do better than recommend Marc Ian Barasch’s book “The Healing
Path”. Marc had thyroid cancer. But he happened to be editor of the
New Age Journal and so he knew better than most where to look in
his search.
In this book, which someone called a “watershed”, Barasch has
assembled an enlightening collection of field notes, anecdotes,
meditations, and personal accounts of individuals who have grappled
with cancer (and life-threatening illnesses). He adds insights from a
variety of healers, including Indian medicine men, Tibetan lamas,
practitioners of Chinese medicine, and Brazilian psychic healers.
Barasch challenges readers to move beyond conventional Western
understandings of medicine and the total reliance upon doctors.
Western scientific medicine isn’t as clever as it likes to think. In fact
it’s mainly disappointing when it comes to real healing and not
patching over problems.
The soul approach to illness presented by Barasch validates the link
between inner spiritual work and true healing. It also celebrates the
potential healing- message of illness and the importance of finding a
way of living that involves self-acceptance and a sense of purpose.
It might surprise you to know many people have rejoiced in the
fact they got cancer: it woke them up to a whole new and
wonderful world of the Self that they had been missing.
There is nothing like a brush with death to really focus the mind, after
all!
DO YOU HAVE A CANCER PRONE
PERSONALITY?
Sometimes it’s called the “hit and sink” phenomenon, referring to the
children’s game of Battleship...
Imagine a person who never felt fully welcome during childhood, or
simply had cold, distant, or demanding parents who gave little or no
encouragement. Later, this person conforms to what everyone
expects of them, to avoid conflict. They safeguard their emotional
security by investing heavily in their profession, marriage or children.
When that investment is threatened or lost, the childhood grief
returns, and the emotional suffering is more profound than ever —