HJ: There is one key thing to remember here and it is a fundamental principle for why anything does or does not work for someone: belief is the foundation for all of our experiences. If we do not believe something will work for us — if we doubt its credibility or validity and hence its effectiveness, it will do little if anything for us, especially in the case of healing. Our perceptions dictate our experience and so can confirm or deny us any experience we are presented with. More than in any other realm, we control what our mind and body experience and so, in regards to healing, we can choose to accept or reject anything that comes into our awareness. Therefore, cultures who have a predisposition to healing and miracles, tend to experience them more frequently and profoundly. In the West, outside of religious and spiritual circles, metaphysical things such as miracles and spontaneous healing are highly suspect in the eyes of the masses and so they in essence cut themselves off from experiencing them.
One only needs shift their belief in order to begin to receive the benefits that many healing practices can bring into their lives. If you need some help in shifting your beliefs to a more expansive vision of what is possible, I highly suggest reading Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. This book literally opened the door for me to many higher states of awareness and literally stretched what I believed was possible to a degree I had never even imagined. It has transformed my life in profound ways that are hard to describe. Suffice it to say, I consider the reading of it a turning point in my life. It catalyzed a shit in me that allowed me to begin a journey of healing that still continues to this day. What a priceless gift.
– Truth
Why Some People Heal and Others Don’t (Part 1)
By Ben Oofana | Doiohm.com
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This article is Part 1 in a 3 part series. Click HERE for Part 2.
Every culture has its own distinct consciousness and I feel fortunate to be able to spend time in different countries and work with people from so many diverse cultural backgrounds. I’m fascinated by the many different ways that people think, feel and engage with the world. Being immersed in so many distinct cultures has broadened my perspective and forced me to examine my own ways of doing things. I’ve also noticed that there are certain traits or characteristic within people from different cultures that make them more or less receptive to healing.
South Asia is an incredible paradox. Some aspects of the traditional South Asian culture can be very repressive. The caste system is still very much intact. There is often a very clear lack of boundaries and people can be way too involved in the lives of others. And there are many small minded people who are very much entrenched in the unhealthy aspects of the culture. But there’s also incredible ancient knowledge and power and there’s tremendous beauty. I also encounter a lot of very highly intelligent, progressive, open-minded people who are working to effect positive change in society. Many of South Asians are also incredibly warm, loving and generous. People will often take you into their homes, give you a place to stay and feed you, even when they barely have enough money to feed themselves.
Of all the cultural groups I’ve found people from Central and South America and South Asia to be the most responsive people I have ever worked with. People from these cultures have an openness and malleability that makes them very responsive to healing. Their bodies are usually much less armored. It also helps that there is a cultural context that makes people from these parts of the world more receptive to this kind of work. People from ancient cultures tend to live closer to nature and are more in touch with their bodies. I usually don’t have to say that much because they have a greater intuitive understanding of the changes that are taking place within their bodies and minds. They really feel what’s happening and they catch on so quickly.
Many South Asians struggle just to get by. Sri Lankans often move into their homes long before they are ever completed. I was staying with a family outside of Colombo, Sri Lanka. There was no front or back door on the new home they had recently moved into. Someone always had to stay at the house to make sure other people didn’t come in and empty the home of all the family’s possessions. A construction crew showed one evening to plaster the walls. The crew continued to work through the night. The father fell at some point and was badly hurt. He was in so much pain that he couldn’t really move, so the men in the construction crew had to carry him upstairs to his bed.
The father was still in a lot of pain when I woke up the next morning. He asked me if I could help him, so I set up a table and went to work. The father told me after the session that he could feel the pain being pulled out of his body. He began to move his body as if the accident had never happened. The father started to prostrate himself at my feet to say thank you. I was standing there saying “Stop that! …get up, get up, I’m just another person, I’ve worked to develop this gift.”
A friend of mine living outside of Mumbai, India was from suffering various complications resulting from diabetes. I felt bad seeing what he was going through and so I offered to help.
