Part One of the Breath-Mind-Body Theory of Disease series, focused on the role of hyperventilation in chronic illness, as seen from a Scientific Materialist perspective.
Part Two focuses on the role of the mind in chronic illness, as seen from the perspective that Mind is the Fundamental Nature of Reality. This was the basis of human healing for hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions of years before the modern era.
“All is Mind. The Universe is Mental.” - the Kybalion
This panpsychist view was held by the shaman, who entered the spirit realm to retrieve souls and appease or seek the aid of spirits. The shaman might consume or administer plant or animal medicines, psychedelics, in order to reveal aspects of the Mind from the unconscious, releasing their energies so they would no longer cause disease.
Reality as Mind is also the view of Eastern mysticism, the view of men like Huang Po, who called the Fundamental Nature of Reality the “One Mind.” Meditation, like psychedelics, can also unearth aspects of the psyche hidden in the unconscious.
Jesus spoke of revealing unconscious aspects of the mind in the Gospel of Thomas when he said:
“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
—Saying 70, Gospel of Thomas,
When elements of the mind are repressed or blocked in some way, these energies seek expression and they tend to express themselves as physical and mental illness. Carl Jung came to a similar understanding with his concept of the Shadow, the sum total of all the disowned aspects of one’s mind, which, if not seen and integrated, lead to illness.
“The gods have become our diseases.”
―C.G. Jung
One way that Jung helped his patients heal the psyche was by working with the unconscious through dreams. There are countless stories and methods of miraculous dream healing practices in various times and cultures throughout history such as the Greek god Asclepius, who brought healing dreams to those who brought offerings and who slept in his temples. Galen of Pergamon, the Greek physician, prescribed lucid dreaming as a form of therapy.
In Tibet, Dream Yoga is considered a complete path to Enlightenment, which is ultimate healing experience, the experience of being made whole. There are countless stories of sages and mystics from around the world who experienced miraculous recoveries, while on the brink of death, when they became aware of their True Nature.
When Zen Master Bankei realized he was dying from tuberculosis, he resolved to sit and realize Enlightenment or die trying. As he approached death, he finally settled the Great Matter and spat out a black ball of phlegm. He quickly recovered and went on to teach for another forty years.
The healing power of realization, of turning inward and seeing your Original Face, is what Jesus spoke of when he said that if people would “understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ Matthew 13:15
At this time, the Scientific Materialist establishment does not acknowledge, nor understand, the spiritual realm of the One Mind, and as such, people are sicker than ever and getting sicker. Scientific Materialism has become the religion of our age, and it’s nothing new for religious authorities to block the way to spiritual healing. Although Jesus spoke these words nearly two thousand years ago, he could just as easily be addressing the Materialist medical establishment today.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” Matthew 23:13
In order to heal and be well at the deepest level, humans need to move beyond the Materialist paradigm which currently encircles us. With the legalization of psychedelic therapy at hand, the end of Materialism is within sight.
The third and final installment, of the Breath-Mind-Body theory of disease will be published very soon, but until the then, if you’re interested in healing the psyche, I highly recommend this Taoist meditation that Zen Master Hakuin learned when he was seriously ill: