The Buddha's Teachings as a Pathway

Henry Gellis is an established Los Angeles investment professional with experience in holistic health and wellness. As the president and founding partner of Awaken Global Media, Henry Gellis informs operations of Awaken.com, an online publication that covers wide-ranging topics, such as yoga and meditation practices.

An written by Jack Kornfield and published at Awaken focuses on the Buddha's teachings, which are also known as the Lion’s Roar. They reflect a half-century teaching to those who would listen and delivering a message of wisdom, compassion, and freedom through focused spiritual practice. Groups who gathered to listen to the Buddha free themselves from illusions of separateness from others and heed the voice within. They learned to unify thoughts and actions in ways that provided freedom from the myriad entanglements present in an ever-changing world.

One of the most profound lessons described in the ancient sutras was provided by the Buddha to a devotee who spent months enraptured, listening to his words reverently. Ultimately, the Buddha informed the monk that he did not really see him because gazing at the Buddha is about seeing the Dharma(divine law). With the Dharma embodying the path to uncover the truth. It is something kept alive by all who sincerely follow a pathway of questing enlightenment through the centuries.

Actions To Take That Will Benefit Your 'Healthspan'

 In a recent article on Awaken.com, Peter Diamandis details the actions you can take right now that will allow you to age gracefully and get to 100. Click here to learn more...

How Animals Teach Mindfulness and Spirituality

Henry Gellis is a Southern California entrepreneur who is a founding investor of Awaken.com, an online publication with a unique emphasis on topics from healthy living to yoga. A recent article in Henry Gellis’ publication brought focus to lessons we can learn from animals when it comes to spirituality.

For adults, communing with other species may be mind-expanding and good for the soul. Children may have a particularly strong connection with animals, as they are closer to their elemental selves, free from information overload, expectations, and excessive cultural formations, including language. Different species each have their own ways of sharing, interacting, and loving, and to understand this first hand broadens our own capacity in these realms.

Through taking time to commune with an animal companion, adults may be able to bring themselves into a more mindful state, free from internal and external noise. In many cases, such interactions emphasize the importance of patience, as animals do not adhere to the time schedules of humans.

One approach to learning from an animal is to practice mindful breathing corresponding to that of the animal. Another involves learning to communicate fully without words. The author describes attending a workshop facilitated by a shaman who was also a horse trainer. One practice she found valuable centered on making requests of horses only using focused thought. To have the horse respond to the energy of these concentrated thoughts was empowering and enlightening.

Jane Goodall’s Experience That Transcended Mainstream Science

Henry Gellis is an established Southern California investment executive who helps to inform Awaken.com, an online health and wellness journal. The publication, in which Henry Gellis is a founding investor, offers a wealth of timely and informative articles across a spectrum that includes philosophy, spirituality, yoga, sustainability, and healthy living.

One recent Awaken.com piece, “Mystical Experience of Jane Goodall, PhD,” brought focus to a formative experience in the life of a pioneer in the conservation movement. A central mission of Dr. Goodall’s life was 55 years spent within Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park studying wild chimpanzees’ family relations and social interactions.

As Dr. Goodall recounted it, returning from an extended six-week US trip that centered on conferences, fundraising, and lobbying efforts, she again found herself in the wild place she loved and entered into a “state of heightened awareness.” The sheer beauty of what she saw around her, with no price tag attached, brought her to a state where sense of self was nonexistent. Rather, she found herself one with the earth, trees, and chimpanzees, and imbued with “the spirit power of life itself.”

This mystical experience, which lasted a single afternoon, had a profound impact on Dr. Goodall’s entire way of looking at life. From that moment on, she drew from the wellspring of a timeless truth, of which she felt mainstream science captured only a tiny part. This became a source of strength which she could always draw on when life turned “harsh or cruel or desperate.”

States Stand at the Forefront in Transition to Clean Energy

Based in Southern California, Henry Gellis emphasizes entrepreneurship with a purpose and is a founding investor in Awaken.com. Topics covered by Henry Gellis’ website span natural health, meditation, yoga, mindfulness, and the environment.

A recent article in Awaken brought focus to the increased importance of state efforts in promoting and commercializing clean energies. This is critical, given that the federal government has become less aggressive in this area since 2017.

With forward progress achievable due to the decreasing cost of clean energy technologies, 29 states have set in place renewable portfolio standards (RPS). These mandate generating or obtaining an increasing amount or share of electricity from clean energy technologies each year.

Thirteen states have also set in place 100 percent clean energy goals, often in tandem with an RPS standard. Unfortunately, not all of this legislation is enforceable, and some standards could be overturned through executive order by future governors.

With a handful of states bringing focus to energy storage as part of their mandates, California stands at the forefront in its residential solar photovoltaics (PV) standard. This requires that a majority of new homes have either rooftop PV systems in place, or community solar installations that homeowners can readily access electricity from.

Mindfulness in the Workplace

As a private equity investor, Henry Gellis focuses on businesses with positive social benefits, including companies in stress reduction and mindfulness. Henry Gellis is a founding shareholder in the media company Awaken, which publishes informative articles that spread awareness of practices that improve well-being, including mindfulness. 

Mindfulness training is becoming a popular offering in workplace wellness programs. Research has found that mindfulness has the following impact on employees and managers:

- Improved well-being. Stress is one of the top contributors to workplace illness and reduced productivity. Mindfulness practice has been linked to higher levels of employee resilience, which can protect workers from the effects of a stressful environment. 

- Improved performance. Mindfulness practice helps the brain relax and makes it more effective during deep cognitive tasks. Employees who routinely engage in mindfulness exercises exhibit more creativity, flexibility, and adaptability.

- Better relationships. Mindful managers and other workplace leaders are more empathetic toward their subordinates, which can improve the job satisfaction of employees. Conversely, mindful employees are more effective at managing the stress of working under difficult supervisors.

Aligning With the Higher Self Through Listening to Intuition

Leading Gellis Investment Management, California entrepreneur Henry Gellis seeks out value in companies that are presently undervalued. Among Henry Gellis’ successful endeavors has been helping launch awaken.com, which provides articles and resources spanning the full spectrum of holistic wellness. 

A recent feature on the Awaken website centered on author Jonathan Robinson, who spoke about strategies for aligning with one’s higher self. As Robinson describes it, contemporary culture is too focused on money and activities undertaken simply for the sake of staying busy. Many people forget to take time to give those they love they gift of connection. One way of countering this tendency is, when in a happy or loving moment, to “try not to leave it so quickly.” 

Another aspect involves listening to the universe and being aware of feedback in one’s daily life. Feelings such as boredom and frustration let us know when we are “hot or cold.” Intuition can also tell us when things are heading in the right direction, with a sense of “feeling right” often leading to positive results. Rather than simply following the mind on a “wild ride,” trust the way one feels about something in the moment.

This does not mean that the path is necessarily easy. Rather, when something is both positive and meaningful, more energy will be directed toward it in ways that achieve measurable results.