SAMPLE CHAPTER

In Visible        Chapter 1

Sacred healing includes the visible and the invisible of this experience we call life. It is invisible and visible simultaneously. Everything we see and envision has energy. Whether it is an ion or a galaxy, a single cell or an elephant, whether we can see it with our naked eye or with microscopes and telescopes, or not at all - matters little. All that we see and all that we do not see is sacred, worthy of veneration, holy and whole.

Sacred healing encompasses the whole of who we are and even who we think we are not. Sacred healing means honoring the temple of the body, the reaches of the mind, the essence of the soul. It means seeing the physical, emotional, mental, astral and spiritual as valued aspects of being. Seeing them as a continuum both within consciousness and without. It means accepting that Spirit is always whole and healed. It means allowing the flow of Spirit to direct one's life rather than to follow mental comprehension, emotional stimulus, astral or psychic direction or physical ability.

Sacred healing is the only healing we truly seek. If we heal our body but not our heart, our feelings, our emoting, our thinking or our connection to the continuum of life, we do not heal the whole. The sacred is whole and being whole is sacred.

Sacred healing is a now occurrence. It happens only in the present, only in the moment, only in this instant. Spirit continually reminds us of our healthy potential. Spirit is the inclusive, infinite essence that is in and around us all. It is the truth on which we travel and the trust in which we rest.

Sometimes sacred healing means things die, dis-integrate, pass on, leave the physical body and physical reality. Learning to experience the sacred space between our cells, the silence between our thoughts, and to sense the continuum as the ether that flows from inside us to the outer limits of the universe, allows us to rest in continuity beyond comprehension.

Some of the most powerful aspects of living are not visible. We do not see our thoughts, feelings, faith, love, hope, instinct, fear, doubt, joy or peace. We may recognize a person experiencing these things through facial expression, body language, words or intuition. We may sense what we cannot see. What is invisible to some may not be invisible to all. When the moon is not visible to beings residing on one side of the earth, it is visible to those residing on the other side of the earth. What is visible to a scientist looking through a microscope is invisible to the assitant standing nearby. What is visible via the lens of a satellite traveling through space, or to an astronomer looking through a telescope, is invisible to the janitor sweeping the floor in the hallway next door. What is visible to a person who has taken LSD or peyote, is invisible to another person who passes them on the street.

What we see is what we tend to think is real. We also accept much that we can't see as real. If we smell a skunk we are likely to accept that there is a skunk nearby. If we taste sour milk even though there is no visible sign, we usually accept that it has gone bad. If we feel an icy wind against our face, we accept that the weather is cold without needing to see a thermometer, snow, icicles or our steamy breath. If we hear a train whistle we tend to accept that a train is coming, even if we cannot yet see it on the tracks. All of our senses send us messages and information. We interpret them into warnings, instructions and insight. We have learned to associate authenticity with certain smells, tastes, sounds sights and touches. The visible is only what one sense gives us. The rest of the experiences are invisible, yet accepted as genuine.

"Listen to those whispers we tend not to want to hear."
Steven Spielberg  

To travel on the path of sacred healing, I found that I had to become aware of my senses in both a primal and yet evolving way. I had to discover which of my senses were primary and which functioned in a secondary way. This is not identical for all of us. Though we are primarily a visual society, each of us learn and process through our senses in ways unique to our individual experience.

I found I had to accept the power of my invisible life and honor all that I experienced, not just that which others were willing to acknowledge. For many years, I established personal disciplines to learn about my limits and my potential. These ranged from going on juice or water fasts for as long as 40 days, to refraining from speaking for days or weeks (silence fasts). Once I challenged my relationship with food by forbidding myself the food I desired and taking away one more. This was cumulative. The list of possible foods to eat got shorter and shorter, until I realized one night that I had just craved water. That meant I had to give up water and the only other thing left to take away was air. I wasn't willing to leave the planet so I decided the experiment had come to its natural conclusion.

One spring and summer, I planted a single plant in our flowerbeds each day. This was actually one of the hardest disciplines. I was used to getting things finished and this was about not finishing. Each week, I would buy one six-pack of flowers or ground cover. Six mornings a week I would ask each plant where they would like to be and then honor what I heard, or saw, as the answer. On the seventh day, I would rest. At the end of six months, I had the most wonderful, lush gardens and I had a relationship with all the participants.

Discipline and disciple come from the same root. They come from the Latin discipulus, pupil and discere, to learn. Discipline helped me to learn about myself, other beings and the world around me. Once I disconnected from the word indicating punishment, I embraced its potential. I recognized that self-initiated discipline made the mundane into the magnificent.

To honor the invisible teachings and sensings that occurred in my life meant I also had to honor those occurring for others. I had to embrace that we all have an invisible life. One that is rarely comprehended clearly by even those closest to us. I had to use my sensing differently by dismissing nothing, and allowing myself to feel the energy around me, in me and also in others. Examining the invisible revealed hidden layers, altered the visible experience and challenged concepts and perceptions continually.

What had been dismissed as "just" imagination became recognized as the vehicle for creation. I pondered on God making us in his own image. I didn't know if any of us looked exactly like God or if we are reflections of various aspects. I have seen God's creation, however. I see his image and imaging in every thing around me.

For me, God and Spirit are one. They are the image of each other and of all that is. Spirit is apparent in everything we see and don't see. It is visible and it is invisible. It is in us and under us, above us and next to us. Learning to honor the invisible is as rewarding as honoring the visible. It honors you back!

Throughout the process of embracing the sacredness of healing, I confronted and revisited many emotions and experiences. Some of them dragged me down; others lifted me into unsuspecting consciousness, release and joy. While in the midst of this quest, I was often tempted to accept less than the ultimate potential. In the end, all the feelings, experiences, hopes, desires, challenges, information and guidance brought me back to myself. That self is continually incorporating, assimilating and shedding elements that are both visible and invisible, positive and negative. That self is ultimately sacred, as is all life.

It would be more fun to share only the soaring aspects of healing, but that would not be an accurate painting. To authentically communicate the whole of sacred health I was required to shine light on the difficult, painful aspects; the odd, unusual information from guides, teachers and unseen sources; and, also, the wondrous elements found in the excavation of a genuine and joyous soul. Even when I felt trapped, unable to find a source of relief, there was always something whispering where to turn, where to look, where to listen. I was brought back to spiritual life by reviving the natural abilities, the instinctual indicators, and the spiritual homing device that perpetually points us home. When visibility is zero, we are given new eyes, new senses to find our way.

©1996 &  2001. M J Rillera. All Rights Reserved. Sacred Healing

Sacred Healing by Marri and Bentley Rillera. ISBN: 0-910143-11-0. HARDCOVER, $29.95