Consciousness and health
Love in healing
Abstract
To love truly is no easy thing is but it is indeed necessary if one wants to reach an exemplary level of health. Certainly, this is the author’s experience. It is by ‘working’ inside, that he finds the barriers to true love magically dissolve. This article is an exploration into the truth and healing influence of love.
Love is something other than a feeling. I look upon it as the supreme vibration. At its source, it is absolute and transcendent. It “does not depend upon the objects — it depends only on itself or only on the Divine; for it is a self-existent power of the Divine (1).”It comes in many gradations. Love’s dazzling splendour lights up man’s emotional nature but as soon as it touches the earth atmosphere, its quality becomes more deformed. At its lowest ranges, love can sometimes become so blurred and twisted that its unique essence is almost lost.
But love is what we are in our truth. Man’s truth is divine and one aspect of his divinity is love. Our core being is unalloyed and free from all ill-health so, by tapping into this source of love inside, we open a gateway to sustained and transforming well-being. The key to releasing the healing power of love is surely to dissolve everything that stands in its way. Once that is done we are stripped down to our pure essence, which is love. It is no easy process but every movement towards this goal will help. We learn from medical science how our mental and emotional states affect the workings of even our nervous and immune systems*. It is not just a matter of flushing out toxins but love pours new life and prāna into every cell of our body.
The influence of love can be observed at its myriad levels. Even those that pass through romantic love will vouch for its revitalising power. At such times, I found my energy receive a considerable lift. I felt so much lighter and found I could easily sail through life’s complications. But this kind of love is rarely sustained. Its content is distorted and mixed. It casts so many shadows and readily separates into opposing polarities. Indeed, much of the time, the emotion might later slump to sorrow, indifference or even hate. Rarely is man able or willing to place his whole being behind the force of love as it is usually no more than an emanation from his vital nature. More than anything, it is this element which masks the true identity of love. It takes a very sincere heart to understand the nature of love and how many of us are able to truly benefit from its immense influence? With this vital deformation, any love simply cannot endure and gets exhausted as soon as Nature’s purpose is served. “Therefore love can last or satisfy only if it bases itself on the soul and spirit, if it has its roots there. But that means living no longer in the vital but in the soul and spirit (2).”
Refinement
So to become more whole, our love needs to be more refined. I have not found this transition easy because the way I used to look at love had almost become a habit. It’s like I was always anticipating the vital to serve its heady brew of passion and excitement. I didn’t see love always as a steady flame because a part of me was still conditioned to sharp contrasts. Without the downslide I might have felt that I would never enjoy the pleasure of ascent. Without this sense of passion, love sometimes seemed empty and void. Anything else sometimes appears dull and uninteresting. It is a transition that I have far from completed.
But the vital element in love should not be strangled but uplifted and offered. The vital has an important role to play in love; it animates and gives the vibration an ardour and force. It’s just that our love should be integrated. Merely observing my inner movements fulfils this process best for me. When I do this, I am a mere spectator. What I watch I simultaneously offer and the Consciousness-Force makes the change. The arena is always the body: I find it the best transmitter of my inner movements. Slowly, as I scan it, the searchlight removes the knots and tangles which keep love buried inside. Moreover, the work is done in an atmosphere of love. I am never alone in this process. Ugly stains may present themselves before my eyes; there may be unpleasant sensations but one by one they are replaced by the truth and love. As love descends, a new substance is carried in its wake. I say the word ‘substance’ for what is quite a dynamic peace. The peace I often experience is concrete, and energising. In many aspects it is quite material. Indeed, I believe that it is always seeking to manifest on the material plane. It gives new power to my muscles and limbs. It frees me of pain. It aligns the body around my truth. It clears and galvanises the vital and opens every channel to fully receive the divine Force.
This, for me, is the essence of Integral Health: the whole being is addressed and I always discover that the means of coordination is the soul. It comes forward whenever I truly connect to this work. I guess that each person is different, but it is usually the heart that first connects with it. The psychic being** emerges whenever I sincerely invoke the help of the Mother. It is always waiting for the invitation to step forward. It is the key to all true knowledge.
