Universal Mysticism and the Christian Theistic Paradigm
-->Author: Scott David Foutz Quodlibet Journal: Volume 1 Number 7, November 1999 ISSN: 1526-6575 Scott David Foutz on January 6, 2009 9:33 AM
Regardless of the historical era or geographical location, mystical experiences have fascinated men and caused them to ponder their existence and universe. Not only did such experiences claim some kind of knowledge of the Divine or Absolute, but they also implied by their very existence that such experiences are available to humanity. Entire philosophical schools and religious sects grew up around the possibility of attaining some kind of insight or experience of Highest Reality. And those who claimed to have had an original mystical experience hitherto unknown soon found themselves with disciples searching for the same experience (e.g., Gautama Buddha).
As knowledge of the world grew it became apparent that many different cultures across the globe all contain in some shape or form the knowledge and practice of mystical experience. From the greatest world religion to the smallest tribal folk religion, mystical experience seemed interwoven into humanity's cosmology and ritual. This fact appears to support the idea of a universal mystical experience available to all men of all places and ages.
As pointed out earlier, such experience has a two-fold implication, namely: (a) experience of a mystical nature is attainable by humanity, and (b) mystical experiences may (possibly) allow insight into and/or experience of its object. This object is generally presumed by those having such experiences to be an aspect of (the) Highest Reality.
Unanimity
Early attempts to prove the universal nature of all mystical experiences generally focused upon the second of these two implications. Attempts such as Aldous Huxley's "Perennial Philosophy" revolved around the idea that underlying the many diverse mystical traditions lay a universal Object of which all mystical experiences partake. One obstacle to such a theory is that it requires a radical reductionism eliminating the many unique and possibly central facets particular experiences claimed. And yet the notion of a universal divine Object which makes Itself available to all men equally gripped the religious imaginations of many who were willing to overlook this obstacle.
Several elaborations were made on this original "theory on unanimity". Rudolph Otto, for example, in The Idea of the Holy (1917) claimed that every individual possesses the capacity to experience one and the same Object, the "Holy". For Otto, this experience is caused by the "sensus numinis", an innate sense of the divine implanted within the "pure reason" of each mind. This "sense" then operates independently of all sense perception. This is to say that within the psyche of each individual exists a unique (sui generis) faculty which intuits a wholly other Being which is both terrible yet alluring, an Object "mysterium tremendum et fascinans". Otto concluded that all religions and faith mediate an authentic experience of salvation, since all religions of the world are equally the result of this innate sensus numinis.
From the traditional Christian theistic perspective, such a salvific theory of unanimity precludes the necessity of "special" revelation, a category under which Scripture has been historically placed. In place of Scripture as a special conduit for salvific knowledge, for Otto, the faculty by which the mystical experience arises is itself "sui generis" (i.e., one-of-a-kind, and thus special), distributed to all evenly, and apart from which there is no other source of religious perception. Thus for Otto, the core of religion is an unmediated universal sense of the Holy. A significant implication of Otto's proposal is that the will or intent to self-disclose by the holy Object is not viewed as relevant to the individual's ability to "sense" the Holy. In Christian parlance, God does not "reveal himself" but rather the sensus numinus "reveals God".
Another elaboration on the theory of unanimity can be found in the works of Vivekenanda, a well-received spokesman for Advaita Vedanta Hinduism in the West. As a Vedanta Hindu, Vivekenanda refers to and conceptualizes Highest Reality as Brahman, the "personal" Absolute of Advaita Vedanta Hinduism. According to Vedanta cosmology, under Brahman fall relatively Lesser Realities which the other religions of the world confess as their God or gods. Since even these Lesser Realities are true emanations from the Highest Reality (Brahman), all religions may be said to, in essence, worship the same Object, Brahman. Thus Vivekenanda finds no obstacle in the fact that the many religious and mystical experiences conflict with each other, since all realities, from the very least to the very greatest are various aspects and emanations of Brahman. Whereas aspects differ so also experiences of those aspects would be expected to differ.
Vivekenanda's attempt to blanket all religious reality as emanations of Brahman undoubtedly creates incoherencies within the traditional Christian theistic perspective. Such a view reduces the Judeao.Christian God to the status of either a deceptive Being making claims as to there being "No other God before me" or a mis-guided deity unaware that He is in fact simply an illusory emanation of an even higher Being. In either scenario Judaeo-Christian theism is severely comprimised since the core of this theism is grounded in claims made by God as to His uniqueness and sovereignty. Vivekenanda would have the Judaeo-Christian theist believe that such apparent contradiction results from the Judaeo-Christian experience of a different emanation of Brahman than, for example, the Buddhist. This explanation, however raises many questions, not least of which involves the status of "truth statements". For if God spoke falsehood regarding Himself and God is an emanation of Brahman, does not Brahman participate in falsehood? Or if questions of "truth and non-truth" are proposed as simply human constructs not to be foisted upon Brahman, then how might anyone, including Vivekenanda, deem Brahman's words more accurate than a child's? Questions might also be raised regarding Vivekenanda's assurance that he is not also simply referring to an emanation of a Higher Reality when he talks of Brahman, since he implies such stellar religious figures as Jesus and Moses were unable to rightly discern what/who they were experiencing.
For these and other reasons the theory of unanimity was found to be generally inadequate as an explanatory theory capable of accounting for all the data while remaining logically and experientially coherent. Thus discussions of mystical experience gradually began to be framed within a new model, that of Pluralism.
Pluralism
As research into the nature and truth claims of mystical experiences continued, it became apparent that the differences among the various traditions were not limited to the merely superficial aspects. Greater differences of language and kind seemed to support the assumption that such experiences and/or their Objects were indeed also of various kinds and from this observation theorists began to build more coherent theories based on the conviction that mystical experiences are of a pluralistic nature. Thus, rather than reduce the various experiences down to something which is unrecognizable by all, pluralists built theories upon detailed investigations of aspects and truth claims of the experiences themselves.
Based on the accounts and apparent nature of mystical experience, it had been assumed that such an experience implied an unmediated encounter with a single Object of Highest Reality. It was on this premise that those favoring unanimity emphasized the "universality" of the experience. Such a claim also necessitates direct access (non-mediacy) to the Object. For if media, or mystical "portals" exist there may in fact be as many objects as portals. (Thus Zen Buddhism yields one Object, Sufi mysticism yields another Object, etc.) Thus even within Pluralist theories attempting explanations of mystical experiences, the notion of non-mediacy abounds.
R.C. Zaehner argued against Huxley's perennial philosophy in Mysticism: Sacred and Profane (1957). The focus of Zaehner's criticism lies in unanimity's proposed reductionism whereby all mystical experiences are combined into one all-encompassing category of experience. Instead, Zaehner proposes three categories of mystical experiences: the panenhenic, the monistic, and the theistic.
Panenhenic mysticism is that mysticism which involves a natural trigger, such as Otto's "sensus numinis" or Carl Jung's "collective unconscious". Such mysticism may also be drug induced.
Monistic mysticism involves an experience whereby the individual, through self-effort, taps into an impersonal (monistic) Object. Such mysticism includes many Hindu and Buddhist traditions in which Wisdom, Emptiness or Nirvana are sought by means of ascetic practices involving meditation. (In fact, Zaehner includes all of Hinduism and Buddhism in this category, a classification which produced much criticism, since several schools in each of these religions view the Object as personal.)
Theistic mysticism involves the experience of a personal Object, and therefore takes on relational aspects. Thus, for example, many Christian mystics have expressed that love of God is the basis of the experience.
According to Zaehner, the personal aspect of theistic mysticism disallows unity with the monists' impersonal experience or the panenhenics' natural experience. All three categories are mutually exclusive. From this classification, it is plain that Zaehner has based his theory upon the presupposition of unmediacy. For Zaehner's three categories derive from what the mystics claimed to have experienced. In other words, this classification assumes that mystics in fact experienced and accurately related their experiences from which Zaehner extrapolates three different types: Panenhenic (Nature), monistic, or theistic.
Arguing against Zaehner's assumption of accurate mystical interpretation, W.T. Stace, in Mysticism and Philosophy (1960) claims that Zaehner's entire premise stands on faulty reasoning. According to Stace, Zaehner builds his system of classification upon "interpretations" rather than the experiences themselves. Stace thus questions the notion of non-mediacy and sees the need for distinguishing between the experience itself and the interpretation of the experience.
Contextuality
Though arguing explicitly against Stace's attempt to discern the pure experience from the interpretation, Steven Katz (1978) continues the trajectory away from non-mediacy which Stace begins. Katz claims that Stace vastly oversimplifies the complex epistemological process "with its linguistic, social, historical, and conceptual contextuality", through which one experiences and interprets the mystical. Katz' basic presupposition is that there are NO pure experiences and points out that all experiences, whether daily or mystical, are in fact mediated through this complex epistemological process. This implies that not only are all interpretations subject to contextualities, but that "the experience itself as well as the form in which it is reported is shaped by concepts which the mystic brings to, and which shape his experience." (26)
In other words, according to Katz, the human mind plays a vital role in the perception and interpretation of the Object experienced. Pre-existing concepts within the mind cause the Object to appear to the mind in ways meeting the contextual expectations of the mystic. Thus, for example, the Christian mystic is said to experience the Trinity due to preconceived concepts of what the Object should or must be and the Buddhist expecting to experience Emptiness via satori will likewise experience just that, due to his contextual preconceptions.
Although there is much merit in Katz' theory in its recognition of the importance of contextuality and cognitive processes, it also leaves unresolved several important questions. For example, to what degree does the context govern the experience? Taking this theory at its extreme would bring us very close to the conclusion that the context creates the Object itself, and that there is in fact no objectively real Object. This conclusion actually has significant parallels with Otto's "sensus numinis" in which the faculty alone is said to be the vehicle through which salvation is realized. But such an extreme conclusion is not what Katz seems to intend.
Moving toward the opposite extreme, we might conclude that all mystical experiences are indeed of one Real universal Object with all apparent differences in mystical experiences deriving from the effect of various contextual concepts. This conclusion in fact brings us quite close to the unanimity position of the perennial philosophy.
Is this the conclusion Katz intends? Is Katz positing one Real Object of which all mystical experiences partake, albeit through significant contextual preconceptions?
Although Katz does not explicitly answer this question., he clearly elevates the role of the contextual above the ability of the Object to overcome such contexts and directly influence the mystic. Regarding the impersonal ascetic traditions, he states, "the different states of experience which go by the name nirvana, devekuth, fana, etc., are not the ground but the outcome of the complex epistemological activity." (62) Regarding the "given", a term which Katz uses to mean the "real", he claims that "All 'givens' are also the product of the processes of choosing, shaping, and receiving." (59) Elsewhere he states, "These constructive conditions of consciousness produce the grounds on which mystical experience is possible at all." (63)
It seems quite clear from these statements that the contextual concepts are the "Ground" for the variety of mystical experiences. Unless Katz has reserved for himself another use for the term "ground", he does not consider the basic underlying reality to be dependent upon the existence of an Object, a possible basis for his confession that he does "not hold one mystical tradition to be superior or 'normative'." (65) Such a confession would be necessary, one would think, if in fact the various traditions are merely expressions of culturally and contextually derived expectations.
The confession of the traditional Christian theist, however, is in the objective reality of God as the ground of the Christian's experience and salvation. If this objective reality of God is replaced with the subjective by-product of cultural expectation, then also the objectivity of Scripture and salvation itself must be reduced to the status of subjective wish-fulfillment.
Without disagreeing with Katz' basic tenet, namely, that complex epistemological processes are involved in and during the mystical experience, we must rightly question whether these processes are indeed the "ground" of the experience. Special revelation, as the Christian theist knows it, does not fit into Katz' theory, since special revelation implies a reshaping of the context and thought structures of the recipient. This restructuring or recontextualizing is possible through the introduction of new knowledge and insight received through a revelation grounded in God. The entire Judaeo-Christian religious tradition is built upon the (faith in and) assumption of the existence of historical special revelation. Thus for the Christian theist, Katz' theory of a contextual ground for all mystical experiences leaves much to be desired.
The Christian Theistic Framework
More specifically, Christian theism necessitates special revelation by which knowledge of an exclusive (i.e., "special") nature is transmitted from a personal God to humanity. This knowledge is not grounded in the receptor's contextual expectations, but in the will and providence of a personal God. Without denying the role of the human psyche, which Christian theism considers to be created wonderfully by God for the very purpose of communicating with Him (Genesis 1-2), only a significant underestimate of God's ability would suggest that human cultural expectations preclude God from freely communicating to humanity. For this reason, any Christian attempt to explain mystical experience must avoid one the one hand a denial of the existence of the Object, and on the other the proposal of a universally accessible object Object such that special revelation becomes obsolete. And of course, Christian theism cannot allow for the existence of multiple Objects. [1]
Thus due to the presuppositional (and experiential) constraints of traditional Christian theism, a very clear framework presents itself within which statements regarding the apparently universal phenomena of mystical experiences must be made if coherency is to be attained. We might also expect that Christian theism, as a true worldview, would enable an explanation of all observed data while maintaining internal coherency (the test, I hope, for any adopted worldview).
Winfried Corduan in Mysticism (1991) advances a theory of a natural mystical faculty that can be "activated" either purely subjectively or by objective causes. In illustrating this, he draws on the analogy of the human capacity for the emotion of happiness. One may become happy either subjectively (e.g., by imagining good thoughts) or objectively (e.g., by being given a present). In the same way, Corduan claims, mystical experiences can be either self-induced or other-induced.
As an evangelical Christian, Corduan is here attempting to define mystical experience in a way congruous with his theism. And indeed, his theory will in no way pervert the requirements of Christian theistic framework outlined above. We can agree that perhaps there exists within every human, as part of its spiritual and psychical equipment, a capacity or faculty which allows the otherwise sense-oriented individual to experience a higher spiritual reality. And by allowing either subjective or objective causes, Corduan has paved the way by which a Christian theist might begin to grapple with the many diverse truth claims arising out of what appear to be similar mystical experiences.
Claiming that some experiences are activated subjectively, and thus the product of the mystic's mind, will provide for Corduan a solution to the problem of conflicting truth claims stemming from diverse experiences of apparently different Objects. His allowance for various means of activation of the faculty implies that not all mystical experiences encounter the Absolute Object. In fact, it is possible, using Corduan's theory to propose that any experience not meeting the truth standards of Christian theism is actually subjective in nature (whether we speak here of a subjective Object or interpretation).
Though Corduan's theory opens possible solutions to several challenges faced by the Christian theistic framework, upon closer examination we must question whether it provides an adequate explanation for the universal phenomena of mystical experience. Corduan has posited a universal "faculty" with a dual activation, one subjective, the other objective. Previous obstacles in reconciling the varied experiences and interpretation of mystical experiences are circumvented through Corduan's implied proposal that any experience not falling within the theistic framework ought to be deemed subjective while those found within it may be cautiously deemed objective in origin. (Of course Corduan's theory results in the need to address whether or not the Christian theistic framework is in fact an appropriate standard whereby other traditions' mystical experiences can and should be judged, an assumption this paper makes and leaves undemonstrated.)
Whereas Corduan's system hinges on the need/ability to discern which mystical experiences are subjective and which objective, careful consideration to his proposed criteria is necessary. What precisely are we discerning and how reliable are our own judgmenets regarding others' experiences?
It will be recalled that Corduan used the analogy of human happiness in illustrating his notion of the multi-activated universal faculty. In his discussion regarding the various causes of happiness, he writes: "A person can feel happy for all sorts of reasons: imaginary, subjective, fictitious, objective, external, religious, and so on. We cannot infer, simply from someone's being happy, the cause of the happiness, but we can pass judgment on the realities that the person alleges to be behind the happiness." (76) The point Corduan here makes is that evaluation of mystical experience is possible only when we consider the objective aspects of the phenomena, namely, the truth claims stemming from the experience, the plausability of what the mystic says regarding the perceived Object. Corduan's purpose for drawing this analogy is to show that the diversity of experiences arising from the natural mystical capacity may indeed have several possible causes. Thus, just as we may distinguish the validity of an individual's happiness, so we may judge the validity of a particular experience.
