Tuesday, 20 March 2012

Tibetan Healing Meditation Spiritual Medicine

Overview
Whatever problems come to us from beings or inanimate objects, if our mind gets used to perceiving only the suffering or the negative aspects of them, then even from a small negative incident great mental pain will ensue. For it is the nature of indulgence in any concept, whether suffering or happiness, that the experience [will be intensified by that indulgence. As] negative experience gradually becomes stronger, a time will come when most of what appears before us will become the cause of bringing us unhappiness, and happiness will never have a chance to arise. If we do not realize that the fault lies with our own mind's way of gaining experience, and if we blame all our problems on the external conditions alone, then the ceaseless flame of habitual negative deeds such as hatred and suffering will increase in us. That is called: "All appearances arising in the form of enemies." 
-- Dodrupchen 
(Quoted from The Healing Power of Mind, by Tulku Thondrup)
Traditional Tibetan culture nourished a deep and powerful integration of spiritual and practical understanding, respecting both of these aspects of human nature and their potential for supporting health and healing. For example, all phases of Tibetan herbal medicine -- asking for help, searching for herbs, preparing medicines, diagnosing illness, prescribing treatments, taking the medicine -- all of them are carried out with a devotion to spiritual practices and training shared by the patient and the physician, their families, and the entire community.
The near universal appreciation of these spiritual practices stemmed primarily from their practical effectiveness in fostering basic sanity, compassion, and understanding -- progress on the path toward enlightenment -- but over time certain meditation practices were recognized as especially appropriate for emphasis by people troubled by physical or psychological illness, and those who want to help them. This page focuses on some of those practices.
Since the readers of this page are mostly going to be natives of Western countries, or countries that have been strongly influenced by it, we should note that for people steeped in Western culture, just about any form of Tibetan Buddhist meditation, or indeed any form of Buddhist Meditation at all, could be considered a healing meditation, especially for stress-related illness. That's why sections on the mindfulness/awareness and tonglen practices are included on this page.
In traditional Tibetan culture, people lived close to the earth. There were no alarm clocks and no pagers, and to talk to someone you had to actually go to where they were and have a conversation. Nearly everyone had some sort of spiritual practice, and most people were practicing meditation every day. In that context, it made sense to single out certain practices as healing meditations. For us, though, any meditation practice that we actually enjoy doing is likely to have a beneficial effect on our health and longevity.
The Tibetans also used other spiritual practices that might not be called 'meditation,' but which were considered beneficial for fostering health and well being, and for healing illness. Building stupas, raising prayer flags, setting up large prayer wheels, and going on pilgrimages are good examples of practices that heal bodies and minds as well as spirits. Even Tibetan herbal medicine combines spiritual and physical healing. Physicians constantly repeat mantras (prayers) while gathering and preparing ingredients for the medicines, and while working with their patients. Moreover, some types of Tibetan medicines contain substances that are considered sacred. These other types of spiritually empowered healing are the topic of another page:
Spiritual Healing in Buddhist Tibet
Just a couple of suggestions: First, spiritual shopping can be entertaining and possibly informative, but healing meditations won't really be much use until you settle on a method that seems promising, and stick with it for a while. 
Second, with meditation, as with any skill involving coordination of mind and body, working with someone who has developed some mastery of the method and its application is highly recommended. On another page we give links for contacting a Tibetan Buddhist meditation center:
Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Centers
How to chose a center? Among the various schools and traditions of Buddhist meditation, different groups emphasize particular practices when working with beginners. Specifically, traditional Tibetan Buddhist centers tend to begin with visualization and mantra practices, while the Shambhala Centers, Shamar Rinpoche, and non Tibetan centers following the Zen and Theravadin traditions emphasize mindfulness/awareness practice with beginning students. 
 
