The Spiritual Life
Many people are drawn to my clinic purely on the basis that I take a spiritual perspective to life and also because I have been practising veterinary medicine for over thirty years.
Both of these attributes inform my approach to the practice of veterinary medicine.
My professional veterinary life is wholly focussed on helping animal owners to obtain the knowledge and skills to keep their own animals well once we have ascertained how to recover their health.
It is not possible to practice optimally in holistic medicine without acknowledging the ‘whole’ from whence the term most likely originated. This encompasses the physical/body, emotional/vital, mental/mind, spiritual/heart and the life force essence/soul.
Regular or conventional veterinary medicine is completely focussed on the physical aspect of the animal except for behavioural medicine that incorporates the emotional/vital driver of energy and a little of the mind. However, only a full appreciation of the entire being and understanding how each part interacts with the others will bring full health restoration. It is a shifting landscape that requires awareness and attention to detail; plus the homeopathic medicines that can effect profound change in the entire economy.
Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, whilst never calling the life force, ‘soul’, does refer to the spirit-like life force in aphorism #9 that leaves open to interpretation the following.
“In the healthy human state, the spirit-like life force (autocracy) that enlivens the material organism as dynamis, governs without restriction and keeps all parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation, as regards both feelings and functions, so that our indwelling rational spirit can freely avail itself of this living, healthy instrument for the higher purposes of our existence.”
In less than an ideal world we all do the best we can to keep ourselves well and that requires us to avail ourselves of all the tools available to us.
It has been difficult to focus on the most important things these past months as we are increasingly drawn in to thinking and acting in ways that try to take us further and further away from our higher purpose.
Many people have expressed to me their need to identify with a deeper meaning and sense of direction; one that is not determined by outer circumstances or decided by those with little real interest or concern for our happiness.
I believe this can only come from a connection to our higher self, that I call the soul and it is very difficult to consciously rely upon the soul to maintain health without the practice of prayer and meditation.
As the direct representative of the One, the soul in all beings is having an experience on its own Life’s Soul-Journey which is also the name of the book by Sri Chinmoy that contains the following………
“What do we mean by the spiritual life? We mean a life of inspiration, aspiration and inner communion. When you are able to meditate for a few minutes, the mind does not become a victim to doubts, impure thoughts and unhealthy ideas. If you really and truly accept the spiritual life, you will see that in the twinkling of an eye, most of your difficulties not only decrease but disappear. This happens because in your spiritual life there is abundant strength which you do not have in your outer life. This abundant strength, when it comes to the fore, makes the outer life surrender automatically to the inner life. And when it surrenders, it is not from compulsion, but from a spontaneous inner feeling. It surrenders with joy because it feels that in surrender itself, it gets the full power and total bliss of the inner life.”
As humans, we complicate our lives with thoughts and ideas so that misunderstanding and conflict abounds in our outer reality. One of my favourite quotes from Sri Chinmoy goes like this….
“Truths come from a higher or deeper world, from a different plane of consciousness. It is when we put ourselves in tune with the universal harmony that life ceases to be unbearable”.
Striving to place ourselves in tune with the universal harmony takes effort and determination but first we have to value the concept. Then we have to dig deep into our own hearts and relearn how to connect to each other from there. It is made easier by appreciating nature and taking help whenever it is afforded. Our animal companions inspire us to simplify our existence and expand our hearts. Their loyalty and devotion to us can model the attributes that we must seek to reinstate in our human lives as we strive for peace and happiness in the world. These qualities come from within with a little help from our friends.
Walk the dog, pat the cat, tend to the garden and cuddle the kids.
Muster all your love so that our world can continue to provide all that we need to thrive.
Learn to make Heart Power a reality.
7226
What is ruling the world
If not the darkness
Of misunderstanding minds?
5720
Man creates disaster after disaster
For himself
What does God do?
God tries to save man
Each and every time.
7137
Every self-giving effort
Of every human being
Is needed to change
The fate of the world.
Aphorisms from 77,000 Service Trees by Sri Chinmoy