PART ONE
A traditional
Tibetan view is that illness can be linked to soul loss.
Spontaneity,
creativity, ease, and playfulness are qualities of our natural state of being.
The mind that is in
pain cannot think its way out of its pain.
How can we access
higher awareness? By taking what I call
the three precious pills -- stillness, silence, and spaciousness -- which
connect us to the inner refuge.
If we recall our
negative emotions or other painful experiences and host them without judging,
criticizing, rejecting, or grasping them, we engage the process of
healing. By hosting, I mean allowing the
pain to freely arise, abide, and dissolve.
Begin by looking at
four areas: personal alone time, family life, work life, and your connection to
nature. In any of these areas, are you
lacking a sense of stability, comfort, inspiration, flexibility, or openness? Notice any feelings of discomfort, sadness,
exhaustion, or disconnection.
Do you feel at home
within yourself? One way to reflect on this is to notice how often you need to
be distracted.
How do you feel when
you are by yourself? Do you feel comfortable, connected, and renewed in the
stillness, silence, and spaciousness? Or do you feel restless or listless?
Soul retrieval has
everything to do with discovering the space within, and then retrieving one or
more of the five elemental essences that you lack and nourishing yourself from
this source.
People with too
little of the earth element may have trouble completing what they begin.
When the water
element is not balanced, you may feel ill at ease.
When the water
element is balanced in you, you are comfortable in your body and in your
environment, comfortable at work and with your family. You are fluid, able to respond with ease to
changing circumstances.
The fire element
brings an enthusiastic joy that is mentally wakeful and physically blissful.
When the fire
element is blocked, you experience a lack of energy ,inspiration, and
vitality. Your life can seem like a
plodding routine.
When the air element
within you is well balanced, you can readily transform negative mind states
into positive ones.
Earth supports the
ability to connect with our thoughts, feelings, and emotions; with the people
we care about; and with the work we do.
When air is not
balanced, you feel stuck.
If the space element
is balanced in you, whatever arises in your life can be accommodated.