"It is no measure of health to be adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
-- Krishnamurti
 
Mindfulness/Awareness
"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most."
-- found on a cocktail napkin
According to the Buddhist masters, we are not necessarily stuck with our neurotic anxieties. We can develop what Trungpa Rinpoche called 'Basic Sanity,' which is simply the ability to synchronize what our mind is doing with what our body is doing.
The most basic way to train oneself to be more aware of what is actually going on in any situation, including various aspects of ones health, is a certain type of meditation practice, called shi-né (she nay) in Tibetan (Sanskrit shamatha). This term has been translated into English as "mindfulness practice"; however, a more literal translation of the Tibetan term would be "abiding in peace of mind."
Shi-né is the most common form of meditation, not only in Tibet but in other Buddhist countries. It is the basis of Zen, of Theravadin or Insight meditation, and of the Tibetan meditation practices involving visualization. It is also the basic practice of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction approach developed to help patients deal with illness.
A traditional analogy is sometimes used to give a student a quick glimpse of this practice and how it works. An image of a candle flame, flickering in the breeze, is compared to our mind, tossed around by conflicting emotions. Shi-né  practice is like putting a glass chimney around the candle, letting it burn steadily and clearly. The practice eventually leads to a relaxed awareness of every aspect of the situation, to what is called "panoramic awareness" (Tibetan lah-tong; Sanskrit vipashyana), which naturally allows one to develop insight into oneself and others.
Unbiased awareness automatically tends toward appropriate action. When ones mind and body are synchronized, when what is actually present is experienced on the spot, ones actions mesh with the situation as it truly is. Developing such basic sanity, such genuine presence in the actual situation, is possible for all of us.
Shi-né practice helps to reduce stress in two ways. First, as the translation "abiding in peace" implies, it directly affects the self- induced stress that stems from entanglement with our internal soap operas, by letting us have thoughts without identifying with them. Secondly, our actions will tend to be more appropriate, and thus more effectivehaving fewer negative side effectsso that external causes of stress will be reduced.
Doctors tell us that many of the most debilitating illnesses in our modern lives are stress induced. Stress not only makes us miserable, it can make us ill: Prolonged extreme stress is devastating to the immune system. Reducing stress not only helps us feel better, it can actually help in the healing of many physical ailments.
The Resources section of this page provides links to simple instructions for  practicing meditation, available on the Web and in books, and links to Tibetan Buddhist meditation centers, where one can establish a relationship with an experienced meditation instructor.
 
