Open letter to those who seek spiritual healing
One turns to a Spiritual Master asking for guidance and care because someone told him, because he made up his mind, or he is convinced that he is suffering from a psychological, personality ailment or interpersonal problem or simply because he cannot accept the idea of death or suffering
However, health and sickness as well as adapting/non-adapting to the world phenomena are illusionary ideas, abstractions in a Maya context. First of all, you know and have decided that you do not want to “adapt” to the world of illusion.
I would like to remind you that birth and death, development and decay, health and illness are transitional phases of an embodied life, epycicles of real existence, which transcend the worlds and bodies of objective manifestation.
Normalcy and illness only exist within man, s illusionary vision. In reality, there is only the immense path of spiritual evolution, characterized by vicissitudes, incidents, stages, progresses, stasis, deviations, falls and imprisonments. Certain incidents are isolated and classified by medicine and psychology as “illness”. Medicine and psychology study them through an unconscious perspective and do not take into account the evolutionary context in which they unfold. These sciences can still obtain respectable, considerable and useful short-term results, but these are only limited to the symptoms. Medicine and psychology can also have a certain preventive quality, however the foundation and means of their treatments cannot go beyond and reach the substance. This is because they are not contextualized within reality and the process of spiritual evolution, which are sometimes remotely perceivable but mostly invisible.
The Spiritual Tradition (of….) works in a completely different from psychotherapy and psychiatry. A symptom, an inner conflict or the fear of death can hold a completely different meaning from a spiritual evolutionary perspective than within the medical/psychiatric vision.
Man is not simply an organism that must try to stay in or return to good health (this concept itself produces illness). He is a conscious being who has before him a path toward a goal to be reached by realizing the spiritual components of his personality one by one. These include desire and capability of knowledge, joy, sense of morality, beauty, willpower, compassion, wisdom and Love.
In my opinion, real success does not mean producing “normal people”. It means helping people to free themselves from identification and conditioning, even from ones considered “normal”, which in reality constitute the worst among illusions and slavery. It has often been demonstrated that so-called “normalcy” is not synonymous to good health, but is in fact a precarious psychophysical equilibrium in itself, often sustained by medication. Obsessions and phobias, depressions, mild and chronic manias, learned incapability, selective blindness, the search for frustrating and traumatic relationships are all syndromes that we do not notice simply because the majority of people are affected by them.
I do not aim at these adaptations.
Authentic psychological cure is something that first happens from within the individual. It is work done by the individual on himself and not something performed by me from the outside.
Pharmaceutical treatments can be effective and even at times necessary. Still, an individual suffering from physical and mental pathologies has one priority: returning to his center, creating inner balance (order) which not only entails healing but also maintaining good health as long as possible. In Ayurvedic Science, illness is synonymous to disorder. Such disorder can only be partially cured by chemical treatments. In other words, pharmaceutical cures only attend to one psychological state at a time in the healing process. An individual can truly reclaim good health if the key component for healing, which starts from within, is reactivated. The well-known saying by Juvenal mens sana in corpore sano should be interpreted as the following: a body can only be healthy if the mind is healthy.
The greatest contribution is therefore to teach individuals how to find truth within themselves, to open themselves to Love and inner conscience, to reconnect to the source, which is our deepest nature, that we have forgotten. Outer changes are only a reflection of our inner transformation of a personal evolution.
In the course of life, each human being is likely to face crises, tensions and emotional conflicts. However these are not negative in themselves; they become a problem when we find it difficult to deal with them and leave them unresolved, which produces a nervous breakdown. By facing them with the right attitude, with consciousness and with strong motivation, they may even represent a catalyst to strenghten our qualities and reach a greater equilibrium, by learning to recognize and overcome our own limits. He who learns to solve the natural tensions that rise from within and those coming from the outside, enables an even more mature and integrated personality to develop, avoiding a chronic state thus finding important opportunities to create further formative experiences. With regards to this, Adler used to explain: “ a small difficulty, equals normalcy; a great difficulty, equals neurosis”. He who is able to recognize one’s own particular emotional crises and nervous tendencies will also prevent them from degenerating into serious disturbances of one’s personality. We are constantly busy readjusting our inner tensions. None of us should feel above such tensions; we ought to learn to deal with them in a positive and constructive way, by practicing an process of inner transformation and education so as to help us to harmonize and trascend them. The teachings and the stimulating life examples of balanced people, with a high level of consciousness give us models of inspiration and make it possible for us to do the work we have to do on ourselves.
