Daniel J. Benor, MD  

A bodily disease which we look upon as a whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment of the spiritual part                        Nathaniel Hawthorne

In spiritual healing, it is assumed that the spirit is the primary essence of being. The body is a garment worn by the soul in its explorations of physical existence and in relationships with others who are engaged in similar explorations. Lessons that are not fully learned in one lifetime in one body garment may be re-worked and re-learned in other lifetimes.

From some spiritual perspectives, illness may not be viewed as a negative experience. It may be a message from your spirit or soul to bring your attention to particular aspects of your life. Physical problems may be viewed as alarm bells that are sounded by the body to alert the conscious mind that there is a disharmony in your spiritual being. Bodily ills are, in this perspective, encouragements to move beyond your focus on physical existence and to seek deeper meanings in your life.

This is not to say that all illness is in every case a spiritual message. You may be the chance victim of food poisoning, viral infections and accidents. Conversely, not all apparently chance misfortunes of health are pure coincidences. Some seem to come from a deeper wisdom than we can fathom, guiding us to spiritual lessons through adversity.

There are many ways in which spiritual awareness may surface to consciousness.

“Why me?” is a question often asked by a person with serious or chronic illness. While this question may initially come from a place of hurt and anger, with a feeling of injustice, it may lead to deeper questioning and spiritual questing for answers.

Prayers are often offered by people who are ill and by those who care for them. Coming from a place of true need, they both carry a strong impetus to connect to spiritual dimensions and a strong energetic to promote healing. Careseeker prayers bring you into spiritual awareness directly, and caregiver prayers may do so secondarily – through fulfilling your soul mission on earth and through the mystical consciousness that accompanies healing.

As death approaches, and we can see that we will have to give up this body-garment that we have worn for a lifetime, we ask more spiritual questions, and often seek avenues and offer prayers to prolong life. We sometimes overlook that healing into death is also a healing. This point of transition may be the most important time in your life. Eastern traditions teach that if your mind is clear and fixed on spiritual dimensions as you transition from physical existence to spiritual dimensions, you may be released from the cycles of lessons in physical garb . Here, too, kinesiology may help to guide us through the challenges of this transition.

Bereavement opens into spiritual awareness in several ways. It reminds those of us left behind that our time to cross the great divide will also arrive someday. Messages from our body through kinesiology can also help us find inner guidance to work through our hurts, angers, guilts and return to a normal existence that doesn’t include the departed.


Conclusion  
The body is a vehicle for rich lessons in life. When we listen to what it is saying, we can move into deeper connections with the All.

Conversely, when we are connected with our bodies and with higher dimensions of awareness, we can better understand and deal with the physical challenges our bodies face.

 (596 words)

You may reproduce all or any parts of this article as long as you include credits as follows:
Copyright © Daniel J. Benor, MD, 2006. All rights reserved. An expanded version of this article appears as Benor, DJ, In a Word, International J of Healing and Caring – on line, www.ijhc.org  January, 2001, 1-8.