Dr. Figueroa-Otero sat down with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos to discuss Reflections in my Magical Mirror.
If the current world situation feels out of sorts for you or the stagnant condition of our surroundings are playing games with your mental state, Reflections in My Magical Mirror by renowned personal development author Ivan Figueroa-Otero, MD may be the prescription for you.
In this engrossing fourth installment of the School of Life Series by retired pediatric surgeon turned Chinese medicine healer and certified acupuncturist, Ivan Figueroa-Otero, MD FACS, FAMA presents Spirituality 104: Reflections in my Magical Mirror: Lesson of Love From the School of Life.
In it, Dr. Figueroa-Otero provides 52 phrases and quotes selected from the first trilogy of books to reveal hidden lessons for life. This extraordinary guide supplies a meditative activity that will be life-changing for your personal development at any stage of your journey.
What is your book about & who would benefit most from it?
It is a collection of 52 phrases selected from my book’s initial trilogy, which reviews the lessons life has taught us as reflections in the mirror of our minds. It serves as a transition from the first trilogy to the second one by discussing my message in each phrase individually.
As a physician who works in the concrete world of science, how do you relate to personal development and spirituality?
As in all my books, the recurrent message of blending mind-body and medicine can only be accomplished by integrating the inclusive interpretation that exists between science and spirituality. The apparent duality that originates from spirituality- science, time-timelessness and matter and antimatter are harmoniously explained within the realm of science by visualizing all apparently opposing dualities as a cosmic dance where each partner participates in rhythmic unity.
What is the magical mirror & does everyone have one? How can we harness it?
The magical mirror symbolizes our mind and the enormous potential for creativeness it holds. Our minds are also reflections of the primordial magical mirror of our creative intelligence, to which we traditionally refer as God. Every being has its own magical mirror, but its creative potential may be limited by the purity of its reflection with emotional experiences that tend to blur its clarity as we travel our life journey.
I enjoy how you set up the book with relatable life lessons to learn from. What are some life lessons that you learned?
I have realized fully that I can always be assured 100 % of the time that I can be wrong about any perspective. This originates from the continuously changing nature of knowledge as we discover our minds’ unceasing reflections or discoveries. This will then keep me open-minded to continue learning from other’s viewpoints.
I have also learned that freewill will make me responsible for the results of my decisions and render me wiser from my mistakes. This has made me fearless in guiding my path towards my life goals.
In your practice today in Puerto Rico, how do you heal your patients? What type of teachings do you do?
I don’t heal patients. I give them instruments to heal themselves and support them with real-life testimonials from my life and those of my patients. My most efficient tools are hope, patience, empathy, unbiased intention and empathy. Some instruments I use are Chinese style acupuncture, healing guilt with the forgiveness code, meditation techniques, non-judgemental perspective and lots of spontaneous joking around.
If you had to pick 3 lessons from the book, what do you suggest people do every day?
1. Create a love matrix within and around you by following this sequence. First, allow yourself to be loved by the source of all Love, God. Then love yourself and share this love with all other beings that share your spiritual linage. This will awaken the empathy and self-esteem of being no better or worse than others in the universal family we live in. This will awaken all the qualities that God has used to guide you in your school of life, especially patience and empathy.
2. Get to know the potential talents you have been gifted with and develop them maximally without comparing them with others. Remember, God, the director of the universal symphony, doesn’t favor one musician over others; he just wants everyone to blend harmoniously into the melody he has lovingly scripted.
3. Help other progress in the school of life as others have helped you on the way. This is the real communion as our spirits blend in the heart of the Creator.
What other books are in this series and how should readers work with them?
Spirituality 101: For the Dropouts of The School of Life emphasizes that every failure always results in a learning process, which allows us to restructure our study plan to keep taking the tests until we learn the lesson.
Spirituality 1.2, For the Disconnected From The School Of Life addresses younger minds whose daily perspective depends more upon modern technology and transforms the traditional scientific and religious viewpoint into a cybernetic one. In this book, we become programmers and cyber domain browsers, varying in personal experiences according to program purity and their degree of corruption. Therefore, the best way to improve our individual browsing experience is by reprogramming, updating our software, and purging our operating systems from all viral invasions. The book presents techniques that facilitate the reprogramming and learning process.
Spirituality 103, The Forgiveness Code: Finding the Light in Our Shadows guides students to discover new angles to the three questions presented in level 101. It also discusses techniques that help us effectively wipe out all the guilt we have allowed into our learning programs.
For more information about Dr. Ivan and his books, check out his official website.