But is this truly so? Let's investigate by applying Corduan's analogy to a thought experiment in order to ascertain what sort of reasonable judgments we may arrive at regarding the happiness of an individual. The scenario is this:
We come across a beaming individual and ask, "Why are you so happy?". Or if the person is really excited she will voluntarily share her story with us. Either way, let us suppose that the woman is elated due to her belief that the president is at her house this very moment. Desiring to investigate further, we quickly run over to her house, but upon entering we find the president nowhere. The woman adamantly claims that the president WAS there. We then question the maid who informs us that the president has never been to that house. The woman then suggests that perhaps a man resembling the president had been in her living room. The maid agrees that in fact a man greatly resembling the president had been in the living room at the time spoken of by the woman.
Although the woman in this situation was definitely mistaken regarding the cause of her happiness, we find that this is due to a misinterpretation of objective data (a visitor's presence), rather than due to a simple, in Corduan's terms, subjective activation of the emotion of happiness. Rather, this is an example of a person who mistakenly (and innocently) claimed to have encountered Object A, but in fact encountered Object B, due to expectation and/or similarity of appearance. Of course, in evaluating a mystical experience there is neither house nor maid by which we might evaluate the woman's claim. We would need to rely solely upon what the woman's said. It is for this reason that in the quote above Corduan rightly states that we (only) "can pass judgment on the realities that the person alleges to be behind the happiness".
But if we rely solely upon the claim of the individual who has had the experience (or the account of the person's interpretation), how might we question its validity? In the happiness analogy, common sense tells us that most people are aware of the cause of their happiness, and that only the severely psychotic mistake subjective causes for objective causes. If this universal mystical faculty proposed by Corduan is of similar kind, do we assume that the individual is likely to misunderstand his experience via natural capacity? Or do we, as with those who are happy, assume that the indivdual above any other is most likely to have the most accurate explanation regarding the cause of his/her experience? If Corduan's happiness analogy is maintained, we would expect only a very small percentage of mystical experiences of needing reinterpretation. And as regards this small percentage, reinterpretation at best will consist of a one-to-one debate with the mystic regarding what he or she experienced. In such a debate we are without data, for the only "data" here is the past experience of the mystic.
This thought experiment yields the conclusion that merely pointing out that there are different means of activating a natural mystical capacity in no way actually provides a solution to the challenges faced in an attempt at offering a Christian theistic explanation for the diversity of mystical experiences. Suggesting different "activations" results in the responsibility of locating meaningful criteria and bases upon which one is discerned from the others.
Proposal for a Biblical Theology of World Religions
This paper proposes that for the Christian theist the development of a system within which universal data regarding mystical experiences is adequately accounted for while maintaining Scriptural integrity will in fact involve the formulation of what we here call a biblical theology of world religions. Any attempt to arrive at such a biblical theology of world religions must first identify what allowances Scripture makes for such experiences and then seek to understand such experiences' relation to the God of Scripture. This paper suggests that a correct understanding of Scripture and its implications will and must provide a sufficient framework within which the variety of religio-spiritual phenomena may be adequately dealt with and accounted for.
As mentioned earlier, Christian theism recognizes one Absolute and Personal Truth, a Godhead. This Godhead is relational by nature and has purposed creation in order to commune with it. This Godhead placed preeminence upon humanity, and thereby bestowed upon humanity the "imago Dei" (Image of God) in the creation account of Genesis, of which humanity still partakes though in limited (fallen) manner. Whereas a strict definition of the imago dei is not required for the purpose of this argument, let it here suffice to say that the imago dei is comprised of that set of attributes which humans alone (as opposed to animals) share in lesser degree with God and through which higher forms of recognition of and communication with God are made possible. From this understanding of the biblical account is made the following two conclusions: First, due to knowledge (via Scripture) of the imago dei Christian theists may agree upon the notion of a natural mystical capacity, a capacity wherein humanity is capable of "sensing" or communing with God. Second, due to knowledge (via Scripture) of the Fall (ie, the event wherein humanity is separated from God due to sin) theists may also agree with or indeed expect humanity's inability to infallibly recognize the Object of the imago dei if indeed the "Fall" involves a separation from God.
In addition to the imago dei, Scripture informs us of a so-called "general revelation" whereby humanity is informed of the presence of God. General revelation refers to that set of ideas or notions we correctly apply to God through our extrapolation and ponderance upon the phenomena of Nature. In essence general revelation refers to the experiential fact that Nature provides a medium through which the human mind naturally infers the presence of God. As the Psalmist says:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world". (Psalm 19:1-3, NIV).
Please note that according to Scripture this revelation is not passive, as if waiting to be discovered by some deeply buried sense within human nature, but rather is described as active and pervasive, confronting every living soul regardless of time and location through a "pouring out" which penetrates all linguistic, cultural and political borders.
Thus it is without doubt that according to the biblical picture, the universally religious nature of humanity derives from the presences of the imago dei and general revelation. Biblical definitions clearly present these both as divinely constructed windows, one external, one internal, through which humanity is actively and continuously reminded (reminisced) of God.
Therefore any biblical theology of world religions must seize upon this utterly critical information regarding universal humanity's perceptual or conscientious ability to apprehend the presence of God.
the Imago Dei
Scripture clearly teaches that man is comprised of body and spirit/soul. [2] Wherein, then, lies the imago dei? Few would suggest the imago dei to imply bodily or physical shape or function since God is clearly portrayed in Scripture as Infinite Spirit (john 4:24) rather than corporeal. Thus the imago dei has been historically regarded as consisting of humanity's higher functions, namely, volition (will), consciousness, morality, etc. Such attributes indeed belong to the spirit/soul (or "mind").
If then the imago dei is a spiritual reality, how shall we then define or discern its limitations? There is no difficulty in defining the imago dei's limitations as pertains to the material world, for we can, or so it seems, measure one's volition, morality or consciousness through observation of an indivdual's behavior, choices or self-awareness. But Scripture has suggested that the primary purpose for the imago dei was to facilitate communication with God, and so how might the imago dei's non-physical interactions be measured or discerned? More simply put, we know through observation that the imago dei still operates within humanity as they navigate through the natural/physical world, but how well does the imago dei continue to function in its primary purpose, namely to help humanity navigate through the spiritual world and toward the Creator?
Those who would deny a continued spiritual capacity of the imago dei do so with the argument that the Fall of humanity renders the imago dei inoperable. However it is historically held that the imago dei is in fact quite visibly operational and accounts for those very valued attributes which distinguish humans from brute animal. Thus the suggestion that some spiritual capacity no longer belongs to the imago dei seems to raise quite difficult questions as to why this is so, and how the imago dei could be present in decisions and rationalizations regarding physical objects while it is absent in the same respect regarding spiritual objects. Thus this papers assumes, based on our observation of the continued functionality of the imago dei in humanity, that the imago dei continues to possess, to some degree, aspects of its original and primary function, namely, to communicate with God. (This does not imply that God cannot hide himself from or elude the window which the imago dei provides.)
From Scripture's account of God's creation of humanity and his subsequent dealings with us, it might briefly yet rightly be said that the primary desire or purpose of God for placing humanity within the created order was to engender a relationship with his creation. Whether we speak of God's gift of the imago dei, the various covenants and agreements He made with his people thereafter, or even more recently the Incarnation itself, all of God's activity revolves around the single theme of the provision of reconciliation whereby a restoration of the relationship between God and humanity is made possible.
This understanding of God's activity, both historic and universal, must also be seized upon by a biblical theology of world religions.
For through this we find that we (as humans) cannot fault others for simply seeking a higher reality, nor may we fault their arrival at what they believe to be an adequate or unparalleled explanatory system which is divergent from the Christian theistic framework. Without reference to the content of divergent systems (which will be addressed below) the proper evaluation at this point in the analysis must be this: Scripture has clearly portrayed God as himself primarily desiring a relationship with humanity. To facilitate this relationship He betsowed upon original humanity an internalized image of Himself through which, though debilitated through sin, continues to function to a degree within humanity. Thus man by nature is inclined to look toward God, or as Solomon states: "He has set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
General Revelation
The second factor mentioned which Scripture proposes regarding a universal religious nature of humanity is the presence of an active general revelation. Unfortunately, modern liberal theologies have tended to overestimate the abilities of general revelation, claiming that through knowledge made available by it individuals may in fact gain salvation. Of course such theologies are incoherent with the whole of Scripture which itself is by definition "special" revelation, or that through which is specially made available salvific knowledge.
Scripture presents a balanced perspective of general revelation, claiming that through such, humanity is able to make right judgments about the existence and nature of God. Scripture also claims that general revelation provides the basis upon which humanity will be judged. Romans 1:20 clearly indicates that rejection of the knowledge supplied via general revelation results in condemnation. In other words, there must be enough true knowledge about the existence and nature of God through general revelation and the imago dei that those who ignore such knowledge are susceptible to divine punishment for "disbelief".
Precisely what type of knowledge ought to be expected from general revelation?
The following list contains those aspects of God which Scripture claims all human beings know in varying degrees via general revelation:
God exists (Ps. 19: 1; Rom. 1: 19)
God is uncreated (Acts 17:24)
God is Creator (Acts 14:15)
God is Sustainer (Acts 14:16; 17:25
God is universal Lord (Acts 17:24)
God is self.sufficient (Acts 17:25)
God is transcendent (Acts 17:24)
God is immanent (Acts 17:26.27)
God is eternal (Ps. 93:2)
God is great (Ps. 8:3.4)
God is majestic (Ps. 29:4)
God is powerful (Ps. 29:4; Rom. 1:20)
God is wise (Ps. 104:24)
God is good (Acts 14:17)
God is righteous (Rom. 1:32)
God has a sovereign will (Acts 17:26)
God has standards of right and wrong (Rom. 2:15)
God should be worshipped (Acts 14:15; 17:23)
God will judge evil (Rom. 2:15.16)
Man should perform the good (Rom. 2:15)
To summarize: God's glory (Ps. 19:1), divine nature (Rom. 1:20), and moral demands (Rom. 2:14.15) are to some extent known through general revelation. (Demarest, 243).
The question I desire to raise in this paper is whether such visible attributes of God are limited to the product of deductive reasoning derived from external sources of information or whether they may also be intuited. Is God's Transcendence merely deduced from creation, as for example, an Uncaused Cause or a First Mover, or is it indeed known by man regardless of deductions? If divine attributes may be intuited, it must be concluded that these attributes are indeed realities which the intuitive aspect of man objectively perceives.
It would seem that if the attributes listed above, conveyed, according to scripture through general revelation and the imago dei, are the basis of universal accountability to God it would necessitate an intuitive knowledge (or a knowledge which all arrive at despite very diverse deductive processes). Although this point requires significant further study, allow me to continue with this reasoning. If general revelation allows for intuitive knowledge, to what depth of inuitive knowledge shall we limit it? If we say that the man driving home from work with business on his mind is capable of sudden (real) awareness of God's righteousness, may we not also say that the Indian ascetic striving for depths of intuitive knowledge is also capable of sudden awareness of God's righteousness? Not only would the latter be possible, but likely. If God is actively declaring his attributes to a humanity which possesses the spiritual capacity to hear God, shall we be surprised if men from all traditions and ages claim to have encountered the Absolute?
The Divine Nature and the Divine Person
Do all such encounters result in a conceptual grasp of divine personality? Do all encounter a moral being? The evidence clearly points to the fact that many, if not most, do not. Rather, it is clear that many traditions and mystics experience impersonal divinity as their highest expressions of reality. This discrepancy has served as a fundamental obstacle to reconciling the myriad mystical traditions.
It is the conviction of this author that knowledge of many of the attributes (listed above) to which Scripture holds humanity accountable do not necessitate knowledge of a divine personality. In other words, to "say", as general revelation does, that God is eternal, self-existent, uncreated, etc., does NOT immediately convey enough information whereby one may conclude that God is personal, rational, or loving. Much less do these attributes convey enough information to identify their existence as due to the Judeao-Christian God.
What does this mean? The point here is simply that Scripture declares that nature and the imago dei actively confront humanity, internally and externally, with divine attributes which are universally compelling to the degree of constituting universal culpability for belief in a Creator. However, many of the attributes which Scripture lists do not require the attribute of personality. Rather the entire accountability of humanity rests on the fact that we perceive their existence. It is the existence of a Creator which men cannot deny through knowledge communicated through general revelation, not the personality or holiness of God. Thus, it is here argued, the view of God which humanity possesses outside of special revelation (God's Word, Scripture, Jesus) is a view which may or may not entail divine personality.
On this points Demarest notes that the terms used in Romans 1:20 imply that only the divine attributes are revealed and not divine Personality. He writes:
"Insofar as "theiotes" (of Rom. 1:20) focuses on the divine attributes or perfections, it must be differentiated from "theotes" (Latin. deitas, Col. 2:9) which specifies the divine personality... The point that needs to be reinforced is that it is not the essence of God that is said to be known, but only His divine qualities or perfections." (239)
Why make so much of the distinction between sensing the personality of God and not sensing it? The key is this. If Scripture allows for a worldview that accounts for the vast majority of mystical experiences, then it has again proved itself to be a viable foundation for a comprehensive worldview. What does Scripture say of the Zen enlightenment whereby the dualities of physical reality are said to disappear in the light of a universal non-personal One? What does Scripture say of the Vedanta Hindu mystic who claims that the highest divine attributes are eternality, morality and omnipresence (and thereby they subordinate personality)? What does Scripture say of the Native American mystic who sensed the presence of a Great Spirit who oversees all movements of life and weather?
It is the argument of this paper that Scripture not only makes room for these various views, but anticipates them through its ancient doctrines of the imago dei and general revelation.
For those familiar with the Bible, consider this very meaningful thought experiment. What notion of God might you have arrived at without knowledge (or record) of:
The Genesis creation narrative
God's Word to Moses at Mount Sinai
God's inspiration of David the Poet
God's Voice through the prophets
God's presence through His son Jesus Christ
God's highest teaching through Jesus
God's attempted reconciliation through the death of Jesus
The apostlic witness to the meaning of Jesus' death
The witness of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer
The Bible as a record of our spiritual heritage
Whereas ALL of these truths belong solely to special revelation, the notion or implication of none of these may be justly expected of any human other than those who have been sincerely familiarized with the Judaeo-Christian heritage. (This is precisely what is meant by the "blessing" clause in the Abrahamic covenant! -- see Genesis 12). Thus the question stands: What notion of God might you have arrived at without these? In answer to the question, Scripture has provided the list of divine attributes which are available to you. The next question simply is, based on that list alone, what notion of God do you arrive at?
Please note that to answer this puzzle you will need to borrow a word, vocabulary, and concept for this "God" (since It has neither named itself nor suggested that human language is a divine gift, except via special revelation). You would, of course, adopt the highest concepts of your culture and try to amend them in some way to describe this Highest Reality. And here great diversity will arise. Are you the descendants of slaves? Would not your highest concepts be justice and righteousness, a moral judge to overthrow the high and mighty? Are you the descendants of the militant victors? Would not your highest concepts involve cultural and philosophical "value" such that human advances could be distinguished from less advanced societies? Are you the descendants of an ancient and stable agrarian society? Would not your highest concepts be the beauty, magnificence, and life-giving power of wind, rain and sky? Are you the descendants of an historic inability of social, political, and organized religious "solutions"? Would not your highest concepts of reality be those which elude institutionalized or conventional wisdom?
And of course the scenario go on and on.
conclusion
It is the position of this paper that Scripture anticipates universal "mystical" experiences via intuition (and deduction) of divine attributes or perfections. Diversity of interpretation, ranging from personal Being to impersonal Emptiness, I suggest, may scripturally be anticipated due to the very basic and necessary distinction between divine attributes and divine personality, a distinction which is evidenced in the language of Scripture itself. Thus God's personal nature may in fact not be intuitable and thus could not be an aspect of universal culpability (nor much less contemporary moral judgment).
The parting question of this paper is this: If, as has been argued here, divine personality is not universally intuitable through general revelation and the imago dei, is the divine personality to any degree intuitable or do the truly monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) derive solely from their (very apparent) foundation upon special revelation?
endnotes
[1] Christianity can allow for multiple lesser objects which may be mistaken for the Highest Object.
