Life and Teachings of the
Masters of the Far East
Ancient
wisdom often has much validity even for the most contemporary scientific
issues. For example, long before stem cells became a blip on modern
science’s radar, the influence of consciousness on their expression was
discussed in the Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East
(Spalding BT. Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East,
Volume VI. Marina del Rey, CA: DeVorss & Company; 1996):
1) “As the cell divides
and creates a new cell, our thought is implanted upon it…In the
first cell, all is perfect. That cell was first known as the Christ
cell.” (i.e., the anointed cell) “It is always just as young as ever it
was. It never takes on old age. It is the primal spark of life. When we
implant in it our thoughts of limitation or old age, or any condition
outside of perfection, the body responds. Cells born from the first cell
take on its image. Originally it is the image and likeness of God. It is
perfect in every way. But it becomes the form we carry in our
minds…if we carry the image of perfection always, what will it do for
these cells? It will build perfection.” (Page 78)
2) “The moment a cell
divides itself from the parent cell, and the instant before it divides
itself, it takes on the exact image of the parent. As it goes out, it
comes under the influence of this imperfection that we think for
ourselves. What happens? We see the vibrations of the cell lowered,
and in some instances when it attaches itself to the organ where it
belongs, it is a dead thing…The very thought influence of
imperfection influences that cell until it dies. The vibrations go
so low that the dynamic influence flows out.” (Page 92)
Scientific Mechanisms
Scientists have proposed many physiological
mechanisms by which emotions, attitudes, and overall consciousness can
potentially transform our health and influence stem cells. For example,
Dr. Bruce Lipton hypothesizes that our consciousness affects DNA
expression through influencing proteins embedded in our cell membranes
(Lipton B. The Biology of Belief. Santa Rosa, CA: Mountain of
Love/Elite Books; 2005).
As shown in Menninger Clinic experiments,
individuals are able to shift consciousness in a way that can alter the
body’s electromagnetic dynamics. Lipton hypothesizes that this
alteration changes the physical configuration of membrane proteins, in
turn, affecting communication between the outside and inside of cells.
Roughly speaking, this consciousness-driven energy is like a radio
signal triggering the garage door to open. This opening initiates a
cascade of physiological events which regulate gene expression and, in
turn, cell fate, potentially in a life-enhancing direction.
Scientists, indeed, have shown that the subtlest of
energies affect stem-cell expression or viability. For example, these
cells are exceptionally sensitive to cosmic radiation (Encinas JM,
Vazquez ME, Switzer RC, et al. Quiescent adult neural stem cells are
exceptionally sensitive to cosmic radiation. Expl Neurol 2008;
210(1): 274-279.). In another example, the acupuncture system and stem
cells are closely linked through a network composed of
under-differentiated, electromagnetically sensitive cells created early
in embryogenesis before the formation of other body systems (Shang C.
Electrophysiology of growth control and acupuncture. Life Sci
2001; 68(12): 1333-1342 & personal communication).
If such subtle influences can affect stem-cell
expression, undoubtedly embracing a health-enhancing consciousness that
opens up the spigot for divine, life-force energy in its many
rose-by-any-other-name manifestations can do so also (e.g., qi in China,
prana or akasha in India, nilch’i or Holy Wind by the Navajo or Diné,
Yesod in the Jewish Kabalistic tradition, or the Christian Holy Spirit).
Forgiveness: “Arise-and-Walk”
Consciousness
Forgiveness is a state of consciousness conducive
for healing in many spiritual traditions. For example, a 2006 article
entitled “Healing in Islam,” discusses how forgiveness, a superior moral
trait in the Qur’an, promotes a healing consciousness (Imam YO. Healing
in Islam. Available at
http://www.metanexus.net/conferences/pdf/conference2006/Imam.pdf.
Accessed October 4, 2009).
Perhaps the most well-known example - especially
relevant to co-author Amanda Boxtel’s experience - is Jesus’ healing of
paralysis through forgiveness (Matthew: 9:2-7):
“…and he said to the
paralytic, Have courage my son; your sins have been forgiven…. For which
is easier to say, your sins have been forgiven, or to say, arise and
walk? But that you might know that the Son of man has authority on
earth to forgive sins, then he said to the paralytic, Arise, take up
your quilt and go to your home. And he rose up and went to his home.”
Healing forgiveness can be contextually understood
within the ageless wisdom of the “Perennial Philosophy.” 
In
introducing The Song of God: Bhagavad-Gita (The Song of God:
Bhagavad-Gita. New York, NY: Mentor Books: 1951), Aldous Huxley
described this philosophy in which our individual consciousness is part
of a Divine Ground referred to differently in world religions (e.g.,
Godhead, Pure Light of the Void, Unity of Allah, etc):
“First: the phenomenal
world of matter and of individualized consciousness – the world of
things and animals and men” (including their injured spinal cords and
stem cells) “and even gods – is the manifestation of a Divine Ground
within which all partial realities have their being, and part from which
they would be non-existent.”
