In nursing and medical school, we are taught diagnosis and treatment of disease. We study the pathophysiology or physical malfunctions that are associated with disease. However, as one matures as a nurse or physician, he or she cannot help but realize that for most chronic illness we offer little chance of "cure" or return to normal physiology. We can most certainly lower blood pressure in hypertension with the use of medicine, but remove the medicine, and the condition recurs.
I have long suspected that our understanding of disease and illness is incomplete. There is something beyond the deficiency of insulin in diabetes. Why does one person develop diabetes and another develop rheumatoid arthritis? Medicine has been increasingly reluctant to look outside the physical for the higher causes of illness for it no longer fits into our "safe" haven of scientific methodology.
Lately, medicine has found a scapegoat called the "gene" to which we may trace many diseases. However, I am again not satisfied for I do not wish myself or my patients to be a victim of randomly assigned genes. How then are we to expand our awareness so we may begin to understand cause and effects at levels higher than the physical?
I began by looking at disease states of patients with multiple personalities. There are well-documented case histories of such patients where in one personality the patient has insulin-dependent diabetes and in another personality has no trace of diabetes. Similar cases exist with drug allergies and other conditions. It is through study of such cases that we begin to realize that a higher organizing principle which I will call "mind" exists and this principle appears to be the higher cause of the physical condition for when this is changed, the physical changes automatically. So, does the lack of insulin cause diabetes? It may be that the lack of insulin is only a physical mediator of a defect in a higher organizing principle that exists beyond the physical.
What properties could affect this higher organizing principle or "mind"? Two areas appear to be important. These are the thoughts and emotions of the individual. Traditional science has largely discounted the effect of thoughts and emotions as they were felt to have no substance, although psychosomatic medicine has long suspected a link between these more ethereal entities and disease.
In fact, emotions and thoughts have energy, but energy that vibrates at a higher frequency than that of physical matter. Although we do not yet have the technology to develop a machine to detect this energy, clairvoyants have been able to detect these frequencies within the energy field by using directed concentration to "tune into" the emotional or mental bodies of the individual. In fact, it does not take a clairvoyant to sense that an argument has taken place upon entering a room. We all have the ability to "sense" strong emotions, for the energy produced by individuals in anger or fear affects us as we enter into their space. If we are strongly connected with another, we may even sense these strong emotions over a distance.
If you are able to accept that thoughts and emotions generate energy at frequencies beyond our normal perceptual awareness, how might these energies affect the physical body? A growing body of literature is exploring the mind-body connection through the neural-hormonal axis as a means for electrical energy in the nerves to be translated into hormonal information that has a wide variety of effects at the cellular level.
This brings us to the possibility that "thought forms" may influence physical health and disease. A carpenter who lived nearly 2,000 years ago stated, "as a man thinketh, so he is." It may have taken us 2,000 years to discover the mechanism by which this thought energy is incorporated into the physical form, but the general principal of cause and effect is clearly stated in these words of the master. As to the question of the relationship of genetics to disease, the Book of Exodus states: "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation." (Ex34:6-7) Could it be that after three to four generations of failing to learn a particular spiritual lesson, the genetic code itself is altered in order to create a physical form in which the person is more likely to learn that particular lesson?
To understand this paradigm shift we must first see ourselves as spiritual beings inhabiting a human form. As creative energy that descends through the mental, emotional, and finally into the physical plane, we are an organizing principle that creates and maintains the mental, emotional, and physical bodies which can be viewed as sheaths of progressively denser material.
At death, the gross material or physical form is discarded, but the emotional and mental bodies still exist intact and are even able on occasion to produce paranormal phenomena such as "ghosts" and other poltergeist phenomena within this dimension. As researchers have documented, such paranormal phenomena are more common when there exists an abundance of emotional or astral energy such as anger at being murdered, or grief over the loss of a child. This strong emotional energy can be utilized to produce changes within the material world. This alone is evidence that emotional energy has an effect upon matter even without a physical body to act as an intermediary.