"Not too tight. Not too loose."
-- basic meditation instruction
Tonglen (Sending and Taking)
"The tonglen practice is a method for connecting with suffering – ours and that which is all around us – everywhere we go. It is a method for overcoming fear of suffering and for dissolving the tightness of our heart. Primarily it is a method for awakening the compassion that is inherent in all of us, no matter how cruel or cold we might seem to be."
Efforts toward developing basic sanity, using mindfulness/awareness practice, can help us to improve our own health and other aspects of our personal situation. As we become more aware of what is really going on, we are more effective in working with it. However, when other people are involved, and especially if we are trying to help them, we might need something more.
When Buddha discovered sitting practice, he was living alone under a tree, and when he started teaching he had already discovered his true nature. Part of what he learned was that he was not separate from other living beings.
Meditators who continue interacting with other people, rather than living alone in a cave, may find them highly irritating at times. Ones hard-earned peace of mind scatters like autumn leaves before a stiff breeze and we find ourselves wallowing in neurotic upheavals of all sorts.
Tonglen practiceexchanging oneself, in our imagination, with others who are sufferinggives us a way to work with that, a way to dissolve our desperate clinging to separateness. Before we can really practice tonglen, however, we need to find a way to genuinely connect to our own compassion.
Sogyal Rinpoche suggests that seeing someone in pain, in person or on the news, could inspire us to meditate on compassion. "Any one of these sights could open the eyes of your heart to the fact of vast suffering in the world. Let it. Don't waste the love and grief it arouses; in the moment you feel compassion welling up in you, don't brush it aside, don't shrug it off and try quickly to return to 'normal,' don't be afraid of your feeling or embarrassed by it, or allow yourself to be distracted from it or let it run aground in apathy. Be vulnerable; use that quick, bright uprush of compassion; focus on it, go deep in your heart and meditate on it, develop it, enhance, and deepen it. By doing this you will realize how blind you have been to suffering, how the pain that you are experiencing or seeing now is only a tiny fraction of the pain of the world. 
"All beings, everywhere, suffer; let your heart go out to them all in spontaneous and immeasurable compassion, and direct that compassion, along with the blessing of all the Buddhas, to the alleviation of suffering everywhere. 
"Compassion is a far greater and nobler thing than pity. Pity has its roots in fear, and a sense of arrogance and condescension, sometimes even a smug feeling of 'I'm glad it's not me.' As Stephen Levine says: 'When your fear touches someone's pain it becomes pity; when your love touches someone's pain, it becomes compassion.' To train in compassion, then, is to know all beings are the same and suffer in similar ways, to honor all those who suffer, and to know you
are neither separate from nor superior to anyone."
Pema Chödrön, in Start Where You Are, gives instructions for the tonglen practice itself. Here is a brief excerpt about the main practice:
"You breathe in the pain of a specific person or animal that you wish to help. You breathe out to that person spaciousness or kindness or a good meal or a cup of coffee - whatever you feel would lighten their load. You can do this for anyone: the homeless mother that you pass on the street, your suicidal uncle, or yourself and the pain you are feeling at that very moment. The main point is that the suffering should be real, totally untheoretical. It should be heartfelt, tangible, honest, and vivid."
After a while you expand the exchange: "You use specific instances of misery and pain as a stepping stone for understanding the universal suffering of people and animals everywhere. .... What you feel for one person, you can extend to all people."
"You need to work with ... both the immediate suffering of one person and the universal suffering of all. .... Working with both situations together makes the practice real and heartfelt; at the same time, it provides vision and a way for you to work with everyone else in the world."
Tonglen practice is part of the Seven Points of Mind Training, a widely cherished set of guidelines for bringing adverse situations onto the path of meditation, and developing bodhichittathe unconditional compassion which waters the seed of Buddhahood.
To learn more about the tonglen practice or the Seven Points of Mind Training, look in the Resources section at the end of this page for links to instructions on the Web, and for more detailed information in books.
 
"Use what seems like poison as medicine. Use your personal  suffering as the path to compassion for all beings."
-- Pema Chödrön
Visualization
"If one meditates on the Medicine Buddha, one will eventually attain enlightenment, but in the meantime one will experience an increase in healing powers both for oneself and others and a decrease in physical and mental illness and suffering."
Buddhism offers many different types of mental and physical and spiritual exercises to help individuals move toward the goal of awakening. One form of practice, highly respected by Tibetan Buddhists, is to connect with the qualities of an enlightened being, one who is already awake, as an example and inspiration. 
Although all the enlightened beings used in these practices are fully awake and in complete possession of all the superlative qualities of a Buddha, various awakened beings are seen as manifesting especially vividly different aspects of awakened mind. For example, as the passage quoted above suggests, the Medicine Buddha is especially useful in connecting with the healing power of awakening. Other enlightened beings commonly used as the focus of healing practices are Amitayus, the Buddha of Long Life, Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, and Tara, Mother of the Buddhas.
In addition to fostering in a general way ones ability to heal oneself and others, these practices can be specifically focused on the healing of a particular problem, again in oneself or in someone else, or in a group of people. For example, a meditation on the Medicine Buddha could be focused on benefiting people with a particular disease, and helping people to avoid contracting that particular illness.
Information on The Medicine Buddha, Chenrezig and Tara, and the practices associated with them, can be found on the following pages:
Medicine Buddha Resources
Chenrezig: Embodiment of Compassion
Who is Arya Tara?
The basic forms of all these practices are open to anyone who wishes to use them. Taking the vajrayana initiation (empowerment) of the Buddha aspect that you want to work with is highly recommended, but you can begin the practice without waiting for that.
 
