Consecrated
" Unless we understand the mutual relationship between faith and spiritual forces we shall regard the healing powers of a saint either as miraculous or as self-deception. But what we call miraculous is nothing but a short-cut in the interaction of natural forces, i.e. a direct action from mind to mind, without the usual roundabout way via the senses and material agents. Faith merely acts as a conductor, which makes this short-cut possible. Just as electricity - which is potentially present everywhere - becomes effective only in the presence of a conductor, so spiritual power becomes effective only in the presence of faith, be it faith in a divine power, or a human Guru, or faith in an ideal or in one's own inner reality....
....
As long as we are convinced that the mind is not merely a product of physical functions or chemical reactions, but the primary fact of life, the builder of the body and not its slave, so long it is only natural to ascribe health to a balanced, harmonious mind and to ascribe diseases to mental disorders or spiritual disharmony. Even the earliest Buddhist scriptures described the mind as the forerunner of all things (mano puhbangama dhamma) the conditio sine qua non of all that exists.
Tibetans, therefore, rather than trying to cure physical symptoms, endeavor to go to the root of all disease by curing the mind. This can be done either by the direct influence of a saintly personality or through certain means which help the transference of power or a stimulation of faith through the medium of consecrated objects, symbols and rites, etc., all of which are intended to guide the mind in a certain direction." ~ Lama Anagorika Govinda, The Way of the White Clouds.
Nikkon D700,
Nikkor 17-35 mm @ 28 mm
1/4 s @ f/8, ISO 400
Consecrated
" Unless we understand the mutual relationship between faith and spiritual forces we shall regard the healing powers of a saint either as miraculous or as self-deception. But what we call miraculous is nothing but a short-cut in the interaction of natural forces, i.e. a direct action from mind to mind, without the usual roundabout way via the senses and material agents. Faith merely acts as a conductor, which makes this short-cut possible. Just as electricity - which is potentially present everywhere - becomes effective only in the presence of a conductor, so spiritual power becomes effective only in the presence of faith, be it faith in a divine power, or a human Guru, or faith in an ideal or in one's own inner reality....
....
As long as we are convinced that the mind is not merely a product of physical functions or chemical reactions, but the primary fact of life, the builder of the body and not its slave, so long it is only natural to ascribe health to a balanced, harmonious mind and to ascribe diseases to mental disorders or spiritual disharmony. Even the earliest Buddhist scriptures described the mind as the forerunner of all things (mano puhbangama dhamma) the conditio sine qua non of all that exists.
Tibetans, therefore, rather than trying to cure physical symptoms, endeavor to go to the root of all disease by curing the mind. This can be done either by the direct influence of a saintly personality or through certain means which help the transference of power or a stimulation of faith through the medium of consecrated objects, symbols and rites, etc., all of which are intended to guide the mind in a certain direction." ~ Lama Anagorika Govinda, The Way of the White Clouds.
Nikkon D700,
Nikkor 17-35 mm @ 28 mm
1/4 s @ f/8, ISO 400