The Healing Power Of Qi: Lessons From Avatar

Sorry that it's been more than two months since I've written. I usually do not write unless I am inspired to do so by that inner intuition. Since creating a new "ask the doctor" page on Facebook, I feel the need to call upon this intuition a little more often from now on. My purpose is to use this blog as a teaching tool. On that same note, I am in the process of creating the first, of hopefully many to come, video that will be aired on local community TV about various health conditions. The first one is all about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and I hope it is ready to be aired within the next three weeks.

Now as many of you know, I have been answering questions on health topics in various online forums for about two years now. Just last night, somebody asked the question on LinkedIn, "Does intuition really exist?" In my answer, I mentioned the book "Awakening Intuition" by Mona Lisa Schultz, M.D., in which Dr. Schultz specifically mentions how she trained herself to listen to her own intuition and gives exercises for how we can do the same. So the question should really be, "What is intuition?" Simply stated, intuition is qi talking to us. Qi is another spelling of "chi", and I prefer this spelling simply because it is a hugely valuable word to know for a competitive Scrabble player like myself. And here's the neat thing about qi: it is both omnipotent and omnipresent.

Qi is referred to as Kundalini in Vedic traditions. It is referred to as Holy Spirit in Christian traditions. In the movie Star Wars it was referred to as "the force". It was also very well explained in the movie "Avatar". In the movie Avatar, the Na'vi refer to this all-pervasive power as their deity Eywa. There is no better explanation to give for what qi is than what the character Neytiri gave to her human mate Jake. This energy, this force, fills the entire universe. It is the essence by which all things are created and become alive. It keeps our hearts beating, our blood flowing, our lungs breathing, rivers flowing, heavenly bodies moving, flowers growing, and on and on. This power is limitless and can never die. When a living creature "dies", the energy merely leaves the form it occupied and returns to the Absolute, to G-d, to The Divine. Not that The Divine is separate. This energy IS The Divine and has created all that is physical and nonphysical. And in many traditions around the world, this divine qi is worshipped in many ways. The fact that the Na'vi were so acutely interconnected with this qi energy naturally made them a more peaceful, appreciative, loving race.

Because of this energy, we are never really alone. Because of this energy, we are never limited. Because of this energy, we are never without an inner compass. But because of something called "ego," which I talked about in my last blog post, we can THINK that we are alone, small, powerless, and lost. So how then do we become more aware of qi? How then does it talk to us? First of all, it is always there, and it is always saying something. The key is to make a sincere practice of meditating to quiet the mind. To "meditate" simply means to focus. To focus on quieting the mind, sitting upright in a quiet room, whether you follow a formal type of meditational practice or not, is key in becoming aware of qi and what it is saying. In this case, the goal of meditation is to, like I said, quiet the mind. The mind, with all its worries and thoughts about all things worldly, IS the seat of the ego, that which likes to impose illusory limitations on things. By taking this completely out of the picture, the power of qi can be recognized. For one who is good at meditating, the recognition and connecting with qi comes quite naturally. By continuous practice, actual DIALOG with qi can happen.

When one can actually dialog with qi, then intuition is at its strongest. In the movie Avatar, the Na'vi just had to "plug in" by using the fibers that grew from their ponytails to be able to communicate, nonverbally, with all living things, because of qi, including with their divine deity Eywa. We as humans aren't so lucky. We have to eliminate the loud chatter of the ego first.

I had mentioned that there are formal types of meditational practices. Some prefer Qi Gong. Some prefer Buddhist meditation. I personally practice a path called Siddha Yoga. After 12 years, I must say that I have had some pretty strong "encounters" with qi. As a healer, I have learned to listen to my intuition, to the qi talking, when I have a patient in my office. Maybe it isn't so surprising when people say to me that I can find things and zero in on problems that others have completely missed and have not been able to help. It's not so much that I am "better" at what I do but that I am constantly listening to my intuition. Then, when I place my hands on somebody to help them, the qi moves to create healing. This is naturally how it works. There is no "trying"; it just does. When used for good intents, qi can be a great healer. When listened to through intuition, it is an unfaltering master.