"Most tantrayana or vajrayana visualization and mantra practices require that an initiation and subsequent authorization and instruction be given by a qualified lama before the sadhana, or ritual practice, can begin. However, a few practices, those that were given publicly by Lord Buddha Shakyamuni, do not fall under such restrictions. Very definitely, all the practices given in the Sutras have the full blessing of the Buddha and therefore can be practiced if one has the aspiration to do so."
--Kalu Rinpoche


top of page

Mantra

"Compared to any medical treatment or cure, the Six Syllables [Om Mani Padme Hum] are the strongest remedy against sickness and evil."
-- Guru Rinpoche
A Tibetan Buddhist mantra can be thought of as a particular form of prayer: Phrases in the ancient Sanskrit language are used to connect with the energy of a particular enlightened being. 
The most familiar example is Om Mani Padme Hum,Om Mani Padme Hum in Tibetan Scriptthe most widely used mantra in Tibet and in many other Buddhist communities. Here it is written in Tibetan script. Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying this mantra, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention of Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
Om Mani Padme Hum: The Meaning of the Mantra
There are many special mantras for various purposes, including healing. However, the mantras most often used for healing are those associated with the enlightened beings mentioned in the Visualization section: The Medicine Buddha, Green or White Tara, and Chenrezig. The mantras can be used without doing the visualization, although it would be helpful to read about the visualization and have in mind some understanding of the particular enlightened being whose mantra you are repeating.
 
Chenrezig
om mani padme hum
Medicine Buddha
tadyatha om bheshajye beshajye maha beshajye beshajye rajaya samungate svaha
Tara
om tare tu tare ture soha
The links in the table will take you to a page where you can learn about the particular mantrawhat it means, how to say it, and what special benefits it is said to convey to those who use it.
Anyone can begin the practice of repeating these mantras. However, it is said that for these practices to be fully effective, one should obtain refuge, the empowerment and oral instructions for the practice from a qualified lama. The lamas have already been introduced to the energy of these enlightened beings by their own teachers, and they can pass that introduction along to youbut you can begin practicing the mantra immediately, before you obtain the empowerment. In fact, beginning the practice may help to clear up any obstacles to finding a lama and arranging to receive the transmission.


top of page

Prayer Wheels
"Just touching and turning a prayer wheel brings incredible purification and accumulates unbelievable merit."
Spinning the written form of the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum around in a mani wheel (prayer wheel) is believed to give the same benefit as saying the mantra, and mani wheels, small hand wheels and large wheels with millions of copies of the mantra inside, are found everywhere in the lands influenced by Tibetan Buddhism. 
A short teaching by Lama Zopa, Rinpoche  specifically discusses the value of prayer wheel practice for healing:
The Benefits of Prayer Wheels
"One idea I have is to use them for healing. Anyone with a disease such as AIDS or cancer, whether or not they have any understanding of Dharma, can use the prayer wheel for meditation and healing."
You can learn much more about them, including how to purchase one, on our page about mani wheels:
Prayer Wheels: Spiritual Technology from Tibet
His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, has said that having the mantra on your computer works the same as a traditional mani wheel, as the digital form of the mantra spins around on your hard drive. You can learn more on our page devoted to digital mani wheels:
Digital Prayer Wheels
Turn your hard drive into a prayer wheel Animated prayer wheels for Web Pages
Download a prayer-wheel screen saver


top of page

Distant Healing
Many Tibetan lamas of all traditions will perform special spiritual practices (pujas) for the benefit of individuals who are ill or recently deceased. A donation is appropriate to cover the cost of the materials (incense, etc.) used in the practice. Additional funds to support the work of the lamas are always welcome; Tibetans believe that such gifts add to the effectiveness of the blessing ceremony.
Tibetan Buddhist Centers

Healing Buddha Foundation is a very good example of this type of practice. On their Web site they have a page devoted to offering "special pujas and distant healing for Buddhists and non Buddhists alike who are experiencing all types of difficultiesphysical, emotional, mental, or spiritual." Special Pujas and Distant Healing
 

The Powers of the Six Syllables

The Powers of the Six Syllables


The six syllables perfect the Six Paramitas of the Bodhisattvas. Gen Rinpoche, in his commentary on the Meaning of  said: 
"The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful,
because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say
the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the
practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics,
and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and
patience. Päd, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom.
So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?"
The six syllables purify the six realms of existence in suffering.
For example, the syllable Om purifies the neurotic attachment to bliss and pride, which afflict the beings in the realm of the gods.


