ESOTERIC HEALING - Alice Bailey

1 Twenty-Four Books of ESOTERIC Philosophy Copyright 1998 LUCIS TRUST ESOTERIC HEALING A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME IV BY Alice A. Bailey COPYRIGHT 1953 LUCIS TRUST COPYRIGHT RENEWED 1981 BY LUCIS TRUST Twenty-Four Books of ESOTERIC Philosophy Copyright 1998 LUCIS TRUST Introductory Remarks The entire subject of HEALING is as old as the ages themselves, and has ever been the subject of investigation and experiment. But as to the right use of the HEALING faculty and forces, the knowledge is in its infancy. Only in this age and generation is it at last possible to impart the laws of magnetic HEALING , and to indicate the causes of those diseases originating in the three inner bodies which today devastate the human frame, cause endless suffering and pain, and usher man through the portal which leads to the world of bodiless existence.

2 Only today is man at the point in the evolution of his consciousness where he can begin to realise the power of the subjective worlds, and the new and vast science of psychology is his response to this growing interest. Processes of adjustment, of elimination and of cure engage the minds of all thoughtful people as well as of all suffering people. We have much to do, and I ask therefore for patience on your part. When one enters the realm of HEALING , one enters a world of much ESOTERIC knowledge, and of an infinity of conclusions, and one is faced with the formulations of many minds, who, through the ages, have sought to heal and to help. The why and the wherefore of disease have been the subject of endless investigations and speculations, and much definite deduction has been made as to the cures of such complaints; there has been also much formulation of methods, of techniques, of formulae, of prescription, of varied manipulations and of theories.

3 All these serve to fill the mind with many ideas some correct, some erroneous and this makes it most difficult for new ideas to enter and for the student to assimilate the hitherto unknown. Aspirants lose much by refusing to let go of that which the lower mind cherishes. When they do succeed in being entirely open minded and are ready to accept the new theories and hypotheses, they discover that the old and dearly held truth is not really lost, but only relegated to its rightful place in a larger scheme. All initiates of the Ageless Wisdom are necessarily healers, though all may not heal the physical body. The reason for this is that all souls that have achieved any measure of true liberation are transmitters of spiritual energy. This automatically affects some aspect of the mechanism which is used by the souls they contact. When I employ the word "mechanism" in these instructions I refer to different aspects of the instrument, the body or form nature, through which all souls seek manifestation.

4 I refer, therefore, to: 1. The dense physical body, which is the sumtotal of all the organisms which compose it; these possess the varying functions which enable the soul to express itself on the physical or objective plane as part of a greater and more inclusive organism. The physical body is the response apparatus of the indwelling spiritual man and serves to put that spiritual entity en rapport with the response apparatus of the planetary Logos, the Life in which we live and move and have our being. 2. The etheric body, which has one main objective. This is to vitalise and energise the physical body and thus integrate it into the energy body of the Earth and of the solar system. It is a web of energy streams, of lines of force and of light. It constitutes part of the vast network of energies which Twenty-Four Books of ESOTERIC Philosophy Copyright 1998 LUCIS TRUST underlies all forms whether great or small (microcosmic or macrocosmic).

5 Along these lines of energy the cosmic forces flow, as the blood flows through the veins and arteries. This constant, individual human, planetary and solar circulation of life-forces through the etheric bodies of all forms is the basis of all manifested life, and the expression of the essential non-separateness of all life. 3. The astral or desire body (sometimes called the emotional body) is the effect of the interplay of desire and of sentient response upon the self at the centre, and the resultant effect in that body is experienced as emotion and as pain and pleasure and the other pairs of opposites. In these two bodies, the etheric and astral bodies, ninety percent of the causes of physical disease and troubles is to be found. 4. The mental body, or that much of the chitta or mind stuff which an individual human unit can use and impress, constitutes the fourth of the series of mechanisms at the disposal of the soul. At the same time let it not be forgotten that these four constitute one mechanism.

