Healing by Charms
There is a great power hidden in the mystery of the repetition
of a sacred word. But there is a still greater power in writing
a sacred word, because the time taken to write a sacred word
carefully is perhaps five times or ten times as long as the
time taken to repeat a sacred word. Besides, action completes
the thought-power better than speech. In writing a sacred name
it is the completing of a thought, which is even more powerful
than uttering the word. But when a person thinks, feels, speaks,
and writes, he has developed the thought through four stages
and made it powerful. Sufis, therefore, give a charm to the
faithful who they think believe in the healing power of the
charm. They call it Taviz. The patient keeps it with him night
and day, and links his thought with the thought of the healer,
and feels it every moment that he is being healed.
In India they put a charm in a silver or gold plate, or keep
a charm engraved upon stone or metal. And the very fact of realizing
that has a healing influence upon him becomes such a help to
the believer that he feels that every moment of the day and
night he has the healer with him, and that he is being healed.
As a gift is nothing without the giver, so a charm is nothing
without a personality that gives confidence to the patient.
Therefore a charm written by an ordinary person has no effect;
the personality of the person who writes the charm should be
impressive, his piety, his spirituality, his love, his kindness,
should all help to make the charm that he gives valuable and
effective.
Magnetized Water
Water is the most responsive substance; it partakes of the
color and effect of everything. The magnetism that runs through
the fingertips enters into everything that a healer holds in
his hands, and thus water can be charged with that electricity
more than any other substance. Again, the breath that heals
is powerful enough to produce an added life in all life-giving
substances. Water especially, which is a most invigorating substance,
partakes of life from the breath.
Among the ancient Hindus there was a custom of giving water
as a benediction to guests, which is observed even now. A Brahmin
will, as a rule, first offer water to his guest, which means
not only to quench the thirst, but also is like giving life
to the guest. The Persians have called the water of life
Ab-i Hayat, and in many verses one finds this word. Among
Sufis everywhere in the East there is a custom that the Shaikh
gives a loaf of bread or a glass of water, milk, syrup, or buttermilk,
or a fruit or some sweet, which is accepted as something that
heals both mind and body. No doubt it is not only the effect
of the breath or touch, it has also the power of mind with it,
which is hidden as a soul in the substance which is its body.
Healing by Breathing
A healer must know in the first place that breath is the
very life, that breath is the giver of life, and that breath
is the bringer of life. One can live without food for some time,
but one cannot live without breath even for a few minutes. This
shows that the sustenance that breath brings to man's life is
much greater and much more important than any nourishment upon
earth. Every atom of man's body is radiant. But if the body
is the flame, the breath is the fire, and as the flame belongs
to the fire, so the body belongs to the breath. As long as breath
dwells in it, it lives, and when breath leaves it, it is dead,
for all its beauty, strength, and complicated mechanism. That
is why the effect of the breath of a holy person can magnetize
water, bread, milk, or wine, fruit, or flower.
The breath that is developed spiritually will have a healing
effect upon any painful part that it falls upon. If one knows
how to direct the breath there is no better process than healing
with breath; and in all the different methods of healing breath
is the main thing, since in breath is hidden the current of
life.
Healing by Magnetic Passes
All scriptures have explained in some way or other that life
is like light. In the Muslim scripture the word Nur is used;
in the Vedanta it is called Chaitanya. The nature of
this light is to express itself in a particular direction, and
that accounts for the face and back in our forms. At the same
time the tendency of the light is to spread. This can be seen
in the tendency of fire or of water to spread; air shows the
same tendency, and also earth and all things on earth. A deep
study of every form will show that the nature of life is to
spread in four directions, for instance north, south, east,
and west, or head, foot, right, and left.
Life and light have their center in the center of every form.
But they express themselves through the directions in which
they spread. Therefore the power of the hand has been shown
in ancient symbology. Hindus have pictured the divine incarnations
with four hands. This means two hands of the mind and two hands
of the body, and that when four hands work together the work
is fully accomplished. This shows that in healing the hands
are most important. The physical hands are needed to help the
hands of the mind, and when thought is directed from the mind
through the hand its power becomes double and its expression
fuller.
Every atom of man's being, mental or physical, is radiant
and throws its rays outward. These are life itself and give
life. All illness is lack of life. It needs life to be cured.