[2] For the purposes of brevity of argument, this paper refers to soul/spirit as a single entity. A tripartite perspective will not impact this argument but will require definitions of soul and spirit whereby faculties and attributes might be distinguished.
bibliography Corduan, Winfried. (1991). Mysticism: An evangelical option?. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan). Demarest, Bruce A. (1982). General Revelation. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan) Katz, Steven T. (1978). "Language, epistemology, and mysticism". Chap. in: Katz, Steven T. ed. (1978). Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis. (New York: Oxford Univ. Press): 22.74. Huxley, Aldous. (1962). The Perennial Philosophy. (Cleveland: World) Stace, W.T. (1960). Mysticism and Philosophy. (New York: St. Martin's Press) Vivekenanda. (1993). Living at the Source. (Boston: Shambhala). Zaehner, R.C. (1957). Mysticism: Sacred and Profane. (London: Oxford Univ. Press)
Categories:
articles
Tags:
Mysticism,
Theism,
Theology
-->
Emerging Church Economics
There are too many errors in this book for unsophisticated readers. McLaren’s book has value only to readers who recognize the mistakes but are willing to learn about a position that springs from ideology and a theological framework. For me, the emerging church movement is enough to consider by itself without flawed economics intertwined
Mordecai Kaplan: Rethinking Judaism for the New World
Sed porta eros cursus nisi. Suspendisse a odio in mi interdum faucibus. Nulla eleifend turpis at massa. Praesent dictum, leo sagittis rutrum fermentum, massa metus scelerisque justo, sed dignissim velit tellus ut odio. Quisque mollis aliquam lectus. Vestibulum tempus tellus a augue. Suspendisse ipsum.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Secret Jesus Scroll
The original manuscript, commonly referred to as The Lost Jesus Scroll, is now housed in the Archives of the Roman Vatican. It came into the Vatican's protective custody through the hands of Nestorian priests who were forced to flee from the East in order to escape slaughter by the advancing Genghis Khan. Remnants of both the ancient Aramaic and Hebrew texts date back to the early years following the crucifixion.
And there are also many other things, which Jesus did, The which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books That should be written. St. John 21:25
(On the third evening after the Sabbath - Monday evening at sunset.)
And so it came to pass that one evening, again as the sun was just setting, Jesus came to be alone with his disciples.
At first they sat quietly. After a time, however, John asked Jesus, "Master, your words contain more wisdom than those of the Scribes and Pharisees. Tell us how you are able to see and know things no other man has known?"
And Jesus replied, "Those who would come closer unto the Heavenly Father shall also have a greater understanding of all living things. At first we are like little children, who see something, but not the power that created it. We see the flower, but not the seed that gave it life, or the power in the seed that made the flower possible.
"Yet, one should not seek wisdom for the sake of wisdom alone, for then one becomes as a mind filled only with empty words that have no power.
"Wisdom is of God. In Him are the answers to all things. Therefore you must seek to unite your mind with His mind and all that you would know will be given unto you, even the secret of the stars."
Then one of the disciples spoke up, saying, "Master, we are not like you. We have no power save for that which moves our bodies. How can we come unto God, for we are not holy and divine?"
Maintaining his usual beneficent countenance, Jesus replied, "I say to you, that you are more holy and divine than you know, for even as I am of God and He is in me, so are you of God. The Heavenly Father created all things holy, both man and beast, but only man can perceive his own heritage and know that he is the son of a living God.
"Therefore, take no heed that you are not like unto me. First, seek ye therefore the heavenly kingdom and all powers shall be yours to use. And one day you shall come to know those things you have not heretofore known.
"When you close your eyes, think upon the wonder of creation; the valleys, the trees and the great seas. Think of the sun and the moon. Is there any greater wonder than the light of the sun, which glorifies the sky by day, or the moon that governs the tides? I say to you that all these have been brought into being by the one wisdom that created all things.
"Think of Him who instilled power in a grain of wheat to become twenty grains, or the seed in woman which becomes a child playing in the sun. Think you not that any man is truly wise who has not come first unto the One who is all wisdom.
"Draw in deeply from the mind which has brought forth creation and even now continues to guide all the stars. Feel the mind of God flow through your mind. And when you have again opened your eyes, see things anew. I tell you truly; all living things today are but shadows of things yet to come.
"Allow wisdom to guide you in all that you do, lest you become like those who go down into a deep well and take all others with them. I say to you, ever since the beginning the blind have led the blind and the thousands follow them.
With these words Jesus finished speaking, and he slowly rose up and left his disciples that he might be alone to commune with God.
(On the third evening after the Sabbath - Monday evening at sunset.)
And so it came to pass that one evening, again as the sun was just setting, Jesus came to be alone with his disciples.
At first they sat quietly. After a time, however, John asked Jesus, "Master, your words contain more wisdom than those of the Scribes and Pharisees. Tell us how you are able to see and know things no other man has known?"
And Jesus replied, "Those who would come closer unto the Heavenly Father shall also have a greater understanding of all living things. At first we are like little children, who see something, but not the power that created it. We see the flower, but not the seed that gave it life, or the power in the seed that made the flower possible.
"Yet, one should not seek wisdom for the sake of wisdom alone, for then one becomes as a mind filled only with empty words that have no power.
"Wisdom is of God. In Him are the answers to all things. Therefore you must seek to unite your mind with His mind and all that you would know will be given unto you, even the secret of the stars."
Then one of the disciples spoke up, saying, "Master, we are not like you. We have no power save for that which moves our bodies. How can we come unto God, for we are not holy and divine?"
Maintaining his usual beneficent countenance, Jesus replied, "I say to you, that you are more holy and divine than you know, for even as I am of God and He is in me, so are you of God. The Heavenly Father created all things holy, both man and beast, but only man can perceive his own heritage and know that he is the son of a living God.
"Therefore, take no heed that you are not like unto me. First, seek ye therefore the heavenly kingdom and all powers shall be yours to use. And one day you shall come to know those things you have not heretofore known.
"When you close your eyes, think upon the wonder of creation; the valleys, the trees and the great seas. Think of the sun and the moon. Is there any greater wonder than the light of the sun, which glorifies the sky by day, or the moon that governs the tides? I say to you that all these have been brought into being by the one wisdom that created all things.
"Think of Him who instilled power in a grain of wheat to become twenty grains, or the seed in woman which becomes a child playing in the sun. Think you not that any man is truly wise who has not come first unto the One who is all wisdom.
"Draw in deeply from the mind which has brought forth creation and even now continues to guide all the stars. Feel the mind of God flow through your mind. And when you have again opened your eyes, see things anew. I tell you truly; all living things today are but shadows of things yet to come.
"Allow wisdom to guide you in all that you do, lest you become like those who go down into a deep well and take all others with them. I say to you, ever since the beginning the blind have led the blind and the thousands follow them.
With these words Jesus finished speaking, and he slowly rose up and left his disciples that he might be alone to commune with God.
Collected Comments on Christian Mysticism
Mysticism is nothing more or less than a love-driven way of knowing God, that is centered in direct, immediate experience of God’s presence –- as contrasted with the efforts of our minds to think through, capture, and describe the object of our belief in clear language, theological subtlety, or scientific precision.
A little over 50 years ago, E. Allison Peers, the translator and biographer of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, noted that the word mystic had for some time “been getting into the wrong company.” For one thing, mysticism is consistently and confusedly identified with the highly publicized, easily dramatized special effects of the spiritual life – rare, exotic phenomena such as levitation and stigmata that mark the lives of some who have sought to live with God. But these effects are not the reward for spiritual success, signs of God’s approval, any more than their lack is a mark of spiritual failure, a sign of God’s indifference. “A mystic,” Peers wrote, “is a person who has fallen in love with God. We are not afraid of lovers -– no indeed, all the world loves a lover. They attract us by their ardor, their single-mindedness, their yearning to be one with the object of their love.” Mysticism is a way of living that makes this consciousness of God’s presence the shaping context, the compelling energy of our lives. John Kirvan, God Hunger
What is Christian mysticism? It is a way of living prayerfully and lovingly, being open to God’s presence, however it may appear. While this is experienced most in contemplative prayer, it does not mean withdrawing from the world. Truly effective, responsive action in the world needs to be filled with and informed by contemplative awareness. Here are some quotations from well-known Christian writers that attempt to describe contemplative Christian mysticism. (with gratitude to the Shalem Institute)
Christ filling the hearing, sight, touch, taste, and every sense Origen Hanging by God’s thread of pure Love Catherine of Genoa
Seeing through exterior things, and seeing God in them Thomas Merton
A blind feeling of one’s own being, stretching unto God The Cloud of Unknowing The pure, loving gaze that finds God everywhere Brother Lawrence
The mind’s loving, unmixed, permanent attention to the things of God Francis de Sales
Finding God in all things Ignatius of Loyola
A continual condition of prayerful sensitivity to what is really going on Douglas Steere
Seeing God in everything and everything in God with completely extraordinary clearness and delicacy Marie of the Incarnation
The window of the soul cleansed perfectly and made completely transparent by the divine light John of the Cross
Awareness, absorbed and amazed Teresa of Avila
The enlightening of the understanding, joined to the joys of God’s love Walter Hilton
Continual communion through all things by quite simply doing everything in the presence of the Holy Trinity Elizabeth of the Trinity
The mind, gazing upon the universe of God’s handiwork, rapt by the divine and infinite light Maximus the Confessor
The mind stolen from itself by the ineffable sweetness of the Word Bernard of Clairvaux
Divine wakefulness with pure and naked intuition Gregory of Nyssa
With the flash of one trembling glance, my mind arrived at THAT WHICH IS, but I could not fix my gaze thereon. Augustine
The alertness which finds everything plain and grasps it clearly with entire comprehension Hugh of St. Victor
Receiving the clarity of God without any means; a single nakedness that embraces all things Jan Van Ruysbroek
Right understanding, with true longing, absolute trust, and sweet grace-giving mindfulness Julian of Norwich
Awakening to the presence of God in the human heart and in the universe which is around us... knowledge by love Dom Bede Griffiths
The world becoming luminous from within as one plunges breathlessly into human activity Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
---- Mysticism has been in the past & probably ever will be one of the great powers of the world & it is bad scholarship to pretend the contrary. You may argue against it but you should no more treat it with disrespect than a perfectly cultivated writer would treat (say) the Catholic Church or the Church of Luther no matter how much he disliked them. ----
Uncontrolled, the hunger and thirst after God may become an obstacle, cutting off the soul from what it desires. If a man would travel far along the mystic road, he must learn to desire God intensely but in stillness, passively and yet with all his heart and mind and strength. Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), British author. Grey Eminence, ch. 9 (1941).
On the Concept of God
The Master would insist that the final barrier to our attaining God was the word and concept "God."
This so infuriated the local priest that he came in a huff to argue the matter out with the Master."But surely the word 'God' can lead us to God?" said the priest."It can," said the Master calmly."How can something help and be a barrier?"
Said the Master, "The donkey that brings you to the door is not the means by which you enter the house."
This so infuriated the local priest that he came in a huff to argue the matter out with the Master."But surely the word 'God' can lead us to God?" said the priest."It can," said the Master calmly."How can something help and be a barrier?"
Said the Master, "The donkey that brings you to the door is not the means by which you enter the house."
Einstein on Mysticism
The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mystical. It is the power of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms- this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I belong to the rank of devoutly religious men. Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German-born U.S. theoretical physicist. Quoted in: Philipp Frank, Einstein: His Life and Times, ch. 12, sct. 5 (1947).
Soren Kierkegaard on Mysticism
Just as in earthly life lovers long for the moment when they are able to breathe forth their love for each other, to let their souls blend in a soft whisper, so the mystic longs for the moment when in prayer he can, as it were, creep into God. Søren Kierkegaard (1813-55), Danish philosopher. Either/Or, vol. 2, "Balance between Esthetic and Ethical" (1843; tr. 1987).
On Mysticism
The Christian mystic is in love with God, and hungers for an awareness of God’s presence. Whether we seek it through the practice of contemplative prayer or any other means, we spend our lives learning to fix our gaze constantly on God and to be mindful of God in all things.
The contemplative life is not easy. It can be isolating. Many other Christians mistrust those who are called by God to this path. The mystic finds God more easily through silence than through activity; more through prayer than through study; more through love than through knowledge.
The mystic knows God by faith and is content with “unknowing.” But Christian church communities tend to place great value on knowledge and study. If you were to count the number of Bible studies compared to the number of prayer groups offered in churches, you could see this trend easily. Church communities are usually centered around activity and stimulation. These things do not help the mystic feel closer to God; in fact, mystics find these things to be distractions that make them feel farther from God.
In most Christian church communities, silence and prayerful contemplation are rare. The Christian mystic, longing for silence, can feel quite abandoned. How does one pray in the contemplative way? This sort of prayer is not about asking for things. Julian of Norwich described it thus: “I look at God, I look at you, and I keep on looking at God.”
Many modern Christians who are drawn to the mystic approach practice contemplative prayer in small groups which may meet once a month. Much of the prayer is silent, with anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour of silence at a time. Learning contemplative prayer involves learning how to use that silence to focus one’s mind and heart totally on God, not to say anything to God, but to open one’s heart to listen for God. Naturally we all have things constantly reverberating through our minds -– our little to-do lists, conversations, commercial jingles, whatever. The goal of contemplative prayer is to quiet all those distractions, the better to be open to God’s voice. The highest experience of contemplative prayer is simply to be aware of God’s presence and delight in it. There is no agenda other than love. “Be still, and know that I am God.” This type of prayer does not appeal to everyone.
God calls some people to activity; God calls some people to intellect and study. But God calls the Christian mystic to seek him in this interior landscape, in a cloud of unknowing, in love and by faith. Naturally, in addition to contemplative prayer, the Christian mystic must live a well rounded Christian life, including worship in community, Bible study, and compassionate living. As Catherine of Siena has said, “The secret of Christian contemplation is that it faces us, with Jesus Christ, toward our suffering world in loving service and just action.”
Biblical Corruption
elow is a link to a long, yet thought-provoking article that discusses the possiblity of Biblical corruption in a historical perspective.
http://www.reluctant-messenger.com/biblical-corruption.htm
http://www.reluctant-messenger.com/biblical-corruption.htm
Healing in Toronto
7/1/99
This is the ‘Readers Digest’ version of my healing. With the Lords help and to the best of my ability, every word is true. Most of it can or has been documented. I submit this to you to judge for yourself.
In the first week of November 1998 my friend Melissa and I were flying in a small airplane from Detroit to Saginaw on the last leg of a trip home from Florida. This was during the worst windstorm of the year. The wings of the airplane were swinging above and below the airplane, out of control. I was trying to be nonchalant, but I knew we had a great chance of being toast within minutes.
For two years, I had been wearing three Catholic miraculous medals: the Virgin Mary, St. Jude and St. Michael the Archangel given to me by my friend Justine. As a rule, I never took them off, but while in Florida I took them off to wear other jewelry that belonged to Justine. We looked them over and locked them up for the week. At the end of the week, we got them out, looked them over and I put them back on.
During our stay in Florida, I had an outbreak of hives. An inconvenience to some, but I have had them for ten years and to me they are not only painful, disruptive in the full definition of the word, but they have the ability to be life threatening. The hives had been controlled with medication for a year and were well under control, so I was surprised to be afflicted with a considerable outbreak of them while on vacation.
As the airplane dipped and swayed that night, I clutched at those miraculous medals through my shirt. I prayed to St. Michael the Archangel. "Save us!" Instantly, the plane regained control. We landed safely. The wind was so strong outside the airport that I had to fight to get my truck door open, just walking was difficult. During the hour drive home from the airport we had to avoid many large branches that had fallen in the road.
The next morning when I got out of the shower, I discovered that the St. Michael medal, and ONLY the St. Michael medal, had changed color from silver to copper. Three of us had seen that it was silver the day before when I put it back on in Florida. Justine had told me about this phenomenon, so I called around. Finally, I got to speak to Father McGrath in the Florida Keys, and he explained that I should look at it as a blessing. So I did. But the entire incident got my curiosity up.
I began to read a book on the Lives of the Saints, which Justine had given me two years earlier. I wanted to find out about St. Michael the Archangel, and afterwards became fascinated with reading about the other Saints. How they suffered! They were skinned alive and boiled in oil! But they kept the faith. Were they nuts? Amazing.
I went over to the clinic to get treatment for the hives the day after I arrived home. There I was given a cortisone shot and a medrol dose pack (more cortisone) for treatment of the acute welts that were covering my body. A few days later I was back in the clinic with a side effect to the treatment known as cortisone psychosis. The treatment that I had used for years as a last resort for my hives was now not an option. I made an appointment with an allergy specialist who put me on loads of pills to control my condition in addition to the medication that I routinely take daily for depression and hypothyroid.
Three weeks later on Monday, November 30, 1998 my husband lost his job, we were threatened with eviction of our home of two years, we were sued for foreclosure of a home that we had left in Florida and the next day we were slandered in the newspaper and much more. I named that day Black Monday and thought about the Saints.
Forty days later, Tim began a better position and life returned to what I must call normal for lack of a better word. During this time, I grew closer to the Lord. I switched from the Lutheran Church to a 'spirit filled' Assembly of God. I got "re-baptized" stating that the last time I had done it in obedience and this time I did it for love. Over the next few months, we were able to buy our home and our foreclosure debt was miraculously reduced (with the help of an attorney) by $56,000.00.
I began to hear about God “moving" in Brownsville Assembly of God church in Pensacola, Florida and about great things that had happened in Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) church in Ontario. A burning desire to 'go and see' was kindled in me. We live within driving distance of TACF so that is where we went. Tim went with me. He went to church the first night (Thursday) with me but was very turned off by all of the hand lifting, praising, etc., and his comment had something to do with the necessity of spending three hours in church.
God was giving people gold teeth while I was in Toronto. (Only HE knows why, and I guess that it is another one of those unexplained blessings.) Pastor Bill Prankard was the speaker at most of the services that I was at and he said that "We have not because we ask not". I believed this and lay my hands on my cheeks and prayed for gold teeth with everyone else. I saw many people receive gold teeth. One boys tooth was filled who had never been to a dentist. I saw Holy oil drip from peoples hands. I saw people fall to the floor 'slain in the spirit' after prayer. I saw peoples bodies jerk in ways that could not be humanly maintained. I prayed that if this weirdness was not from God that I would be protected and only receive that which God had intended for me. I went out and bought a flashlight and a dental mirror. If God was giving gold teeth, I wanted some! God had other things in mind for me.
Saturday night of that week, Bill Prankard gave a special invitation for people who suffered chronic diseases such as depression to come up front to be prayed for. I jumped on it with about twenty other people. As he went down the line laying on hands and praying for people, they were falling under the power and laying on the carpet. I thought to myself "This is it! I'm going to fall and have an 'experience' with God!" When he came to me I told him that I suffered from depression, thyroid disease and hives. He put his hands on my head and prayed. I didn't fall down. I didn't feel anything. However, so Pastor Prankard wouldn't feel bad, I kneeled down, and then lay down to rest. Then I went home and checked my teeth.
Sunday, the next morning during praise and worship at TACF, the palms of my hands got hot and I audibly heard the words "GO HOME". I have heard my Masters voice once before, and I knew who was talking to me. I thought, "Right now?". It was my last day in Toronto so I thought that I would risk finishing out this service and the one in the evening. What does "GO HOME" mean? Does it mean that God wants me home in Oscoda? Does it mean that I should get out of Toronto? Does it mean that...? The palms of my hands were hot again that evening during service and also a few times after I returned home. Monday we returned home to Oscoda and I was happy to be in obedience.
Remember the load of pills that I am supposed to be taking? I forgot. I forgot for two months: I forgot to call in prescriptions, I forgot to pick them up, I remembered when I was away from the pills and forgot when I got close. I went to pick up my prescriptions and the pharmacist wanted $115.00 for a month of antidepressants. With Tim being a doctor, I knew that there was a way that I could get them cheaper and I didn't pick them up. I forgot to tell Tim. I told Tim but haven't seen any pills come through from the rep. Perhaps he forgot?
Anyway, last week it occurred to me that I didn't have any symptoms. I haven't had any medicine for two months, and I am symptom free. In general, I feel as good as when I faithfully take my allotment of pills every day. Truthfully, during the past two months I have had symptoms. In brief, I have been depressed for a time and I have had a few hives, but even when the symptoms were present, I either forgot to take my medicine or was compelled not to. Last week, I began to be suspicious that something was going on, but I was hesitant to claim it.
During this time, I learned from people that "hot hands" are a sign of the Holy Spirit, and have talked with two people that experience them, one person while praying for healing. I now think of them as "Holy Healing Hands".
While paging through my new Red Letter Study Bible two nights ago the words "GO HOME" jumped out at me. I got distracted and didn't look at it again until last night. Again, I found the words "GO HOME". After Jesus healed, he said "GO HOME". This happened many times in the Bible I soon discovered. The sermon that followed this revelation was on the healing of the ten lepers, and how the Samaritan returned to thank the Lord for his healing, and how when we are given a gift that we are to "Say so". Last night at church I thanked the Lord for my healing, my life, my salvation and for being a merciful King and friend to me. How do you thank someone who has done so much for you? Other than the obvious, the only thing that I know to do is to "Say so".
Here are some "GO HOME" verses that I found last night as confirmation to my miraculous healing.
1 Samuel 25:35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, GO HOME in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.
2 Samuel 14:8 The king said to the woman, GO HOME, and I will issue an order in your behalf.
Matthew 9:6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins then He said to the paralytic, Get up, pick up your bed and GO HOME.
Mark 2:11 I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and GO HOME.
Mark 5:19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, GO HOME to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.
Luke 5:24 But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and GO HOME.
4/5/01
Two years after I wrote this article, I am symptom free and healthy.
This is the ‘Readers Digest’ version of my healing. With the Lords help and to the best of my ability, every word is true. Most of it can or has been documented. I submit this to you to judge for yourself.
In the first week of November 1998 my friend Melissa and I were flying in a small airplane from Detroit to Saginaw on the last leg of a trip home from Florida. This was during the worst windstorm of the year. The wings of the airplane were swinging above and below the airplane, out of control. I was trying to be nonchalant, but I knew we had a great chance of being toast within minutes.
For two years, I had been wearing three Catholic miraculous medals: the Virgin Mary, St. Jude and St. Michael the Archangel given to me by my friend Justine. As a rule, I never took them off, but while in Florida I took them off to wear other jewelry that belonged to Justine. We looked them over and locked them up for the week. At the end of the week, we got them out, looked them over and I put them back on.
During our stay in Florida, I had an outbreak of hives. An inconvenience to some, but I have had them for ten years and to me they are not only painful, disruptive in the full definition of the word, but they have the ability to be life threatening. The hives had been controlled with medication for a year and were well under control, so I was surprised to be afflicted with a considerable outbreak of them while on vacation.
As the airplane dipped and swayed that night, I clutched at those miraculous medals through my shirt. I prayed to St. Michael the Archangel. "Save us!" Instantly, the plane regained control. We landed safely. The wind was so strong outside the airport that I had to fight to get my truck door open, just walking was difficult. During the hour drive home from the airport we had to avoid many large branches that had fallen in the road.
The next morning when I got out of the shower, I discovered that the St. Michael medal, and ONLY the St. Michael medal, had changed color from silver to copper. Three of us had seen that it was silver the day before when I put it back on in Florida. Justine had told me about this phenomenon, so I called around. Finally, I got to speak to Father McGrath in the Florida Keys, and he explained that I should look at it as a blessing. So I did. But the entire incident got my curiosity up.
I began to read a book on the Lives of the Saints, which Justine had given me two years earlier. I wanted to find out about St. Michael the Archangel, and afterwards became fascinated with reading about the other Saints. How they suffered! They were skinned alive and boiled in oil! But they kept the faith. Were they nuts? Amazing.
I went over to the clinic to get treatment for the hives the day after I arrived home. There I was given a cortisone shot and a medrol dose pack (more cortisone) for treatment of the acute welts that were covering my body. A few days later I was back in the clinic with a side effect to the treatment known as cortisone psychosis. The treatment that I had used for years as a last resort for my hives was now not an option. I made an appointment with an allergy specialist who put me on loads of pills to control my condition in addition to the medication that I routinely take daily for depression and hypothyroid.
Three weeks later on Monday, November 30, 1998 my husband lost his job, we were threatened with eviction of our home of two years, we were sued for foreclosure of a home that we had left in Florida and the next day we were slandered in the newspaper and much more. I named that day Black Monday and thought about the Saints.
Forty days later, Tim began a better position and life returned to what I must call normal for lack of a better word. During this time, I grew closer to the Lord. I switched from the Lutheran Church to a 'spirit filled' Assembly of God. I got "re-baptized" stating that the last time I had done it in obedience and this time I did it for love. Over the next few months, we were able to buy our home and our foreclosure debt was miraculously reduced (with the help of an attorney) by $56,000.00.
I began to hear about God “moving" in Brownsville Assembly of God church in Pensacola, Florida and about great things that had happened in Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF) church in Ontario. A burning desire to 'go and see' was kindled in me. We live within driving distance of TACF so that is where we went. Tim went with me. He went to church the first night (Thursday) with me but was very turned off by all of the hand lifting, praising, etc., and his comment had something to do with the necessity of spending three hours in church.
God was giving people gold teeth while I was in Toronto. (Only HE knows why, and I guess that it is another one of those unexplained blessings.) Pastor Bill Prankard was the speaker at most of the services that I was at and he said that "We have not because we ask not". I believed this and lay my hands on my cheeks and prayed for gold teeth with everyone else. I saw many people receive gold teeth. One boys tooth was filled who had never been to a dentist. I saw Holy oil drip from peoples hands. I saw people fall to the floor 'slain in the spirit' after prayer. I saw peoples bodies jerk in ways that could not be humanly maintained. I prayed that if this weirdness was not from God that I would be protected and only receive that which God had intended for me. I went out and bought a flashlight and a dental mirror. If God was giving gold teeth, I wanted some! God had other things in mind for me.
Saturday night of that week, Bill Prankard gave a special invitation for people who suffered chronic diseases such as depression to come up front to be prayed for. I jumped on it with about twenty other people. As he went down the line laying on hands and praying for people, they were falling under the power and laying on the carpet. I thought to myself "This is it! I'm going to fall and have an 'experience' with God!" When he came to me I told him that I suffered from depression, thyroid disease and hives. He put his hands on my head and prayed. I didn't fall down. I didn't feel anything. However, so Pastor Prankard wouldn't feel bad, I kneeled down, and then lay down to rest. Then I went home and checked my teeth.
Sunday, the next morning during praise and worship at TACF, the palms of my hands got hot and I audibly heard the words "GO HOME". I have heard my Masters voice once before, and I knew who was talking to me. I thought, "Right now?". It was my last day in Toronto so I thought that I would risk finishing out this service and the one in the evening. What does "GO HOME" mean? Does it mean that God wants me home in Oscoda? Does it mean that I should get out of Toronto? Does it mean that...? The palms of my hands were hot again that evening during service and also a few times after I returned home. Monday we returned home to Oscoda and I was happy to be in obedience.
Remember the load of pills that I am supposed to be taking? I forgot. I forgot for two months: I forgot to call in prescriptions, I forgot to pick them up, I remembered when I was away from the pills and forgot when I got close. I went to pick up my prescriptions and the pharmacist wanted $115.00 for a month of antidepressants. With Tim being a doctor, I knew that there was a way that I could get them cheaper and I didn't pick them up. I forgot to tell Tim. I told Tim but haven't seen any pills come through from the rep. Perhaps he forgot?
Anyway, last week it occurred to me that I didn't have any symptoms. I haven't had any medicine for two months, and I am symptom free. In general, I feel as good as when I faithfully take my allotment of pills every day. Truthfully, during the past two months I have had symptoms. In brief, I have been depressed for a time and I have had a few hives, but even when the symptoms were present, I either forgot to take my medicine or was compelled not to. Last week, I began to be suspicious that something was going on, but I was hesitant to claim it.
During this time, I learned from people that "hot hands" are a sign of the Holy Spirit, and have talked with two people that experience them, one person while praying for healing. I now think of them as "Holy Healing Hands".
While paging through my new Red Letter Study Bible two nights ago the words "GO HOME" jumped out at me. I got distracted and didn't look at it again until last night. Again, I found the words "GO HOME". After Jesus healed, he said "GO HOME". This happened many times in the Bible I soon discovered. The sermon that followed this revelation was on the healing of the ten lepers, and how the Samaritan returned to thank the Lord for his healing, and how when we are given a gift that we are to "Say so". Last night at church I thanked the Lord for my healing, my life, my salvation and for being a merciful King and friend to me. How do you thank someone who has done so much for you? Other than the obvious, the only thing that I know to do is to "Say so".
Here are some "GO HOME" verses that I found last night as confirmation to my miraculous healing.
1 Samuel 25:35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, GO HOME in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.
2 Samuel 14:8 The king said to the woman, GO HOME, and I will issue an order in your behalf.
Matthew 9:6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins then He said to the paralytic, Get up, pick up your bed and GO HOME.
Mark 2:11 I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and GO HOME.
Mark 5:19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, GO HOME to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.
Luke 5:24 But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and GO HOME.
4/5/01
Two years after I wrote this article, I am symptom free and healthy.
Surrender
4/3/00
Today, I was asked how a Christian surrenders his or her life to God. Tough question! I think that I gave an OK answer, but it got me thinking quite a bit...
Facts first: notice that the question implies that this person is already a Christian. They are already pursuing a Christian lifestyle and declaring a relationship with God. In order to do this, we assume that they have been drawn by the spirit to a belief based on fact. When revealed, God is the best fact going.
Faith second: I believe that we must have faith before we can surrender. Can a toddler jump off the side of a pool into his dads’ arms without the faith that dad is going to catch him? We need to pray and receive the gift of faith before we can surrender and jump into the pool. Some kids have the faith to jump into the pool the first time based on dad telling them that he will catch them and that it will be OK. Other kids fall into the category of wanting to see their brother do it (and live through it) before they commit to the act. Blessed are they that believe without seeing. Blessed are the brothers that have had the courage to go first.
Surrender third: surrender is the act of choosing another will above ours. Sometimes that choice makes less sense than what we would have opted for. Sometimes it makes us look foolish. Sometimes it takes courage. Sometimes it is difficult of painful.
Feelings last: I believe that we must have the courage to step off the side of the pool (surrender, take the leap of faith) before we can experience the rich exhilaration (feelings) that come with being caught in strong arms and being splashed.
I don't think that surrendering our life is a one time thing. I think that it is a series of choices that build a lifestyle of trust. I think that surrendering our life means yielding our choices to what God wants, in spite of how foolish it appears to us, or how contrary it is to our desires. After surrendering to Gods way (risking disaster or appearing foolish, which some would consider a disaster) enough times, our faith grows. In other words, the toddler on the side of the pool is going to be very hesitant to jump into dads arms the first time. Possibly the second, third and forth time as well, depending upon his personality and the relationship of trust that he already has established with his dad. Eventually he will come to believe that Dad is going to catch him, and he will relax and have fun. That is the reward of surrender.
However, a week later at the pool, when dad tells the toddler to jump into his arms again, and the toddler is hesitant. Why? Dad promised to catch him. Dad proved himself last week by catching his brother and himself many times. The toddler knows that jumping into dads arms is a lot of fun. Why does he hesitate? Because it is foolish for someone three foot tall that can't swim to jump into four foot of water. Death or serious injury can be the result of such a foolish choice. Yes! dad caught him-- but that was last week! Who can say that things aren't different today!
The toddler may need to have his confidence in his dad rebuilt in order to have the courage to jump again. His dad will do this. Eventually, the toddler will grow to trust his dad so much that he will be begging his dad to catch him.
