|
The Sacred Quest For Transformation of Body and Soul
Hay House 2005 ISBN # 1-56170-770-8 “Healing and Spirituality” is a two tape set taken from a live lecture given by reknowned author/lecturer Joan Borysenko on healing and spirituality. It is based on Borysenko’s life experiences, and, as such, has the ability to reach out and touch her audiences, those attending in person and those listening to the tapes. The first thing that impressed me was the lead in music to both tapes. It is serene, beautiful, joyful to listen to, and sets the mood for an interactive experience. It was also used at the end of the second tape to bring closure … to define the ending of the listener’s experience of the tape, and leaving one feeling as if they had come full circle. Borysenko’s background is quite eclectic: she is Jewish both by birth and by culture, being raised, as she states, by a Jewish mother and an Irish Catholic housekeeper. she is Jewish both by birth and by culture, being raised, as she states, by a Jewish mother and an Irish Catholic housekeeper. In relation to her Jewish roots, she speaks of the great Jewish mystics that were killed in WW II, with the resulting affect of leaving behind a shell of a religion that does not serve the whole. She speaks of seeing mystery, as a child, in the waxing and waning of the moon, and feeling quite comfortable with this mystery. She speaks of going through a serious mental illness, and coming through to the other side. She speaks of that something beyond the duality of heaven and hell, of good and evil. She names that something pure, unconditional love. She speaks of the diverse spiritual practices that she has studied, amongst which was seven years spent as part of a Greek Orthodox community. She speaks of an internal anger towards patriarchy, Judaism, and Christianity. She also speaks of the imperative nature of forgiveness as part of the spiritual process, and how meditation allows us to deal with our anger, and to forgive. Also part of her spiritual experience was becoming part of a Hindu community, and practicing yoga for thirty years. She speaks of the practice of yoga as helping her to come into her body – to learn to like her body. She speaks of spirituality as being about compassionate awareness, and out kindness towards ourselves as well as kindness to others. In “A Woman’s Journey To God”, she tells how she wrote about healing religious anger. About how men walk a religious ladder, just the same as their psychological development goes. Their journey to God is a ladder-like procession. With women, the journey to God is different. It is more relational. As she puts it, women are “hard wired” for empathy, and see practices such as listening to be part of their spiritual path. They tend to see God in every person. At this point in the tape there is a chanting exercise from a specific group of monks. Boryshenko gives the audience the words, and their English interpretation. She then chants them in song, with the audience chanting along with her. This in itself is a true religious experience. Part of the discussion that followed related focusing the feeling of gratitude on the “breath within the breath”. Guilt was also discussed – the guilt that so many of us have if we do not actively do every spiritual practice that we have studied. This is seen as a part of our tendency to judge ourselves. The bottom line here – forgiveness sets us free! The end point of all religious practice is the same … kindness. Life and beign would act as our prayer, and in essence would be our religion. From here Borysenko loved on to the science of the chakra’s, and how different people relate to stress. A large part of this is in recognizing how men and women express their love in different manners. The question of all questions is what Borysenko advises us to ask ourselves: “Who am I?” How many of us have not had that thought, time and time again, in dreamtime and in our waking hours! The deepest connection to God, according to Borysenko, comes through music, such as chanting. Remember how you feel when singing in church? Remember how you feel when you have chanted, whether alone or with a group? This experience is something that takes us beyond ourselves into that which matters. We pray best when we sing our prayers – and the examples on this tape are indeed awe inspiring! Borysenko sang a prayer of thanksgiving that was in and of itself an awesome meditation. She followed this with a discussion of the “I Am That I Am”. Angels and free will were the next topic of discussion. We need to ask our angels for help before they can give it. (And know that we always have angels with us.) When asking for help, we need to detach ourselves from the outcome. Allow the help to come in whatever manner the Divine sees fit. To put this into active work, Borysenko did an invocation of the angels and the six directions exercise. The tape ended with a “Prayer of Peace” that was also an invocation to the six directions. Through story, chanting, and meditation, Borysenko spoke of ways to find our personal power, and ways to heal ourselves. She spoke of the relation between spirituality, religion, and health. She spoke of finding our joy so that we can manifest healing within ourselves. For anyone who wishes to work on their spirituality, to be an active participant in their own life, “Healing and Spirituality” is an excellent tool.
Bonnie Cehovet
 View My Guestbook Sign My Guestbook
Graphics by Art for the web |
