond, which will liberate you from your destructive patterns and habits.
Energy signatures and energy contracts
The names, descriptions and classifications that we apply to the things around us are merely labels for expressions of energy. Colour, shape and form simply tell us the story of how energy expresses itself in that moment. It’s important to understand that all energy is vibrating at its own unique frequency, it has its own signature, its own unique hallmark. No two flowers are precisely the same, no two trees, even from the same species are the same. No two pathogens, whether bacteria, viral or fungal are the same. The latest research around identical twins has overturned the previously held belief that they are identical. We now know that they are in fact virtually the same – and so we can reasonably conclude that energy doesn’t ever reproduce itself identically. Everything has its own unique expression.
Energy signatures describe the unique vibration (resonance) of an object, person, system or organism. This is what determines its colour, shape, form and expression. So, when one or more signatories come together an energy contract is formed. And all life depends on these contracts. The more we understand these contractual arrangements, the more we can consciously participate in ways that are beneficial to all.
When one energy enters into a contract with another energy it brings with it its own personality and idiosyncrasies. What this means in practice is that there is an infinite set of possibilities emerging out of every transaction. This is one of the many beautiful things about life – that it is fluid, evolving and endlessly expressive. Energy signatures are a critical aspect of energy contracts – because they describe what each energy brings to the table and the counter signatories to any contract then influence how that arrangement plays out.
When you understand that everything has an energy signature and every minute of every day, energy contracts are being established, revised, renegotiated and dissolved, you can better see how you fit into your world and your environment. More importantly you can make more conscious contributions to changing the shape of your reality. None of us need be victim to what we are experiencing. If we understand that every transaction is based on a relationship between different kinds of energy, we can ensure that our contribution to that equation is always positive and healthy.
I began using the term energy contracts some thirty years ago, when trying to make sense for myself of the tireless interplay of life, with its countless characters, interactions and transactions. What could be described as chaos, under closer scrutiny is sometimes a thing of great beauty – and hiding beneath its façade at times is in fact a story of collaboration and cooperation.
It became clear through my research, clinical practice and experience of the transpersonal world that we can either be a part of what enhances and enriches our lives, or we can choose to stand apart from these arrangements – at which point our fortune is no more in our control than the roll of a dice. When we choose not to participate, what we need to understand is that the contractual arrangements continue to take place around us whether we participate or not. In other words, circumstances take over as we surrender our power to choose.
The countless interactions and transactions we all witness every day taking place between people, systems, organisations, countries, continents, the climate, and the cosmos, could appear to be matters of chance, but it’s more accurate to describe these dynamics and events as unseen/unknown agreements. There are parts of these agreements that we can see, discuss and even renegotiate should we wish… but there are so many other variables that are not always immediately obvious that are also influencing what is happening. It’s at this unseen and often unknown level that the opportunity for positive change exists.
It’s dangerous to believe that we are independent forces, able to exist and act without concern for the consequences of our actions. It’s this lack of awareness and lack of conscience that keeps us drowning in pollution and yet we keep poisoning the atmosphere, the soil and our water supplies. What’s crazy about this attitude is that we are the victims of this neglectful approach and yet seem blind to our stupidity.
If we really understood the interdependency of life then we would respect the other energies and forces around us, fostering healthy relationships with them to ensure mutual survival and continued growth. In other words, forming healthy energy contracts.
We can choose to have healthy relationships with those other systems and forces in our environment, or we can continue to ride roughshod across them, as if our own needs transcend all other needs. But in doing this we are digging our own graves and preparing our eulogies… we are not more important than the other forces with which we share this stage called life. In chapter 2, I will speak more extensively about the interdependency of energy when exploring the four environments.
For now, let me provide you with some examples of energy contracts to further illuminate the importance of this subject and to help you better understand the unseen and unknown elements of the agreements that are taking place in plain sight. Think of the world that we live in where the trees and the foliage, via photosynthesis, draw in the sun’s vitality and life force and in return they provide us with oxygen; and with food stuffs that we consume to make ourselves well and whole.
We, as part of that contract, imbibe the oxygen and excrete the carbon dioxide that is needed in the atmosphere – the carbon dioxide that the trees then turn into oxygen. We consume the fruits and the food that are produced, absorbing the sun’s energy and light as we do – we are then populated by the photons and nutrients found in those plants and vegetation.
As we are flooded with that energy, we have the capacity to choose to use it in a positive way, kindly, compassionately, applying our creative intelligence for the greater good. Then not only do we prosper but the environment prospers too. In this way a healthy energy contract is established where all parties are enriched and empowered.
Unfortunately, this healthy energy contract is being undermined through deforestation, where we’re felling literally thousands of acres of trees each day, which in turn is altering the atmosphere because the oxygen that the trees promise is no longer delivered in the same quantity, nor does it have the same quality. This is because of the pollutants we’re putting into the atmosphere, which amongst other things is creating acid rain. Rain that changes the pH in the soil and with that change, the nature of our food is also substantially changing – because the food is being robbed and stripped of vital nutrients.
Acidity, when it comes to human health, undermines the balance and harmony of the system. Although we do need some acidity to maintain health within the organism – the digestive system and aspects of the immune system are very good examples of this – nonetheless the truth is that a greater degree of alkalinity is essential for human health.
In the example above, not only is the earth being polluted but we in turn are reaping the negative consequences of that pollution. Therefore, this energy contract is no longer working in a way that is optimal – for the planet, humans, animals, or natural vegetation.
The extent to which the energy contracts are being reneged on by the choices we are making is quite staggering. The minerals that can be found in the soil are now at a frighteningly low level – we can say that most of what we need for human health can no longer be found entirely within food. We have altered the genetic makeup of the planet and in doing so our food has been altered too.