However, I find that if I focus too much within the heart it does not really support the process of healing. Indeed it stifles andnarrows the vibration and makes it small. It is a vibration that always seeks to expand. The peace and love found there should be allowed to spread over the whole body. Indeed it can radiate outwards and be allowed to spread outside the body. It can become universal. The second movement then is always to expand the consciousness.
Love should come from the whole of our being, not just segments. If the vital is starved, I find myself pass through dismal grey periods. It goes on strike. At other times it may revolt. So a sense of balance is always necessary. If one can discover this ‘harmoniser’ that lies deeper within the heart, life becomes so much easier! But, speaking from experience, it is no short journey to realise the ultimate treasure inside. Much patience is required. Its revelation requires a steady persistence. But I find that nothing brings the psychic being forward more than devotion. From the first flickerings of our love the essence gradually transmutes, becoming deeper and more universal. Love begets a greater love.
The psychic being lies at the core of all true love and there is nothing it resonates to more than a sincere adoration. When I fix it on the Mother a huge joy wells up there. And when it moves to the front it always carries this singular vibration. From experience, these glints of love come spasmodically at first and accumulate over time and practice. They arrive initially in glimpses and unexpected experiences. As one grows in consciousness, this love inevitably refines but it is rarely a linear process.
I find that there are times when love wells up spontaneously in the being. When that happens, I try to remember to channel it in the truest possible way. A choice is always there. This vibration needs to be pointed upwards and not down to abet and fuel our cravings and desires. It is a beautiful opportunity. I need to be watchful and stay awake because the emotion can often conceal a hidden trapdoor into the depths of my nature.
Love and impersonality
One challenge I have found was to understand and embrace the impersonal aspect of love. Love belongs to the Divine only; it stands above all objects. True love requires no return:
“One has the complete plenitude of joy and realisation the moment one experiences true love and one doesn’t at all need any kind of response. One love, that’s all. And one has the plenitude of the satisfaction of love. There is no need at all of any reciprocity (3).”
But when love finds itself compressed onto the usual human scale, what one holds in one’s heart tends to get much more turbid. It becomes beset with duality. It may be full of caveats and conditions. It is a tendency in man that can increase with age as the mind comes more to the fore. During our lives, we also build up a network of attachments. They are almost the antonym of love but how often they are mistaken for it. These associations only bind us down to externalities. Tied to surface concerns, man becomes prone to every conceivable mental disturbance.
Our upbringing often lies at the root of this problem. When I was very young, I had felt
unable to look beyond my immediate vicinity. Love requires freedom, but as a child I had felt hemmed in from every quarter; there were few reference points beyond. I had felt a constant pressure that strove to funnel and narrow the vastness that existed inside. I don’t believe my experience was particularly unique. Instead of being pinned down by and dictated by social constructs, a child can always be encouraged to look beyond the immediate milieu. He or she can be inspired to access richer sources above and beyond. Love has to be elevated above its social and familial context to realise its truest footing.
The paradox is that through this impersonal love is found the Divine Person, the summit of all adoration. Set this truth against the idea of a vengeful Divine, the judge that is propagated by some religions. It is not surprising that many people spend so much of their lives consumed with guilt. In my experience, there is no worse feeling than to be cut off from the heart and probably the greatest barrier to love is fear itself. This kind of denial can have damaging repercussions to our well-being and health.
An atmosphere
Love is not exclusive. It is not something reserved between two individuals. As a vibration, it can spread as widely as possible if one allows it to radiate through our daily lives. True love is disinterested, free from the taint of ego. But it does not always need to lend itself to ostentatious gestures of help. Sometimes these movements might disguise a perverse self-interest. One just needs to operate from one’s truth. Love has a unique atmosphere which will carry an immense, though not necessarily obvious, benefit to all those around. We are accustomed to seeing love as something given and received. But really it is something always present albeit veiled by the obscurity of our nature. When this interchange takes place both sides will benefit but even this connection can be looked upon as a distortion of Love’s absolute Force. Our love gets demeaned into preferences and consequently loses its innate power. Some people have something of this truer presence and light up everyone and everything they come into contact with. Certain places also hold this atmosphere and one feels uplifted as soon as one steps inside this unique force. I believe that this kind of atmosphere can be cultivated in man too.
