- Pranic Therapy Part IIl
- By: G Kumar
Astrologer and Epistemologist
The Universal Stream of Consciousness
known as Qi ( pronounced Chee ) in Chinese and Ki in Japanese
is known as the Cosmic Prana in Sanskrit. Healing using this
Life-force Energy is called Pranic
Therapy. This article is a continuation of the earlier article
Pranic
Therapy Part II.
Application of Chaos Theory in the field of Medicine
Another breathtaking development in medicine is the application
of Chaos Theory. Chaos theory,advanced by Mendelbrot, is a mathematical
theory applied to non-linear and random events.
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There are 2 types of seekers
in the Path Celestial, those who aspire for liberation and ordinary
mundane seekers.
Liberation is defined as a yearning
for Eternal Life and the first group has an intense yearning
for the Life Divine. Conferred with changeless faith and indomitable
will, they keep up relentless struggle and get glimpses of Transcendental
Consciousness. They have the Goal of Self-Actualisation fixed
in their minds and mental problems and physical ailments do not
deter them.
But My mahatmas, those of noble
souls,
Who tread the Path Celestial, worship Me
Unendingly they keep their yearning for Me! (The Song Celestial)
All the great mystics of all
civilizations belonged to this group.
He still adheres to the high
and difficult road
That sole leads to Eternity's peaks! |
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But this group, unfortunately is
a minority.
The majority of spiritual seekers
belong to the second group. These people have true aspiration
but it is either not intense enough or is not supported by a
strong will to undergo prolonged inner struggles or to bear the
resultant physical or mental reactions. Many of them do not have
any hope of realising the Self in this life, and so they are
unwilling to sacrifice health or peace of mind for such an elusive
and distant goal. The outer instruments for mortal man are not
fit to endure the severe rigours of this spiritual journey or
face its subtle and formidable dangers. Self Actualization can
only come from immense Grace Divine.
Ordinary mundane people find
it difficult to make spiritual progress their sole concern in
life although they may have committed themselves to it in a general
way. For them, an integral scheme of life in which the considerations
of health and secular values receive as much attention as spiritual
orientation is what is needed. This present article is meant
for such seekers.
The Self as the basis of all
Love
Why do we collect wealth? For
whose sake is wealth loved? It is for the sake of the Self. Why
do we love our wife and children? For whose sake is the wife
and children loved? It is for the sake of the Self. Everything
in the universe - husband, wife, children, everything - is loved
for the sake of oneself. The Self, when known, everything is
known. What do we mean by oneself here? Vedanta speaks of two
selves in man - a lower self and a higher Self. The lower self,
regarded as the false self, is the sum total of one's instincts,
drives and impulses. The higher Self refers to the pure Atman
which is regarded as the true nature of man. Vedanta states that
the lower self, if left uncontrolled, will act as one's own enemy,
and, if purified and controlled, will act as one's own friend.
When the lower self is purified by yogic techniques and attuned
to the higher Self, self-hate disappears and love for the higher
Self dawns.
He sees indeed who sees in all
alike,
The living lordly Self, Self supreme
Imperishable amidst the perishing (The Song Celestial)
When this divine love blossoms
in one's bosom, one's attitude towards his body changes. He now
begins to love his body as an instrument for the manifestation
of the Divine Self. Vedic Scriptures speak of the body as "
the temple of His great transparent mirror, Self ". As a
matter of fact, Vedic temples are modelled after the pattern
of the human organism.
Symbolism behind Vedic temples
Man has three bodies - physical,
astral and causal. The outer wall of the Vedic temple represents
the physical body of man. The inner wall represents the astral
body and the innermost wall represents the Causal body. Deep
within these three bodies is the Self, the Atman who is represented
by the Deity! The word temple is derived from the Latin word
tempulum, a place where Law and Justice can be administered.
The principle behind the temple, is Know Thyself!
Am I a god, then? Yes
In these pure features I behold
Creative Nature to soul unfold (Goethe)
The body is given prime importance
in Vedic ritualistic worship known as Puja. Apart from ritualistic
worship, service is divine and regarded as a form of worship
known as Yajna. Vedic Scriptures enjoin five types of service
known as Pancha-Mahayajna; service to the gods, service to sages,
service to manes, service to human beings, service to animals.
