Rosicrucian Beacon Magazine - 2013-06 - AMORC

like these help us compete in a black-and-white world.They inflate the outer personality, the ego, and encourageus to believe that we are in control of our lives andproblems. Yet even if we are convinced of our control,if we still have the courage to go inward with an open,questioning mind, we may discover that we still secretlyfear we are not really in control, that maybe we are notreally ‘good’ healers. We get by, but only just. We makemistakes, and feel the guilt of failure.Caught in the extremes of dualistic thinking,neither healer nor patient is immune from fear, superstitionand ignorance; burnout, despair and degenerating healthare all the legacy of dualistic thinking. The black-and-whitestage represented death in the ancient mysteries; and deathin turn represented putrefaction and separation in alchemy.Almost every culture uses black or white, or a combinationof both, to represent death. Yet the colours of death alsosymbolise the potential for rebirth and transformation tothe third stage of life, represented by gold.The Stage of Wisdom, ReintegrationGold is the stage of wisdom, reintegration, and wholeness.The idea of a separate healer and patient loses meaning inthe gold phase. When, as healers, we deal with patients,we gain insights into our own lives. Friends’ needs are ourneeds, friends’ tears our tears, friends’ healing our healing.In this gold stage there is no separation between patientand healer, and an overwhelming compassion drives allthat one does.In the gold stage, entering into a healingrelationship is an adventure.We are one humanity with common needs andproblems, and even common transformations. Healingsand transformations occur through relationships .We maydecide to practice the art of healing consciously, but this isdone without the compulsion to act out the role of healeror patient. Each time we enter into a healing relationshipwith others we do not know what the precise outcome willbe. We do not know in just what way our persona can bebeneficially transformed. In the gold stage, entering into ahealing relationship is an adventure. It is a quest that leadsto ever-greater self-discovery, deeper appreciation for thelove that unites all.When a person is ill, that person is vulnerable.Illness cracks our habitual defence mechanisms. When ourunquestioned realities and beliefs are no longer effective,we can decide to replace them with realities that moreaccurately mirror our inner intentions. Upon discardingGold represented is the third stage ofwisdom, reintegration and wholeness.irrelevant defences we may also be surprised to discoverthat we can experience greater freedom, spontaneity, andcreativity.If we are willing to let our defences down, to lookdeeply within at our own nature, then we can come torealise the commonality, the unity, and the love thatalways existed but that we didn’t notice before. We may besurprised by our own transformations made as a result ofseeing what is true in this mirror of self. We may discoverat an inner psychic level there are no coincidences, that weand those attracted to us are co-healers, co-creators, on anextraordinary adventure we call life.To embark on this extraordinary adventure, atrust in the inner power of healing and transformationis essential. Creative openness, integrity, firmness, andcompassion follow from genuine confidence or intensetrust. With genuine confidence we find that no one in arelationship is less than, or more than, he or she actually is.Instead of being lost in sympathetic responses to symptoms,we interact with compassion and integrity, creativelytransforming into what we actually are.With trust, illness can be an opportunity, athreshold to greater health; to the golden state of life wecall wisdom. With experience we come to realise thatgenuine confidence comes only when we are willing to faceour own fears. Crossing this threshold results in greaterphysical, emotional, and mental wholeness. Rather thanbeing the dualistic opposite of illness, health can become acelebration and appreciation of life. Life is our friend. Lifeis the provider of the conditions and opportunities thatevoke the evolution of the open mind.Growth, transformation and evolution can applyand be incorporated into any therapeutic modality,whether traditional or non-traditional. We can chooseto follow allopathic medicine, homeopathy, chiropractic,acupuncture, touch, nutrition, or any of a host of otherapproaches to healing, and still realise that life is a sharedadventure wherein we all are evolving.© Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 201331