May we heal?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Dear friends,

Lately I have grown more careful when it comes to healing people. For example someone has some pretty serious phsycial limitation/illness… are we allowed to heal it? I, or rather, my ego combined with my heart chakra, wants to help that person in the example. There are ways to heal that person, but may I?

If I do, I take away their physical suffering and bring great relief. But am I not taking away from them what is perhaps one of the most valuable lessons in their life? Is it not that person’s higher self that caused that limitation to make that person realize something profound first, before getting healed, without external help?

I take away some pain and suffering, but along with it, I take away a possibility for that person to learn and discover more of itself and a possibility to overcome an intrinsic part of that person that creates his/her suffering in the first place.

Is life not about each individual attaining freedom from suffering, instead of relieving the pain? If I heal, am I not merely taking away the symptoms? Should I respect people’s lessons and obstacles more instead of feeling the desire to relief them from their pain?

What do you think? I wonder.

#2

The individual (the sufferer) who has found his way to you has done so for a reason.

I suspect you are doing more than just relieving pain. Their Karma has brought them to you. Often the pain has to subside before the path to true freedom from suffering can even be seen.

#3

Hm, thanks for your thoughts. I very much agree with your last sentence:

Often the pain has to subside before the path to true freedom from suffering can even be seen.

However, when in great pain, a person can come to a breaking point, in which the mind breaks down, kind of like saying: “I cannot take anymore, I don’t want anything else, Suffering must stop! I don’t care if I die or not.” Then that person becomes numb for a period of time, not caring for anything but the cessation of existence, or rather, the suffering that is intertwined with existing. This is a breakthrough and I believe that this process is suffering’s ultimate purpose. To free you out of illusion. Suffering is here, to remind you constantly that this is not real and it is not where you want to be. If there would be no suffering, then this illusion would be like a heaven and we would never even strive for anything else. We would be kept even dumber.

So the ultimate purpose of suffering is to come to that breakthrough point in which the mind decides to stop. Because out of the not caring and the numbness, arises a transcendence of consciousness. The mind stops/ceases, partially or in total. The ego ceases to exist if the determination to cease, or to be liberated, of the one who is suffering, is final enough.

Unfortunately, I never see this happen. Instead of becoming conscious of why they are suffering, instead of realizing that this can help them to overcome a little more illusion, they just swim in their suffering and like to share it with as many people as possible to acquire pity and attention from them. Because they don’t know all this stuff.

So still, my question stands. Any other thoughts on this matter?

#4

For me Yoga definetly helps healing, but there are laws at least in Germany which prohibit to call it healing since that is only allowed to healing practioners and Doctors.
Anything that promises healing or only looks like it is in Gemany only allowed ot the group above.
That may be differnet in other countrys.
But I give it an other Name and tell the people Yoga is not instead of medicinal treatment but in addition to it ist healthy.
All The best
Lars

#5

OK Lars, thanks for the cultural update :), but that was not my question exactly.

Maybe you do have something to share on the topic I started? If you have, please do so :).

B.

#6

Since morning 'til now, I have spent a few hours meditating on this question.
I think, if the subject is a christian, heal him/her in the name of the Christ, if he/she is hindu, heal him/her in the name of his/her chosen deity, if he/she’s an ateist, heal him/her in the name of humanity. May the healing make them better in whatever they do, and let God take care of the rest.

#7

Thanks alot.

#8

Dear Bentinho,

I share your concerns on this topic, but before i share my views, i need to know how do you heal. Are you a doctor, homeopath, Reiki master or do you have a tent on the corner of a street and everybody is welcome (we have those here in SA) etc?

#9

you said “what do you think” at the end of the statement. here is what I think.
you need to reread what you wrote and see how many “I heal” “I take away their pane” blah blah blah. YOU HEAL NO ONE, Take your I/EGO out of it. if you wrote it with so many I’s, I do this, I do that, etc… why do you write it that way. It is not your power to heal, you do not own it. You may have been chosen to be a tool for it to come through but you need to humble yourself and then you will be a better tool.

I know I may have written harsh words but you have spoken of healing without careful words. I know I may have thrown “fire” at you, but remember, fire purifies. take from it what you will.

Only my opionion/judgement, from my heart, my ego, both?
let me know if you want more thoughts, my ego would be happy to battle your ego :wink: I am just being honest
I wish you the best, I really do
seeker

#10

if the power to heal would flow through me, I believe this is what my heart would want. Heal the person and leave them with a thought/seed to spark change for them to become more in love with themselves and the world. If they continue in ways that are on an unbalanced path, they will become “ill” again, if so assist in them being healed again and give them another seed. They may become reliant on seeing you and keep coming for temporary healing and you keep giving them seeds each time. The time will come where they seek you and you will not be there for them, but your seeds will remain and then the real healing will begin.

I have two sides
seeker

#11

Dear Bentinho,

Remember healing is a gift of the Divine and that it is not you who heal. You are only the channel or conduit. The moment you start to think I do this and I do that, it is ego and bound for a fall. People also end up with you because it is the Divine Will who directed them to you and who are you to question if you may heal or not, if the Divine afforded you with this gift and opportunity to serve, isn’t that what the Christ came to teach us? To serve our brotherman no matter what. This reminds me of the story of the good Samaritan, he didn’t worry about karma when he helped the man next to the oad, he just helped and trust that God will do the rest in healing the wounded man.

I will relate my own story. Years ago I did Reiki Masters and became quite an accomplished healer and you can imagined how my ego grew as my confidence grew. Anyway after a few months the gift was taken away very abruptly, one morning the guide who helped me and indicated to me what to do and where to do things was not there anymore. What a lesson I can tell you that.