Basically under this philosophy, condemnation
creates a perceptual prison in which you are separated from your fellow
man, greater unity, and larger self. Through your duality-based
judgments of good and bad, this prison isolates you from the healing
energies available as part of your inherent connection to the
“Divine-Ground.”
Through true non-judgmental letting go and not just
righteously forgiving the “jerk” who caused your problems, you are
forgiving your greater self. From the Perennial Philosophy viewpoint of
unity, when any “Son of man” forgives another, he forgives himself of
his greatest sin: a belief that we exist in separation from the Divine
and all of its expressions.
Although real forgiveness is challenging, you do it
in self interest under the golden-rule reciprocity principle emphasized
by most religions. Through true forgiveness, the perceptual prison
tumbles like the walls of Jericho, you reestablish at-one-ment with the
Divine Ground, and healing energies previously held in abeyance flow in.
In a twinkling of an eye your consciousness is healed, which – as above,
so below - percolates into the physical.
Forgiveness & Stem Cells
In 2007, Amanda Boxtel traveled to India for
treatment with human embryonic stem cells. In
India, the use of such cells is allowed if the condition or disorder is
considered incurable, as is the case with spinal cord injury. The stem
cells implanted in Amanda were derived from a surplus fertilized egg
from an IVF program. In other words, they were developed with the
intention to create life and, hence, were endowed with the life-force
consciousness of that purpose.
As someone whose paralysis had been unchanged since
injury over 15 years earlier, Amanda regained impressive function.
Medical professionals consider such improvement extraordinary for a
long-term injury like she possessed.
Part 2 describes Amanda’s story of forgiveness and
healing.
PART 2
June 25th, 2007 marked a new
beginning and my journey of awakening my body after fifteen and a half
years of paralysis. On this day exactly nine months ago (in a
time-frame akin to pregnancy from conception to birth) I received my
first human embryonic stem-cell injection in Delhi, India. In essence,
I infused my body with the divine beginnings of life. Today I continue
to visualize my little baby embryonic stem cells bringing new life to my
body; gestating into fully developed neuronal cells, and rewiring my
spinal cord creating intricate dendrite pathways that will one day
enable me to walk again.
I have matured in the course of these
past nine months and I have a greater understanding of what it takes for
the human body to truly heal. My journey of awakening and healing my
body is more than just the physical. I marvel at the possibility of how
I can actualize divine consciousness within my own physicality. I
believe that my physical body itself has its own consciousness, with
each organ, tissue, and miniscule cell displaying their own
consciousness respectively.
If I try to dissect my healing, my
practice encompasses every aspect of my inner and outer self. I
understand that my mental consciousness, which is manifested in my
thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and ideas, affects both the cells in my
physical body and influences the expression of the human embryonic stem
cells that have been injected into me. I consciously think in my mind:
perfection manifests perfection. Through meditation,
visualization and energetic healing I have explored tapping into my soul
and intuitive or karmic self—depicted as seeds of perception and inner
knowingness—to manifest healing on a deeper cellular level. My healing
practice also addresses my spiritual, and energetic self that I describe
as a holographic matrix of vibrational energy that bleeds in and out of
my physical self; and my emotional self, which stems from my feelings
and opening my heart like a lotus blossom with a thousand petals that is
filled with love, truth, and forgiveness.
While I believe that my consciousness and
every consequent action in my waking life have the potential to affect
and sculpt my reality now and every moment forward, I never understood
the power of forgiveness to heal my physical body until I experienced
this phenomenon first hand. I discovered that by exposing my deep
emotional self to the vulnerability of true forgiveness and acceptance,
such paranormal healing is possible for the layperson like me…not just
the yogis of the Himalayas.
I discovered that I was a prisoner in my
own body. I had to set myself free mentally, emotionally, and
spiritually for true healing to take effect in my physicality.
Forgiveness set me free. Forgiveness meant choosing to love the
individuals in my life who had caused me such pain over years past.
Mostly, this act of forgiveness meant renouncing my pent up anger toward
my father by resolving to love him with compassion combined with a
genuine willingness to forgive.
Writings through the ages and various
alternative healing therapies such as Yoga and Pranic Healing bring
light to the fact that unresolved emotions can manifest as dis-ease on
the cellular level in the physical body. Could my paralysis rooted in
the lower half of my physical body be a result of years of suppressed
emotions and my inability to speak up for myself at a young age? I had
an epiphany that possibly the severe trauma of my spinal cord injury
complete at the eleventh and twelfth vertebrae blocked the life force
energy flow to and from my root chakra,
and consequently affected the back-support of my life.
Interestingly, I learned that the root chakra is located in the bones,
feet, knees, legs, perineum, and coccyx. It is also associated with
revealed anxieties and feelings of victimization from shame or a lost
connection with family and roots. Could the suppression of my father’s
abuse as a young child have played a critical role in my paralyzed adult
body? These are all mind boggling thoughts.
My life pattern has been suppression.
