This week's blog is on the power of love for healing

“Love is the most universal, formidable and mysterious of all the cosmic forces”

De Chardin

Healers acknowledge that they are not doing the healing but rather they are  channeling universal healing energy which is Divine love in disguise and that in fact... 

“Only love can generate the healing fire.” Agnes Sanford 

There are two basic emotions, Love and Fear. Love is always good for healing and is linked to the placebo of Hope, Belief, Trust and Faith. Fear is an ally of  its opposite, nocebo, and is usually bad. Fear is also part of Resignation and Hopelessness which will be featured in the coming blogs. Some fear may be good since it will motivate the patient to act. Morbid fear is paralyzing and counterproductive. Courage counteracts Fear and although bravery is usually part of one’s inherent makeup, with faith and surrender it can be nurtured and developed.

Of all the polarities on the Tree of Health, lack of forgiveness, resentment and guilt may be the most pernicious since they are so easily kept smoldering, hidden or overlooked. Grudges and hatred  can become so much part of our ego identity that we do not want to give them up.

Some of the greatest impediments to opening the heart to love are lack of forgiveness, our sense of separation resulting in duality, a deficient inner practice and no sense of community. 

It is noteworthy that cynicism depresses the immune system - forgiveness and compassion increase it. AIDS patients who forgave the person who gave them the HIV virus live longer and have higher T cell counts than those who did not. Guilt and shame are contracting spiritual and healing forces that increase pro-inflammatory factors. These are associated with an increase incidence of certain cancers, some auto-immune diseases and atherosclerosis.

The heart cannot open to love without forgiveness. Any deep spiritual practice and self-love cannot go hand in hand with self-condemnation. They are mutually exclusive. Forgiveness begins with forgiving ourselves. 

“A great many modern people … find it very difficult to forgive themselves anything. Christ said to love your neighbor as yourself and we cannot really love or forgive our neighbors – no matter how we may deceive ourselves on this point – until we can love and forgive ourselves.” Barbara Hanna

Also

“…the last step is forgiveness. This is perhaps the most important stage. It helps release energy that has been diminished by harboring anger, bitterness and resentment. Forgiveness can allow you to get on with your life rather than nursing old wounds. It is human to want to punish those who have wronged you … but no amount of punishment to those who hurt you will help you heal. In fact, anger that you hold onto damages you, not them. Forgiveness is something you do for you; it is for your sake and for your healing that you forgive. You forgive to regain inner peace, joy and serenity for yourself, not necessarily for the people who wronged you.” Denise Linn
Forgiveness does not mean that you have to engage in any way with the person you have forgiven. The goal is to forgive, lay down that burden or albatross you are carrying, open your heart and move on!

“Self condemnation strengthens guilt which is one of the greatest obstacles on the path of realization.”  Sri Swami Rama

Guilt, shame, self-recrimination etc. have no place in the healing paradigm.

Neuroscience with the help of M.R.I. scans is showing that shame and self-condemnation actually engender a flight/fight/freeze or feign death response and puts our brain in lock down much like any survival situation. Its the same as a lion circling our cave in ancient millennia. This shuts down our frontal lobe the source of our higher aspirations and induces the primitive brain into a do or die modality. Although this is good for confronting a life threatening situation it is not good for healing or any sort of transformation.

Our Western paradigm tends to separate us from each other and ...

“The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.” Roshi

Bishop Tutu emphasizes the importance of community and the Zulu concept of "Ubuntu" and Western science tells us that people who are ill do better if they have a loving spouse, belong to a church or support group or even have a pet at home.

“ Ubuntu speaks to the essence of being human. The solitary individual in our understanding is a contradiction in terms. You are a person through other persons. Ubuntu speaks about the importance of communal harmony, warmth, compassion, generosity, hospitality and seeks to embrace others”.

Bishop Tutu

For doctors and healers under the gun and subjected to the challenges of big business an appreciation of the benefits of the doctor/healer-patient interconnection should not be lost to them. Whatever unconditional love they give to their patients will be returned to them. The Mother Theresa archetype is a healthful, love-filled and happy example to follow... 

 “The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have learned and found how to serve.” Albert Schweitzer

The ability to heal and to help is a gift and a blessing to those who undertake it. If love is given, love is received.

And at the end of the day it also helps to remember

“The worship most pleasing to God is service to others.” L. Boff