We are almost finished so hang on. You’ve done a wonderful job keeping up with all of this though I suspect it might be a bit overwhelming. I think that is an appropriate experience. Being overwhelmed is not always a bad thing or something to be avoided. At this point or perhaps sooner I suspect you may have even experienced a sense of loss, or confusion due to the complexity and quality of information. That too is good.
Sometimes if something is too simple it can be easily passed over and then quickly put aside as out attention wanders. Sometimes when something is complex though it can be off putting. Each individual will be different and reach their limit at different points. I will say that if your still hanging around reading this that you have done remarkably well. I would also say that at this point total comprehension or even complete recall is not the objective.
Being at peace with the mystery and depth of what Chih-I offers us is a part of the practice. I was going to say it can be like a slap in the face, well I just did didn’t I. That image is perhaps tad overly graphic. However let this complexity serve as an invitation to continually reflect on the various parts of the teaching. Abandon the need to understand it all. Be at peace with partial, incremental understandings and insights. Perhaps after you get a sense of the total expanse of the teachings something will stick up in your mind. Use that as a direction marker for where to go for deeper understanding. Look at the entire big picture then step closer and examine smaller parts until gradually you can step back and understand the whole picture, the landscape, and the environment represented.
Seven in the teaching on Cessation is Auxiliary Methods. This is a very short section which encourages the use of what we now refer to as integrative medicine. In the hospital where I worked we offered aroma therapy. Every nurses station had an aroma therapy kit. We would take a cotton ball, an easy to locate item in a hospital, and put a drop or two of various aromatic oils. The oils we used were different depending upon the effect desired. Most commonly though we would use lavender for its calming influence. We would then put the cotton ball into a zip-lock bag and give it to the patient. The reason for the bag is to protect the patient. Essential oils are very strong and can cause skin damage. For someone who has diminished sense of touch or feeling the oil could burn the skin and the patient may not feel it. Also different patients have various limits to their personal comfort regarding odors. So a person who only likes subtle aromas can seal off the bag and control how much aroma they smell.
In addition to aroma therapy we also offered music therapy, massage therapy, acupressure, and Healing Touch an energy healing modality. In all cases these auxiliary methods were not to replace the medical treatments prescribed by physicians rather to enhance them. When a patient has reached their limit dose for pain medication it is often the case that their pain is not lessened. There is not more medication that can be prescribed and so other avenues can be explored.
In my own provision of Healing Touch to patients in great pain and with no medicinal option available I witnessed countless times when the pain experience lessened and the patient went to sleep peacefully to get some much needed healing rest. I’ve provided Healing Touch to cancer patients who have told me afterwards that it allowed them to enter into and experience a sense of freedom and release from the pain and the fear. I seen patients who, keeping a lavender cotton ball handy and been able to reduce their anxiety.
When I was at the hospital we had a wonderful music therapist who played guitar and would go to different rooms and play favorite songs. Not only did it benefit the patient, many patients in adjoining rooms were cheered up, and the nurses were doubly uplifted because the music moved them and eased their burden with troubled, anxious, fearful, patients and patients in pain. Music can truly move the soul, mend the heart, and cure the body.
What is your favorite song. Our music therapists would frequent comment that many people when asked what their favorite song is simply can not recall it on the spot. So, why not take a pause from your reading and name your favorite song, so that way if you ever need to tell someone it may come to your mind much easier. Mine is the Beatles song “Here Comes the Sun” and a close second is the Moody Blues “Knights in White Satin”. Now it’s your turn.
Subscribe to my blog post newsletter
[amazon_link asins=’1979530815,B00HTOFM44,1975689763,147834198X,0692257470,1979814023,1511592907,1726325520,1508534780,1492886041′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’ryusho0a-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’5b00ab74-b021-11e8-94bb-8388b7973e5c’]
