Imagine that you could go back in time to the moment of your conception and select the biological traits that you wish you had inherited from your mother and father. Perhaps you would choose your father’s heart because there was no incidence of heart disease in his side of the family. Or you might select your mother’s brain because there was no Alzheimer’s in her branch of the family tree. You likely would want the trait of longevity from either of them.
The Austrian monk and botanist Gregor Mendel discovered in the mid-1880s that plants inherit specific biological information from each parent. His observations led him to differentiate between the genotype, which is the sum of all genetic diversity in a member of a particular species, and phenotype, which comprises the actual properties and traits that individual members of the species express. Even though Mendel’s theories were met with disbelief and he died in obscurity, his stature was later vindicated, and his discoveries are still relevant today.
You received the entirety of your genetic makeup at the moment of your conception. You also received one half of each of your parents’ genetic code. This means that, while you received 50 percent of each of your parents’ hereditary information, their genotype, you also express only some of those traits, your phenotype. But that is only part of the story. While you may have inherited a predisposition for either heart health or disease, your beliefs, diet, and choice of lifestyle will influence your inherited risk factors. Lifestyle modifications are often not enough, and seemingly healthy men and women can, and do, suffer heart attacks at a relatively young age. So, what else can you do? You can look beyond your physical or genetic side to your spiritual side.
Ancient sages developed techniques that they believed allowed them to “journey back in time” to influence the impact of their ancestral heritage. The effectiveness of this exercise derived, at least in part, from their ability to influence the expression of their DNA. In other words, they used visualization techniques to modify genetic expression! This is known as epigenetics. When skilled practitioners journey back to the moment of conception to consciously select the traits they want to express, they look at other factors—beyond genotypes and phenotypes— that may have influenced their genetic makeup. The father may have consumed too much alcohol. The mother may have been afraid of getting pregnant. The environment may not have been infused with love, peace, and tranquility. Stress hormones easily cross the placental barrier and inform the child of every mood the mother is feeling. But now, from your current wisdom perspective, you can go back and visit the moment of your conception. You can bring a meditative and sacred feeling to the moment of the comingling of your genes.
You can forgive your parents for any transgressions you believe they committed toward you, any hurt you feel they might have imposed on you. This is necessary for your journey into enlightenment because holding on to any residual anger or resentment toward your parents only perpetuates your role as a victim of their genetic signatures.
Do you have the courage to forgive, go back to the moment of your conception, and modify your genetic selection?