Purifies
Samsaric Realm
Om
bliss / pride
gods
Ma
jealousy /
lust for entertainment
jealous gods
Ni
passion / desire
human
Pe
stupidity / prejudice
animal
Me
poverty / 
possessiveness
hungry ghost
Hung
aggression / hatred
hell


"Behold! The jewel in the lotus!"


This phrase is often seen as a translation of the mantra. However, although some mantras are translatable, more or less, the Mani is not one of them; but while the phrase is incorrect as a translation, it does suggest an interesting way to think about the mantra, by considering the meanings of the individual words. H.H. The Dalai Lama has provided just such an analysis, in a Web page The Meaning of Om Mani Padme Hum.
He concludes his discussion with this synopsis: "Thus the six syllables, Om Mani Padme Hum, mean that in dependence on the practice which is in indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech and mind into the pure body, speech, and mind of a Buddha."

Om Mani Padme Hum The Meaning of the Mantra in Tibetan Buddhism

Overview
Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying the mantra (prayer), Om Mani Padme Hum, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. Viewing the written form of the mantra is said to have the same effect -- it is often carved into stones, like the one pictured above, and placed where people can see them.  Spinning the written form of the mantra around in a Mani wheel (or prayer wheel) is also believed to give the same benefit as saying the mantra, and Mani wheels, small hand wheels and large wheels with millions of copies of the mantra inside, are found everywhere in the lands influenced by Tibetan Buddhism.
The Prayer Wheel: Spiritual Technology from Tibet
It is said that all the teachings of the Buddha are contained in this mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum can not really be translated into a simple phrase or sentence. 
It is appropriate, though, to say a little about the mantra, so that people who want to use it in their meditation practice will have some sense of what they are doing, and people who are just curious will understand a little better what the mantra is and why it is so important to Tibetan Buddhists. We begin in the next section with some information about the mantra itself.

The Mantra Om Mani Padme Hum
The Mani mantra is the most widely used of all Buddhist mantras, and open to anyone who feels inspired to practice it -- it does not require prior initiation by a lama (meditation master). The six syllables of the mantra, as it is often pronounced by Tibetans -- Om Mani Padme Hum -- are here written in the Tibetan alphabet: 
Reading from left to right the syllables are:
Om
(ohm)
Ma
(mah)
Ni
(nee)
Pad
(pahd)
Me
(may)
Hum
(hum)
The vowel in the sylable Hu (is pronounced as in the English word 'book'. The final consonant in that syllable is often pronounced 'ng' as in 'song' -- Om Mani Padme Hung. There is one further complication: The syllablePad is pronounced Pe (peh) by many Tibetans: Om Mani Peme Hung.
The mantra originated in India; as it moved from India into Tibet, the pronunciation changed because some of the sounds in the Indian Sanskrit language were hard for Tibetans to pronounce.
 
Sanskrit
form
Om Mani Padma Hum
mantra of Avalokiteshvara
Tibetan
form
Om Mani Peme Hung
mantra of Chenrezig

