Anandmurti Gurumaa on the nature of disease

[ajay00]

Female enlightened sage Anandmurti Gurumaa on the nature of disease...

https://www.speakingtree.in/article/...reates-disease

Mind dictates its demands, the body simply follows. An agitated, confused, unhealthy mind lays the foundation of disease. Thus, several diseases, once thought to be merely physical dysfunctions, have been found to be psychosomatic in origin.

[Bluto]

Yes, yes, and yes again.

I think even "old age" fits into this way of thinking.

How many people do you hear saying stuff such as "not at my age"? Or "I'm old now, I can't do that". Well, if you believe you are "too old", you will send your body that signal, and that energy, and you will age prematurely.

Think of yourself as old and ill, and you will be old and ill. It's almost ridiculous in its simplicity really.

[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 1:

Originally Posted by ajay00

Mind dictates its demands, the body simply follows. An agitated, confused, unhealthy mind lays the foundation of disease. Thus, several diseases, once thought to be merely physical dysfunctions, have been found to be psychosomatic in origin.

Ever since a mind-boggling, life-transforming near death experience (NDE) many years ago when I emerged completely SYMPTOM-FREE from a 3-day "irreversible coma" with a clear recollection of all that had transpired, the subject of mind-over-matter in physical healing has been of great interest to me.

FYI, the doctors had said that, in the unlikely event of survival, there would be severe brain/organ damage. They had no explanation for my sudden, alert, symptom-free recovery.

As a side note, my sister remembers the medical team coming out to inform her that "your brother just passed away" and to start making funeral arrangements. Then, "a while later", they came out to say that "your brother just opened his eyes", is completely symptom-free and alert with a clear recollection of all that transpired.

In trying to understand the body-mind-spirit connection related to this experience, I was fortunate to have practiced under an adept in Pantanjali's Yoga Sutras which address such phenomena (siddhis, powers) in depth.

Where do you want to go with this thread?

[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 2:

Originally Posted by Bluto

Think of yourself as old and ill, and you will be old and ill. It's almost ridiculous in its simplicity really.

The "As one thinks, so one becomes" principle is well known.

Know Yourself. Dive deeply.

[ajay00]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

Then, "a while later", they came out to say that "your brother just opened his eyes", is completely symptom-free and alert with a clear recollection of all that transpired.

I am glad that you came back with incredible insights to share , and which probably boosted your spiritual and intellectual life as well.

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

Where do you want to go with this thread?

Iam hoping that there are others who may share experiences similar to that of yours.

I have noticed that when I am mentally equanimous and strong, i do not get colds or fevers or diseases even in environments conducive to the same, and noted that my relatives and friends lacking a spiritual background get the same though.

Similarly there have been times when I am mentally agitated , disturbed and weak and found myself having colds or fevers even in healthy environments.

So it was intuitively evident to me that the state of mind is integral to its receptivity to physical ill-health and diseases.

Research has shown that meditation boosts immunity as well.

https://ufhealth.org/news/2021/medit...searchers-find

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegw...immune-system/

[Gem]

Mental/emotional states obviously affect the body, and I'm a big proponent of spiritual purification, but blanket statements such as stress causes illness aren't really true.

I have a strong constitution and I don't get ill, but I go through stress just as often as anyone else, so I just put my remarkable immunity down to having a reasonably balanced diet and lots of physical activity. The way I think has much to do with it not directly per-se, but through the overall scope of how it influences everything I do over the long-term. I'm not saying it's all good because there are some significant downfalls in my mind-set, but they don't translate to physical illness. I'm not a young man and I notice I can't do some of the things I used to, but that's not a 'think I'm old' thing. People get old and we have to accept it realistically.

I say don't believe the overblown link between mind-states and illness because by that very same internal logic, believing it would make it so. On the other hand, realistically accepting the natural process of your life-span is better than believing belief causes you to get older.

[ajay00]

Originally Posted by Gem

Mental/emotional states obviously affect the body, and I'm a big proponent of spiritual purification, but blanket statements such as stress causes illness aren't really true.

You might find these research articles linking stress with illnesses useful...

https://www.doherty.edu.au/impact-re...-their-tracks/

https://healthcare-in-europe.com/en/...ad-cancer.html

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20...ar-health.aspx

[ajay00]

https://www.speakingtree.in/article/...reates-disease

Conversely, when the mind is able to remain calm, quiet and balanced in any situation, then even if the body is unwell, it might be able to heal itself.

Most interestingly, it has often been observed that in some cases – depending on a lot of factors -- even terminally ill patients undergo spontaneous remission once they work at cultivating a healthy, stress-free mind.

What’s more, their immunity could get boosted so their response to chemotherapy and drugs improves dramatically!

To remain calm, quiet and balanced in any situation is where spirituality may have a role to play in the healing process.

The natural state of the untrained mind is to be agitated, noisy and unbalanced so it takes a certain amount of effort and inner work to develop a trained mind that is calm, quiet and balanced.

Imho, this would amount to half of the healing process, and something which everyone can work upon.

[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 5:

Originally Posted by ajay00

So it was intuitively evident to me that the state of mind is integral to its receptivity to physical ill-health and diseases.

Research has shown that meditation boosts immunity as well.

While there are indeed many factors triggering physical ill-health and diseases, I am in complete agreement with you that one's state of mind is integral to the process of health/disease.

Before getting into the impact of meditation on health/disease, I'd like to mention a continuing education class for mental health professionals that I personally took with Dr. David Siegel (MD, psychiatrist, professor of medicine at Stanford University Medical School). In his presentation, Dr. Siegel specifically noted the treatment of a patient who had asthma "with complications". (By "complications", he stated that the patient needed medical equipment in order to breathe. This was obviously not a typical asthma case.) Lacking effective alternatives, Dr. Siegel placed the patient under hypnosis. Under hypnosis, Dr. Siegel suggested to the patient that, upon coming out of hypnosis, the patient should take a small breath ... then a bigger breath ... and then a bigger breath. When the patient came out of hypnosis, the patient did as instructed and was able to breathe naturally WITHOUT any assistive devices whatsoever.

Researching further, Dr. Siegel discovered that, under hypnosis, the default mode network (one's internal chatter when not engaged in specific tasks) is QUIETED. In that QUIETED mode, the power of suggestion relevant to healing is unbelievable (to most) as he had demonstrated.

Dr. Siegel added that experienced meditators similarly quiet the default mode network but noted that, when a patient comes to his office, it's easier for him to hypnotize the patient than to instruct the patient in the art of meditation.


I plan to build on this example in subsequent posts (if this thread develops as I hope it will) and cite a very well documented case (with which I have personally been very involved) in which a young fellow completely reversed an incurable degenerative neurological disease using meditation and visualizations in accordance with the above principle. I can cite other cases as well and can also explain the actual process which you may already have intuited by now.

[Still_Waters]

EXCERPT POST 8:

Originally Posted by ajay00

To remain calm, quiet and balanced in any situation is where spirituality may have a role to play in the healing process.

That is EXACTLY where I am going.