The ancient Law-giver Manu has given the injunction to divinize
the body through these five practices. (" Through the repeated
practice of these five great yajnas, the human body gets divinized".)
"The human body is the greatest
instrument for Self-Actualisation ", said the famous Sanskrit
poet Kalidasa. Maintaining the divine status of the body is not
easy. It should be kept as clean, healthy and we should not allow
any kind of physical or mental indulgence to defile its sanctity
and harmony. ("Chastity is the flowering in man " said
Thoreau and continence has been prescribed for spiritual progress).
That is to say, change in attitude towards the body brings with
it a new responsibility for one's own health. Surprising indeed
is the fact that many people think that restoring health and
curing diseases are solely the responsibility of the medical
profession. In the holistic health system, responsibility for
falling ill and getting well both rest primarily with the patient.
The doctor only assists in curing himself. As Albert Schweitzer
said " All healing is Self-healing ".
Holistic medicine postulates
that the responsibility for healthcare rests in the patient's
hands because that is where the knowledge and control of the
variables lie (diet, stress, exercise, genetics, emotion and
medication).
1. Knowledge of the Psychosomatic
Machine
If the patient is aware of the
disease and its aetiology, about his body's immune power and
if he can bear physical pain temporarily, with a stoic calmness,
he can avoid a lot of unnecessary medication.
In the Holistic Model, the cause
of any disease is understood in terms of the whole person and
not in terms of a particular organ or tissue. As Sir William
Osler put it, it is more import to know the patient who has the
disease than the disease of the patient. Plato remarked that
"the treatment of the parts should not be attempted without
treatment of the entirety" The one person who knows about
the patient more than anybody else is the patient himself.
Compliments should go to Western
Science which has discovered a lot of knowledge by research and
which is the result of the painstaking labour of thousands of
dedicated scientists for more than 200 years. This accumulated
treasure is humanity's precious heritage and only charlatans
will ignore or undervalue it. It is imperative that every educated
person should have a basic knowledge of human anatomy and physiology,
and also of Western psychology. However this research is analytical
and incomplete.
A Holistic Model was developed
by the Sages of India 2500 years ago.
The Five Levels of Being - The
Yogic Model
These are the five concentric
sheaths enveloping the Self, the Divine Spark in man!
1. Physical Sheath ( Annamaya
Kosha )
2. Vital Sheath ( Pranamaya Kosha )
3. Mental Sheath ( Manomaya Kosha )
4. Intellectual Sheath ( Vijnanamaya Kosha )
5. Bliss Sheath ( Anandamaya Kosha )
Disease is the imbalance in any
of the three lower sheaths of existence - physical, vital and
mental.
The microcosm and the macrocosm
are are in unbroken communion with each other and are structured
on the same pattern. At the level of the physical sheath, food,
water and oxygen enter the microcosm and Co2, waste products
etc return to the macrocosm. This is true of other sheaths also.
The individual cannot exist independent of the cosmos. The interdependence
of the Microcosm and the Macrocosm is known in Classical Philosophy
as the Bio-Cosmic tieup. If the exchange between the physical
sheath and the physical world around it is defective, the body
will become ill, and death will result if it is stopped altogether.
The Tantric Model
A different but parallel model
of human personality was developed by the Tantras. Whereas the
Upanishads speak of Five Sheaths or Koshas, the Tantras speak
of six chakras. These Chakras are (in ascending order)
1. Root Chakra ( Muladhara )
2. Anal Chakra ( Manipura )
3. Solar Plexus Chakra ( Swadhistana )
4. Heart Chakra ( Anahata )
5. Throat Chakra ( Vishuddhi )
6. Eyebrow Chakra ( Ajna )
Life is regarded as the unfolding
of the Self at six different levels of consciousness known as
Chakras in the magnificent Tantric Model. In mundane people the
unfolding takes place only at the first three chakras which represent
procreation, metabolism and speech; the higher three chakras
remain latent. The awakening of the higher chakras results in
the unfolding and fulfillment of Life Divine. When the Kundalini,
the Serpentine Power inherent in humans, rises from the Root
Chakra ( Muladhara ) to the Crown Chakra ( Sahasrara ), man achieves
Cosmic Consciousness.
The Spirit shall take up the
human play
The earthly life become the Life Divine! |
