Faith, Healing and Transformation

Faith is the conviction that prayer or a given religious rite has a direct effect on the life of the person in question –and helping to transform him or her from previously bad experience to positive states (wellness).

Spiritual connections indeed completed the fullest of individual self along with the thinking system, emotional system, and the body.

Other writers, however, add the soul as integral part of the being sometimes used to refer to person’s ‘spirit’, or to refer to the ‘heart.’

On the other hand, it can be used to mean the Supreme Being, or to describe extraordinary strength of a person and extremes of behavior (spirited).

As part of defense people going through difficult experience will seek objects to attach meaning and form explanations for their suffering.

The earlier spiritual experiences will dictate whether to adopt new faith or to strengthen old one –depending on how best it would have served him or her.

In Buddhist spirituality is here and now with us. We assume spiritual levels during insight meditation (mindfulness or vipassana meditation technique [VMT]).

VMT is the first of all as it dates back over 2500 years ago. The concept is so ancient that Jesus Christ too attended sessions in it. Over years it has been diluted with different labels and modifications.

Modifications include: group silence; contemplation; reflections; guided imagery; breathing exercises; verbalizations or self-masterly; self-imagery and self-talk; self or guided imagery, self-talk, self masterly and physical exercises; and so on –all proven to work but digressing from the original procedure of meditation.

Through mindfulness one can cease misery and suffering or negative emotions in his or her life. Through concentration, and bouncing back to breathing and observations of the sensory activities, the body relaxed more and more –causing the brain to be sharper.

That enables continued rising of uncalled for emotions, thoughts, pain resulting from sitting, imaginations of the past to come to individuals presences –which mindfulness locks out until their strength weakens and disappears.

At this level, participant begins to feel nothing but suspension or kind of void –where previous sensations no longer happen –including the sitting pain.

The cessation of bodily reactions will not end there but for a long time it will affect participant body with oddness of previous behaviors and, thus, news values will be called in form of dharma talks to replace old ones that have vanished.

The biochemical reactions re-launches the body to new set rules of functioning that gradually leads to total healing from the past and empowerment for the future. Other forms of mindfulness include; 1) walking meditation and, 2) sitting meditation.

After the ten (10) day mind cleansing program (VMT), it is recommended that participant continues with the practice twice a day and, at least once a day and once-a-week group sitting.

Participant is prepared through learning new values with symbols like notices placed along walls to keep reminding participant of the new value and behavioral system.

He or she is constantly encouraged to stay on the program, raise questions and have answers provided, be reminded of the goal to wellness and to sustain optimism to it.

Mindfulness is exercised along the values as they are repeated twice between the six (6) sittings a day. As the pain in the limbs and undesirable thoughts and imaginations rise and vanish the participant is left with the new values only to live new life as follows.

• Value for life
• Respect for others
• Environmentally sensitive
• Calmness
• Compassion
• Proactive
• Patience and increased ability to exercise restraint
• Sociable
• Balanced
• Increased intellect (analytical) and problem-solving abilities
• High concentration and productivity
• Increased resilience
• Optimism (or positive outlook about life)
• Considerate
• Humility
• Masterly of life
• Detached from the past and I unity with oneself and relevant others

Responses for the War Experience
• Compassionate towards enemies in war
• Peace with one-self and maker for the harmony of others
• Compassion generates inner peace and tolerance
• Model for peace-building through let-go (release of negative experiences and rethinks revenge)
• Infectiousness of compassion
• Share one’s peace and discourage warring methods of self-liberation (non-violence)
• Begin to see life positively and live it that way
Actual transformation of the diseased person begins from the processes of acknowledgement of healing act and keeping the faith. It was keeping the faith that determined sustainability of the healing effect along the scale of degree of relationship with spirituality.

In conclusion, it is wise to connect to spirituality (beyond the intellect), whilst not replacing it with the being or logic. Effectively transformative yet rational outcomes of spiritual connections result from individuals’ ability to subject them to reasoning test, which if passed then desired yet rightful behavior come forth. However, our past can be so strong that individuals easily drop newly held values –especially if they do not keep practicing the new ones.

Unfortunately or fortunately, the benefits of spirituality have turned into commodities that can be marketed for money; people use to fake others. Indeed today’s spirituality business is inclined to making spiritual leaders filthily rich at the expense of unsuspecting followers who get ‘conned’ of huge sums of money in such a rational world of saving and investment.

At the Uganda Buddhist Center or with Buddhism, donation is a choice, not a pre-requisite to receiving blessings or healing. But that does not substitute what is seen happen by the body senses and their interpretations.

There are revelations of the healing moments through merely a phone call or touch. But if three days later, villager members refute a spiritual attack story saying there was nothing like that in the area, then, one only dismisses the whole talk.

It can be a simple creation of an event to cause concern, attract sympathy and, ultimately, receive money from the departing monk. That was a deceptive act and criminal (false pretense).

Christmas Verses New Year Day: Which is Mightier?

For several centuries, Christmas has been celebrated. New year became significant for celebrating life -having gone through the previous one healthy and alive. Christmas has had a great meaning to the most Christians. Others like the seventh day Adventists have found it insignificant. For the new year, everyone has always been involved -be it the Muslims, the seventh day Adventists and so many others.

Christians consider Christmas day as the day Jesus Christ was born. Given the so many attributes to him as the world savior, son of God and founder of Christianity, Christians world over celebrate it. But all these mean nothing to Muslim counterparts and the seventh day Adventists.

They will only look on and wonder -given the sharp contrast in perception and argument -regarding the “truth.” The Muslims will talk about prophet Mohamed as the fittest to be remembered, the seventh day Adventists, on the other hand, will accuse label Christmas celebrants idol worshipers -following the history of the day. And all other faiths have independent grounds for human existence and wellness that make the lines of pursuit “truthful.”

Unlike before, when world characterized abundance -with lots of food for everyone, sufficient monetary resources and limited pressure on resources, now or never, one must prioritize. There is more individualism, “everyone for himself and God for everyone.”

The Christmas day -which featured people spending lots of time and money on gifts, food, entertainment and decorations, now only plan for what best the day should cost and what balance left for tomorrow and a few weeks ahead. Sending out of gifts is a rare phenomenon. In fact some people would think they were abandoned by the loved one, hated or having negative issues against them.

But, of course, there exists some -who say, “it is the Lord who gives and takes away. the day (Christmas) is the Lord's day, why not spend all and expect provision later.” They go ahead to say, “never worry about tomorrow, for it will take care of itself. you can not get when no spending.” What a faithful servant that person is!

And at most, it will be the lesser Christians -who will boycott Christmas or be passive on that day -and “qualify”themselves to the class of pagans and anti-gods. And long with the active and mainstream Christian groups, seventh day Adventists, atheists and everyone will anxiously wait for and jubilee on new year's day.

There is this more meaning to life on earth than out of it (the unknown, faith-based practices, and the numerous promises for good works. Interestingly for both Christmas and new year, there will be mixed actions of excitement, considerably unholy and appreciative spiritual or godly practices -all meant to celebrate the two important days.

On new year's day, it is unifying globally seeing everyone involved. It is the most democratic day of all. Everyone reflects on it and shows value to life. Humanly binding principles of co-existence and common value for life are invoked on that day.

However, the challenges after those days still remain, senseless killing, suffocating development of others, discrimination and segregation, political and economic corruption, incompetent leadership, poor life planning and decision making and blind faith. The main concern now dwells one how best we live and fulfill expectations on Earth as basis of future judgements.

Jacob Waiswa
Situation Health Analyst
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com