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In fact, I have come to believe that the pain and isolation I had experienced in the Philippines were, for me, essential precursors to the illumined vision of life, which has brought healing and meaning to me. I would not have asked for help if I had felt able to manage on my own. The availability of pain-altering drugs, helpful friends, or medical personnel would also have prevented me from asking for help. Pain and crisis brought me face-to-face with my pride, and forced me to let down my barriers of defensiveness that separated me from any concept of God.
I believe that the removal of barriers, which opens the way for mind-to-mind connections, or what we call intimacy, is incorporated in the concept of ''forgiveness" extolled in many religions. This state of trust, vulnerability, or defenselessness, makes healing possible. Remembering painful past experiences engenders fear, and unresolved fear leads to anger, which becomes resentment. By forgiving, we let go of resentment, which keeps us focused on the past, and impedes our own healing. I have also learned that one need not be sick, as I was, to "get better." In this context, getting better means developing a spiritual practice of quieting one's individual mind activity to allow merging with a greater transpersonal Mind.
When my friend inserted his smashed and throbbing finger into the little haven between my hands, his pain disappeared, despite his skepticism. In the ensuing weeks, his thumb turned purple, and his nail turned black and dropped off, but he never felt another moment of pain from the injury.
Healing experiences like this one, where pain ceases for a period of time or never returns, are common for me. It feels to both healer and patient as if a forcefield is created between my hands, but I also perceive the merging of our minds with a common focus on healing that activates a healing potential. The "healee" need not have any faith, but he does need to be open and receptive to the possibility of healing. He has to be willing to suspend judgment, which I interpret to be the same as removing barriers to the possibility.
Gaining Healing Experience
Over the course of that summer, I had many occasions to enter into healing

 
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