When you demand nothing of the world, nor of God, when you
want nothing, seek nothing, expect nothing then the Supreme
State will come to you uninvited and unexpected.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
What’s New At Mystic Visions
First, if have not recently visited the website, please do so. We
have a great new graphical look that makes the whole thing look
far more professional. It’s been years in coming! Take a look at:
Second, the major development is the Amrita Healing Energy
Prayer Group, named after my mother. Full details of this, i.e.
how to sign up as part of the group to offer prayer and how to make
a prayer request cab be found at:
Connected to this, I have also launched a companion section on the
discussion board. Here, both I and others can post prayer requests
and those committed to praying can read them and offer direct
feedback and encouragement to those in need. You can visit this
new group at the Mystic Visions Discussion Boards:
In thanks for all the benefit that my mother and I received from
the prayers of members of this ezine, I have created a healing
prayer group. The idea is that anyone who is in need of healing,
or who knows somebody who is, can request prayer and healing
energy from a group of supportive people who are committed to
providing it for as long as necessary.
If you wish to be part of this group, in order to pray for others
or send Reiki energy or whatever, then please visit:
Everything is explained in far more detail there. Also, please
visit the above if you are in need of healing prayer for yourself
or others.
I can promise no miracles, and you still need to get full medical
advice. However, I know that the prayers and healing energy of
hundreds of people across the world made all the difference for
my mother. I hope it can make a difference to others in critical
need as well.
And now to this month’s articles. Animals are very dear to me (my
cat Hermes is like a son to me), and it saddens me to see the
way they are regarded in this world. Hence, my first article
shows animals in a new, and hopefully more realistic light.
The second article relates again to my experience with my mother,
but this time related more to the prayer aspect of the
experience. This must be a first in ezine publishing; where the
readers of an ezine made a tangible difference to the ezine
publisher’s life, and he writes back to them to report about it!
Anyway , I hope you will find the article valuable and that it
will make you want to join the prayer group, or else seek to
make a prayer request yourself.
Regards,
Asoka Selvarajah
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“We need another and wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals… We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err and err greatly. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they moved finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth” Henry Beston Other nations: a respectful and honoring view of the myriad creatures that share our planet. How very exalted above the base notions generally entertained by the species we are members of. Modern society has almost completely lost respect for animals and is deaf to the quiet wisdom they offer. We no longer even have the capacity to regard them as equals, let alone superiors, as many of the shamanistic cultures did and still do. The very idea seems absurd. Yet, it may be that if we only had eyes to see, four-legged Buddhas walk among us. Apart from the shamanistic cultures, every religious tradition without exception debases animals in some subtle way, and stresses the superiority of the human race. Moreover, a scientific justification for demeaning and mistreating animals has now been added in the form of Evolution. In other words, the entire process of millions of years of natural history has led to the flourishing of the fittest species: ourselves! Actually, it is hardly surprising that virtually every tradition – religious or scientific – seeks to stress the superiority of mankind over animals. After all, it is mankind who created these philosophies! Not so long ago, we also believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. Why? Because WE live on it. However, those tribal cultures that remain in extremely close relationship with the animal kingdom, and rely upon animals for their survival, also have the most respect for these other nations. From prehistoric times up to the present day, many such cultures have honored and prayed to the very animals they hunt. They understand and respect that the animal is giving its life, its very flesh, for their sustenance. They are thankful and respectful, as if a sacred pact was being mystically entered into. Indeed, that is precisely what IS happening. You don’t have to look too deeply to see this exact same mystical significance behind many ritual meals of religious sacrifice. The Christian Holy Communion is an exact counterpart of this primeval tradition, and serves the same purpose. Here, Christ as the sacrificial lamb, willingly undergoes ritual death in order that those he feeds may have life through the sacrifice of his flesh and his blood. Actually, mankind’s incessant need to stress it’s superiority over animals is due not merely to self-serving arrogance, but also to a massive and deeply buried racial inferiority complex. For countless millennia, if not for millions of years, mankind really WAS inferior to the animals; running, hiding, ever fearfully watchful, terrified of every rustle in the grass, petrified of being poisoned, eaten alive or ripped apart by whatever was sneaking through the bushes or lying hidden in the darkness. It is only in the last few millennia, and truly only in the final few hundred years, that we can truly claim to have achieved ascendancy over the animals and thereby reversed our position on the food chain. Hence, it is a very recent occurrence. Hence, like the nouveau riche – uncomfortably insecure with their