Friday, October 10, 2014

Heal Thyself- Edward Bach- Book review.


This Book is a wonderful little espouse on how the mind is not disassociated with the happenings of the body and vice versa. As one knows, the mind is a portal to the place of the soul and illness in either the body or mind can have effects on this inner quest to reach that pure space.

Edward Bach suggests that all diseases have any one or both of the following causes-

1.    When the person has a disconnect with his soul or the soul’s actual purpose in the present birth, thus going against its dictates.

2.    When a person harms others thus disobeying the law of universal compassion and unity- which is also an essential nature of the soul.

 Obviously all of us on the spiritual path, may develop illnesses which we can’t fathom why and instead of letting it be un-understood, finding recourse in Karma, it’s a good idea to go through Bach’s checklist (below) of how certain character traits and its absence can cause some of the illnesses, instead of being blind and indulging in wishful thinking.

Bach suggests that the real cause of illness is because the mind acquires qualities like Pride, Cruelty, Hatred, Self-Love, Ignorance, Instability and Greed- all these qualities are the exact opposite of what the soul has come down again for and developing or sustaining these, causes a sort of suicide mission inside the body, which then seems to go against itself, as the soul’s urge is in the opposite direction.

Examples of which negative traits cause what illness is as follows-

Pride- can cause stiffness related illness.

Cruelty- physical or mental pain.

Hate- Loneliness, Temper, Hysteria or other mind- related illnesses.

Mental Instability- Instability of the body.

Greed- Man becomes a slave to his body-perhaps it constantly seeks attention in the form of discomfort, accidents, illnesses.

Absence of love- Heart gets affected.

Lack of control- Brain related illness.

In order to solve these bodily issues, the person must first through honest introspection identify which of the above negative traits he has and start working towards rectifying it, by developing the Opposite positive trait, in a conscious and controlled manner. A few examples of these are-

Self- love- help others, relieve pain for others.

Instability- Become more focused, more determined.

Greed- Do not interfere in another’s development, let every person make his own choices, unless he solicits help.

There also other life situations which is discussed in this book for example the care of old people who themselves are suffering maladies on account of any of the above mentioned character defect, almost take away all energy for their care-givers, and the care giver, in the mistaken notion, that taking care is his divine duty- sacrifices a useful life, by giving into the needs of the sick elderly. Gentle guidance and correction might help, on the other hand.

Another life situation discussed is Parenthood- the approach to that. It advices parents must understand that though they do have a role in nourishing the child physically and emotionally, until the child reaches a stage where he can make his or her own choices, after that- controlling the child –makes the parent a greedy person and all effects of that negative trait will manifest in the parent (pain). What is important is to realize that the parent can’t know for sure the maturity or purpose of the soul, of his offspring, who may be far more evolved that the parent- which is why the saying came ‘Child is the Father of Man’. Hence giving absolute freedom is necessary.

The book also talks about developing your Individuality- listening to yourself and making yourself into the kind of person, you would respect, not dictated by pressures form others.
In conclusion it would be safe to say that this is a valuable book and can be found in the following link for free.

http://www.bachcentre.com/centre/download/index.htm

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