During a powerful meditation on the seventh week of receiving human
embryonic stem cell treatment in Delhi, India, I surrendered to this
life pattern. The date was Sunday, August 12, 2007. I sat in an
oversized chair with my eyes closed. I began voicing out aloud
abundance and prosperity in my life, thinking good things, accepting
myself as I am and feeling truth resonate as a song in my heart. I
praised myself with self-love understanding that my body is a miraculous
divine temple. I was at peace and I affirmed that I was willing to
release the pattern that created my paralysis. I whispered to myself,
“I am whole, I am healthy, and I am very
secure in this eternal life. I have no fears. I know that life always
supports me. I let go and I accept myself.”
At this point I began a quiet meditation
and visualization. In my mind I affirmed:
“I accept myself. I love ME. I have
abundance. I have prosperity. I am beautiful. I have a clear face. I
have strong powerful legs. I can pee all on my own. I can empty my
bowels. I am happy. I am loved by Dale and I am in love. I have
everything I want right here, right now. I am an author. When I write,
I touch hearts and souls.”
I visualized the adult Amanda extending
my arms out to a little child Amanda. That child became a speck that I
placed into a corner of my heart. I avowed, “I will always be there
for you, Little Amanda, no matter what.” I then imagined the same
for anyone else I wanted to forgive, shrinking them to a speck and
placing them in my heart and stating, “I love you, I forgive you.”
Lastly was my father. I pictured him
through the eyes of my eleven-year-old self before Dad committed
suicide. As I shrunk Dad into a speck and placed him into my heart
tears streamed down my face. I voiced out aloud,
“I forgive you Dad. I release you. I
set you free. Go. Be free Dad. You are now free of pain and turmoil.
You are a free spirit to soar. I forgive you. I love you. I bring you
into my heart with love and forgiveness.”
I sat in silence and I cried
gut-wrenching sobs. As my heart opened I felt a huge release. I felt
whole. I was changed.
Since receiving HESC treatment, my legs
showed signs of renewed muscle power for the first time in fifteen and a
half years. I had flickers of quadriceps, gluteals, and hip flexors in
both legs, a hamstring in the left leg, and toes that wiggled ever so
slightly on the left foot. I was beginning to void my bladder on my
own, which was a miracle in itself. My right leg was less responsive
however. I desperately wanted the hamstring to fire in my right leg and
for my right toes to wiggle. I tried relentlessly, willing with all my
might…yet nothing.
The very next day after my powerful
mediation of forgiveness, I witnessed true healing take place in my
body—my right leg came alive! On Monday, August 13, 2007 I underwent
the final spinal procedure of my two-month HESC treatment. I recorded
the series of events that took place that day in my journal:
After receiving my final
big dose of stem cells, Dr. Ashish made a pact with me, which was
settled with a firm handshake. He said, “Lie flat on your back until
7:30 p.m. Do not move your body at all. At eight o’clock I want you to
move your right hamstring with the same intention that you used for your
left. Deal?”
“Yes Dr. Ashish. Deal!
I’ll move my right hamstring, I promise!” I made this statement with
complete confidence…and in front of Dale, with both of our eyes focused
on my lower right leg as I lay on my side isolating my upper body and
hip flexors; I moved my right hamstring on command! My leg and foot
moved backwards from the knee down. The movement was slight (an inch or
two is all) but it was there. I then sat up with glee and said, “Let me
try my toes.”
With the same intention, I
moved my right toe repeatedly. Dr. Ashish came in to check after 8 p.m.
and upon hearing my news he high-fived my right hand in the air with
elation.
“See, I told you.
Anything is possible Amanda. You will continue to see improvements.”
As I lay flat that evening
on a thin hospital bed, Dale curled up next to me. He was exhausted and
jet-lagged. His feet lay next to mine. All of a sudden I felt a deep
sensation in my right foot as though he had rubbed it with his foot. I
sat up and looked at our feet. They were still.
“Did you rub my foot with
your foot?” I asked inquisitively.
“Yes, did you feel that?”
“Yes, do it again!” And
Dale rubbed the bottom of my foot over and over. I could feel a deep
sensation and I knew he was there, rubbing away. My leg didn’t spasm at
all. I could simply feel his rubbing deeply underneath my skin.
“Can you feel it now?” He
asked.
“No….” I hesitated as I
looked at him with disappointed eyes.
“Hah! I was testing you…I
stopped. What about now?”
“Yes….yes….and yes!”
Dale had witnessed three
little miracles in the span of an hour. He was speechless. He couldn’t
believe what he was seeing with his own eyes…my body was coming alive.
The forgiveness that flowed through me created the
divine ground which nourished the transplanted embryonic stem cells so
they could thrive and bear the fruit of restored function. I realize
that forgiveness has the potential to affect my consciousness and heal
my body on levels that were once unimaginable. Forgiveness allowed my
spirit and soul to soar, and freed me from the prisoner that was me,
shackled in my own body.
Adapted from article appearing in June 2010
Townsend Letter: The Examiner of Alternative Medicine (For subscriptions,
go to www.townsendletter.com ).
TOP