suddenly acquired wealth – the human race feels a rather pitiable compulsion to demonstrate its new-found “superiority” as often, and in as many ways, as humanly possible. This deep seated inferiority complex towards animals lies entrenched deep in the collective psyche of the human race. It reveals itself in the sad stories we have to tell ourselves to persuade ourselves that we are superior. In the Western traditions, we tell ourselves that God gave Man dominion over the animals. In the Eastern traditions, we find ourselves at the top of the Karmic scale and, should we err too often in this human life, we face the threat of rebirth as an animal. God forbid! “So what?”, you might be thinking. Does any of this really matter? Yes, it does. The stories we tell ourselves create the reality we choose to live. If these stories purely serve our own ends, but do not correspond to external reality, then we must collide with that reality sooner or later. Moreover, like a blind man, we will continually wonder what hit us and why. There are many practical consequences of our ignorant mistreatment of animals, and the distorted philosophical glasses through which we insist upon viewing them. Here are just a few to ponder: (1) We lose the window on the sacred that animals offer us. Quiet observation of, respect for, and closeness to animals can lead to many revelations of the sacred at the deepest level. Such revelations are beyond words. Those who have them know. Those who do not will consider the notion nonsensical. Animals can be among our most profound teachers, if we let them. Many animals, and most commonly domestic pets, can be sources of the purest Love; a love that far anything we can find from human kind. It is a love that transcends words, concepts, mutual expectations, and even species. It is the very Love that the universe is composed of. Animals can be a window on this if we let them. The fact that they so obviously demonstrate it indicates that it was always latent within them. If it was always latent within them, it means that this Love comes from the heart of the universe itself. (2) When we disrespect animals and regard them as little more than instinct-dominated flesh robots, we will eventually disrespect ourselves too. Like it or not, we are part of the animal kingdom, although many of us prefer to think ourselves apart from it. Throughout history, many human beings have sometimes been treated as little more than animals by other human beings. How difficult, even impossible, this would be if we revered animals (indeed ALL life) in the first place and treated them as other nations, rather than just an exploitable natural resource. Once you divide up the world’s species into the sacred and the exploitable, it is only a matter of time before you find a reason to dump your human enemies into the latter category and treat them accordingly. Even if we must eat the flesh of an animal, we can at least spare a moment to silently thank that creature for giving its very life, in the ultimate sacrifice, in order to sustain our own. It costs us nothing to do this, but a few seconds of silent contemplation. And surely, we are better off for it? This is continuing the tradition of the ancients; giving the respect due to others in the cycle of life and death, who have given their very lives for us. (3) We fall ever deeper into the trap of our own ignorance and prejudices. For instance, there is demonstrable evidence that many animals, most notably the apes, use language to communicate relatively complex messages. Pigeons have actually been trained in one scientific experiment to distinguish between the paintings of Renoir and Picasso (incredible but true!). Many animals use tools to find and extract food. All of these capacities (linguistic, aesthetic, tool-use) were formerly considered to be exclusively human. However, now we know better. Or rather, do we? Sadly, the levels of prejudice, even in the scientific community, are so high that virtually unattainable levels of evidence are required to “prove” these assertions beyond reasonable doubt. Many human children, and some mentally handicapped people, would probably fail these insufferably high standards of evidence. Perhaps we are just a little too afraid of the philosophical consequences of having the belief structures of many millennia totally undermined? Hence, it is better to remain blind to these matters. Yet, it becomes increasingly clear that the distinction between the human race and animals is only a matter of degree. Animals possess many of our capacities, although not always as well refined. Moreover, we lack many of the capacities that they possess. Should we be tempted to get just a little too arrogant, let us not forget that were it not for a large meteorite striking the earth 65 million years ago, and thereby creating the space for our presence here, the earth might still be occupied by some of the most successful animals in history – creatures that thrived for over 100 million years compared to our paltry 1 million – the dinosaurs! We really had very little to do with our own existence here. It may be the result of a lucky astronomical accident. Lucky for some; unlucky for others. We do not have to be sentimental about animals. Life lives on life. That is the inevitable truth of life itself. This is not a plea for vegetarianism. However, it is a plea for seeing things as they really are; for throwing off our millennia of self-serving ignorance and deep-seated phobias, and stepping into the sunlight of respect and reverence for all living things. What goes around comes around. As we disrespect, demote and nullify animals, we increasingly do the same to ourselves too. Only in respecting the animals for what they are – other nations worthy of life, honor and respect – can we ultimately respect ourselves within the entire natural cycle of existence. This will
help raise ourselves to a healthier, congruent and more truthful
state of consciousness.
