Oleg I. Reznik, M.D.   Board Certified Family Physician

Assistant Professor at OHSU  Department of Family Medicine

Foundations of the Mind-Body Medicine of Mediterranean Tradition

Looking at the diagram above, you may see that the Ground of Illumination is equated with God. It is what in the West is described as “I am that I am” (Exodus 3:14) and in the East by neti neti argument (not this, not that), it is that which is the source of all and is indefinable.

Closely adjacent to it is the Illuminating Function. This is the definition of a human being. The human being, in this model of health, is a FUNCTION. It is a function that allows for an expression of the light proceeding from the Ground of Illumination. This light or clearing in which things may exist, is expressed in different ways.

It is expressed in the form of Energy. There are healing systems that address the human being on that level (Reiki, Chi, Chi-Gung…)

It is expressed on the Mineral level as the minerals of our bones and teeth.

It is expressed on the Vegetative level by our vegetative functions, the functions that happen without our awareness, including digestion, maintenance of blood pressure, all autonomic functions.

It is expressed on the Animal level as function of locomotion. Our joints and muscles permit us to move at will, while we may or may not be bound by instincts.

The level of Image and Dream, as Energy level, is characterized by plasticity or mutability and expansivity—they span and immediately affect all other levels. The level of Image and Dream is unique in that it is readily available to the vast majority of people (almost all of us can spontaneously recall dreams and imagin things, and those who have trouble with it, can be taught how to do it). We can dream of being a stone (mineral) and of meeting an Angel (transcendental). The work of Mental Imagery is done on this level. 

The level of Limited Human Awareness denotes a level beyond complete surrender to animal drives, but limited in terms of existential freedom. This limitation on the Mental level can be lived as Doubt, Expectation, or Denial. It can be lived on Emotional level as Anger, Guilt, Shame, Anxiety. It can be lived on the Spiritual level as Emptiness, Meaninglessness, and Boredom. It can be lived on a social level as a variety of social discord.

The level of Full Human Awareness denotes a level of full human maturity and existential freedom. Freedom to fulfill ones existential possibilities at every moment of life. At this level all modes of human existing are appropriated and are at a full and immediate disposal of the person. On the Mental level this is lived as Faith, on the Emotional level as Love, on Spiritual level as the experience of Grace, on the Social level as Social Accord.

The level of Heightened Human Awareness is that level which permits the immediate moment to moment experience of the divine with simultaneous full awareness on all preceding levels.

The level of Death and Rebirth denotes the experiences transpiring at the moment of bodily death, and the effect of remembering of one’s mortality on moment to moment existence. The degree of awareness of the uniqueness and irreproducibility of each moment depends on the degree of awareness of this level. This awareness allows the moment to be fulfilled, lived to its eternity. Loss of this awareness can be reflected in our behavior by what seems like senseless risk-taking, as we wish to re-experience the freshness of the moment by playing with death. At this level we find the wish to fulfill life to its ultimate, which reaches beyond life and death into the infinite and the eternal.

How does this information figure into an understanding of health and illness? A human being in Heightened Human Awareness is expressing God at every moment of such existence. This person is healthy and have a capacity for what would be considered supra-human health, physical, emotional and mental.

A human being in Full Human Awareness is healthy as well. The strength of their health is proportional to the fullness or height of their awareness.

A person with Limited Human Awareness may experience any variety of the physical and mental symptoms, chronically or acutely. The degree of awareness can be reflected by the level of expression of an illness in the following way. As an example, a person who has doubts about his ability to be a responsible provider for his family without full awareness of such doubts, may experience a troubling symptom at the spiritual level (feeling of emptiness without depression, as an expression of being empty of the divine source of support). This same person may experience a troubling symptom at the level of Will (an addictive craving as an expression of a lack that has to be replenished), at the level of Thought (obsessive or recurrent thoughts), at Emotional level (anxiety), or at the Social level (social discord, “anti-social” behavior, etc.).

If awareness has been further diminished, the person may experience the symptom at Animal level only (back pain—animal level denotes our ability for willful, though instinct bound, locomotion, this person will lose their ability for free locomotion due to the pain expressing the burden that is too hard to carry, as in the expression “breaking my back”).

If awareness has been further diminished, the person may experience the symptom at Vegetative level only (disorders of vegetative functions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Colitis, or weight gain, as an expression of carrying a heavy burden at this level).

If the awareness has been still further diminished, the person may experience the symptom at the Mineral level (actual breaking of a vertebra due to bone demineralization).

All of the above changes are accompanied by the simultaneous changes at the level of Energy, which can be recognized by the practitioners of Energy-based healing arts, and by the changes at Image and Dream level, by disturbing or unbalanced dreams and images discovered during the Mental Imagery work.

The techniques of Mental Imagery, work with dreams, and a particular way of using voluntary Will can be used to effect healing on all levels.

 

 

Credit:

Colette Aboulker-Muscat

Gerald N. Epstein

Medard Boss

Rhondell