In conclusion, we can probably argue that there are so many different religions and warring factions all calling upon God (perhaps THEIR god and not the enemy's god), to inspire them as they carry on with their self-righteous indignations and judgements. Who is right? Which side will God lead to victory? Again from the movie Avatar, as Neytiri explained to Jake as Jake prayed to Eywa for just such a guidance, "Eywa does not take sides. She is only interested in the preservation of the balance of life." After all, how can qi, which is present in ALL people, peoples, and creatures, know differences? Differences can only be perceived by the illusory ego.

Ripping Pages

I hope you have either enjoyed or hated, very much, my first few posts in this blog. I guess you could entitle what you have seen so far "My Struggle." (I will not translate that title into German, thank you.) While much of what this blog will be about in time to come is different, I wanted to share with you a bit of my history, including my state of mind. Afore October 3, 1998, I was not a very likeable person. It was easy to see my struggle. It was written on my face. What is written in words here is pretty much what came out of my mouth, moreso directed at myself in anger. But what happened on October 3, 1998 changed my life forever. A person who I mentioned in this blog before, in a brutally honest way, gave me a "second chance," so to speak. While I was boiling with inner rage over the fact that I just felt so uncomfortable in this world, Muktananda came along and burned all that away in a split second. The event was known as shaktipat. Shaktipat is the spiritual equivalent of a person who was blind since birth suddenly being able to see. I will not elaborate on the shaktipat experience here because I have written volumes, and continue to write about my experiences with this Spiritual Awakening, in an actual book I am writing.

Shaktipat does not change the human-ness of a person. It DOES change their awareness of who they are and why they are here. That alone makes a person much better at what they do and what they have to share with the world. For example, at that point in time, I was a chiropractic intern, taking care of patients in the clinic setting. Before shaktipat, I was poking around at people's spines, trying to find which bone I had to push on. After shaktipat, I just went right to the subluxation that needed correcting without even a second guess. Even the doctors who were supervising me were amazed at my insight. Things were suddenly THAT different! But like I said, I'm not going to go on and on about it here since such writings exist elsewhere. I will say that it has truly made a difference. That is why I KNOW, and it's not just a "feeling," that I have a lot to offer the world as far as being a healing practitioner goes.

Now, enter Minnesota -- the state that is the LEAST friendly toward practitioners of "alternative medicine". (Although, I must say that what I do has no semblance to "medicine" at all.) Suddenly everything has become a struggle. And, after 6-1/2 years of being here, it still is. Thus, I rely on my inner awakening, the awareness of the shaktipat gift, to keep that smile on my face and to keep going forward with what I am doing. Some people would say that since I met this Guru who gave me such a gift I should have the world on a string. Well, that's not the way a true Guru works, and it's certainly not the was shaktipat works either. Like I said, it doesn't change the fact that you are human and have struggles. If it did, it would be like God herself taking away her greatest gift to humankind -- free will.

Anyway, why did I entitle this entry "Ripping Pages"? It's because THAT is what the shaktipat experience did for me. It ripped away all the pages of self-hate and illusionary smallness that WOULD have existed to this day. It changed my life forever. This is why, as a healing practitioner, I also deal with that realm of existence -- the spirit realm itself. No, I don't call on "spirit guides" and angels when I have you on my table. That's pretty far-fetched, and I would avoid any "healer" who does that. I would also avoid self-proclaimed "healers" who do not have any formal training BECAUSE they turn healing into some blind three-ring-circus. I DO, because of my extensive training with THE unadulterated form of Reiki, with my eight years of chiropractic education, with my 26 years of healthcare experience, and with my extensive experiences with Saivite and Vedanta philosophies, have a lot to offer this world. Now it's time to fill up my clinic despite all odds.