Peace of Mind: Spit-and-Polish Your Way to Health

By Damodara Pandita Dasa

Can someone actually change his or her nature? Suppressing one'sindividuality is not change. Without an awareness and understanding of the needs of body, mind and soul, the concept of change is no more than a hallucination.

Every individual is like a deep, fathomless ocean with priceless treasures hidden within. These treasures may be likened to basic human qualities which everyone possesses. But, bad experiences, unhealthy habits, negative thought processes, diverse conditioning, neglect and misconceptions born of misinformation are like perilous sea weeds that tend to stifle and choke emotional areas, jeopardising the possibility of manifesting these basic qualities in a wholesome and fulfilling manner.

Buried treasure becomes tarnished over time; the basic substance may even become eroded, depending upon how much tamas or irregulation and indiscrimination, and rajas or imbalanced hyperactivity are prevalent over sattva or regulation and sanity. Under such circumstances, the change will be for the worse - the individual may or may not be aware of this.

Only a qualified counsellor can act as a deep sea diver, swimming expertly through all lurking dangers, to help retrieve lost treasure, bring it to the surface, and polish and restore to it its pristine, sparkling condition so that the owner might realise its true utility. Though this might be termed as change, it is not really chan-ge. Rather, it is a burnishing process or a catharsis. Purity - in thought, word and deed - is the potent force that insulates one from disease.

In short, change may be termed as purging oneself of all mental misconceptions and their corresponding physical activity. The spiritual counsellor'scatalytic presence stimulates and speeds up the process. This kind of therapy, when combined with diet and exercise, has more enduring results and positive benefits than even psychiatric treatment which tends to make a patient dependent upon drugs that could encourage depression and pessimism in the long run.

The mind is the crucial conduit between body and soul. In fact, experiencing a tangible rapport with the invisible spirit soul is utterly dependent upon the alert, subtle mind aided by analytical intelligence. The ten senses of information and action can, at the most, execute the mind'sinstructions. Emotion is the external display of one'smental status.

From inner purification and change to external well being, the key is holistic healing and caring. Spirituality has, since time immemorial, provided answers to the most complex questions. So it has several tips to offer to tend to body, mind and soul. By carefully studying one'sdiet, sleep and work schedules and recreational indulgences, the discerning counsellor can safely detect what even sophisticated bio-medical gadgets and technicians may, at the most, merely suspect. Quality eating combined with reason and restraint cures; whereas quantity consumption just for gratification can prove to be eventually harmful to vital bodily organs. There'struth in the saying, "You are what you eat".

Relaxation is not a scarce commodity; but because it comes with the tag of spiritual practice, there are few takers. Meditation is simple and inexpensive; it is well worth practising to maintain a healthy body, mind and soul. Meditation polishes the tarnished mind and helps it to think positively.

Pursuing one'sprofessional commitments with sincerity while at the same time taking care not to give in to greed, corruption and exploitation will elevate one'sconsciousness. Work then becomes worship. Healing therefore has to begin from within.

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See also: Peace of Mind, Peace on Earth, Life and Beyond, Love and Happiness, Body Mind and Soul)