An example of foolish surrender in the Bible is the story of Jericho. God told the Hebrews that if they marched around the city seven times making noise the walls would come down and it would be theirs. This makes no sense! Who would believe such a thing! It was VERY foolish (and I'll bet they were mocked heavily for doing it!) Yet they did it. Why? Because they had facts (their history and scriptures) and faith. What did they reap? Feeling. Imagine the expressions of delight on the faces of the Hebrews on the seventh day when they shouted and the walls indeed came down. I'll bet that they shouted praises louder at that time than they had the entire week during their marches. Who got the credit (glory) for this foolish act? It was a win‑win situation. God got the credit for bringing the walls down in a mighty miracle, and the Hebrews were credited with faith in the power of their God.
Wanna bet that they were wondering which city they would get to march around next? That's what I would have done. However, to do the same thing again would not have required the same degree of surrender or faith. God gets us to surrender to him in different ways so that we will have confidence in God, and not in the act.
God gave us free will so that we have the ability to choose. We can choose good (Gods way and will) or bad (the way of self, flesh or of evil). Often, we have more than one choice, such as what we want to be when we grow up, who we are going to marry, or where we want to go to college. Often, our first choice or inclination is not Gods will. In other words, Gods way is not always what appears to be the easy way, the quickest way, the straightest line, or most common sense route to our human eyes and discernment.
It comes down to good, better or best. For example, the toddler at the pool was probably comfortable with, and enjoyed, holding the hand rail and playing on the steps of the pool. Perhaps he enjoyed sitting on the side and dipping his toes in the water. Perhaps he was comfortable in the baby pool with the other toddlers. All of these are good choices. However, can any of these choices equal the best choice of the thrill of jumping into the air with all of your might and into your fathers arms? Doubtful. The Bible says that God will use the foolish to confound the wise, and he often does this. What adult sitting around that pool watching that toddler doesn't secretly with that they could trade places with him?
The more we surrender to the will and ways of God, the more confidence, or faith, we will have in God, the greater the rewards. The larger our faith becomes, the bigger leaps we will be encouraged to take. Is there more of a thrill and reward in going off the high dive as opposed to jumping off the side of the pool? Is the splash any bigger? You tell me. I have never had the courage to try.
Francois Fenelon, a 17th century clergyman, discovered a similar truth over 300 years ago. "When it comes to accomplishing things for God, you will find that high aspirations, enthusiastic feelings, careful planning, and the ability to express yourself well are not worth very much. The important thing is absolute surrender to God. You can do anything He wants you to do if you are walking in the full light of absolute surrender."
We must have faith and surrender our will in order to receive from God. However, in order to give to others, we must have love, which is another subject.
Freely you have received, freely give.
This is Why
FAR BETTER IT IS TO DARE MIGHTY THINGS
TO WIN GLORIOUS TRIUMPH THOUGH CHECKERED WITH FAILURE
THAN TO TAKE RANK WITH THOSE POOR SPIRITS WHO NEITHER ENJOY MUCH NOR SUFFER MUCH BECAUSE THEY LIVE IN THE GREY TWILIGHT THAT KNOWS NOT VICTORY OR DEFEAT.
Healing Hands
Your Healing Hands
by Leon Turner Copyright, 1987 Salt Lake City, Utah
There is a power in the Universe that is available to every will-endowed creature that lives in this Universe or any of the other Universes. This POWER is generally unused because we, as individuals, are usually unable to manipulate it because of breeding, social mores and environment. This is a nasty shame because it could very easily alleviate much hostility, disease, sickness and death in the world.
The saddest part is that the ability to manipulate this power is generally rejected most vehemently by those who need it the most. It is denied, ridiculed and pooh-poohed by many, especially those whom we accept as "leaders." Most especially religious leaders. These people not only reject the very idea of the existence of this power, they pressure those who know about it into a state of silence, and thus they stifle its promulgation. This is called "control through fear, guilt and intimidation." It sucks, but it works. To draw this power unto yourself, magnify it and channel it out to and for the benefit of others is very simple and easy to accomplish.
THE THOUGHT OF HEALING HANDS
The thought of laying on of hands to heal your loved ones seems mystical to many. It is said that only the Prophets of old were able to do this. Some say that only a few living evangelists "chosen of God" can heal with their hands. The American Medical Association most certainly does NOT want this power widely known, let alone used by anyone outside of the limited and licensed medical profession. Not inside that profession, for that matter, because of the potential negative impact on their buddies and fellow conspirators in the pharmaceutical industry. And this because it works and it's FREE. If everyone were using this power as the Creator intended it, the medical profession would lose a lot of money, and an awful lot of power, because so many people rely on them for advice and treatment. You think not? Let me assure you that if Exxon or Texaco could control the sun we would all be driving solar-powered cars right now. But that is another subject for another time. Think about it.
Please to understand: it is my personal opinion that the primary purpose of medical practitioners is to entertain the patient while nature takes its course. The physical body is designed by the Creator to be self-healing if given proper fuel and some caring help. Given time the human body can adapt to a wide variety of circumstances and environments and exist, if not thrive. If injured the body can heal itself. You might have to set a broken bone or lance a boil or two, but the human body is truly amazing. I also, in my heart of hearts, believe that for every disease and affliction that it is possible for mankind to contract, the Creator has placed upon this earth a free, easy to obtain, easy to use cure.
The medical profession, while it does some good, is a limiting, limited, self-policing, self-serving, self- perpetuating GUILD that limits its membership to those who will swear allegiance to the organization and agree to conform to its rules, some of which are silly and illogical.
Anyone who is a non-member is NOT allowed to "practice." Those who are not IN the guide who do practice are attacked, harassed and harnessed through the instrumentality of another Guild - The Lawyers Guild. The most detrimental factor to these two Guilds is an informed, intelligent and spiritually FREE citizenry that refuses to play the GAMES of these guilds and refuses to recognize their rules and their authority.
SOME SECRETS OF HEALING HANDS
I will now give you some of the secrets of the healing of physical bodies, spiritually. They are simple. They are easy to learn and to use. They are FREE. While the use of these "secret" powers may not be all that is required to overcome and balance every diseased body, they certainly will help. This is a portal, through which I sincerely hope and pray you will pass to get on the pathway to your ultimate spiritual goal. It may be only another milestone on the pathway that you have already chosen and are already on as you move along to the ultimate goal and achievement of whatever it is you hope to achieve.
And for God's sake DON'T be distracted or distressed by the myriad of misguided, misinformed and uninformed individuals who are scared of anything they don't understand and will tell YOU this cannot be done and that cannot be done by YOU or any other human, simply because THEY cannot do it. When YOU do succeed, then THEY will have been proven wrong and THEIR poor egos will receive another ding and it will hurt THEM. Quite frankly, there are just some people who do not want you, or anyone else to be able to do something, or in some rarer cases ANYTHING that THEY do not understand or cannot do. For you to possess and demonstrate a power or knowledge THEY do not possess and cannot use frightens them because you are a threat to their individual sense of power and control.
An example would be for you to travel back to the 12th or 13th century with a cigarette lighter, or even a box of common kitchen matches. You would be declared either a God or a Witch. More than likely a witch and you would be cast out of society or killed in it.
Fear of the unknown is a terrible negative power. Jesus the Christ said, "Know the truth and the truth shall set you free." This applies to temporal as well as spiritual matters.
If you succumb to THEIR ranting and denials and should say to yourself often enough, "I cannot do this. This is impossible. I cannot do these things," then you are correct. Trust me on this one. If you say you cannot, then you cannot. This is true because you will have set and accepted limits of your mind. Worse yet, you will have allowed others to set those limits for you. On the other hand -if you say you CAN, then you CAN. Maybe not right away, but how did it take you to learn to ride a bicycle or drive a car? Give it a chance and give it a little time. If ANYone can do this then EVERYone can do it.
WHATEVER THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE AND THE HEART CAN BELIEVE YOU CAN ACHIEVE!
Who are YOUR real friends? God NEVER intended that YOU should be a failure. God wants YOU to succeed in all positive areas. After all, the ultimate purpose of all of your experiences, on this earth and afterward is to teach and train you to be JUST LIKE GOD! So - whom do you want to believe? God or a bunch of frightened, self-defeating losers and failures?
This does not mean that you should flaunt your knowledge and powers, and use them as an expression of your superiority. Be like a beacon Light that shines in the night. Use your knowledge, powers and abilities with kindness and self-confidence and, when asked, teach others that they can have or develop those same powers themselves.
In the beginning of the use of your "healing hands power," do NOT confer with others if there is the slightest hint or doubt as to whether or not they are of a like mind as yourself. Avoid negative people. If you are fortunate enough to have a friend with whom to share and learn it is so much the better. Together you can grow faster. However, you must be very careful because if you are subject to that terrible monster RIDICULE before you can prove to yourself that you are capable of using this healing power. I tell you this from personal experience.
If you do confer with someone who is not of the same spiritual mind as yourself I can guarantee that the probability is almost 100% that you will receive a negative, and possibly an angry response from them. This is the worst possible thing that occur to you in the beginning. It can stop you cold, or it can retard your progress immeasurably. Bear in mind that even those persons for whom you have the greatest respect and admiration may feel threatened by you and your newfound knowledge and try to dissuade you from this venture. Even if they do not feel threatened they may still try to dissuade you from your quest "for your own good."
What do you think would have been the result if in your earliest schooling, when you were learning simply arithmetic, if instead of encouragement by the teacher to try again and try harder the teacher and your parents had criticized and ridiculed you and told you that you would never be able to add two and two? The same principle applies here. In the beginning you NEED encouragement, NOT criticism and ridicule. Have you ever had to go in front of a school class and answer a question and made a mistake and had everyone in the class laugh at you? The natural course of event is to stop right there, quit and never go on. You want to do anything to stop or avoid ridicule.
It is far better to go this one alone, at least until you can prove to yourself what you are reading here is true, than to take a chance of being stopped by someone who does not appreciate or even understand. I say "alone" referring to the physical. Spiritually you are never alone. If you are sincere in your search for new knowledge and excellence in life you will be aided by your unseen guides and masters to an extent beyond your wildest dreams and imagination. Opportunities will open to you and a lot of things in your life will fall right into place. The RIGHT things for YOU.
Your knowledge, wisdom and expertise will magnify logarithmically as you proceed along your pathway to perfection.
FIRST: KNOW THIS THING CAN BE DONE!
You are not, and I repeat NOT the first to know these things are true, and that they DO work. YOU can do it ALSO!
This Power is Universal in scope and nature. It permeates all that is. It needs only to be directed by the will of an individual, like you, to be used.
If you want to read some books on the subject I suggest Rainbow in Your Hands and Joy's Way. These books are available at any good metaphysical bookstore or a major bookstore with a metaphysical or New Age section. These are not all of the books on the subject, but they are good place to start to get more information on the subject. It is another step along the way you may prefer to take. Nice to know, but not necessary.
This is just like driving a car or riding a bicycle. At first it requires a conscious effort to think out each move. Later, with experience, it becomes easier and eventually will become automatic and will be done without any apparent conscious effort on your part. Finally you will arrive at the point where you will seriously wonder why others, whom you know and will meet, do not readily accept this knowledge. Why are THEY like YOU were when you first read this?
SECOND:
Let us get into CHAKRAs. It is a Sanskrit word that means "Wheel." What are they? Where are they? How do they figure into the healing process?
There are seven major chakras, and a lot of minor ones, on the human body. It is interesting to note that the major chakras have corresponding colors and musical notes or tones. There are books available that go into greater detail than we need to go into right now, here.
My primary interest is in the chakras at the crown of the head, the heart and the palms of the hands. These are major Energy Emission Points. For right now, accept this as true. Don't make the mistake of getting bogged down in the: What If..?; How Does..? Why Does..? syndrome. Accept that they are there. The first obstacle to overcome is to activate them and to consciously make then usable.
Here is where we get into the ritual stuff. Why? A ritual is to help us focus our attentions when we are new at something and are easily distracted. It is the following of certain steps, in a given order to achieve a given result or condition. It is also true that after we have become accustomed to the effect and KNOW what it is that you want to accomplish that the ritual becomes less important. Like driving an automobile, after a while control and effect becomes an automatic process. In fact, after we become proficient at what the rituals teach, the ritual can become like an anchor to us, holding back as we strive to move forward. The beauty of the rituals is that if at some time you let this go for a long period of time and seem to lose the "touch," the ritual will help you to refocus on what needs to be done.
What we are leading up to here is a two or three minute process that will activate your chakras. As time goes by you will eventually be able to skip right to the last line and go from there. If you use it a great deal you may not turn it off when you think you are finished with it. Neat. Huh?
The CROWN CHAKRA is at the top of the head. At first you may feel nothing at all. Then you will feel a slight pressure as it begins to open up. At sometime you will feel that you are wearing a skullcap. At times it may even feel like a skullcap that is a tad to tight and you may try to lift it off with your hands. It can be a weird feeling when you are not accustomed to it. Running your hands over your head will not remove the feeling. But don't worry about it. That's a good sign.
How do you activate your Crown Chakra? It's easy. Too easy for many people to accept at first. It is difficult for many to accept that ALL people can do this.
Here is the "secret":
Close your eyes, gently. NOT tightly. Don't be afraid that you will see something you shouldn't. Slowly and naturally take in a deep breath through your nose. Hold it for a slow three count. One... two... three. Exhale slowly and naturally through your mouth. Force nothing. Be comfortable. Hold that for a slow three count also. This is important. That is the four stages of breathing. In. Hold. Out. Hold. Three seconds, maybe five. This is not an endurance contest.
And you thought it would be complicated.
Don't get carried away or all you will be doing is breathing. That's all right, but it's not what we're after here. As you continue this process, imagine, picture in your own mind, allow it to happen, see yourself relaxing more and more. Let yourself slip into a quiet, peaceful, restful condition. Give your mind ONLY peaceful, loving, soft thoughts.
As you breathe in THINK
"I AM breathing in the power of the Universe."
As you breathe out THINK
"I AM breathing out any and all of the hate, the anger and the negativity that is within me."
If it requires more than three times of doing this to make you feel comfortable and at peace, go for it. If three is enough - fine. The rule here is not set in concrete. People tend to be different, and that's all right. We were intended to be different.
The main thing here is that YOU feel comfortable. This is NOT a contest to see who can be first. In fact a feeling of competitiveness can be detrimental. Once you have achieved such a state of mind and body, say aloud, in a normal voice, (do not shout),
"Crown Chakra. I command you to activate."
Remember this, this is YOUR Crown Chakra. It WILL do what YOU command it to do.
The first time I did this, it began as a slight pressure at the crown of my head and felt like it was spreading out, as it opened up. You may or may not feel the exact same thing as I did. Faster? Slower? Differently? It doesn't matter.
At first you may wish to continue to do the breathing exercises. All right. The most important thing to remember at this point is that THIS IS YOU! Right now you are a unique and different individual. There is no right or wrong HERE. There is only getting YOU to that point of conscious, willful and deliberate activation of your crown chakra. For some it will occur quickly. Perhaps it is something being remembered from a past life.
For another it may be coming slower because they have never had a past life experience with this. It is purely an individual matter. I cannot stress that enough. How long it takes is NOT as important as the actual, successful activation. Do not be discouraged if nothing happens immediately, or even if nothing happens on the first attempt.
When Don H. taught me how to do this, he related that it had taken him months to accomplish this thing. Under his tutelage I was able to activate my crown chakra in a matter of days. I explained it to my daughter, at age 7, how to do it, and SHE picked it up in MINUTES.
The Crown Chakra is the one through which your Higher Consciousness charges and recharges your bodies. I hope that eventually you will accept that your Higher Consciousness is another name for the Christ Consciousness, which is another name for the Universal Consciousness, which is another name for God. Accept what you can. Eventually all of the pieces will fit and when you accept what and who you truly are it will be a beautiful experience.
NOW FOR THE HEART CHAKRA
The Heart Chakra can be a lot of fun. I have only had GOOD experiences with it. Like the others, it requires only your will to make it work correctly. I saw, in my mind, and I willed it to happen, that a stream, a flood of pure white Light and Love of God and of Jesus Christ pour into me through my crown chakra and be magnified by my heart chakra, which is located near the base of the sternum, or breastbone.