Today, God still uses me, but according to His Will and healing is only done, when indicated that i may serve as the channel. Therefore always ask for Divine guidance and trust the the Divine is using you and remain a humble servant ready to serve.

Hope this will help.

#12

I agree with tubeseeker.
We are not healing, but healing happens sometimes through us. It is like beeing a channel for the devine the universal or whatever we will call it.
We are not the healer, but the man who delivers the mail of healing for the universe.
Isn`t that wonderfull.
All the best
Lars

#13

Thanks for all your input, happy to see so much wise words.

@Tubeseeker and Pandara: Thanks for your reflection, but eh, I was speaking hypothetically. Maybe that did not come accros very well, but I did not mean I as in me, I meant I in general. As in: “Imagine if I would do this or do that, would it not cause this or that?” I was role playing, asking questions, playing the hypothesis. If you wish, you can re-read my post with this perspective.

I realize it is not me that heals, that was not my point. I have gotten some great answers from you guys, but still none of you really answered and shared on what I meant exactly, I must have been unclear.

My point is, that even though I am not the one who heals, it remains a choice that we have. The way I heal (Now I [B]am[/B] talking about me) is that if someone crosses my path on life, and I feel that I can help that person relief their pain in one way or another. This ranges from emotional/personal coaching, to healing through the use of ntention and attention. Energetic healing so to say. My concern lies primarily with the latest form. Coaching let people see how they caused their suffering. The latter form of healing often doesn’t, it just takes the pain away. So what would yuo do? Whether it is god or you doing the healing, it remains a choice, therefore we can think about it.

Thanks for all,
Bentinho

#14

The problem is genuine, and often we are left unceirtain.
Anthony De Mello (jesuit psychologist, spiritual helper -India) had the same dilemma.
As a psychologist, he’s task was to help and alleviate any psychic stress … but he confessed that as a spiritual mentor, he was sad as he knew that this way they’ll never learn the only real illness: attachment to the illusory objects of their thought.
This way, medicine, theraphy, healing and spiritual evolution seem antagonists.

But in reality it is simple. If we can help alleviate any pain and suffering, we have do it by all means. I am sure the care and grace shown is just as good a guru as the suffering.

#15

I think I do understand Bentinho?s question. :frowning:

The problem is - this question has to be understood in the mind but the answer lies in the heart.:wink:

When sufficient ?head of spiritual steam? is built up one can “feel” that we are ALL pilgrims & what ever little we can do to alleviate the pain of your fellow travellers is a blessing.

Is capitulation necessary for end of suffering? I don?t think so!

#16

Dear Bentinho,

To answer your orignal question, we have very little choice or free will for that matter, you do not choose to heal or anything, things happen as it should, all is as God wills it. So if a person lands in front of you, you do not have much of a choice, you will react and perform according to the karma between you and this person, whatever that may be. This person didn’t just happen to cross your path as well, it was so determined by your karma before you reincarnated. :wink: Trust this answers some of it.

#17

Maybe the answer was in my second response to you and you are the one not hearing, I dont know. Your clarifications that you have done on this thread have not added to my understanding of the original question because I saw the original question as complete with plenty of information. Do you want a map, walk five paces here, six paces there, turn south for three paces, do two hops and a jump? You have asked for guidance on this question and that is ok.

a little story
a man was once an apprentice of carpentry, he followed his teacher, observed his teacher and in the later stages did the work for his teacher. at the end of the apprenticeship the apprentice did the work without his teacher saying a word, but only observing. The teacher then said, “I am going away and while I am gone I would like you to do some work”. The teacher came back some time later and nothing was done. THe apprentice said to the teacher, “I needed your guidance”, the teacher became upset and said “for what, I have not spoken a word of how to do these things for months”

trust yourself B.
take care
seeker

#18

Hi Bentinho,

I’m reading a book written by a Slovenian healer who works with a different alternative methodes over 15 years. He said that his development was gradual. From a beginner’s enthusiasm when he believed that healer can heal only with regulating the chakras, taking away harmful and suplying useful energy until he sober up and realized that if we don’t find the reason / cause and if the person don’t cooperate in a healing process, everything is useless and pointless. Health is not only the absence of the illness but a higher state of a dynamic balance, phisical, emotional, psychological and spiritual. He wrote that nobody can help anybody if the person is not ready and doesn’t ask for. Energy healing is similar than the medical help. It helps to balance the energy and improves health but only if we find the reasons, we understand them and we decide to change something. Otherwise the illness come back, maybe even with a different symptoms. He advice not to be deluded with a temporary better state of health and the absence of the pain.
So probably wouldn’t be most ethical if a healer let a person believe that he/she can get miracly cured by the energy healing only.

#19

Thanks for all your views. Good to see the courage in some.

B.

#20

It seems that I have been wrong. (bah, not the first time)
Chakras

[I]“When a person with mastery over the muladhara sees that someone has a particular disease, he has to know whether that individual deserves the disease or whether it is the result of a hostile attack. If he has done something wrong, naturally under the law of karma he deserves to pay the penalty. But if the disease is not from the law of karma but rather from the attack of some hostile force, and if it is God’s Will that his disease should be cured, then naturally a spiritual person who has the capacity should cure it. But if he does it at his own sweet will, or if he acts in an undivine way and just shows off, then he breaks the cosmic law. He will cure the person, but this very cure will act eventually against both the healer and the sick person. It will add to their ignorant and self-destructive quality. So the healer has to know if it is the Will of God that the person be cured. Only then will he cure; otherwise he has to remain silent and do nothing. You may ask, how can he see somebody else suffering and still do nothing? If his heart is very big, let him go deep within and see who it is that is suffering in and through the individual. He will see that it is God who is purposely having a special experience in and through that person.” /Sri Chinmoy[/I]
[I][/I]