In accordance with a multi millennial Yoga1 tradition, I offer solutions and instruments, which are different from medicine and psychotherapy as intended in the west. I base myself on a different concept of man, cosmos, health and disease. I awake, develop and speak to the conscience; I teach, point out and educate. I do not treat symptoms and illnesses as a psychiatrist or a psychotherapist would, because I don’t see the “symptoms” or the “disease”, but another reality.
I mainly teach the understanding of how the psyche works, how it stops and reactivates, according to the science of Yoga or Union with the Infinite/God.
Biomedical treatments is essentially a treatment of the symptoms in their more or less recurring manifestations and it tends to re-establish a state of “normalcy” instead of a state of holistic health, as it is intended in the Yoga2 texts.
On the other hand, the physiological, psychological and ethical-moral cure according to the Yoga that I work with is founded on the sadhana bhakti3, through which the individual becomes introduced to and involved in a reinterpretation of his own image (the conscience of the self and God) by transforming/healing himself and although indirectly, having a very positive influence on his environment.
Yoga, in its various texts, is a psychological system of the interior, but also a way to successfully ascend to the luminous peaks of the super-conscience(higher consciousness?). This provides anyone who has a good Guru (competent and coherent) and who really wants to better himself, to awaken and activate instruments of evolution and curing to even reach enlightenment and Love through abhyasa4and vairagya5.
However, as long as the individual acts passively as a patient, it is basically impossible for him to trust himself and feel autonomously capable of making decisions. There are individuals that, so as to not face their responsibilities, would like to leave it up to others to decide and dictate how they should feel and act. This constitutes an interference and a serious conditioning or psycho-dependency that we must absolutely avoid, as my goal is indeed to free from conditionings.
In fact, the yogic cure is never administered by a healer to the ill. All psychotherapies that perceive illness as something “to be removed” and have tried to cure it in that sense, have failed. Scientific proof has demonstrated by now that such psychotherapies are incapable of producing stable and clear results.
Even scientific research now demonstrates that conscience plays a significant role in creating our “here and now”, that the future is predetermined but malleable and that it can be modified because it is made up of opportunities that are not yet crystallized. In this way, our present constantly determines our future.
We must understand and accept that we are responsible for our level of conscience. This is an indispensable component in order to be able to affect real changes within and outside of ourselves. It enables us to fully utilize the enormous potential of self-renewing and self-healing tools of human thought, which are also manifested on the physical level of reality. The deeper and more emotional our beliefs are, the greater the potential for change. This is true for both our physical bodies and our surrounding environment. Prejudices also have their effect, which is negative.
The mental field is somewhat primary with respect to the physical body and works as kind of a map from where the body receives its structural references. In other words, the energetic field is the body version of an implicit order: dharma6, which is constantly working.
So-called memory ghosts (complexes, phobias, obsessions) are the cause of anguishing thoughts, which favor the structuring of the physical reality in accordance with non-ecological and pathological models.
In the same way, the dynamic connection between mental images, the energetic field and the physical body, is one of the reasons for which devotion (Bhakti), knowledge (Vedanta), good behavior, compassion, praying, visualization and meditation are all ways of curing body and mind.
In the science of Yoga7, rupa is the level (bhumi)8 of the form. This includes the mental form and also the psycological9 one, on which the physical body depends. The rupa level itself depends on a superior reality level called vibhuti10. By controlling and dominating the vibhuti level through the practice of yoga, one can understand and solve the problems and illnesses of mind and body, as well as relationship problems, which play a big role in generating painful conflicts. This, however, is only a collateral effect in the process of self-realization induced by the sadhana–bhakti. In fact, the final result is not the elimination of illness (phobia, pain, attachments, criticism and aggressiveness) but the achievement of wellness: illumination, spiritual consciousness, freedom, happiness, Love……
The teacher-psychologist of the bhati–yoga tradition11 (Guru) awakens human beings to the danger of a materialistic philosophy, leading towards an impersonalistic and egoistic way of life. He is a catalyst for and an inspiration for heightened consciousness. He educates minds and delivers a personalized spiritual teaching to students. The student can then apply these teachings to himself to develop what is already inside him, thus overcoming and eliminating the real causes of his suffering: conditionings (panca kelsha), emotional scars (samskara) and hidden tendencies (vasana). This will free him and allow him to autonomously and joyfully begin once again the journey of Love and Spiritual Realization.