I was sitting in church on Sunday morning and activated my heart chakra. I imaged the power coming in through my crown chakra and being magnified and poured out through my heart chakra (heart center) to every single person in the chapel. All of the time I was thinking, concentrating on the message, but not verbalizing, "I love all of you people. Every one of you." I did this for about five minutes. I was the only one aware of what I was doing. WOW! The effects of that power surging through my body was tremendous. I became so "charged up" that it was all I could do to remain there, in that place and force myself to sit still.
I was able to constrain myself until the meeting was over. Then I HAD to go home. I could not, would not, stay there while my body was in such an excited state. I was wound up tight. I was charged with a power I was unfamiliar with. I had to go home. I had to go some place where I could unwind in private. I went home. I paced the floor. I sat down. I had to get up within 10 seconds. I washed the dishes. I tidied up around the house. It was over an hour before I could come down off of that natural "high."
I later recognized that it is possible for an individual to become accustomed to that kind of a "high." I can see and understand that with repeated exposure it would not always affect an individual the way it affects them the first time. It was similar to that feeling, that "lift" you get when you light up that first cigarette in the morning. Possibly that moment when that first bit of alcohol hits your brain.
Joseph Smith, Junior, the first prophet of the Mormon church had led some of the brothers in fasting and fervent prayer, and they were all "caught up in the spirit" and "taken away." Afterward the Brothers were physically drained from their first such experience. Brother Joseph got up and left the room, allowing the brothers to recover on their own. At that time he commented, "It's always like that the first time."
Based on that and on personal experience I can say that over a period of time you will become accustomed to the feeling. It will never be like it was the first time, so enjoy the living daylights out of it while you have it.
Anyway - that is basically how it works. Practice with it. Make it yours. Use it. It can be directed at a specific individual, or you can "blanket an area" with it.
With the heart chakra as well as the others you can direct what kind of energy goes out and to whom. Furthermore, as you become more and more adept at the manipulation and use of this Power, you will be able to SEND it over greater and greater distances with a tremendous beneficial result for you as well as for the recipient, for there is no way that you can use this power for others and not receive some benefits for yourself.
It will be best for the recipient if he/she is "open" to the receipt of this energy. An unsuspecting, unwilling or resistant recipient may cause you more problems than it is worth to either of you. Forcing this on anyone is not a good plan.
If the recipient doesn't even suspect you are sending energy to them may be "the fly in the ointment" here. If they are involved in a situation they have programmed for themselves to experience for the wisdom and knowledge to be had it is possible that you in good faith, of a benevolent mind, want to help. In fact you may be interfering with their free will. Sometime the best way to help another is to do nothing to help them.
After a while you will notice that you can influence a situation easily only to have the fabric of your "blessing" unravel and the recipient returns to where you interfered. When this happens, mind your own business.
THE HAND CHAKRAS
The third chakras are the Hand Chakras. The strongest energy radiation is from the palms. I wish to relate the story of how I started mine "burning."
My friend, Don H., had been telling me about this chakra stuff, and I was listening intently and soaking up his words like a sponge soaks up water. We were having one of our very long, nightly conversations. He was amused and laughing at my reactions to the opening and activation of these chakras. It made him laugh to see any other person bewildered and amazed at things he had accepted as true for so long. Discomfort and embarrassment of others was always a source of amusement for Don. In fact he howled with laughter the day I choked on some lemon juice that I was not aware had been laced with a hefty dose of cayenne pepper. It was a combination that he was accustomed to and I was not. He may have changed by now. I sure hope so, for the sake of others, and for Don.
In the Mormon Temples there is a scene acted out where the Apostles, Peter, James and John are casting Satan out of the Garden of Eden, out of the presence of Adam and Eve. Peter commands Satan to leave, "I dismiss you without further argument."
Satan asks, "And what is your authority?"
Peter raises his arm to the square. The right arm straight out to the right and parallel to the ground, from the shoulder to the elbow. Elbow to wrist straight up. Hand bent back slightly at the wrist. Fingers are curved naturally and comfortably, forming a shallow "cup." The thumb is perpendicular to the index finger and pointing toward the head, forming a right angle, thumb and forefinger. Peter says, with a tone of authority, "In the name of our Master, Jesus Christ." Satan knows he has been bested, bows his head and leaves the Garden, humiliated.
Well, there we were, sitting in Don's car in the Teledyne parking lot, in Salt Lake City. He was drinking beer and I was drinking Squirt. For some reason our conversation turned to the above scene from the Temple. I was considering that the motions and the vibrations those particular words might create, or direct some type of irresistible energy flow. Not really expecting any particular result I raised my arm to the square and said, "In the name of our Master, Jesus Christ," out loud.
All of a sudden the palm of my right hand began to warm up. It was almost uncomfortably warm because of the energy being radiated from a spot about the size of a silver dollar, about 35-mm. I was taken by surprise at this action. It must have been somewhat amusing to see, because Don started howling with laughter.
And that, my friends, is the short of how it all started. But, how about some examples of what you can do with it? What is it good for? Examples follow.
Please to understand that once the hand chakras are activated they will ALWAYS emit some degree of radiation. Not to be confused with the harmful radiation one gets from an x-ray or a nuclear explosion. THIS radiation you can willfully increase or you can let it run down to barely perceptible.
Probably one of the most amusing incidents occurred one evening when I was accompanying Don on a sales call to a private home. Don introduced me as a new man who was learning the trade, would observe only, and would otherwise remain silent. Then Don began to tell his story. Not wanting to interfere with his sales presentation that I had already heard many times, I started to read a magazine. An innocent enough pastime.
Now, picture this: I was sitting on a low sofa, a magazine lays open before me on a coffee table. My elbows were resting firmly on my knees, fingertips touching my temples, thumbs touching my jaws, hands cupped. The cups pointing toward my head. I was concentrating on the contents of the magazine and ignored all else. I had sat like this in the past and gave no thought at all to the position of my hands.
Gradually my face began to warm up. Then I began to perspire freely. The experience was becoming uncomfortable to me. Finally there was a point where I could break into Don's story telling without breaking the mood he had created. I looked up and said, "Is it warm in here, to anyone else, or is it just me?"
The others looked at me and said that it must be ME. Later, when I was out of the situation I analyzed it and decided that it was the radiation from my hand chakras that had been warming up my face, because when I took my hands down, the sensation of warmth went away. When I related this to Don, he roared with laughter, again.
There was another time when Don was over to my house and I received a telephone call from a widow lady who lived up the street from us. Janet asked if I could come up to her house and give her daughter, DeAnne, a Mormon Elder's Blessing. It seems that DeAnne had stepped on some broken glass, cut her foot, had some stitches put in and it hurt. Thus the call for the Blessing. According to Church Doctrine this is done by two people, if at all possible. The first one anoints the crown of the head with a couple a drops of olive oil that has been "consecrated, dedicated and set apart for the healing of the sick." I had some in the medicine cabinet. The first elder rubs in the oil and states that the anointing is to the end and purpose that the blessing pronounced by the other elder will come to pass. Then the second elder lays his hands on the head of the blessee and says some "healing" words, and qualifies it (usually) by saying that the blessing will come to pass IF the blessee has faith, but it will be dependent and conditional on the faith and faithfulness of the individual and "the household of faith." It is an easy out in case the "blessing" doesn't take hold and effect a cure. It gives the blesser the appearance of performing a service while laying the responsibility for potential failure on the blessee and his/her family and household. Success can be attributed "to the Lord."
In the Mormon catechism classes, we were told that the hands were always to be placed lightly over the crown of the head of the blessee. If more than one individual were to be participating in the administration of the blessing then the hands of the others were to be placed lightly on top of those of the blesser, over the crown of the blessee's head. All pretty standard stuff. But when you get several sets of hands in there it can become a pretty heavy load on the blessee.
Without being told why, several elders were asked to come to the head of our quorum class and lay hands on a scales. The total downward pressure soon became 10 pounds, (about 4.7 Kg). Then we were told to be a little lighter on the hands in the future. I was. Others were not.
Some may ask why is olive oil specified for the process. Mostly because of purity, generally. However, if you visit the office of a chiropractor and he gives you an ultrasonic treatment for tight and sore muscles, there is an excellent chance that he will rub on some olive oil first. The oil is a conditioner and a conductor of, or preparation for, the ultrasonic energy flow.
I believe that administering to the sick with an anointing, laying on of hands and the uttering of a sincere blessing is more ceremonial and ritualistic than it is effective, although I am sure that some restorative and corrective energy enters the crown chakra of the blessee from the hands chakras of the blesser. Unfortunately, neither one knows what to do after that, and the energy flow is left to its own devices rather than being willfully directed as it should be.
Anyway, let us return to little DeAnne. She had stepped on a garbage bag that had pieces of a broken mirror in it. The EMT's (Emergency Medical Technicians) and the doctors at the Emergency Clinic cleaned it out, sewed it up, put a bandage on it, gave her some pain killers and sent her home, because that was the extent of their medical knowledge. The remainder of the healing process would be natural and otherwise not encouraged. "Stay off the foot for a day or two." Great treatment as far as it went.
Don, also a Mormon Elder at the time, agreed to assist me. He would do the anointing and I would pronounce the blessing.
Afterward I asked Janet if she had any objections to me trying something else, a little different. She had no idea what I was talking about, but she trusted me and agreed to whatever it was that I wanted to do. She stayed right there to see what I intended to do.
I cradled the heel of the injured foot in my left hand. It was comfortable for myself as well as DeAnne. Next I began to move my hand from her toes to a point about four inches (10 cm) above her ankle, and back again. While my left hand was in contact with her foot, my right hand stayed from 1 to 4 inches away from her skin at all times.
In my mind I could see and was directing energy from outside of my body, through my crown chakra, down into my heart center, where it was magnified, then up to my throat chakra, out to my shoulders, down my arms and out my hand chakras and onto and into her foot.
I was balancing the energy in DeAnne's foot, energy that was out of balance due to the injury and the medical treatment, or lack of it.
Don, at the same time, was sending out LOVE and imaging pure white Light pouring from HIS heart chakra. First of all, he was imaging the making of a cocoon of White Light around her entire body and then filling her body, through her crown chakra with pure white Light and Love. I was not aware that Don had been doing this until afterward. I later discovered that although it is better to have a second person assist, it is possible for a single individual to do the hand chakras thing AND the other thing with the white Light at the same time.
We treated DeAnne's foot for five minutes, because at the end of that time I had a "gut feeling" it was over. I have used the "Five Minutes" as a gauge ever since. Sometimes longer. Sometimes shorter. In DeAnne's case I moved my hand 1 to 4 inches from her foot and ankle, back and forth, and at the same time moving it from side to side, but always pointing my palm at her foot and ankle. At all times I was imaging white Light and radiating a feeling of Universal Love. A feeling of true, genuine concern.
Before we started, DeAnne's foot was cold and clammy, as would be expected after an injury and medical treatment. Afterward her foot was restored to its proper, before injury, warmth and color. Best of all, the pain was gone. Once again she was comfortable. I rinsed my hands in running, cold water for a full minute immediately afterward. (This is important.) Then Don and I left.
Janet told me, later, that almost immediately DeAnne was laughing, playing and interacting with the other children once again, WITHOUT any of the previous whining and sympathy seeking words and actions. The next day she got up and around quite well, and cheerfully, with the aid of crutches, that were just to keep her full weight off of the foot. The day after that she was up and around WITHOUT the crutches. Janet told me that she had never seen such extensive and immediate results with no relapse. She said that such injuries should NOT have healed so quickly and completely, not even in a child. It did take time for the actual wound to close and seal completely. However, I honestly believe that it did occur more quickly and completely because of what Don and I did than would have happened without our "treatment." This event occurred in 1981.
In 1983 my son's girlfriend stated that she had a pain in her left foot. She said it was a dull pain, but not really serious, not incapacitating. It was just a darned nuisance. It was centered near the base of the middle toe of her left foot. Cindy told me the condition had existed for about three years and she had simply come to accept the pain as a condition of life.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
I ASKED Cindy if she would like for me to do something about the condition. Had she declined, for any reason whatsoever, I would have smiled, nodded agreement and moved on to something else. In this case, she was aware of my interests in psychic matters and agreed to a treatment.
I asked her to sit on the floor and make a bare foot available to me. This was done and I began to prepare myself. The deep breathing. The cocoon of Love and Light. I shook my hands and willed the power to radiate from them. I put my hands next to my cheeks and felt the intensity of the warmth coming from them. Next I placed one hand on the bottom of her foot and the other hand on top of it. Her distressed foot was sandwiched between my hands. It was a gentle touch, as opposed to a firm one.
I was imagining, in my mind, power surging in through my crown chakra, going to my heart center where it was magnified, then up to my throat chakra, out to my shoulders, down my arms and out the hand chakras in my palms. At the same time I was also imaging pure white Light going out of my heart chakra and wrapping around Cindy, forming a cocoon of protective and healing white Light. Also, I willed the white Light to be mixed with wisps of mint green light (for healing) going out of my heart chakra, entering her crown chakra and filling her entire body.
After five minutes was up, I stopped and went to the kitchen to rinse my hands in running, cold tap water for a full minute. This helps to "clean off" the chakras, clearing away any impurities that may have become attached to my hands during the treatment. This is something that I recommend you do each time you perform such a treatment, whether or not you actually touch the other person physically. The "impurities" I refer to are not necessarily physical in nature. Although they can, and do affect the physical body, YOUR physical body. It is best to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Once, when I was new to all of this stuff, my friend Sharon had a sore throat. Nothing serious. Just a nuisance. I asked if she would like for me to give her a treatment. She agreed and I performed. Sharon was an "old hand" at psychic healing and massage methods, being a "healer" herself. She was most agreeable and quite receptive.
Well, let me tell you, I was feeling good and all charged up with the "power." I knew that I could handle a sore throat with no trouble at all. Piece of cake. In fact, I could describe my attitude as being one of overconfidence, as I look back on the situation. I thought I could cure a rainy day with impunity from negative results.
I felt that my status, powers and abilities were much greater than they actually were. When I had finished the treatment, I KNEW, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I no longer needed to address myself to the ritual of hand washing, because LEON was advanced and "protected." I should have washed my hands. The next day Sharon was fine and LEON had a sore throat. I suffered for my disrespect for three days. Lesson learned.
When I visited Trinidad and Tobago, in the West Indies, I met a man name Jai who was bed-ridden from an accident as a youth. He needed help to move anywhere. Through the great love and compassion of his brother, Jai was able to get meals, visit the doctor, etc.
While lying in bed he developed bedsores, including a rather nasty one on his elbow that the doctors were treating with limited success. I asked, he agreed, and I gave him a "hand chakra treatment." He said it felt better and was without pain in his elbow the next day. When he went to the doctor, again the doctor was amazed that the healing process had accelerated so.
After I returned to Arizona, Jai would call me periodically and ask me to "send" healing energy to him. This I did, over thousands of miles. On occasion I would charge up and send healing energy to him even thought it had not been requested. On these occasions, he would either write or call and thank me because out of nowhere his pain would subside and healing accelerated.
In Jai's case, I believe there was karma or some deep-seated lesson that he was to learn by having his condition, because every time I would apply energy, either in person or remotely, the effect would last about three days and he would revert. On those occasions when I would send energy for two, three or more days in a row, the effect would reverse about three days after I stopped.
Conclusion: Sometimes well-intentioned helping is interference.
If you give your child all the answers to a test, relieving him of the strain and wonder of learning, are you helping or interfering? Life on earth is for learning lessons that we sometimes do not understand, and sometimes do not even want to accept. It is still interference. I always preface my healing with, "If this healing energy is in the highest good of my friend and the highest good of all life everywhere, allow it to be so." Sometimes the healing takes effect right away and sticks. Sometimes it has no effect. In the former case I am happy; in the latter I still Love the individual and allow God His will, and accept it.
I do not profess, contend or suggest that the use of energy channeled through your chakras will solve each, every and all physical problems. Herbs, massage, meditation and other natural manipulations of power all have their purposes and are not to be discounted, made light of, or ridiculed. I acknowledge there are times when the services of a good medical practitioner are advisable.
