Observing the Self

Excerpt from The Yoga of Healing by Swami Sivananda Radha

What is it that heals? Is healing a power of the mind? Or of the heart? Or is healing by Divine grace?

There is no simple and direct answer. Illness is an interplay of forces. When healing is needed, it is because there is some sort of disorder in the physical body. The cause of the disorder can be of a variety of natures that we have to clearly investigate. The disorder may be a karmic condition. Or perhaps there are psychological difficulties that cause reflections or disorders in the body, which in time and under certain pressure can become real organic troubles. Sometimes we may make ourselves sick through wrong action or wrong food. Sometimes we simply neglect our bodies.

Remember that pain or illness is not a punishment. That is an over-simplification of our understanding of karma. Healing is a learning process. Sometimes it is an opportunity. You may have to begin with the Light of Understanding of the purpose of your life, of your present condition. Can you let that Light spread into other areas? Can you recognize the Light of compassion, or love? Ask yourself, What do I need to learn from my physical condition? What is the energy that created me in the first place? Where does life come from? Who am I? Healing is not a hit and miss affair as it seems to many people.

Healing is a situation where we meet ourselves. We meet ourselves.