The earth is always trying to do the best it can with the resources it has, but in truth we are polluting it at such a rate that it is struggling to sing its beautiful chorus and the gift of health is increasingly being denied to us all.
Here’s another example of energy contracts, clearly described by Dr. Rebecca Jones of the University of Tasmania. In this extract you will see three different energy signatures all forming a part of the energy contract.
“Forests are complex things. They are full of finely balanced illogical relationships often between the most unlikely characters. The close relationship between Tasmania’s bettongs, native truffles and eucalyptus is one such story.
In Tasmania, dry sclerophyll forests are dominated by Eucalyptus species. These forests grow on dry gravelly soil, and nutrients are hard for the tree roots to obtain. The trees, however, have a secret accomplice: they have evolved a symbiotic relationship with underground fungi, which grow as a delicate gauze around the trees’ finest roots, and extend even finer, highly absorptive threads into the soil to collect water and nutrients. The fungi share these with the tree roots, and in return the tree shares its carbohydrates with fungi. Together, they survive.
Tasmania’s forests are full of these harmonious tree-fungi relationships. But there is a problem. The fungi grow their fruit or truffles underground, which means the truffle spores cannot be dispersed by the wind. How then do the fungi spread to new areas to partner with new young trees? Here the forest relationships become more complex again and the third player is introduced.
The Tasmanian bettong, last of its kind (all mainland species have been wiped out mainly by foxes) has become involved in this transaction, presumably to its delight, to dine almost entirely on truffles. Between meals it skips through the forest dispersing the truffle spores, which pass unaffected through its digestive system. The mystery of how the bettong knows where and when to dig for a truffle is uncovered by studying the truffles themselves: they are highly scented when ripe, releasing a perfume that varies according to its location – some smell like lemon, others like pepper – and those volatile chemicals act as signals to guide the bettongs to the feast. The whole forest is interconnected with relationships like these. Living systems are complex jigsaws of dependent relationships and here we get a small insight into that fascinating story”.
The more we examine the dynamics and intricacies of the earth and environment, the more we discover that energy contracts are everywhere. I will explore more of these environmental examples in chapter 2, but for now, I would like to look at a couple of different examples to illustrate how far-reaching energy contracts are.
In Synergy: A Cure for All Ills, I discussed the intimate relationship between the mouth and the mind. I also introduced the notion of quantum dissonance (disease) and quantum coherence (health) as these are pivotal concepts illuminating the incredible and powerful dialogue between mind and body. These are also excellent examples of energy contracts as they highlight the fact that there’s always a conversation taking place and subject to the terms and conditions, those conversations either produce health or disease, happiness or chaos.
The body promises to deliver optimal health and maximum functioning, so long as it is provided with the necessary hydration, nutrients, sleep, relaxation, joy and happiness that it needs. If we meet those minimum requirements, then the body’s immune and detoxification systems will be capable of managing the many insults to health. This in turn will enable our creative intelligence to fully blossom.
However, if we are not meeting the minimum requirements for self-care the body cannot deliver on its promises and instead of health being our prominent experience, we’ll find ourselves being victims of dis-ease and as a consequence disease will follow – whether that be physical or mental ill health, or in some cases both.
At every stage, the body is saying ‘provide me with the right energy and I will deliver the promise of health and well-being’. But unfortunately, many of us are no longer meeting those minimal requirements and as a result the body cannot deliver. It will always do its best… it will always try to work with what we’ve given it. However, without the right nutrients and correct configuration of those compounds, then the body will fail in that task and as a result we will find that we fail in our primary task of being the best we can be.
Let’s look at one more example to illustrate the point further. Relationships provide us with countless opportunities to examine energy contracts. Each one of us is vibrating in our own unique way. When we encounter others, we can experience their vibration and they indeed can experience ours – whether either party is conscious of this or not, a transaction of some kind takes place.
When there is harmony of intention, desire, values and beliefs then these exchanges are experienced by both parties to be positive, inspiring, uplifting. However, when these exchanges are taking place where the intentions, beliefs, aspirations, values and philosophies are different, it is more likely that a tension will be experienced. And in that tension, there’s nearly always one who will feel less than and it’s possible that the other will feel more than. That said, differences in resonance don’t automatically mean conflict will ensue. It is possible that the difference in ‘spin rate’ (the way that energy moves/expresses itself) can lead to a transaction that is mutually beneficial. This depends on how wedded each one is to their own point of view.
Equally possible is that both parties feel hurt, damaged, even poisoned by the interaction and neither party wants to have that experience again. Whenever you feel you’re in the company of those that make you feel more than you would by yourself, you’re likely to be attracted to being in their company; you’re more inclined to pursue that relationship. Whereas in an interaction where you feel there’s something that doesn’t sit right (even though you might not be able to explain it) then those encounters and relationships are ones you’re less likely to pursue. All of us can think of examples like this. There are those individuals that we want to be around and treasure their company and those we would rather have little or nothing to do with.
Hopefully by now you’re beginning to see that energy contracts are not something we can really opt out of, although we may make that decision. But as explained earlier, if one forfeits one’s right to choose, then circumstances will choose for you. This is just another energy contract, but not one that is in your best interests.
In a world that’s interdependent, where synergy is at the heart of everything, then energy contracts are the lifeblood of that system. However, we can choose how we sign up to those contracts. We can, through our philosophy and beliefs, our intentions and actions, enter into these contracts in a very different and conscious way. Rather than being victims of what’s taking place and unfolding, we can decide to be conscious contributors to the transactions, making sure that our part in the energy contract is positive and unambiguous.
By removing ambiguity and better still negativity, our energy contracts, or rather our contribution to them, can lead to a much better experience for ourselves and those around us which means that our contribution to the world can be more constructive.
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948)
Also see: Energy enablers and Energy Stealers