How then shall we begin to study the effect of thought forms on health and disease? We may begin by looking at thoughts as energy, i.e. "thought forms.” Each thought produced by the mind is an energy that has the capability to affect our emotional or feeling state and finally our physical state. The unaware individual produces a multitude of thoughts most of which are not within conscious awareness and rapidly produce emotional responses. Usually the individual is caught up in the emotion and is only vaguely aware of the thought that triggered the emotion. The mind of such an individual can be thought of as a "desire" generator. If you were to record the person's thoughts, they would mostly have to do with the pursuit of food, sex, hobbies, material goods, power, etc. The perceived obstruction to the desired object immediately generates such emotions as impatience, frustration, anger, and grief. We are lead from one situation to another by our desire to achieve our desires on one hand and our desire to avoid the slate of negative emotions or outcomes on the other.
There is of course another "higher" agenda of which we may or may not be aware. This agenda is designed by the higher self or that aspect of ourselves that exists beyond space and time and the present personality. This agenda has to do with the development of the spiritual aspects we chose for development before we took on the gross material body. Likewise, we choose the environment and the genetic and familial conditions under which to learn these lessons. Of course our present personality may not be aware of all that is planned for a lifetime at the higher levels, but hopefully as we journey through life we begin to detect the patterns of our successes and failures. At some point, we may even begin to see our obstacles as challenges to afford us our greatest degree of spiritual growth.
The development of virtues such as responsibility, patience, forgiveness, compassion, and unconditional love may develop largely due to the discomfort from their opposites such as irresponsibility, impatience, and lack of forgiveness, separation, and conditional love. Each of these spiritual attributes or lack of these spiritual attributes sets up a vibration within the mental realm generating thoughts that are either in alignment with the greater whole or in conflict with the greater whole. The thought that I am better than my brother sets up a certain vibration, which then affects the emotional body. Usually the imbalance within the emotional body is that of the alternating feeling of superiority and inferiority. This imbalance in turn sets up a imbalance within the physical body usually in the region of the solar plexus or abdomen for it is within this center that issues of personal power have their effects. Once the spiritual lesson of brotherhood or seeing others as aspects of yourself has been learned, some further along the path and others not as far along the path, such thoughts of superiority are no longer generated and the friction of inferiority / superiority within the emotional body ceases and finally the symptoms of stomach upset or pain dissipate.
As we build each "thought form" through the energy generated by our thoughts and turbocharged by our emotions (for it is the emotional energy that fuels our creations) we find ourselves as empowered co-creators capable of changing the emotional and physical conditions by changing our thought patterns rather than becoming chance victims of disease and faulty genetics.
We begin to see hatred, fear, and anger as dark energies that when settled into the physical form generate tissue and organ breakdown. Likewise, we open up to the possibility of releasing such negative energy from our form and through awareness of the higher cause of this malady, prevent its return by discipline at the level of the thought. It is through such training, unconscious at first, that we progress along the path of development and mastery of the physical form, the emotional body, and finally the mental body. At the peak of this development, we are fully present within our form, having gained mastery over these three bodies. We are no longer pulled by our desires but are guided instead by a higher level of awareness that brings forth the exact experiences and persons with whom we need to interact.
It is at this level of consciousness where we see the "perfection" of the manifested worlds, that life is truly as it is meant to be, our lost "kingdom of heaven". For heaven is not so much a place in the afterworld as it is a state of mind. This state of mind exists above the duality and beyond good and evil. There is no disease within this state of mind for there is no disharmony.
How then are we to help our patients achieve the release from their suffering? We must first attend to our own spiritual growth. Through the discipline of meditation, we learn to quiet the mind in order to gain access to higher levels of awareness. These are levels where we may become conscious of the spiritual lessons with which our patients are dealing.