Copyright Asoka Selvarajah 2003. All Rights Reserved.
Resources That Can Help:
My course, “The 7 Golden Secrets To Knowing Your Higher Self”
Many people would love to draw, but are too afraid to even begin.
If they do, their puny efforts are too embarrassing for even them
to look at!
To the rescue comes “The New Drawing On The Right Side Of The
Brain”, an updated classic that has sold 2.5 million copies and
been translated into thirteen different languages. In her
workshops, author Betty Edwards is renowned for taking raw
beginners and turning them, within a period of only five days,
into accomplished artists with drawings to be proud of. This book
can do the same for you.
It literally does draw on the right side of the brain, which is
why this book differs from most art books, and can achieve such
extraordinary results. The approach is quite counter to logic,
and the exercises deliberately bypass the critical, rational
parts of the brain to get to the artist within. You will be taken
from your early embarrassing efforts, through many practical
exercises, to drawing skills you can truly be proud of.
If you want to break the fear barrier with regards to artistic
creativity, this is an excellent book to begin with. It has
taught millions of people to draw and can do the exact same thing
for you too.
Prayer has tremendous power. Most people know this in theory.
However, you really don’t know it at all until you have
experienced this as fact.
Recently, I was given just such a learning experience. As readers
of this ezine may know, my mother came to the point of death last
month (October 2003), and went just a little bit beyond for a
while. She had what was supposed to have been a standard
hysterectomy operation, i.e. removal of the uterus and associated
organs. She had been diagnosed with cancer just a few weeks
earlier, which was a major trauma in itself. There had never been
a cancer before on her side of the family. Added to this, there
was now the frightening prospect of the largest surgical
operation she had ever faced. For someone of 71 years, such
surgery is always a significant risk.
The operation itself lasted six or seven hours. All went well
enough. However, just as they were closing her up, severe
haemorrhaging began and the bleeding could not be stopped. As
many female readers doubtless know, such bleeding can occur in
young women during childbirth, and is extremely dangerous. Even
to this day, it can be fatal. How much more perilous then when
the patient is over seventy!
The surgeons had to fill my mother with surgical towels, and
close her up with these still inside, in the hope that these
would absorb the flowing blood and eventually stop the bleeding.
During the operation and throughout the night that followed, my
mother received blood transfusions equivalent to 1.5 times the
blood in the human body. To give you some perspective on this,
it’s as if you had lost ALL the blood in your own body, and
required ALL the blood from another person, plus half the blood
from a third person. It would also seem that her heart stopped
twice during the night.
Both she and I had believed that this would be a fairly standard
operation without major complications. Indeed, I was even in
another country when it took place. Throughout the day, I had
been in my meditation room, saying prayers, visualizing a
successful operation, and sending healing energy. I was playing a
healing mantra CD there too. Little did I know that it would be
running continuously for the next 48 hours!
When I called in after the operation at around 7pm, the answers I
received from Intensive Care were vague, incomplete and very
discomforting. However, they told me enough to seriously concern
me.
Imagine the feeling of going from semi-complacent confidence to
the shocking realization that you might suddenly and unexpectedly
lose someone you love; someone you have not even had a chance to
say goodbye to properly. Doubtless, there is no “correct” time to
die. People die in all sorts of shocking circumstances. Yet,
there seemed something so incomplete in my mother’s life
finishing at this point. As I have written so often, I felt it
was a sort of Mystery School lesson, teaching us some deep and
necessary truths. In retrospect, this definitely seems to have
been the case.
I returned to my meditation room. It was all I could do, and it
was the best thing to do. There I kept the candles burning and
the healing mantras CD playing for the next 48 hours. I continued
praying alone and sending healing energy until, exhausted, I went
to bed at 2am. However, I obviously could not sleep well. So I
was soon back at it at 4.30am, and continued prayers until I was
able to call the hospital again at 8am.
The doctor told me that the situation was “critical but stable”.
She was still bleeding, although it had slowed down. With my
heart in my mouth, and barely able to speak the words, I asked
what exactly this meant; was she likely to recover, or to get
worse and die? The doctor replied that they could not tell. She
might live. She might die. It could go either way.
I resolved immediately to go to her. At the very least, if she
were to die, I would be there with her. Yet I knew there was
still so much I could do to help bring her back. I told her in my
mind to wait; that I was coming.