6 Five percent of all modern disease originates in this body or state of consciousness, and here I wish to enunciate the truth that the constant reiteration by certain schools of healers that the mind is the cause of all sickness is not as yet a fact. A million years hence, when the focus of human attention has shifted from the emotional nature to the mind, and when men are essentially mental as today they are essentially emotional, then the causes of disease must be sought in the mind realm. They are today to be found (except in a few rare cases) in lack of vitality or in too much stimulation, and in the realm of feeling, of desires (thwarted or over-indulged) and in the moods, suppressions, or expressions of the deep-seated longings, irritations, secret delights and the many hidden impulses which emanate from the desire life of the subject. This urge to be and to have has first of all built, and is building, the outer physical response apparatus, and is today forcing a mechanism that has been constructed essentially for physical ends, to serve more subjective purposes.

7 This again produces trouble, and only when man realises that within the outer physical sheath there exist other bodies which serve more subtle response purposes will we see the gradual readjustment and health of the physical body. With these more subtle sheaths we shall later deal. You naturally ask here: What is the general plan which I shall seek to follow as I instruct you in the laws of HEALING , those laws which guide the initiates and must gradually supersede the more physical methods of the present art of HEALING ? You naturally also seek to know what is the special technique which you as healers must learn to employ, both as regards yourselves and as regards those you seek to heal. I will briefly outline the teaching I shall endeavour to give and point out where you must lay the emphasis, as you commence the study of this subject. I shall endeavour first of all to touch upon the causes of disease, for the occult student must ever begin in the world of origins and not in the world of effects.

8 In the second place, I shall elaborate the seven methods of HEALING which govern the "work of restitution" (as it is called in the occult terminology) as practiced by the initiates of the world. These determine the techniques which must be employed. You will note that these methods and techniques are conditioned by the rays (of which I have written elsewhere) 1A Treatise on the Seven Rays, Volumes I and II.* and that therefore the healer has to take into consideration not only his own ray but also the ray of the patient. There are therefore seven ray techniques, and these require elucidation before they can be applied intelligently. Twenty-Four Books of ESOTERIC Philosophy Copyright 1998 LUCIS TRUST In the third place, I shall lay emphasis upon psychological HEALING and upon the need to deal with the patient in his inner life, for the basic law underlying all occult HEALING may be stated to be as follows: LAW I All disease is the result of inhibited soul life, and that is true of all forms in all kingdoms.

9 The art of the healer consists in releasing the soul, so that its life can flow through the aggregate of organisms which constitute any particular form. It is interesting to note that the attempt of the scientist to release the energy of the atom is of the same general nature as the work of the esotericist when he endeavours to release the energy of the soul. In this release the nature of the true art of HEALING is hidden. Herein lies an occult hint. In the fourth place, we will consider the physical body, its diseases and ills, but only after we have studied that part of man which lies behind and surrounding the dense physical body. In that way we shall work from the world of inner causes to the world of outer happenings. We shall see that all that concerns the health of man originates from: 1. The sumtotal of forces, feelings, desires and occasional mental processes which characterises the three subtler bodies and determines the life and experience of the physical body.

10 2. The effect upon the physical body of the condition of humanity as a whole. A human being is an integral part of humanity, an organism in a greater organism. Conditions existing in the whole will be reflected in the unit self, and many of the ills from which man suffers today are the effect upon him of conditions existing in the fourth kingdom in nature as a whole. For these he is not held responsible. 3. The effect upon his physical body of the planetary life, which is the expression of the life of the planetary Logos, Who is an evolving entity. The implications of this are largely beyond our ken, but the effects are discernible. I am not interested primarily in training individuals in order to make them more efficient healers. It is group HEALING at which I aim, and it is the work which is done in formation which interests me at this time. But no group of people can work as a unit unless they love and serve each other. The HEALING energy of the spiritual Hierarchy cannot flow through the group if there is disharmony and criticism.