Krysan Blog: Healing Words 1 - Prayer - Archive
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- Written by Marian Moore
Krysan
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
H E A L I N G W O R D S
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. - ALBERT EINSTEIN
You are invited to log on to the KRYSAN BLOG each Friday or Saturday during the months of July and August for this latest series of Krysan Master Classes. The intention is to continue to explore the use of writing as a form of therapy and hopefully the caption HEALING WORDS and the Einstein quotation will prove rich in possibilities.
Blog 1
Friday, 3 July 2009
THE POWER OF PRAYER
Today is my sixty-seventh birthday and all's well in my world. This is despite the fact that Todd, our faithful and beautiful Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, died suddenly just a few days ago. In accordance with family tradition, Todd was laid to rest in the garden alongside the other two wonderful dogs who shared our lives over nearly forty years. So, needless to say, this has been a time of grieving as well as a time of celebration at Krysan. But, the pink roses bloomed and the yellow sun shone for nearly a whole week in this unusually hot English summer!
After much thought and deliberation, I have armed myself with the caption Healing Words knowing that I can't go far wrong in finding something to interest you in 'the mysterious'. In this new quest, let me now introduce you to best selling author, Larry Dossey. Dr. Dossey is a medical doctor of many years standing who first learned about the power of silence and solitude - which we experienced in my home this week - from his parents and grandparents. These, the elders of his family, were early exemplars of people who also believed in the power of prayer. Dossey starts his book thus,
"Wherever there are no limits, where infinity and Eternity and immortality exist, that is where God is." ~ Mikhael Aivanhov, The Mystery of Light
With that profound thought, I continue with the comment that Dr. Dossey reveals in his writings one of the best-kept secrets in medicine - prayer heals. In his book Healing Words he guides the reader toward "a medicine that is both more effective and more humane, a medicine that works better and feels better." Like many people around the world, I have long been interested in the spiritual art of healing and its links to the science of medicine, links that to my mind have for too long been overlooked. In Healing Words, Dr. Dossey eloquently integrates the scientific with the spiritual, shattering the long-held notion that these doctrines must somehow be exclusive.
For instance, Dr. Dossey's advice to the patient on choosing a doctor is particularly interesting and relevant, the best possible 'match' being one in which both parties (patient and doctor) genuinely and honestly believe a therapy is going to be effective. The worst scenario (and this makes sense) is when there is a collison or conflict betweens the two sets of beliefs held by doctor and patient, or when neither the physician nor the patients feels that the therapy is going to work. Dr. Dossey sees that the attitude of remoteness, aloofness, and non-involvement of some physicians with their patients as being counter-productive - even setting the stage for a 'therapeutic disaster'. To cut a long story short, in Dr. Dossey's view there is no need to do more to determine a doctor's belief structure than to ask oneself this question, "Does my doctor make me feel better or worse when I'm around him or her?"
I see Dr. Dossey's book as a must read for everyone. It contains gems of insight and valuable information and makes one hope that there are more physicians like him practicing medicine! In attempting answers to the big questions, 'What is healing?' and 'How does healing happen?', Dr. Dossey introduces the following quotation,
"Pythagoras said that the most divine art was that of healing. And if the healing art is most divine, it must occupy itself with the soul as well as with the body; for no creature can be sound so long as the higher part in it is sickly." ~ Apollonius of Tyana
We learn that practically all types of spiritual healing make use of a prayerful, meditative state of awareness. One psychologist, Lawrence LeShan, who has studied spiritual healers extensively, describes the attitude adopted by the healer towards the person in need as 'dispassionate, loving and compassionate', that is, as a feeling of selflessness, a way of being instead of doing. Going beyond the individual self - feeling united with each other and with the All - is seen as but one crucial component common to healers. LeShan also describes an immense feeling of caring and empathy for the person needing healing. During this state the healer most often does not consider himself or herself to be the source of the healing, but only a conduit through which the healing flows from a higher power.
In looking at what lies ahead in relation to prayer and healing, Dr. Dossey predicts among other things that the use of prayer will eventually become the standard in scientific medical practice in most medical communities. Based on his observations and the observations of others, he predicts that a new picture of human consciousness will emerge and no longer will it be considered an exclusive by-product of the brain destined to die with the body. One day, he believes there will be a recognition of a soul-like quality of consciousness - by science on the one hand and religion on the other - and this recognition will constitute a bridge between these two domains. He says,
"At long last science and religion will stand side by side in a complementary way, neither attempting to usurp the other." - Larry Dossey, 1993
I think that in the last few years we have come far along that path and towards a growing realisation that the world at heart is more glorious, benevolent, and friendlier than we have been led to suppose. Next week, I will explore with you a more recent book by Larry Dossey, this one written in 2006 and called The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things: Fourteen Natural Steps to Health and Happiness. Together, we will look at the greatness of ordinary things; the greatness for our wellbeing of things that are commonly thought small. This will be my tribute of gratitude to my mother and father who also believed that if you want to hide a treasure, put it in plain sight. Then no one will see it! So, join me next week when I'll make a start on this treasure hunt by looking on the one hand at the healing power of optimism and, on the other hand, what happens when it fades away. I finish today with this quotation for us to think about. It's an old folk saying,
"A pessimist asks you if there is milk in the pitcher; an optimist asks you to pass the cream."
Here's something just for you; simply click on the link below:
Best Wishes and until next week
Marian
REFERENCES
DOSSEY, L., (1993), Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine, pub. New York, HarperCollins
DOSSEY, L., (2006), The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things: Fourteen Natural Steps to Health and Happiness, pub. New York, Three Rivers Press
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