Not all patients will be receptive to this information. Some prefer to remain on the lower vibrations as victims who project blame. We must respect their wishes not to advance. As we were created with free will, so we must allow our patients free will. Other patients have advanced to the point where information regarding their spiritual lessons is useful and if we obtain permission through the higher realms, we should share that which would be helpful. Other information that the healer receives, such as the imminent death of a patient, is not usually meant to be revealed. As one develops the capacity to tap into higher levels of awareness and information, one should also develop the discipline to reveal only, that which is appropriate. Usually specific instructions are given on the inner plane as to what should and should not be revealed.
Having brought forth information to the receptive patient, we may then aid the patient in release of the obstructing "thought form" through several methods. For many people simply identifying the "thought form" such as lack of self love and allowing the patient to see how this "thought form" was generated and explaining how the "thought form" weakens the immune system, many are able to consciously cease generating the thoughts and emotions of self-hatred. Usually it is advisable to ask the patient to substitute a more positive thought in place of a negative thought as soon as they become aware of the negative thought. The concept of "cancel-clear" is one used by some of my patients to dispel a negative thought form. Then they replace it with its opposite.
If the patient is not aware of the thought until he or she is overwhelmed by the emotion, I recommend hypnosis for clearing thought forms that are still within the subconscious. This can be thought of as reprogramming the tapes that tend to produce the same old patterns of doubt and self-abuse to which many are subjected.
A powerful method for clearing thought forms can be accomplished through direct removal during the patient's meditation. Thought forms are consciously released by the patient as he or she enters higher levels of consciousness.
If the patient is not able to achieve such levels of higher consciousness, the presence of a healer who helps the patient in achieving these levels can facilitate the conscious release of thought forms. A number of visualization exercises are available in which the undesired energy is released from the patient's form. The healer must stay in balance in order to effectively transmute this energy or risk side effects of the energy settling into his or her physical form. Early in my career, before I realized I was a healer, I found myself with the pain from a patient's fractured jaw including the particular ache one develops when one's teeth are wired together. Of course, my patient was feeling much better as I had taken on his pain, but I was in the dilemma of how to treat myself. I ended up using Motrin, as I was unaware of how to clear this thought form.
As no man is an island, we do tend to take on thought forms of those around us, including our patients. Therefore, for the maintenance of balance of the healer, I recommend a daily session of meditation along with some form of conscious release of energy after each patient. For many of us this can be incorporated into the ritual of hand washing. While washing my hands between patients, I consciously expel the breath in a short pulse through the nostrils as I visualize my form cleared of any negative thought forms. This clearing is particularly important in such areas as emergency and operating rooms where patients generate more than the usual amount of fear based thought forms. If we could teach this form of energy management to our colleagues in the emergency room, there may be less burnout in this profession.
Along with our awareness of thought forms comes another spiritual tool. That is one of detachment from results. As healers, you and I are responsible only for our best effort. The ultimate outcome of any situation is beyond our control. Acceptance of our role as facilitators and teachers rather than as physicians and nurses solely responsible for all outcomes, helps lighten the burden when outcomes are not as we have anticipated. Do the best you can, but be attached to neither success nor failure. Realize that there are many other factors, which enter into an outcome, which are beyond your control and in some cases beyond your understanding. It is only through the development of awareness of higher levels of consciousness that you may begin to understand the many energetic forces that combine to create the manifested worlds. With knowledge of the higher worlds, we begin to understand karma, or the law of cause and effect, whereby whatever energy or thought forms one sends out into the world, return to the individual.
We also understand the law of grace, whereby help offered to others may serve to lessen our karmic debts. We also begin to see that energy follows thought so that through discipline at the level of the thought, we do not create that which we do not want manifest in our lives. Having mastered this, we are able to help our patients master these same principles and thus permanently relieve their suffering rather than simply treating their symptoms. As the spiritual science unfolds and man begins to take responsibility for his condition, only then will we be able to see the "miraculous" release of mankind from his ailments. These releases are not so "miraculous" as they may seem, but simply expected results of cause and effect. When we stop beating ourselves up, the immune system has a chance to recover, and lo and behold, the cancer disappears.
For more information regarding this subject I recommend The Creation of Health by Norman Shealy, M.D. & Carolyn Myss and Healing With Love by Leonard Laskow, M.D.
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