In meditation, healing can happen. When the mind is calm, alert and totally content, then it is like a laser beam – it is very powerful and healing can happen.
– Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
The body heals, not just with medicine. You give someone medicine and do not let them sleep, then see if the body heals. Impossible! Deep rest is required, and meditation is one such rest.
Research on Meditation and Healing
Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School showed that regular practice of meditation helped reduce heart diseases by 45%, lower high blood pressure by 43%, reduce cholesterol levels significantly, and slow down ageing.
As far as health is concerned, we cannot be dogmatic about anything – we cannot just accept something because it is very ancient, and we cannot discard something just because it is modern, or just because it is ancient. So, we need to use our intelligence and take that middle path, with a holistic approach. Another research states that “Meditation is often considered a complementary and holistic approach to chronic pain management. It addresses not only the physical aspects of pain but also the psychological and emotional dimensions.”
Don’t just keep your faith in a pill. Have faith in yourself, and know that there is an eternal consciousness within you. It is so powerful that it alone makes a single cell grow into a full infant in the mother’s womb. It is what is responsible for all the growth, so it definitely knows how to repair and heal the body.
How does Disease Happen?
Our body is like the wick of a candle, and our mind is like a glow. When the glow is put off, the candle’s wick is still there, but there is no light. Similarly, when you are dead, the body is still there, but the spirit that was the glow, that was there that was keeping every cell alive is gone. It is the life force, the prana, that dimension we are not attending to is out of sight. The prana creates an aura around you, your body. If you can see the aura, you can see how every problem first generates in the subtle and then gets on to the physical. Six months before you get sick physically, it shows up in your pranic body or in your aura.
Nature’s Healing Intelligence
Life has a very unique ability to heal and develop itself.
One seed sprouts and the seed has the whole structure of how the plant will develop – what should be hard, what is soft, and what should be inside. The entire structure of a plant is present in every seed. In the same way, the DNA contained in every cell of our body contains the whole program of our being.
Affecting a change at the level of the seed can affect a change in the whole stem, the whole flower, and the entirety of the plant. Affecting a change at the level of our being, the very core of our consciousness, means what? We have to get back to the source, the sap. We have to get back to the seed. That source is our consciousness, our mind. That consciousness which has so much power to keep the orderliness in all of creation, the intelligence that knows how tall each stem should be and where to be green and where to be yellow.
From there exists infinite potentiality to control the body, its resistance, its power, everything. The potentiality that consciousness has is amazing.
Healing Process
Each cell is surrounded by a layer of consciousness, a cloud of energy. When this cloud of energy, or consciousness, is vital, happy, pure, and free of stresses, it can penetrate the DNA cells and clear those cells, revitalising the cells. The cells do not exist by themselves. They are made to exist and live by consciousness, by the mind, by Being, which is basic in creation.
Also, a single cell becomes the whole body. Somewhere it is nails, somewhere it is nose and tongue but all is a manifestation of a single cell. In the same way, the entire universe is made up of a single substance. Remembering and feeling that everything is made up of one thing heals the body and mind, and balances the doshas in the body (vata, pitta and kapha). This is savitarka samadhi. Savitarka samadhi means equanimity with logical awareness. Deep sleep can be jada samadhi (equanimity with inertia). And hence, sleep is the main factor in healing. Even medicines will not help without sleep and rest.
Healing via Body Chakras
We have seven energy centres in our body corresponding to the endocrine system. Again these are sacred centers. Normally, life energy flows through these chakras (the energy centres), but if we feel under pressure or disturbed, then knots form in the chakras, obstructing the flow of energy. Bring your attention to these energy centres, observe them and the world of worries, and thoughts that trouble your mind will disappear. There will be peace.
For instance, when healing from the trauma of abuse, first think you were caught up with the person outside. From there you take your attention to yourself. That person is gone; that event has gone. Let them go. You can’t do anything with them now. If you do, it will be more getting into the mud. Something outside triggered a sensation inside of you, know what is the sensation. It must be happening in this tummy, or the heart, or the throat, or the head. Just observe. When you keep observing sensations, the sensations change. If it is hatred, you observe and the hatred dissolves, disappears or comes into another emotion. Don’t fight with those feelings and emotions. Embrace them. You will see they’ll all go. You think you are scared of those sensations, they’re scared. If you’re sleeping, they’ll ride on your head the moment you wake up. But if you say, “Who is that? Come here!”, they will disappear.
Key Insights
Everybody is going to die. Now lift your eye above this body consciousness to know your spirit. Spirit has no disease. Spirit is beyond it. Keep your mind alive, energetic, loving and happy. People with disease die and people with no disease also die. Sometimes they die out of nowhere. Sometimes sick people live longer and many times healthy people suddenly die. All possibilities are there. So, know that you are more than the body. You are consciousness. You are light. Honour that light.
Our body is not used to meditation from the very beginning, or due to the circumstances and surroundings, the conditioning of the body is such that medicines also have a role to play. That is why Ayurveda is also a part of the Vedic wisdom, and not just mantras and yoga. Yoga and Ayurveda both have an equal share in keeping the body healthy. We should take a holistic approach, not be fanatical about anything.
Take some time to walk by yourself. Nurture yourself with music, prayer and silence. Do a few minutes of meditation, pranayama and yoga. This heals and rejuvenates you, giving you depth and stability. When the mind is centred, free from fear, guilt & anger, then it has the power to heal any ailment.
In meditation, healing can happen. When the mind is calm, alert and totally content, then it is like a laser beam – it is very powerful and healing can happen.
Guided meditation is good to give you a glimpse of meditation. Want to meditate on your own? It is better for you to take a mantra and then do meditation – Sahaj Samadhi Dhyan.