As I have explained many times, I teach Yoga Psychology (bhakti-yoga) through specific and personalized courses to develop knowledge and practical application. My treatment is spiritual and it does not replace medical diagnosis and therapies.
My goal is to create a foundation for communication and significant growth on a personal and social level. This can be achieved through a course of study, research and experimentation provided by CSB for those who desire to deepen their knowledge.
These courses are both flexible and personalized. They are designed to be accessible to all amidst everyday life commitments and done from the comforts of home with the goal of a profound exploration of one’s own inner dynamics.
Today, there are hundreds of participants from all over Italy and the world who have an array of professional backgrounds. In our courses, we make use of teachings pertaining to the Psychology of Yoga but the goal of our work does not limit itself to resolving psychological conflicts. We strive to experience higher consciousness, discover our true nature beyond conventions acquired through identification to false behavioural models which keep us from our full potential and deepest desires.
In addition to distance-learning courses, we offer seminars, meditations, individual exercises, group workshops and consultations with our teachers to accompany students in reconnecting with their true essence, overcome crises/conflicts and rediscover their talents.
The courses thus become a life experience of personal development and self-transformation with the careful guidance of dedicated teachers who practice the values they teach in their own lives.
Note
1. Bhaktiyoga: the teachings of this spiritual science are very ancient. They come from a lineage that, through human gurus, goes back to God. I personally received such teachings from the lineage of Gurus through A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada, a Parampara-guru from the Shri Caitanya Sampradaya, the tradition that I represent, practice and teach.
2. The main ones: Bhagavad-gita, Vedanta, Yoga-Sutra, Katha and Shvetashvatara Upanishads.
3. Literally: ‘way to Love’. It is the path for self-realization, considered by the great masters as the point of arrival and perfect synthesis of all the other ways (in particular karma marga and jnana marga). In sadhana bhakti the science of action, the path of knowledge and wisdom and the supreme way to Divine Love come together. This is how the individual finds himself and rediscovers his eternal relationship with the Supreme One. In bhakti, love and service come together; the devotee and the Deity are tied by reciprocal love and enjoy the same level of bliss. In the Vedic-Vaishnava tradition, Bhakti means devotion and dedication to God in His Personal Form (Vishnu-Krishna).
4. Uninterrupted spiritual practice. Abhyasa is the persistent effort in dominating and controlling one’s mental and physical activities. After a mostly hard beginning, if the spiritual researcher is able to apply abhyasa with scruple and devotion, this practice becomes a habit. This modus vivendi (way of life) will allow for a psychological detour and will transform one’s subconscious tendencies (vasana).
5. Emotional detachment. Conscience status in which the individual can overcome his compelling desire for material things, even when physically close to them. This is only possible if the individual is re-contextualized with the universe and has developed a clear and elevated vision of his nature and the of the world’s nature.
6. Divine social-cosmic order, regulating and sustaining human and universal life (the Sanskrit root dhr, on which the term is constructed, means ‘hold, sustain’). Dharma is not an artificial order, which determines the repression of the deep instances of the living being. It is a universal norm, almost a secret code inscribed in the heart of every creature. The breaking of this code produces an unnatural, limiting and pathological condition, which will be inevitably marked by conflicts and suffering.
7. The Yoga psychology uses methods just as rigorous and scientific as the positivistic sciences, however they are adequate to its nature.
8. The Sanskrit term is bhumi.
9. By using the word mental, we refer to the superficial level of mind. By using the word psychic, we refer to the mental structure in its whole.
10. The third of the seven levels called bhumis, described in the science of Yoga. In the case of vibhuti the level is of energetic nature.
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Cfr. Note 1
For More information:
Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta
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