I believe that we can all help to spread this special vibration. Love can embrace a love for the earth. Goodness knows, our planet seems to be crying out for it! While it is being raped and desecrated by man, our loving prayers and actions are needed now more than ever. The escalation of man’s pillaging has reached such a head everywhere that only an intervention of the Divine Grace seems able to reverse the spiral of abuse. Like the ancient rrssis of yore, we need to call down the Lord. It is consciousness that will save this world not just billions in relief aid.
Love works on a more diminutive level too. When one enters a room where people are assembled, one can invoke this vibration through all those present. One might do this through affirmation. After all, love is made complete by finding its expression. Just to say the Mother’s name with consciousness will always have a magical effect. The surroundings become charged with love and fused with harmony; the atmosphere in the room tangibly lifts. If the motive behind the words is truly disinterested the effect can be marvellous.
Love and Ānanda
One beautiful aspect of love is what we receive when it is sincerely given. However, if we hanker for a return, we’re probably in for a long wait. That is probably why I have found its treasures coming unexpectedly, initially at least. It is Ānanda which is the counterpart of love: we give love and receive Ānanda. But love is no trade; so the giving and receiving has to arise from the utmost spontaneity. This connection is entirely logical because Ānanda is the secret ingredient of all existence; everything contains the essential Delight. Without it, there would be no support. I look upon Ananda as the fruit of Love. It is born out of the love of the Divine for His manifestation.
The summit of Integral Health is to attain a body of bliss and the only means is through perfecting our love. If love becomes our abiding consciousness, just imagine the effect on our body! Every time our consciousness radiates on it, whatever its state, the effect will be magical. This is the work of transformation. What could be more perfect than to realise this bliss throughout the cells? This is the goal set before us: to return to what we are in essence in every facet of our being.
But sometimes this bliss seems very far away. The world is now going through an enormous shift. It’s as if everything is being churned around in a huge cauldron. There are chaotic forces at play in the world at present. These forces can also play havoc in the individual. I have a feeling that their activity has got even more intense since the turn of the year. Old paradigms are beginning to crumble before our eyes. The old habits and patterns no longer seem to work. A huge battle is going on both inside and out. But perhaps this turmoil is paving the way for something more splendid and great. A new way has to emerge.
In the context of all this, I find the habits and patterns of the past throttle the heart. If I get lost in their tangles, they give love no room to breathe. It happens quite covertly. Our nature is comprised with many old grooves and these seem to be the source of all our habitual patterns. A reaction is triggered and without realising it, my heart might freeze and all radiance will be lost. It is not easy to recognise these patterns rising to the surface. I believe that is why it is so important to stay aligned. This requires vigilance, a disinterested eye on all inner movements. This is a time to keep our balance and make best use of whatever our nature offers. As for me, it is imperative I align myself through the heart because that is what my nature requires. If I align to love I stand in my truth. It is only this force which sustains me. It is the source of my well-being. When I live in the head I become fragmented and lose my sense of wholeness. I get lost in its quizzical detours; I get consumed in doubt. Perhaps that is another reason why the Mother once said that the heart has wings.
I am convinced that this power has the capacity to overcome every obstacle. The implications for man’s mental and physical health are enormous. Love is such a simple vibration and perhaps that’s where much of its power comes from. I don’t believe that we can choose to love; love manifests only when the instrumental nature is fit and ready. But even the smallest detail can set this huge force into motion. Even a simple smile can trigger this process. Every time we identify with something that we love, we access a part of us that is truly divine. The extended experience of yoga is all about this. It is a matter of re-discovering our innate divinity:
“One can love divinely only by becoming divine in nature; there is no other way (4).”
References
1. Sri Aurobindo. Birth Centenary Library, Volume 23. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 1970, p. 772.
2. Ibid., pp. 761-2
3. The Mother. Collected Works of the Mother, Volume 5. 2nd ed. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust; 2003, p. 237.
4. Sri Aurobindo. SABCL, Volume 23. p. 763.
*For instance from psycho-neuroimmunology
**The evolving soul; the psychic individuality.
James Anderson is a member of SAIIIHR and coordinating editor of NAMAH.
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