Physician to Meta-Physician

ALL HEALING IS SELF-HEALING-- Why I Can't Heal Your Pain

Is that title in anyway depressing or upsetting? It shouldn't be. It reflects a metaphysical as well as physical reality. No one can heal you.

An experienced and caring physician can assist in the healing process through his/her knowledge. But ultimate healing requires an intact body with an adequate immune mechanism in place.

Likewise, emotional turmoil, illness, suffering requires an individual to tap into the depths of their own healing well. This explains the unfortunate situation in which a depressed individual, despite the most diligent attention and medical/psychiatric interventions may still choose to commit suicide.

Although I can't heal you I can be a part of the milieu that facilitates your own healing. I can be present. I can express my concern. My personal intention to help you heal is a subliminal energy which can stimulate your own internal processes. I can express my caring.

I can give you hope. I can offer you my love on various levels. I can lessen your suffering as your body / mind initiates the recuperative process. But ultimately I cannot participate in your suffering. If intention were sufficient I"m sure very few children would die of their diseases. If their parents could change places with them--many would do so. But it is not meant to be.

Some of this reflects the individual soul's karmic past and path. No other soul can take their place. We each have challenges in this physical incarnation which remain uniquely our own.

Living requires courage in the face of suffering. I will be there for yours as you will for mine. But our path will be ultimately solitary.

The Living Quality of Love -- Why T L C Matters

Human relations are forever fascinating. 

 What makes a love connection endure the challenges of time and change?  Why do some friendships span decades while others are short lived and quickly gone?  Why does space and distance seem a barrier to some friendships while others are undeterred by thousands of miles, mountain ranges and seas?

I am certain each and every one of us can find such examples within our own lives. It may involve a deep, physical relationship, a casual friendship, a relative.

Relationships are living entities. 

The "secret" to their longevity, their growth, their deepening over time is simply this recognition.  All living things need nurturing.  Love can never be assumed to last, unattended,  forever. 

Love can never be  taken for granted or ignored.  Just as a plant or pet will perish unless they are cared for, so it is with love.  Mutuality of caring is an essential ingredient.  It must be demonstrated to be effective.

We are all creatures who seek love and we are all inherently insecure about being loved.  What we need is to feel a reciprocity in our relationships.  When one party gives of itself and the other does not, the relationship begins to suffer.

What we seek are those small signs of this mutuality.  It is the sign we seek of shared caring and respect.  If we feel the other party is not equally committed to the relationship--it will die.

We all know the signs of a living vibrant love. 

Those small but powerful signals are what we delight in.  A small gift of attention--a phone call, text just to say we care,  an email,  an old fashioned letter or post card, a personal visit, an acknowledgement of caring when we are in pain.  It can be a touch on the arm, a warm hug, a kiss.

Physical gifts are a pleasant reminder that we share an ongoing awareness of the relationship.  But they pale in comparison with the small tokens of caring.

We all know people who see relationships as a means of primarily feeding their own needs, their damaged egos, their own insecurities.  These individuals are often consumed with their own nurturing.  It becomes clear that there is an imbalance in the relationship.  They regard their interests are primary, those of the other party are deemed less important.  They are all about themselves.  This imbalance can be  overlooked for a while but just as with any living thing, if it continues it can be lethal to the relationship.

Like all living things, there is a moment in time when love can be resuscitated.  It requires recognition of the illness that exists.  It may take time and continued attention.  A mutual ongoing effort will be essential if there is any hope to bring it back to life.

It certainly can happen.  Relationships are repaired and strengthened all the time.  But there must be a mutual desire to do so and demonstrable actions to confirm it.  Their must be an acknowledgement that the benefit of continuing the healing process ( with the risk it may not survive) outweighs the status quo.

Tender loving care is the mother's milk of relationships.  Without it love will not survive.

"KABBALISTIC" KIRTAN KRIYA (with apologies)

As far as I'm concerned, spiritual practices exist to be examined, borrowed, modified and appreciated. As a result of this attitude I have "borrowed" a meditation practice known as kirtan kryia from the Sikh religion.

What is unique about this meditation is the use of finger touching while meditating on a mantra. My source material is the book MEDITATION AS MEDICINE by Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD a board certified anesthesiologist.

His version involves sitting in a appropriate position with eyes closed. The energy flows with each sound in from the top of the head and out the third-eye chakra. Sa, Ta, Na, Ma, are sounds uttered as the thumb touches each of the other fingers in order. Khalsa writes about chanting in a normal voice for two minutes, whispering for two minutes, deep and silent for three minutes. Back to the whisper for two minutes and in a normal voice for two minutes.

Most interesting is his demonstration utlizing a variety of brain scans how chanting mantras plus finger movements can alter brain blood flow patterns in health inducing pattern. ( refer to his book for in depth discussions.

My apologies to authentic practioners of Kirtan Kriya. I understand the value of the purity of their practice. But my own perspective is eclectic and sythethic. My own interest led me to combine a Kabbalistic mantra with the Sikh finger movements. Khalsa himself refers to other spiritual traditions and the value of their mantras. He specifically mentions the power of the SHALOM mediation with emphasis on the vibratory properties of the SHAAA and LOMM (like AUM).

So in my own interpretation I have begun to meditate utilizing the finger touching positions and the two syllables SHA and OM.

I touch my foreginger to my thumb ( on each hand) as a say SHAAAA. Then inhale through the Crown chakra ( KETER in Kabbalistic terms) and breath out through the third eye chakra. Then inhale again and breath out the LOMMMM the same way while touching my middle finger to my thumb. I then repeat SHAAA while touching my thumb to my ring finger and finally LOMMM while I touch my pinky finger to my thumb.

This mediation can be done standing or sitting. You can utilize a similar pattern to the Kirtan Kriya with several minutes out loud, then whispering, then silent followed by the whispering and out loud again.

I am finding this an interesting and helpful meditation with both physical, psychologic and spiritual healing benefits.