The True Sound of Truth
An old story speaks about a similar problem. A devoted meditator, after years concentrating on a particular mantra, had attained enough insight to begin teaching. The student's humility was far from perfect, but the teachers at the monastery were not worried. 
A few years of successful teaching left the meditator with no thoughts about learning from anyone; but upon hearing about a famous hermit living nearby, the opportunity was too exciting to be passed up. 
The hermit lived alone on an island at the middle of a lake, so the meditator hired a man with a boat to row across to the island. The meditator was very respectful of the old hermit. As they shared some tea made with herbs the meditator asked him about his spiritual practice. The old man said he had no spiritual practice, except for a mantra which he repeated all the time to himself. The meditator was pleased: the hermit was using the same mantra he used himself -- but when the hermit spoke the mantra aloud, the meditator was horrified! 
"What's wrong?" asked the hermit. 
"I don't know what to say. I'm afraid you've wasted your whole life! You are pronouncing the mantra incorrectly!" 
"Oh, Dear! That is terrible. How should I say it?" 
The meditator gave the correct pronunciation, and the old hermit was very grateful, asking to be left alone so he could get started right away. On the way back across the lake the meditator, now confirmed as an accomplished teacher, was pondering the sad fate of the hermit. 
"It's so fortunate that I came along. At least he will have a little time to practice correctly before he dies." Just then, the meditator noticed that the boatman was looking quite shocked, and turned to see the hermit standing respectfully on the water, next to the boat. 
"Excuse me, please. I hate to bother you, but I've forgotten the correct pronunciation again. Would you please repeat it for me?" 
"You obviously don't need it," stammered the meditator; but the old man persisted in his polite request until the meditator relented and told him again the way he thought the mantra should be pronounced. 
The old hermit was saying the mantra very carefully, slowly, over and over, as he walked across the surface of the water back to the island.


The Common Mani Scripts
The mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is found written in two different ways in (and on) Mani wheels and on jewelry, etc.: in the ancient Indian Ranjana script and in Tibetan script:
Tibetan script
 Ranjana script


 

Spiritual Healing in Buddhist Tibet Tools for Healing, Relaxing and Awakening

Introduction
Before the communist takeover, Tibet was a Buddhist country, and Tibetan Buddhist culture still survives somewhat in some of the neighboring countries like Bhutan and Nepal, and in refugee communities in India and in the West. Buddhism is very practical. All of the Dharma is based on Buddha's discovery that suffering is unnecessary: Like a disease, once we really face the fact that suffering exists, we can look more deeply and discover it's cause; and when we discover that the cause is dependent on certain conditions, we can explore the possibility of removing those conditions. Buddha taught many methods for doing that, and the Tibetans have preserved and refined many of them over the centuries.
The spiritual and psychological entanglements that lead to suffering also can result in illness of all sorts. Many Tibetan Buddhist methods and tools for awakening, for removing those entanglements, also promote relaxation and healing. In traditional Tibetan culture, practicing meditation and using prayer wheels, incense, prayer flags and other methods all work together with Tibetan herbal medicine in healing illness and maintaining health.
You can use this page as a way of learning more about Tibetan culture, or you can actually try out some of the techniques to see if they might be useful in improving your own health. These methods of spiritual healing require no training in Buddhist theory and little practical instruction, and the equipment required is inexpensive and available by mail. Meditation is especially simple -- you probably have the necessary equipment already: A human body, awareness, some emotional energies, and an environment are about all you need. 
You do need a little basic instruction to get started, with any of these methods, and this page will lead you to resources for acquiring the tools and learning to use them. The real learning, though,  and the benefits, come from practicing. The more you practice, the more you learn. It's very simple.
"Just do it!" 
-- Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche


There's one book I'd like to mention, because it presents a fairly balanced overview of the various healing traditions of Tibet:

The Brain and the Mind

 

The mind of man is capable of anything – because everything is in it, all the past as well as the future.
~Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness


Most people think of the brain and the mind as being one and the same thing. Doctors, scientists and other highly trained persons share this belief. People from all walks of life use the words “brain” and “mind” interchangeably.

In reality, they are two separate and distinct creations. The brain is a biochemical organ – a part of the human body. The mind, on the other hand, is a psychic organ that is attached to the human soul. Both the soul and the mind are connected to the Creator and the heavenly realms.

As human beings you are dual in nature, possessing both a physical body and a psychic body. Within the physical body are physical organs and glands. The psychic body – which is contained within the physical form – has its own set of psychic organs. In other words, a person possesses a physical heart as well as a psychic heart. This is the same situation in regards to the brain and the mind, the brain being the physical organ and the mind being the psychic one.