Edgar Cayce, in many of his readings for various people stated that a large host of physical ailments and problems could be prevented and alleviated by a proper diet and proper elimination of body wastes. Then again, proper diet will usually result in the proper elimination of body wastes. And both are a sign of good health.
Most of the negative physical conditions that visit us are the result of a direct invitation from US! Thus, I believe that good physical health begins with a good, positive mental attitude, especially about ourselves. We need to will ourselves to be wrapped in a cocoon of white Light. This will repel negativity trying to get in and it will help to neutralize and transmute any negativity that is already within our being. White Light promotes balance and harmony.
What did Jesus teach during his three-year ministry on the earth?
LOVE! Love everyone and everything! Without restriction, without reservation and without end. DO THIS THING!
Radiate LOVE and LIGHT from your heart center to all creations in all of the Universes and all of the "Ten Thousand Things," as Lao Tzu said. (NOTE: When the ancient Chinese used the expression "Ten Thousand Things" it was symbolic of the greatest number in the possible in the universe. It is another way of saying "everything.") If you do this thing and find there is still an imbalance in your physical being, do not be too quick to consult those who ply the knife and prescribe the use of excessive and unnatural chemicals to stop the symptoms. Instead, use the Universal Power of GOD, the Creator, the Ultimate Source to regain a natural balance. It works. It's free. It is a gift of pure Love from He Who Came First.
But, let me reiterate, if you feel it necessary, and you feel comfortable in seeking the services of a professional medical practitioner, please do so.
I leave this with you in Peace, Love and Light,
by Leon Turner Copyright, 1987 Salt Lake City, Utah
There is a power in the Universe that is available to every will-endowed creature that lives in this Universe or any of the other Universes. This POWER is generally unused because we, as individuals, are usually unable to manipulate it because of breeding, social mores and environment. This is a nasty shame because it could very easily alleviate much hostility, disease, sickness and death in the world.
The saddest part is that the ability to manipulate this power is generally rejected most vehemently by those who need it the most. It is denied, ridiculed and pooh-poohed by many, especially those whom we accept as "leaders." Most especially religious leaders. These people not only reject the very idea of the existence of this power, they pressure those who know about it into a state of silence, and thus they stifle its promulgation. This is called "control through fear, guilt and intimidation." It sucks, but it works. To draw this power unto yourself, magnify it and channel it out to and for the benefit of others is very simple and easy to accomplish.
THE THOUGHT OF HEALING HANDS
The thought of laying on of hands to heal your loved ones seems mystical to many. It is said that only the Prophets of old were able to do this. Some say that only a few living evangelists "chosen of God" can heal with their hands. The American Medical Association most certainly does NOT want this power widely known, let alone used by anyone outside of the limited and licensed medical profession. Not inside that profession, for that matter, because of the potential negative impact on their buddies and fellow conspirators in the pharmaceutical industry. And this because it works and it's FREE. If everyone were using this power as the Creator intended it, the medical profession would lose a lot of money, and an awful lot of power, because so many people rely on them for advice and treatment. You think not? Let me assure you that if Exxon or Texaco could control the sun we would all be driving solar-powered cars right now. But that is another subject for another time. Think about it.
Please to understand: it is my personal opinion that the primary purpose of medical practitioners is to entertain the patient while nature takes its course. The physical body is designed by the Creator to be self-healing if given proper fuel and some caring help. Given time the human body can adapt to a wide variety of circumstances and environments and exist, if not thrive. If injured the body can heal itself. You might have to set a broken bone or lance a boil or two, but the human body is truly amazing. I also, in my heart of hearts, believe that for every disease and affliction that it is possible for mankind to contract, the Creator has placed upon this earth a free, easy to obtain, easy to use cure.
The medical profession, while it does some good, is a limiting, limited, self-policing, self-serving, self- perpetuating GUILD that limits its membership to those who will swear allegiance to the organization and agree to conform to its rules, some of which are silly and illogical.
Anyone who is a non-member is NOT allowed to "practice." Those who are not IN the guide who do practice are attacked, harassed and harnessed through the instrumentality of another Guild - The Lawyers Guild. The most detrimental factor to these two Guilds is an informed, intelligent and spiritually FREE citizenry that refuses to play the GAMES of these guilds and refuses to recognize their rules and their authority.
SOME SECRETS OF HEALING HANDS
I will now give you some of the secrets of the healing of physical bodies, spiritually. They are simple. They are easy to learn and to use. They are FREE. While the use of these "secret" powers may not be all that is required to overcome and balance every diseased body, they certainly will help. This is a portal, through which I sincerely hope and pray you will pass to get on the pathway to your ultimate spiritual goal. It may be only another milestone on the pathway that you have already chosen and are already on as you move along to the ultimate goal and achievement of whatever it is you hope to achieve.
And for God's sake DON'T be distracted or distressed by the myriad of misguided, misinformed and uninformed individuals who are scared of anything they don't understand and will tell YOU this cannot be done and that cannot be done by YOU or any other human, simply because THEY cannot do it. When YOU do succeed, then THEY will have been proven wrong and THEIR poor egos will receive another ding and it will hurt THEM. Quite frankly, there are just some people who do not want you, or anyone else to be able to do something, or in some rarer cases ANYTHING that THEY do not understand or cannot do. For you to possess and demonstrate a power or knowledge THEY do not possess and cannot use frightens them because you are a threat to their individual sense of power and control.
An example would be for you to travel back to the 12th or 13th century with a cigarette lighter, or even a box of common kitchen matches. You would be declared either a God or a Witch. More than likely a witch and you would be cast out of society or killed in it.
Fear of the unknown is a terrible negative power. Jesus the Christ said, "Know the truth and the truth shall set you free." This applies to temporal as well as spiritual matters.
If you succumb to THEIR ranting and denials and should say to yourself often enough, "I cannot do this. This is impossible. I cannot do these things," then you are correct. Trust me on this one. If you say you cannot, then you cannot. This is true because you will have set and accepted limits of your mind. Worse yet, you will have allowed others to set those limits for you. On the other hand -if you say you CAN, then you CAN. Maybe not right away, but how did it take you to learn to ride a bicycle or drive a car? Give it a chance and give it a little time. If ANYone can do this then EVERYone can do it.
WHATEVER THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE AND THE HEART CAN BELIEVE YOU CAN ACHIEVE!
Who are YOUR real friends? God NEVER intended that YOU should be a failure. God wants YOU to succeed in all positive areas. After all, the ultimate purpose of all of your experiences, on this earth and afterward is to teach and train you to be JUST LIKE GOD! So - whom do you want to believe? God or a bunch of frightened, self-defeating losers and failures?
This does not mean that you should flaunt your knowledge and powers, and use them as an expression of your superiority. Be like a beacon Light that shines in the night. Use your knowledge, powers and abilities with kindness and self-confidence and, when asked, teach others that they can have or develop those same powers themselves.
In the beginning of the use of your "healing hands power," do NOT confer with others if there is the slightest hint or doubt as to whether or not they are of a like mind as yourself. Avoid negative people. If you are fortunate enough to have a friend with whom to share and learn it is so much the better. Together you can grow faster. However, you must be very careful because if you are subject to that terrible monster RIDICULE before you can prove to yourself that you are capable of using this healing power. I tell you this from personal experience.
If you do confer with someone who is not of the same spiritual mind as yourself I can guarantee that the probability is almost 100% that you will receive a negative, and possibly an angry response from them. This is the worst possible thing that occur to you in the beginning. It can stop you cold, or it can retard your progress immeasurably. Bear in mind that even those persons for whom you have the greatest respect and admiration may feel threatened by you and your newfound knowledge and try to dissuade you from this venture. Even if they do not feel threatened they may still try to dissuade you from your quest "for your own good."
What do you think would have been the result if in your earliest schooling, when you were learning simply arithmetic, if instead of encouragement by the teacher to try again and try harder the teacher and your parents had criticized and ridiculed you and told you that you would never be able to add two and two? The same principle applies here. In the beginning you NEED encouragement, NOT criticism and ridicule. Have you ever had to go in front of a school class and answer a question and made a mistake and had everyone in the class laugh at you? The natural course of event is to stop right there, quit and never go on. You want to do anything to stop or avoid ridicule.
It is far better to go this one alone, at least until you can prove to yourself what you are reading here is true, than to take a chance of being stopped by someone who does not appreciate or even understand. I say "alone" referring to the physical. Spiritually you are never alone. If you are sincere in your search for new knowledge and excellence in life you will be aided by your unseen guides and masters to an extent beyond your wildest dreams and imagination. Opportunities will open to you and a lot of things in your life will fall right into place. The RIGHT things for YOU.
Your knowledge, wisdom and expertise will magnify logarithmically as you proceed along your pathway to perfection.
FIRST: KNOW THIS THING CAN BE DONE!
You are not, and I repeat NOT the first to know these things are true, and that they DO work. YOU can do it ALSO!
This Power is Universal in scope and nature. It permeates all that is. It needs only to be directed by the will of an individual, like you, to be used.
If you want to read some books on the subject I suggest Rainbow in Your Hands and Joy's Way. These books are available at any good metaphysical bookstore or a major bookstore with a metaphysical or New Age section. These are not all of the books on the subject, but they are good place to start to get more information on the subject. It is another step along the way you may prefer to take. Nice to know, but not necessary.
This is just like driving a car or riding a bicycle. At first it requires a conscious effort to think out each move. Later, with experience, it becomes easier and eventually will become automatic and will be done without any apparent conscious effort on your part. Finally you will arrive at the point where you will seriously wonder why others, whom you know and will meet, do not readily accept this knowledge. Why are THEY like YOU were when you first read this?
SECOND:
Let us get into CHAKRAs. It is a Sanskrit word that means "Wheel." What are they? Where are they? How do they figure into the healing process?
There are seven major chakras, and a lot of minor ones, on the human body. It is interesting to note that the major chakras have corresponding colors and musical notes or tones. There are books available that go into greater detail than we need to go into right now, here.
My primary interest is in the chakras at the crown of the head, the heart and the palms of the hands. These are major Energy Emission Points. For right now, accept this as true. Don't make the mistake of getting bogged down in the: What If..?; How Does..? Why Does..? syndrome. Accept that they are there. The first obstacle to overcome is to activate them and to consciously make then usable.
Here is where we get into the ritual stuff. Why? A ritual is to help us focus our attentions when we are new at something and are easily distracted. It is the following of certain steps, in a given order to achieve a given result or condition. It is also true that after we have become accustomed to the effect and KNOW what it is that you want to accomplish that the ritual becomes less important. Like driving an automobile, after a while control and effect becomes an automatic process. In fact, after we become proficient at what the rituals teach, the ritual can become like an anchor to us, holding back as we strive to move forward. The beauty of the rituals is that if at some time you let this go for a long period of time and seem to lose the "touch," the ritual will help you to refocus on what needs to be done.
What we are leading up to here is a two or three minute process that will activate your chakras. As time goes by you will eventually be able to skip right to the last line and go from there. If you use it a great deal you may not turn it off when you think you are finished with it. Neat. Huh?
The CROWN CHAKRA is at the top of the head. At first you may feel nothing at all. Then you will feel a slight pressure as it begins to open up. At sometime you will feel that you are wearing a skullcap. At times it may even feel like a skullcap that is a tad to tight and you may try to lift it off with your hands. It can be a weird feeling when you are not accustomed to it. Running your hands over your head will not remove the feeling. But don't worry about it. That's a good sign.
How do you activate your Crown Chakra? It's easy. Too easy for many people to accept at first. It is difficult for many to accept that ALL people can do this.
Here is the "secret":
Close your eyes, gently. NOT tightly. Don't be afraid that you will see something you shouldn't. Slowly and naturally take in a deep breath through your nose. Hold it for a slow three count. One... two... three. Exhale slowly and naturally through your mouth. Force nothing. Be comfortable. Hold that for a slow three count also. This is important. That is the four stages of breathing. In. Hold. Out. Hold. Three seconds, maybe five. This is not an endurance contest.
And you thought it would be complicated.
Don't get carried away or all you will be doing is breathing. That's all right, but it's not what we're after here. As you continue this process, imagine, picture in your own mind, allow it to happen, see yourself relaxing more and more. Let yourself slip into a quiet, peaceful, restful condition. Give your mind ONLY peaceful, loving, soft thoughts.
As you breathe in THINK
"I AM breathing in the power of the Universe."
As you breathe out THINK
"I AM breathing out any and all of the hate, the anger and the negativity that is within me."
If it requires more than three times of doing this to make you feel comfortable and at peace, go for it. If three is enough - fine. The rule here is not set in concrete. People tend to be different, and that's all right. We were intended to be different.
The main thing here is that YOU feel comfortable. This is NOT a contest to see who can be first. In fact a feeling of competitiveness can be detrimental. Once you have achieved such a state of mind and body, say aloud, in a normal voice, (do not shout),
"Crown Chakra. I command you to activate."
Remember this, this is YOUR Crown Chakra. It WILL do what YOU command it to do.
The first time I did this, it began as a slight pressure at the crown of my head and felt like it was spreading out, as it opened up. You may or may not feel the exact same thing as I did. Faster? Slower? Differently? It doesn't matter.
At first you may wish to continue to do the breathing exercises. All right. The most important thing to remember at this point is that THIS IS YOU! Right now you are a unique and different individual. There is no right or wrong HERE. There is only getting YOU to that point of conscious, willful and deliberate activation of your crown chakra. For some it will occur quickly. Perhaps it is something being remembered from a past life.
For another it may be coming slower because they have never had a past life experience with this. It is purely an individual matter. I cannot stress that enough. How long it takes is NOT as important as the actual, successful activation. Do not be discouraged if nothing happens immediately, or even if nothing happens on the first attempt.
When Don H. taught me how to do this, he related that it had taken him months to accomplish this thing. Under his tutelage I was able to activate my crown chakra in a matter of days. I explained it to my daughter, at age 7, how to do it, and SHE picked it up in MINUTES.
The Crown Chakra is the one through which your Higher Consciousness charges and recharges your bodies. I hope that eventually you will accept that your Higher Consciousness is another name for the Christ Consciousness, which is another name for the Universal Consciousness, which is another name for God. Accept what you can. Eventually all of the pieces will fit and when you accept what and who you truly are it will be a beautiful experience.
NOW FOR THE HEART CHAKRA
The Heart Chakra can be a lot of fun. I have only had GOOD experiences with it. Like the others, it requires only your will to make it work correctly. I saw, in my mind, and I willed it to happen, that a stream, a flood of pure white Light and Love of God and of Jesus Christ pour into me through my crown chakra and be magnified by my heart chakra, which is located near the base of the sternum, or breastbone.
I was sitting in church on Sunday morning and activated my heart chakra. I imaged the power coming in through my crown chakra and being magnified and poured out through my heart chakra (heart center) to every single person in the chapel. All of the time I was thinking, concentrating on the message, but not verbalizing, "I love all of you people. Every one of you." I did this for about five minutes. I was the only one aware of what I was doing. WOW! The effects of that power surging through my body was tremendous. I became so "charged up" that it was all I could do to remain there, in that place and force myself to sit still.
I was able to constrain myself until the meeting was over. Then I HAD to go home. I could not, would not, stay there while my body was in such an excited state. I was wound up tight. I was charged with a power I was unfamiliar with. I had to go home. I had to go some place where I could unwind in private. I went home. I paced the floor. I sat down. I had to get up within 10 seconds. I washed the dishes. I tidied up around the house. It was over an hour before I could come down off of that natural "high."
I later recognized that it is possible for an individual to become accustomed to that kind of a "high." I can see and understand that with repeated exposure it would not always affect an individual the way it affects them the first time. It was similar to that feeling, that "lift" you get when you light up that first cigarette in the morning. Possibly that moment when that first bit of alcohol hits your brain.
Joseph Smith, Junior, the first prophet of the Mormon church had led some of the brothers in fasting and fervent prayer, and they were all "caught up in the spirit" and "taken away." Afterward the Brothers were physically drained from their first such experience. Brother Joseph got up and left the room, allowing the brothers to recover on their own. At that time he commented, "It's always like that the first time."
