"Meeting Asciepius" - Unit 7

The following is a description of my meditative practice:

I was able to sit comfortably and quite my mind for the Asciepius Meditation. Then, I visualized that my grandmother, who passed away two years ago, was in front of me. I even called out her name twice to make sure that she knew that I wanted to meditate with her. Just to make sure, prior to the meditation, I asked her how she remembered me. Then, some words that I have forgotten about popped into my head. e.g. 1) the chocolate fudge and the earrings that I used to give to her for Christmas, and 2) the walks that we used to take with each other. I also felt a tickling on my right arm that seemed “unique”, so I figured that she had heard me and was ready to commune meditatively.

Next, I formed a white light around the crown of her head. Then, I allowed all of this light to permeate my mind, so that it would purify my thoughts, feelings and images . This was so that my mind would transform into the type of mind that she had. Then, I allowed a strong beam of light to connect from her throat and over to mine. Thus purified my heart with kindness, love, and compassion, which transformed my heart to be just as hers.

After this, my mind, voice, and heart was ready to take on the persona of my wise grandmother. In doing so, I felt all of the love that she felt for the world, and for her children when she used to walk on this earth, during her last lifetime. At the same time, I could sense that she was trying to tell me that this, or “love” was the most important thing to gain in this world. Then, we can prepare for the world to come.

Last I allowed my grandmother to turn into a bright white light, which entered my body from my forehead and slowly overtook my entire being, until “I” became the wise one. I stayed in this meditative state, until I felt totally absorbed in the mind set of my grandmother. The Asciepius state of the healer of the mind, body, and speech. However, after awhile I realized that these aspects have always been inside of me, even though it was easier to see these inner qualities of myself as another person. Asclepius is none other than the natural and wise essence of my heart and mind. The healer within me that will lead me to integral health.

In my opinion, the saying: "One cannot lead another where one has not gone himself” means that we as students of the Integral Health program, must continue to master this path. Otherwise, how can we effectively lead our clients through a healthier path, such as this? If we experience the transformation from ill health to integral health by using the proper steps, we will fully understand how to lead another down the same path, even if there are stumbling blocks along the way. We, as practitioners have an obligation to practice what we preach, and that is to be of sound mind, body and spirit.