The power of electricity has been discovered by scientists,
and they believe that it cures diseases when it is used for
that purpose. But the mystic has discovered ages ago the power
of this hidden electricity, the life of the mind and the life
of the body, and he believes and knows that its application
in healing is most beneficial. There are sores and wounds and
painful parts, which are too tender to touch. In such cases
healing by magnetic passes, in other words by waving the hands
over the affected part and so allowing thought to heal, brings
about a successful cure.
Healing by Touch
Every atom in man's body is in reality radiant, living and
powerful compared with other objects, herbs, or drugs. By the
very fact of being a living body, besides being the finest and
most perfect compared with other living bodies, it has a great
power. Therefore, shaking hands, speaking to a person and touching
him have a certain effect. In India when a wrestler goes to
a wrestling match and when he comes back his teacher pats him
on the back, saying, 'Sahibs, Bravo!' This actually gives him
added strength and courage and power, which otherwise he would
not have had. People speaking in friendship, and even disputing
and arguing, hold each other's hands, which brings about a better
understanding. A mother takes away the discomfort and restlessness
of the child in one moment by patting it. Therefore massage
is helpful when there is pain, and yet it is a poor treatment
when compared with the healing treatment; for the healer operates
the power of the mind through his fingers, as a musician produces
his feelings on the violin. Is it everybody that can produce
on the violin the same tone that an expert could? It is not
the placing of the finger on a certain place on the instrument;
it is the feeling of the musician's heart manifesting through
his fingertips that produces a living tone. So it is with the
touch of a spiritual healer.
Healing by Glance
The eye is the most wonderful and powerful factor in the
body, which conveys to another pleasure or displeasure, joy
or sorrow, love or hatred, without a word being spoken. This
shows that the eye is the most responsive instrument for the
mind to express thought and feeling. Sometimes in an assembly
two people just look at each other and there is agreement between
them, and two people may stare at each other and it may have
a worse effect than shooting. This again proves that both fire
and water can manifest either to destroy or to inspire. To a
healer, therefore, there is no better means than the eyes to
send his thought of healing; and there is no better means of
receiving this thought in the patient than his eyes. The healer
can send the healing power through his glance to the painful
part of the body, but it is more helpful still when he sends
his power direct to the eyes of the patient. As there is a link
between the mind and the eyes of the healer who sends the power,
so there is a link between the eyes and the mind of the patient
who receives it. Medicine can touch the physical body, but thought
can touch the mind, where the root of every disease often is;
and a suggestion that a powerful healer gives to his patient
reaches his heart and destroys the germ of disease.
The eyes of every person are not capable of healing. It is
the penetrating glance and stillness of the eyes, then the power
of the glance and ability to aim that are necessary. These are
developed by certain exercises, though some eyes have a natural
ability for this purpose. Also, concentration of mind, which
gives power is necessary in healing, for power of mind directed
by the glance brings about a successful result.
Healing by Suggestion
There are five elements that constitute man's being: earth,
water, fire, air, and ether. Air represents the voice, and it
reaches the ether, which means that the voice reaches farther
than anything else in the world. It touches the depths of man's
heart. Therefore music is a living miracle. There is nothing
that can thrill man's being through and through as sound can.
This explains why suggestion is much greater and more beneficial
in healing than any other remedy.
In India, where the daily life of the people is based upon
psychical laws, they take great care in speaking to another
person that it may not produce a bad effect upon his physical,
mental, or spiritual self. A healer, who by the power of zikr
develops the healing power of his voice, impresses his word
with the power of his heart on the heart of the patient.
The healer must be sincere in his suggestions. Because all
the power lies in his sincerity; he must also be self-confident;
he must have psychic power developed in him; but beyond and
above all he must be a good man, so that at the time no thought
of humiliation or of any sort of uneasiness should come to him.
His thoughts, feelings, and actions should be satisfactory to
his conscience; if not, any discomfort, dissatisfaction, fear,
or repentance weakens his power. Then he is no longer capable
of healing, however learned and powerful he may be. When the
healer thinks he is healing, his power is as small as a drop.
When he thinks God is healing, and when owing to this thought
his own self is forgotten and he is only conscious of the self
of God, then his power becomes as large as the ocean.