Based on that and on personal experience I can say that over a period of time you will become accustomed to the feeling. It will never be like it was the first time, so enjoy the living daylights out of it while you have it.
Anyway - that is basically how it works. Practice with it. Make it yours. Use it. It can be directed at a specific individual, or you can "blanket an area" with it.
With the heart chakra as well as the others you can direct what kind of energy goes out and to whom. Furthermore, as you become more and more adept at the manipulation and use of this Power, you will be able to SEND it over greater and greater distances with a tremendous beneficial result for you as well as for the recipient, for there is no way that you can use this power for others and not receive some benefits for yourself.
It will be best for the recipient if he/she is "open" to the receipt of this energy. An unsuspecting, unwilling or resistant recipient may cause you more problems than it is worth to either of you. Forcing this on anyone is not a good plan.
If the recipient doesn't even suspect you are sending energy to them may be "the fly in the ointment" here. If they are involved in a situation they have programmed for themselves to experience for the wisdom and knowledge to be had it is possible that you in good faith, of a benevolent mind, want to help. In fact you may be interfering with their free will. Sometime the best way to help another is to do nothing to help them.
After a while you will notice that you can influence a situation easily only to have the fabric of your "blessing" unravel and the recipient returns to where you interfered. When this happens, mind your own business.
THE HAND CHAKRAS
The third chakras are the Hand Chakras. The strongest energy radiation is from the palms. I wish to relate the story of how I started mine "burning."
My friend, Don H., had been telling me about this chakra stuff, and I was listening intently and soaking up his words like a sponge soaks up water. We were having one of our very long, nightly conversations. He was amused and laughing at my reactions to the opening and activation of these chakras. It made him laugh to see any other person bewildered and amazed at things he had accepted as true for so long. Discomfort and embarrassment of others was always a source of amusement for Don. In fact he howled with laughter the day I choked on some lemon juice that I was not aware had been laced with a hefty dose of cayenne pepper. It was a combination that he was accustomed to and I was not. He may have changed by now. I sure hope so, for the sake of others, and for Don.
In the Mormon Temples there is a scene acted out where the Apostles, Peter, James and John are casting Satan out of the Garden of Eden, out of the presence of Adam and Eve. Peter commands Satan to leave, "I dismiss you without further argument."
Satan asks, "And what is your authority?"
Peter raises his arm to the square. The right arm straight out to the right and parallel to the ground, from the shoulder to the elbow. Elbow to wrist straight up. Hand bent back slightly at the wrist. Fingers are curved naturally and comfortably, forming a shallow "cup." The thumb is perpendicular to the index finger and pointing toward the head, forming a right angle, thumb and forefinger. Peter says, with a tone of authority, "In the name of our Master, Jesus Christ." Satan knows he has been bested, bows his head and leaves the Garden, humiliated.
Well, there we were, sitting in Don's car in the Teledyne parking lot, in Salt Lake City. He was drinking beer and I was drinking Squirt. For some reason our conversation turned to the above scene from the Temple. I was considering that the motions and the vibrations those particular words might create, or direct some type of irresistible energy flow. Not really expecting any particular result I raised my arm to the square and said, "In the name of our Master, Jesus Christ," out loud.
All of a sudden the palm of my right hand began to warm up. It was almost uncomfortably warm because of the energy being radiated from a spot about the size of a silver dollar, about 35-mm. I was taken by surprise at this action. It must have been somewhat amusing to see, because Don started howling with laughter.
And that, my friends, is the short of how it all started. But, how about some examples of what you can do with it? What is it good for? Examples follow.
Please to understand that once the hand chakras are activated they will ALWAYS emit some degree of radiation. Not to be confused with the harmful radiation one gets from an x-ray or a nuclear explosion. THIS radiation you can willfully increase or you can let it run down to barely perceptible.
Probably one of the most amusing incidents occurred one evening when I was accompanying Don on a sales call to a private home. Don introduced me as a new man who was learning the trade, would observe only, and would otherwise remain silent. Then Don began to tell his story. Not wanting to interfere with his sales presentation that I had already heard many times, I started to read a magazine. An innocent enough pastime.
Now, picture this: I was sitting on a low sofa, a magazine lays open before me on a coffee table. My elbows were resting firmly on my knees, fingertips touching my temples, thumbs touching my jaws, hands cupped. The cups pointing toward my head. I was concentrating on the contents of the magazine and ignored all else. I had sat like this in the past and gave no thought at all to the position of my hands.
Gradually my face began to warm up. Then I began to perspire freely. The experience was becoming uncomfortable to me. Finally there was a point where I could break into Don's story telling without breaking the mood he had created. I looked up and said, "Is it warm in here, to anyone else, or is it just me?"
The others looked at me and said that it must be ME. Later, when I was out of the situation I analyzed it and decided that it was the radiation from my hand chakras that had been warming up my face, because when I took my hands down, the sensation of warmth went away. When I related this to Don, he roared with laughter, again.
There was another time when Don was over to my house and I received a telephone call from a widow lady who lived up the street from us. Janet asked if I could come up to her house and give her daughter, DeAnne, a Mormon Elder's Blessing. It seems that DeAnne had stepped on some broken glass, cut her foot, had some stitches put in and it hurt. Thus the call for the Blessing. According to Church Doctrine this is done by two people, if at all possible. The first one anoints the crown of the head with a couple a drops of olive oil that has been "consecrated, dedicated and set apart for the healing of the sick." I had some in the medicine cabinet. The first elder rubs in the oil and states that the anointing is to the end and purpose that the blessing pronounced by the other elder will come to pass. Then the second elder lays his hands on the head of the blessee and says some "healing" words, and qualifies it (usually) by saying that the blessing will come to pass IF the blessee has faith, but it will be dependent and conditional on the faith and faithfulness of the individual and "the household of faith." It is an easy out in case the "blessing" doesn't take hold and effect a cure. It gives the blesser the appearance of performing a service while laying the responsibility for potential failure on the blessee and his/her family and household. Success can be attributed "to the Lord."
In the Mormon catechism classes, we were told that the hands were always to be placed lightly over the crown of the head of the blessee. If more than one individual were to be participating in the administration of the blessing then the hands of the others were to be placed lightly on top of those of the blesser, over the crown of the blessee's head. All pretty standard stuff. But when you get several sets of hands in there it can become a pretty heavy load on the blessee.
Without being told why, several elders were asked to come to the head of our quorum class and lay hands on a scales. The total downward pressure soon became 10 pounds, (about 4.7 Kg). Then we were told to be a little lighter on the hands in the future. I was. Others were not.
Some may ask why is olive oil specified for the process. Mostly because of purity, generally. However, if you visit the office of a chiropractor and he gives you an ultrasonic treatment for tight and sore muscles, there is an excellent chance that he will rub on some olive oil first. The oil is a conditioner and a conductor of, or preparation for, the ultrasonic energy flow.
I believe that administering to the sick with an anointing, laying on of hands and the uttering of a sincere blessing is more ceremonial and ritualistic than it is effective, although I am sure that some restorative and corrective energy enters the crown chakra of the blessee from the hands chakras of the blesser. Unfortunately, neither one knows what to do after that, and the energy flow is left to its own devices rather than being willfully directed as it should be.
Anyway, let us return to little DeAnne. She had stepped on a garbage bag that had pieces of a broken mirror in it. The EMT's (Emergency Medical Technicians) and the doctors at the Emergency Clinic cleaned it out, sewed it up, put a bandage on it, gave her some pain killers and sent her home, because that was the extent of their medical knowledge. The remainder of the healing process would be natural and otherwise not encouraged. "Stay off the foot for a day or two." Great treatment as far as it went.
Don, also a Mormon Elder at the time, agreed to assist me. He would do the anointing and I would pronounce the blessing.
Afterward I asked Janet if she had any objections to me trying something else, a little different. She had no idea what I was talking about, but she trusted me and agreed to whatever it was that I wanted to do. She stayed right there to see what I intended to do.
I cradled the heel of the injured foot in my left hand. It was comfortable for myself as well as DeAnne. Next I began to move my hand from her toes to a point about four inches (10 cm) above her ankle, and back again. While my left hand was in contact with her foot, my right hand stayed from 1 to 4 inches away from her skin at all times.
In my mind I could see and was directing energy from outside of my body, through my crown chakra, down into my heart center, where it was magnified, then up to my throat chakra, out to my shoulders, down my arms and out my hand chakras and onto and into her foot.
I was balancing the energy in DeAnne's foot, energy that was out of balance due to the injury and the medical treatment, or lack of it.
Don, at the same time, was sending out LOVE and imaging pure white Light pouring from HIS heart chakra. First of all, he was imaging the making of a cocoon of White Light around her entire body and then filling her body, through her crown chakra with pure white Light and Love. I was not aware that Don had been doing this until afterward. I later discovered that although it is better to have a second person assist, it is possible for a single individual to do the hand chakras thing AND the other thing with the white Light at the same time.
We treated DeAnne's foot for five minutes, because at the end of that time I had a "gut feeling" it was over. I have used the "Five Minutes" as a gauge ever since. Sometimes longer. Sometimes shorter. In DeAnne's case I moved my hand 1 to 4 inches from her foot and ankle, back and forth, and at the same time moving it from side to side, but always pointing my palm at her foot and ankle. At all times I was imaging white Light and radiating a feeling of Universal Love. A feeling of true, genuine concern.
Before we started, DeAnne's foot was cold and clammy, as would be expected after an injury and medical treatment. Afterward her foot was restored to its proper, before injury, warmth and color. Best of all, the pain was gone. Once again she was comfortable. I rinsed my hands in running, cold water for a full minute immediately afterward. (This is important.) Then Don and I left.
Janet told me, later, that almost immediately DeAnne was laughing, playing and interacting with the other children once again, WITHOUT any of the previous whining and sympathy seeking words and actions. The next day she got up and around quite well, and cheerfully, with the aid of crutches, that were just to keep her full weight off of the foot. The day after that she was up and around WITHOUT the crutches. Janet told me that she had never seen such extensive and immediate results with no relapse. She said that such injuries should NOT have healed so quickly and completely, not even in a child. It did take time for the actual wound to close and seal completely. However, I honestly believe that it did occur more quickly and completely because of what Don and I did than would have happened without our "treatment." This event occurred in 1981.
In 1983 my son's girlfriend stated that she had a pain in her left foot. She said it was a dull pain, but not really serious, not incapacitating. It was just a darned nuisance. It was centered near the base of the middle toe of her left foot. Cindy told me the condition had existed for about three years and she had simply come to accept the pain as a condition of life.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
I ASKED Cindy if she would like for me to do something about the condition. Had she declined, for any reason whatsoever, I would have smiled, nodded agreement and moved on to something else. In this case, she was aware of my interests in psychic matters and agreed to a treatment.
I asked her to sit on the floor and make a bare foot available to me. This was done and I began to prepare myself. The deep breathing. The cocoon of Love and Light. I shook my hands and willed the power to radiate from them. I put my hands next to my cheeks and felt the intensity of the warmth coming from them. Next I placed one hand on the bottom of her foot and the other hand on top of it. Her distressed foot was sandwiched between my hands. It was a gentle touch, as opposed to a firm one.
I was imagining, in my mind, power surging in through my crown chakra, going to my heart center where it was magnified, then up to my throat chakra, out to my shoulders, down my arms and out the hand chakras in my palms. At the same time I was also imaging pure white Light going out of my heart chakra and wrapping around Cindy, forming a cocoon of protective and healing white Light. Also, I willed the white Light to be mixed with wisps of mint green light (for healing) going out of my heart chakra, entering her crown chakra and filling her entire body.
After five minutes was up, I stopped and went to the kitchen to rinse my hands in running, cold tap water for a full minute. This helps to "clean off" the chakras, clearing away any impurities that may have become attached to my hands during the treatment. This is something that I recommend you do each time you perform such a treatment, whether or not you actually touch the other person physically. The "impurities" I refer to are not necessarily physical in nature. Although they can, and do affect the physical body, YOUR physical body. It is best to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Once, when I was new to all of this stuff, my friend Sharon had a sore throat. Nothing serious. Just a nuisance. I asked if she would like for me to give her a treatment. She agreed and I performed. Sharon was an "old hand" at psychic healing and massage methods, being a "healer" herself. She was most agreeable and quite receptive.
Well, let me tell you, I was feeling good and all charged up with the "power." I knew that I could handle a sore throat with no trouble at all. Piece of cake. In fact, I could describe my attitude as being one of overconfidence, as I look back on the situation. I thought I could cure a rainy day with impunity from negative results.
I felt that my status, powers and abilities were much greater than they actually were. When I had finished the treatment, I KNEW, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I no longer needed to address myself to the ritual of hand washing, because LEON was advanced and "protected." I should have washed my hands. The next day Sharon was fine and LEON had a sore throat. I suffered for my disrespect for three days. Lesson learned.
When I visited Trinidad and Tobago, in the West Indies, I met a man name Jai who was bed-ridden from an accident as a youth. He needed help to move anywhere. Through the great love and compassion of his brother, Jai was able to get meals, visit the doctor, etc.
While lying in bed he developed bedsores, including a rather nasty one on his elbow that the doctors were treating with limited success. I asked, he agreed, and I gave him a "hand chakra treatment." He said it felt better and was without pain in his elbow the next day. When he went to the doctor, again the doctor was amazed that the healing process had accelerated so.
After I returned to Arizona, Jai would call me periodically and ask me to "send" healing energy to him. This I did, over thousands of miles. On occasion I would charge up and send healing energy to him even thought it had not been requested. On these occasions, he would either write or call and thank me because out of nowhere his pain would subside and healing accelerated.
In Jai's case, I believe there was karma or some deep-seated lesson that he was to learn by having his condition, because every time I would apply energy, either in person or remotely, the effect would last about three days and he would revert. On those occasions when I would send energy for two, three or more days in a row, the effect would reverse about three days after I stopped.
Conclusion: Sometimes well-intentioned helping is interference.
If you give your child all the answers to a test, relieving him of the strain and wonder of learning, are you helping or interfering? Life on earth is for learning lessons that we sometimes do not understand, and sometimes do not even want to accept. It is still interference. I always preface my healing with, "If this healing energy is in the highest good of my friend and the highest good of all life everywhere, allow it to be so." Sometimes the healing takes effect right away and sticks. Sometimes it has no effect. In the former case I am happy; in the latter I still Love the individual and allow God His will, and accept it.
I do not profess, contend or suggest that the use of energy channeled through your chakras will solve each, every and all physical problems. Herbs, massage, meditation and other natural manipulations of power all have their purposes and are not to be discounted, made light of, or ridiculed. I acknowledge there are times when the services of a good medical practitioner are advisable.
Edgar Cayce, in many of his readings for various people stated that a large host of physical ailments and problems could be prevented and alleviated by a proper diet and proper elimination of body wastes. Then again, proper diet will usually result in the proper elimination of body wastes. And both are a sign of good health.
Most of the negative physical conditions that visit us are the result of a direct invitation from US! Thus, I believe that good physical health begins with a good, positive mental attitude, especially about ourselves. We need to will ourselves to be wrapped in a cocoon of white Light. This will repel negativity trying to get in and it will help to neutralize and transmute any negativity that is already within our being. White Light promotes balance and harmony.
What did Jesus teach during his three-year ministry on the earth?
LOVE! Love everyone and everything! Without restriction, without reservation and without end. DO THIS THING!
Radiate LOVE and LIGHT from your heart center to all creations in all of the Universes and all of the "Ten Thousand Things," as Lao Tzu said. (NOTE: When the ancient Chinese used the expression "Ten Thousand Things" it was symbolic of the greatest number in the possible in the universe. It is another way of saying "everything.") If you do this thing and find there is still an imbalance in your physical being, do not be too quick to consult those who ply the knife and prescribe the use of excessive and unnatural chemicals to stop the symptoms. Instead, use the Universal Power of GOD, the Creator, the Ultimate Source to regain a natural balance. It works. It's free. It is a gift of pure Love from He Who Came First.
But, let me reiterate, if you feel it necessary, and you feel comfortable in seeking the services of a professional medical practitioner, please do so.
I leave this with you in Peace, Love and Light,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)