by Dr. Marcel Hernandez, ND
In the information packet that I give to patients seeking adjunctive cancer care, I include a handout with the challenging title “Cancer – a Powerful Tool for Growth in Consciousness.”
While the thought of cancer as a spiritual journey may not resonate with every patient, my long experience offering adjunctive cancer care has only strengthened my belief that the diagnosis and experience of cancer is a journey that can serve us as a vehicle for personal transformation.
I explain to the patient that while a life-threatening illness can be the greatest challenge we will ever face, the challenges are much more than physical, that serious illness presents us with opportunities for mental, emotional, and spiritual growth, and that seizing these opportunities can help create optimal conditions for healing on every level.
First of all, severe health challenges compel us to consider how our beliefs, attitudes, lifestyle, and spiritual and psychological perspectives may be affecting our health, the course of the disease, and our overall well-being.
For many patients, a spiritual perspective is outside their previous experience. The quiet inner voice of Spirit is drowned out by a thunderstorm of physical and emotional suffering and fear.
Yet a growing body of evidence suggests that paying attention to the compassionate inner voice of Spirit can literally change the course of the disease and offer us deep comfort and solace on our journey.
The process of attuning our lives to the sure quiet guidance of Spirit requires that we be deliberately focused on the quality of our lives here and now, rather than on future outcomes. By refining our understanding and our response to each moment of our lives, we can more assuredly find happiness and inner peace growing in us.
Spiritual attunement is about looking for the deepest, innermost, sincere and silent part ourselves, then following the guidance we feel in that spirit-attuned place, and aligning our actions accordingly.
Once we have felt Spirit’s beneficial rays, we find ourselves being led to the most favorable actions and understandings. By aligning our thoughts, actions, and feelings with the radiance at our core, we find an increase of happiness and clarity, and a lessening of confusion and suffering.
Along the way, we realize that Spirit is not the exclusive domain of any particular religion. Spirit is universal – thus, any person can, with strong will and patience, reach this inner space through focused personal effort. This process of introspection is the essence of “the spiritual path” – namely, a journey that is open to everyone.
How can we enter “the path?”
The first step demands that we open our heart to acknowledge that there may be a higher ”Creative Intelligence,“ – a power that pervades the universe and that is larger and more powerful than our small, mortal self: a higher power that is aware of our every experience, thought, feeling, and action, and always, unfailingly has our best interests at heart.
This ancient view of Spirit has nothing to do with images of an old geezer with a flowing white beard who sits on a mighty throne lording it over us and frowning over our sins, surrounded by fluttering airborne angels.
Once we have succeeded in opening our heart to the possibility that something greater than ourselves might exist, we will need to set aside time daily to cultivate a relationship with that higher power, through reflection and contemplation.
Our path will be uniquely our own. In keeping with our natural predilections and personal makeup, we may choose to mold our own practice from a unique blend of prayer, meditation, spiritual reading, chanting, singing, long walks in nature while talking with that power – or any blend of practices that calls to the deepest inner yearning of our heart. To make our practice most effective, we should work toward regular, daily, morning and evening sessions of at least 20 minutes.
By exploring the deepest inner part of ourselves, we open ourselves to receive the true inspiration, guidance, wisdom, and peace to deal with our health challenges.
A great saint, Rajarshi Janakananda, said, “I have come to understand that one hundred percent of the spiritual path is receptivity.” Yet the path is not passively receptive – waiting for the higher power to come and accomplish its will through us. It is no small undertaking to learn to calm the restless feelings of our heart, including our fears, anxieties, and distress in the face of severe illness.
There are, of course, not a few wise understandings that great seekers have shared with us, that can help us in our search:
- Seek – and seize as pure gold – every opportunity to put more love into the world. Strive to be a vessel for love, and to bring compassion and kindness into your every waking moment. Pray to be an instrument for kindness and compassion, for this is a prayer that has a very high chance of being answered.
- Pray to be an instrument for accepting, non-judgmental interactions with all.
- Seek to heal old disputes and hurts, whether real or imagined. Let go of the past, and forgive those you believe have hurt you.
- Recognize that mistakes are an inescapable part of life – indeed, that they are given to us by the higher power as an essential tool for improving our understanding. Correct your mistakes, and then learn to laugh at them. Offer them back to the higher power. As a great saint, Paramhansa Yogananda, said, “God likes it when you give your mistakes to Him.”
- Strive always to see good in others.Look for the best in people, and celebrate it. St. Teresa of Avila trained her nuns always to think good thoughts about a person the moment they came into view.
- Every night, before sleeping, review the day and consider the times when you chose to be negative when you could have been positive, and when you withhold love when you might have given it. Be gentle on yourself – consider your mistakes impersonally, lightly; then ponder how you might do better, and simply let them go. Mentally burn them in the fire of God’s love.
- Extend blessings of love and friendship, kindness and compassion from your heart to the world. Pray not only that your own life be blessed, but that blessings be poured out to everyone. Pray continuously for the grace to offer love and healing to others.
- Use each interaction as an opportunity to practice being the best version of yourself. Ask the higher power to fill your heart with its goodness, love, and joy to share with all.
- Be patient with yourself.The spiritual path is difficult enough, without beating ourselves up over our errors and weakness.
- Banish doubts. Stick to your path, knowing that it is true, even when your mind resists. Focus your will power, concentrated attention, and dedication on your high purpose. Remember that the rewards will be far greater than your efforts, across every level of your being.
What are the rewards of a rich inner life?
First and foremost, regardless of the outcome of a severe illness, you will likely experience a decrease in stress and anxiety as you expand your awareness.
You will doubtless find many positive changes on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes. But don’t set out on the spiritual path with this expectation! Your goal is not the final results, but to get to know your true essence, where happiness and understanding are found.
The goal of the spiritual seeker is not to change the world, or even our personal circumstances, but to find that inner peace, happiness, and freedom that will allow the right circumstances to evolve. The goal is to open portals for the energy of an uplifted healing consciousness of love and goodwill to seep into our words, thoughts, feelings, and actions.
The spiritual path is never easy, but it is very simple. It is particularly difficult in the face of illness, when the mind and emotions are fraught with fears and confusion. But the rewards surpass the power of mere words to describe.
650-602-8972 (voice and text)
DrsHernandez.com | 240 Monroe Dr. #305 Mountain View | Mountain View, CA 94040 U.S.