Healing by Presence
There is warmth in fire, and there is a greater warmth in
feeling. The presence of a person with warm feelings can create
an atmosphere of warmth, and the presence of the cold-hearted
can freeze one. No doubt warmth of heart is not the only quality
the healer needs, he must have the power to heal, besides concentration
and a desire to heal. But at the same time it is the name of
Christ that is know as that of the Messiah. Messiah in the East
means healer, and for a Messiah the power of love is the first
quality, love in the form of sympathy. One sympathizes with
another, thinking perhaps, 'He is my relation, friend, or acquaintance',
but when sympathy develops to its fullest extent one begins
to see in everybody 'I', 'myself', and the pain of everybody
one begins to feel as one's own pain.
This is a sign of a true Messiah. How can he heal the wounds
of the hearts of the children of the earth and relieve them
from pains and sufferings, since life is full of them, when
his sympathy is not awakened to such a degree that he feels
the pain of another even before feeling his own pain? Every
healer who has a spiritual aspiration must develop a spark of
the fire of the heart of the Messiah; and then even before trying
to heal a person his very presence will heal. When a child is
ill the mother approaches it with the wish that it may be well,
with a pain in her heart for the suffering of her child. From
that moment she becomes a healer, her touch, her word, and her
glance do more than medicine or any other remedy. When this
mother quality is developed in the heart of the healer, then,
when he heals not for any return except the happiness of seeing
a soul released from pain, he becomes a healer who can heal
merely by his presence.
Healing by Prayer
Prayer is a wonderful means of healing oneself and another,
for concentration alone, without the thought of God, is powerless;
it is the divine ideal which strengthens the healing power,
which gives it a living spirit. Therefore a spiritual healer
has more hope of success than a material healer. For the material
healer directs his own thought; however powerful it may be it
is limited by his own personality; but the spiritual healer
who in the thought of God and His divine power forgets himself,
has much greater success than the former. It does not matter
what form of prayer one uses, sincere prayer in every form will
bring a fruitful result.
Prayer is in reality the contemplation of God's presence,
who is the power and origin of the whole creation; and it is
considering oneself as nothing before Him, and placing the wish
which stands before one's personality before the Almighty. Therefore
naturally the result must be incomparably greater, though it
depends upon the contemplation of every individual.
In the first place, he who prays for the cure of another
must surely be blessed, because goodwill and love, from which
his prayer rises, of necessity bring a blessing to him. Also
prayer for one's own cure is not selfish, it is making oneself
a fitting instrument to be more useful in the scheme of life.
On the other hand, neglect of one's own health very often is
a crime. Praying to God in thought is perhaps better than in
speech, but it must be remembered that speech makes it concrete;
therefore thought with speech makes prayer more effective than
thought alone. Words without thought are vain repetitions.
Absent Healing
When a healer has practiced healing for a certain time successfully,
then the next step in the line of healing is to heal a patient
from a distance. The method of absent healing is totally different
from healing in the presence. In absent healing the power of
thought alone is necessary, and those who are accustomed to
use the magnetism through the tips of the fingers, through the
eyes, through touch, find it difficult to direct their thought-power
without an external channel. Also when the patient is not present,
in the first place the beginner wonders whether his thought
power will reach the patient, and it is also difficult to hold
in one's thought a patient who is not present.
The mastery of Fikr helps a healer to hold the thought of
the patient before his mind. It is Fikr that helps to heal a
patient from a distance. Breath, so to speak, is an electric
current that can be attached anywhere; distance makes no difference.
A current of breath so established puts the ethereal waves in
space into motion and according to the healer's magnetic power
the space between the healer and the patient becomes filled
with a running current of healing power. There is no doubt that
spiritual evolution is the first thing necessary; without this
the mind power of a healer, however strong, is too feeble for
the purpose.
By spiritual development is meant God consciousness. There
is a believer in God who may be called pious, but it is the
God-conscious who become spiritual. It is the belief and realization
that: 'I do not exist, but God', which gives power to the healer
to heal from a distance; also it is this realization that gives
him the belief that his thought can reach to any distance, because
the knowledge of the all-pervading God gives him the realization
that the Absolute is life in itself, and that even space, which
means nothing to the average person, is everything; in fact,
it is the very life of all things.
checked 18-Oct-2005