My friend responded very well to the healing sessions and the word started to go out. He started telling people. Those people came to do sessions, then they told other people and it kept going from there. I didn’t have access to a phone, but people knew where I was staying and would have messages delivered to me requesting that I work with them.
People from the various ancient cultures are more likely to recognize spiritual gifts because they have an openness and sensitivity about them. These kinds of healing practices have been a part of ancient cultures for many centuries and are a normal part of everyday life. People from these cultures engage in powerful ceremonial healing practices and do other kinds of daily practices to develop their body and mind and to deepen their connection with the higher power. These practices are so much a part of their daily life that it becomes part of who they are. These individuals may not look very sophisticated. They may even come across as primitive, but they embody a wisdom and power that most people in our modern fast paced world could not even fathom.
Almost all of the esoteric traditions have died out in Western Europe. Those of us who grew up in Western developed nations are not rooted in the esoteric traditions and we may have a very limited context for healing. And then there’s so much misinformation and that only adds to people’s confusion. Many of have us internalized a lot of spiritual concepts from all the spiritual books we’ve read and the workshops that we have attended …but we’re often lacking in depth and substance. And there are those who jump from one healer or modality to another.
We may need to explore different healing modalities to determine which ones will best address our needs. And we also need to really do the work and stick with the practice or modality long enough to determine if it really does benefit us. It can be very difficult for us to make that determination in one session, especially when our bodies are so saturated with years of stress, unresolved issues and emotions and the toxins that accumulate from all the garbage that we put in our bodies. We can add in new practices or therapies along the way, but we also need to continue to work with the practices or modalities that have that have benefited us thus far.
The circumstances many of us find ourselves in are often far from ideal. Sometimes it’s important for us to make the best of our situation. Many of us are really stressed out, because we’re working excessively long hours, getting very little rest, we have little, if any, down time and we have way too much on our plate.
Our body and mind need rest, and we need the space to digest what we think, feel and experience. Burning at both ends eventually catches up with us. Our kidneys, adrenals and other vital organs become depleted. And that accelerates the aging process by causing our bodies to break down at a more rapid pace.
Personal issues are often pushed to the back burner when we’re extremely busy or under a lot of stress, because we have no time to process them. We may find it difficult to even access our feelings and issues during these times. It may not be the best time to resolve core issues. But the healing sessions still help to alleviate the stress by replenishing the life force within the internal organs and repairing damage within the physical and subtle bodies. People have often told me that the sessions helped them to hold it together during the really stressful times.
I did a few sessions for a professional woman who was working excessively long hours freelancing in the corporate sector. She spent most of her evenings and weekends binge eating as she sat in front of the television. She structured her life in such a way that made it nearly impossible for her to be present with the feelings, sensations and issues that she held within her body. She made very little effort to help herself, yet she would complain that she wasn’t making any progress.
Many of us have heard stories about the faith healers who worked all kinds of amazing miracles in their tent revivals. And many people are still expecting God to come down and instantaneously takes away all of their afflictions. Some healers have the ability to go into the body and instantaneously remove tumors or resolve other health issues. But they don’t necessarily do anything to resolve the underlying source of the problem and many of these conditions eventually remanifest.
It’s usually not intentional or even conscious, but much of our suffering is self-induced. Yet many of us are looking to be absolved of all personal responsibility for our lives and the choices we continue to make on a daily basis. Some of us are not willing to honestly look at ourselves, face the issues or change the behaviors that are causing the problems. In essence, we are saying “…Please fix me…just take away my problems …but please don’t make me face the issues …I don’t want to change …I just want to continue to be unconscious.
We all have a tendency to form unrealistic expectations along the way. But that doesn’t have to be a problem if we remain open so that we can learn from experience, modify our expectations and be willing to change our approach so that we can attain more favorable results.
Stay Tuned for Part 2 of this series.
Ben Oofana is a healer who initially began his training with Horace Daukei, the last surviving traditional doctor among the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. Ben went on to study with Chinese Master Li Tai Liang in Xin Yi Quan, Baguazhang, Tai Chi and Chi Gong. For more information, visit Ben Oofana’s website.
