Enter the Holistic Village
The following is excerpted from the book,
Sing Your Own Song, Dance Your Own Dance
Like a gentle zephyr, the stirring of a new consciousness wafts over
the land — the dawning realization that health and illness have to
do with more than just organs and tissues and biochemistry. There is a new
awareness of health as wholeness, and of healing the whole person —
body, mind, and spirit.
— From the book, Sing Your Own Song, Dance Your Own Dance.
Beyond Medical Technology
Medical
technology can be marvelously effective. For example, in the urgent care
of traumas and infections it has no rival. But its narrow focus on physical
means and methods often makes it ineffectual and even counter-productive.
Methods imposed from outside, whether biochemical, mechanical, or surgical,
disrupt the body's own self-regulatory functions and have serious potential
for toxicity and debilitation. In the long run, these untoward "side
effects" can outweigh the short-term benefits of symptom reduction.
The most sophisticated medical technology the world has ever known becomes
a blunt instrument when it fails to reckon with the human condition.
Modern
medicine is all about physical means and methods. It gives short shrift
to balancing the energies and enhancing the life force. It routinely ignores,
pooh-poohs, or even actively opposes natural remedies, self-care, folk medicine,
and divergent lifestyles — generally any method or system that dares
to take a different slant or a broader perspective.
Yet
many of these remedies, systems, and traditions that are scorned by modern
medicine have amply proven their worth, often in areas where medical technology
comes up short. Wellness concepts have made their mark in helping the "worried
well." Various traditions of energy medicine excel in the treatment
of "chronic" or degenerative diseases. The effectiveness of psychological
and psychophysiological approaches in the treatment of illness has been
demonstrated in a wide range of contexts. Those who connect with Spirit
reap the benefits of causal healing.
It
need not be either-or. Why not draw on the best that all the varied traditions
of health care have to offer? That is not to say, "some of this and
some of that." An indiscriminate hodgepodge leads to hit-or-miss, more
often miss. To do the job right requires a carefully orchestrated synthesis
within a coherent framework. That framework is provided by the holistic
model. The orchestrated synthesis is provided by the Holistic Village.
The Holistic Model
Modern
psychology and modern medicine are elaborate edifices constructed to protect
established interests. Their rules and procedures are designed to protect
professional privileges and maintain the status quo — not to facilitate
wellness, healing, empowerment, or transformation. Their technology is based
on nineteenth-century materialism and reductionism — concepts abandoned
long ago by physics, as simplistic and limiting. With their narrow purposes
and flawed premises, these professions do not, cannot, reflect the truth
about you, as you, me as me. As now constituted, they do not serve us well.
When
we seek healing or transformation, we must respect physical and biological
laws. They represent an important piece of the process. But it is just one
piece. We are, after all, beings of light, not just dust in the wind. We
are possessed of body and mind, but the soul is imbued with consciousness
and volition. Life has meaning — or should. We have social awareness.
And we have the potential to transcend physical limitations and manifest
Spirit.
A
comprehensive, coherent, and truly workable model of holistic health care
must reflect our true nature. For this, it must be based on the concepts,
principles, processes, and techniques of holistic psychology.
Holistic
psychology offers an ideal framework for personal transformation and healing.
Based on a true and complete picture of human nature, it responds more appropriately
and more fully to our needs. The Holistic Paradigm leads us to a deep understanding
of ourselves. The holistic principles guide us on the path of transformation
and healing. The transformational processes and techniques provide the tools
to get the job done.
A Village for Healing
The
Holistic Village represents a confluence of diverse health care traditions
and options. Conventional medical technology, wellness concepts and practices,
alternative or complementary methods, all have a role. So do the various
traditions of energy medicine, thought medicine, and spiritual or causal
healing.
The
Holistic Village is also a healing center and spa that serves as a showcase
for the health care of the future. In a scenic physical setting, it brings
together the great healing traditions of the world. Schools of holistic
psychology, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, osteopathy, Ayurveda, and naturopathy
are sited in or near the village, attracting the leading practitioners in
their fields to teach and to practice. Lectures, demonstrations, conferences,
classes, and private sessions provide health seekers and professionals alike
with intellectual and experiential understanding of healing principles and
methods, ranging from hatha yoga, tai chi, Breema, and Tragerwork, to special
techniques of diet and fasting, to Autogenic Training and Holistic Renewal.
The continuing ferment of teaching, learning, and healing enhances the expertise
of practitioners, advances the state of the art, and further refines the
model itself.
The
outer space reflects the inner space. At the center of the village, in the
shape of a five-pointed star, is the Library of Light. The four points in
the horizontal plane represent the four corners of the earth. These wings
house the great writings and teachings from all ages and all traditions.
The fifth point of the star is a spire that rises over the Temple of Spirit,
a refuge from the world for all seekers, regardless of religious belief
or affiliation.
The
physical setting, the facilities, and the ambiance of the village, all support
activities that refresh, restore, and heal the whole person — body,
mind, and spirit. The pharmacy is stocked with conventional prescription
medications as well as homeopathic remedies, vitamins, food supplements,
herbal preparations and assorted accessories for various healing traditions.
Food stores, juice bars, and restaurants offer healthy and healing fare.
Shops carry specialty items such as natural-fiber clothing, massage tables,
yoga mats, and slant boards. You can buy, rent, or borrow books and videos
that educate and heal. There are spas and saunas and the accoutrements of
hydrotherapy. Sport and recreational facilities are designed and operated
to promote a sustainable, healthy routine, adapted to the needs of each
individual. There are day-care centers and schools; geriatric facilities
and a hospice; an organic garden, and a farm with free-ranging animals.
And there is the scenic natural setting itself.
Where Is the Holistic Village?
Like everything in this world,
The Holistic Village must follow the laws of manifestation. First comes
the conceptual village — an idea, a vision, a plan. The next stage
is energy — a network and a community bound by a common purpose and
a shared organizational framework. The physical village is the third stage.
Though a physical cluster of facilities has great appeal, it can be a point
of destination rather than a point of departure.