Three hours later, I heard that the bleeding had stopped and they
were now cautiously optimistic for her recovery. Could she have
known I am coming, I wondered to myself.
As I frantically rushed to book a flight for the next day, with
all the terrible rush and urgent organization implied, something
important occurred to me.
I remembered a tape course from Larry Dossey Ph.D called “The
Power Of Prayer”. In it, he repeated often how convincing
scientific evidence exists that prayer helps sick people recover
far better than those who receive no prayer. He also said that
the power of prayer was amplified when a group prayed, compared
to just a solitary praying individual.
At that point, I decided to send an email to everyone on my
Aspire To Wisdom ezine list, and everyone who had done my free
14-day Lifebreakthrough email personal growth course – about
10,000 people or more – and ask them to pray for my mother. I
put together the best and most earnest prayer request I could in
the short time available. Up to this point, my lists had been a
one-way street. I wrote articles to help people, and they
received them. Now I was asking them to help me.
The response was not long in coming. Within 10-20 hours of
sending the message, I had received about 500 responses. People
were pledging to pray. Reiki practitioners were already sending
energy. People were submitting my request to their prayer and
healing groups. I knew too that as the days went by and more
people checked their emails, the number of responses to that
email would grow to thousands.
What was the effect of creating this massive army of prayer? By
the time I had flown to Germany, and entered the hospital, my
mother’s condition had improved to the extent that the doctors
were able to remove the first of the three towels still inside
her. She was being kept in a drugged sleep, and would remain so
for a total of five days after the operation, as the pain would
be too great for her from the towels touching nerves everywhere.
Despite everything, she looked relatively healthy.
I spent the next days in front of her sleeping form; reading to
her from her favorite scriptures, praying and sending energy, and
continually talking to her. The nurses let us create a small
altar – pictures of her sacred deity figures – on the nearby
shelf. I told her about it, and told her how much I and my cat
Hermes love her very much and want her back. She remained
sleeping, but I knew a part of her could hear me and respond.
Unconscious people can do that. Sometimes, I could see her eyes
move under closed lids, or her mouth would twitch. Sometimes, her
face seemed ever so sad.
Throughout it all, I knew that my loyal subscribers and friends
around the world – hundreds of people I had never even met, but
who felt they knew me personally through my writings – were
supporting and sustaining both myself and my mother. This is
truly a blessing and a tribute to the wonderful power of the
internet, when used properly.
What is the conclusion of this story? The towels were removed
over the following days without complication. My mother awoke
fully to recognize me six days after the operation. She has
memories of the spiritual places she went to. Although initially
very weak, she recovered steadily, left the hospital a month
after the surgery, and is currently in a nursing home. She is
fully functional and is making a 100% recovery. The cancer is
gone with minimal risk of resurgence.
Yes, she is a yoga teacher and hence her body has a tremendous
resilience that it would not otherwise have. And yes, she has
always looked twenty years younger than her age. Nevertheless, it
was the power of prayer – my own and the countless others around
the world who contributed theirs – that made all the difference.
This power crosses religious divides and all specific notions of
the Deity – personal or otherwise – to touch and awaken the
divine healing energy within us all.
Prayer can make the difference. When it is a person’s time to go,
there is nothing that can be done. Yet, when it is not, prayer
can awaken that healing power and keep a person with us. In doing
so, it helps all involved to learn deep spiritual lessons.
As I read the emails of support I received, I was touched by the
kindness of people who cared enough to pray for others they have
never met or even seen. I was also moved by the number of people
who shared that they too had recently been through a similar
experience, or were currently going through it. Several asked for
my prayers to be said for them.
To help meet this need, and because I know exactly how it feels
in the face of such crisis, I have decided to create an online
prayer group. This is a free service, available to all those
facing serious health crises among family or friends. You can
submit details of the need to the group and be assured that
regular consistent prayers will be said on your behalf.
Would you like to be part of such a prayer group and contribute
your valuable prayers and energy to help others? If so, please
visit http://www.aksworld.com/prayergroup.htm for more details.
Also, if you are in need of help at this time, or know someone
who is, please visit in order to submit your prayer request.
Prayer works, regardless of your religious or spiritual
background. I know it without a shadow of a doubt; so much so
that I want its power to be available to all who need it. That is
the only fitting tribute to the miracle our family has been
given. It is the only true expression of gratitude possible. Will
you help me to make it happen, either for yourself or someone in
desperate need? I hope the answer will be… yes!
Copyright Asoka Selvarajah 2003. All Rights Reserved.
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