In a world of information overload and ongoing changes, I find that universal principles stand the test of time.
Ayurveda, a holistic system that has been supporting healing and spiritual awakening of humanity for thousands of years, states that one of the root causes of diseases is failure of the intellect (pragyaparadh).
From a wellness perspective, failure of the intellect happens when we choose sensory pleasures over healthy lifestyle choices. For example, binge-watching TV shows instead of exercising or going to bed early.
Failure of the intellect also means not realizing how connected we are to each other and to the whole. This wholeness goes beyond all living beings. It includes dimensions that are invisible and not understood by many.
These dimensions operate in different principles and laws, and they can be incredibly helpful. We get glimpses of them when we pay attention. For example, you dream about someone whom you haven’t talked to for a long time; when you contact them, you realize how important and timely it is to connect with them.
One of my most memorable healing experiences is with a woman who was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. She had a great-aunt whom she loved dearly and had passed away years ago. The night before our first session, she dreamt that her great-aunt was holding her hand while walking through a very dark tunnel with her.
It was a powerful dream symbolizing the support she had for her healing journey. Within weeks, the 10-cm tumor shrank to an unmeasurable size, and she didn’t have the chemotherapy symptoms that many patients usually experience.
That dream was as much a gift to her as it was for me. It helped me realize I had more invisible helpers than I had thought. Healing help from other dimensions defies logic and is often profound and miraculous. This is why honoring that we are connected with something greater than ourselves is crucial to our healing and awakening.
At the societal level, failure of the intellect is about thinking we are separate from each other. An example is alienating ourselves from those whom we don’t agree with or those who are different from us.
It is easy to alienate or judge those whom we think are wrong, selfish, narcissistic, greedy, immoral, and so on, but the charge that we carry against the “bad guys” actually creates more distress in ourselves. The disharmony accumulated in us over time leads to diseases and complications in life.
The quality of our thoughts affects the quality of our lives. What we think of others comes back to us like a boomerang.
We can’t love our “enemies,” but we can practice being neutral. The more we think how “wrong” they are, the more of the “wrong” we’ll see in them, and we can’t see anything else. The colored perception also hinders us from taking constructive and corrective actions effectively.
Keeping tabs on who have wronged you is like dragging a sandbag when you try to run a marathon. Your ability to enjoy life or make a difference is severely limited because you can’t see clearly with a wounded heart. Forgiving those who have “wronged” you is not about condoning their behavior, it’s about freeing yourself to be clear and collected so that you can take constructive steps to be whole again.
If you want to cultivate forgiveness for yourself and others, register for the November Divine Mother Empowerment and Healing on November 27 at 4 pm Pacific – https://carmenlee.synduit.com/ UMWF0006. If your register, you will receive information of the call and a link to the replay.
Let’s honor this Thanksgiving by For-giving Ourselves and Others!
Carmen