The mind, a part of the human soul, has a profound influence upon the brain, the nervous system, the body, and all organs and glands. It is the mind that gives all of you the sense of cognition and a sense of beingness. The physical and the psychic are linked so closely together that one does not function without the other. The physical organs and the psychic organs work together in a harmonious relationship. There is a Divine Intelligence from above that orchestrates all of this. This intelligence is part of the Creator or God source.

On a physical level, the human brain consists of four principal parts: the brain stem, diencephalons (consisting of the thalamus and hypothalamus), cerebrum, and cerebellum. Although all four are important, we’ll be discussing the cerebrum. Found in the upper area directly beneath the top of the skull, the cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. The surface area of the cerebrum is known as the cerebral cortex or neo-cortex. Billions of neurons are contained in the neo-cortex. On an evolutionary scale, this is the most recently evolved or developed area of the human brain.

On a psychic and spiritual level, the crown chakra – one of the seven major chakras or energy centers – is positioned over the top of the head and the cerebrum. It is through the crown chakra that the Divine Intelligence above directs energy downwards. This energy – known as chi universal energy or god force – flows from the crown and into the top of the head.

A spiritually awakened or enlightened person can work with this energy. Through meditation and other techniques such as tai chi and dancing, the individual can sometimes feel this universal energy on the top of the head as a warm pleasant feeling. This means that the crown chakra or energy center has “opened up.” As the universal energy expands downwards into the brain itself, tingling sensations will be felt all over the head and within. This is an indication that the chi or universal energy (which is also known as divine light) has stimulated the neo-cortex causing many neurons to “fire.” These firing neurons send electrical energy to other parts of the brain, in particular the rest of the cerebrum. The divine light also travels to these areas of the brain during this event.

The cerebrum is considered the seat of intelligence where higher processes of human thought exist. The abilities to read, write, speak, and make calculations exist in this important part of the human brain. The creation of music, works of art, and philosophical thought originate from the cerebrum. In other words, some of your creative abilities are stored here. Always remember that it is the mind, as part of your eternal soul connected to the energy of the Creator above that directs and allows those abilities to manifest on the physical level via the cerebrum.

As electrical energy and divine light enter these areas of the neo-cortex and cerebrum, brain cells that have lain dormant for a long time are stimulated. These cells become active and start to perform their designated functions or tasks. As a human being you only use about 10% of your potential brain capacity. When the neurons fire and these cells become activated, you start to use more of your mental or brain capacity. Thus, instead of using 10%, you increase your capacity to 20% or even 30%.

There are parts of the brain that contain psychic abilities such as precognition, déjà vu, past life recall, clairaudience, and clairvoyance. As mentioned earlier, the cerebrum and the neo-cortex make up the majority of the brain. It is here that many of your psychic abilities are contained and merely lie dormant. The brain cells within these areas, when activated, will awaken these psychic abilities and gifts. This is partly why spiritual enlightenment and divine inspiration occur when the crown chakra is opened and activated. Divine light and wisdom enter into the crown energy center as well as energizing these areas of the brain.

As you become more spiritually awakened or enlightened, you begin to reach your full potential as a human being. Not only will you use a greater portion of your brain capacity and increase your IQ level, you will also use many of your psychic and spiritual abilities. This is the goal that a person on a spiritual path strives to attain.

An additional benefit is that the power of the mind becomes greater. Many enlightened individuals use this enhanced power in a very positive way. The ability to manifest or create beneficial things in one’s life increases. You develop the potential to direct or control more of your own life and your own destiny. Think of this example: Consider your life as a ship upon the sea of destiny. Instead of being a person aboard a wind tossed ship on a rough sea, you are a captain and pilot directing your ship to your desired destination.

Truly gifted teachers, counselors, and healers are enlightened or awakened. They use more of their brain capacity and the power of their minds. They can influence people in a loving and beneficial way. These enlightened people use the infinite power of the human mind to help humanity.