Healing chakras of life

Ruwini Jayawardana

Years ago our ancestors possessed wisdom and science to perform miraculous tasks in the medicinal field. Now in the modern age of machinery and drugs man is in search of a path to healing, a quest to discover the wisdom they had lost many centuries ago.

Swarna de Costa is gifted with this form of ancient medicine. She is a healer with the power to heal others through Reiki, Pranic healing and Reflexology.

"These ancient methods of healing do not use drugs. In Pranic healing I scan the body and touch the energy field around the body with my hand. Through this method I find ailments within the body. There are certain energy fields within the body called Chakras. If there is some sort of disease within the body, these Chakras become imbalanced. Once the ailments are discovered treatments can begin," she explained.

"After the healing session a patient is requested not to bathe for 12 hours. You need to give some time for the energy to work on the ailments of the body. You can also discover diseases that may pop up in future through Pranic healing."

This method of healing is practised with the patient seated on a chair. Keeping both hands and feet uncrossed is important. If the hands or feet are crossed it indicates that the patient does not have faith in this method of healing.

"Without faith it is baseless to practise this form of medicine. Pranic healing is not connected with any religion. It is believed to have been practised by our ancestors, the yogis.

They discovered it but they did not publicise as they were afraid that it would fall into wrong hands and be used for negative deeds. Just as a person can be cured through this method, a person can be made ill by it too. They can be hypnotised to perform an act against their will," Costa pointed out.

How did she discover that she had the gift to heal others?

"A person who read my palm predicted that I would be able to improve my spiritual sense if I turned to meditation. I got him to help me and he taught me how to do the Maithree Bhavana. That is how I began."

Costa was born in Kurunegala, into a family of four children. Her father was a Government Agent and Chief clerk at the Agriculture Department. She studied at Girls' High school, Kandy.

"I did arts subjects for my Advanced Levels. Then I was employed at the State Pharmaceutical Corporation for four years. I was half way through my teaching exam when I turned towards healing," she observed pointing out that she never had a background to the medical field from the academic level.

Costa learnt the basic methods of healing when she was a member of a meditation circle in Colombo. She visited India and followed an advanced course in Pranic healing in Hyderabad and Bangalore. There she encountered many others from all over the world who had come to master this healing technique. Deva Somasundaram had guided her in her progress.

"I learnt Reiki from a friend of mine. In Reiki you touch the body and in Reflexology you stimulate the pressure points in the patient's feet. In the advanced course of Pranic healing we used crystals. There is also a method called Crystal healing which I took up but now I have developed my own methods and now I do not need the crystal for this purpose."

According to Costa any form of illness or disease can be cured through this method. Does this include deadly diseases too?

"Cancer can be cured at its early stage but we do not normally practise this method on cancer patients because they abosorb a lot of our energy," she expressed.

"It is possible to heal AIDS but the problem is AIDS affected do not come for treatment. They do not like to come forward."

Can anyone become a Pranic healer?

"Yes, but experience has taught me that you are destined for a position - if it is within you it is bound to come out someday. That is why the Buddha said that there is a place and time for everything. There is great wisdom behind Buddhism."

"When you come into close contact with Mother Nature she will help you in many ways. Nature is my best friend. I communicate with her often and I can sacrifice anything for her. You have to trust her and that feeling should come from within."

" It is difficult to explain what I experience but I am leading happy and peaceful life. I have two children. I believe that they too will come to this stage someday because they have been living in this background all these years and have recognised the quality of truth behind this healing."

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Potted physician, "Komarika" (Aloe vera)

WONDER PLANT: Aloe vera, known to herbalists for centuries as a medicinal plant. It is generally called the "potted physician" and "universal panacca" by Greeks, "the plant of immortality" by Egyptians and "Wand of Heaven" by Americans.

Aloe vera is a perennial, drought resistant plant belonging to family Liliaceac. The plant has stiff, grey green lanciolate shaped leaves containing clear pulp in central parenchyma portion.

Aloe, a popular house plant, has a long history as multipurpose folklore medicine. Most botanists agree and historical evidence suggest that Aloe vera has originated in the warm dry climate indigenously in the Eastern and Southern Africa. However, the plant is readily adaptable and man has been very eager to carry it with him from place to place that it can now be found in many warm lands including Sri Lanka.

Cleopatra was said to include aloe cream in her beauty regimen. Legend has it that Alexander, the Great captured the island of Socorita in the Indian Ocean to secure its aloe supplies to treat his wounded soldiers.

Aloe is popular in both traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. The Chinese described aloe's skin and the inner lining of its leaves as cold, bitter remedy, downward draining and used to clear constipation due to accumulation of heat.

The gel is considered cool and moist. In Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional medicine of India, aloe is used internally as a laxative remedy, and uterine stimulant (menstrual regulator).

It is also used to treat eczema. In Arabian medicine, the fresh gel is rubbed on the forehead as a headache remedy or rubbed on the body to cool it in case of fever, as well as used for wound healing, conjunctivitis and as a disinfectant and laxative.

Aloe first gained popularity in the United States in the 1930s with reports of its success in treating X-ray burns. In 1941, it was proved that Aloe healed burns much faster than available treatment.

In 1947, VP Pilatov of Russia found Aloe vera is effective against skin diseases caused by parasites. It was three times faster remedy for radiation burns, fire burns, frost bites, cuts and blisters. It improved skin texture, eliminated dryness, itching, eczema, and skin cancer more effectively than the modern treatment.

Current uses of Aloe vera

Aloe vera gel and the latex, are derived from succulent aloe leaves. They are extensively used by pharmaceuticals and cosmetic industries. The clear gel is the familiar product used to relieve burns and wounds.

The gel is a good moisturizer, which accounts for its use in many cosmetics. Today Aloe vera gel is an active ingredient in hundreds of skin lotions, sun blocks and cosmetics. The gel's use in cosmetics has been boosted by claim that it has similar anti-aging effects to vitamin A derivatives.

It has been demonstrated that a substance extracted from Aloe vera was a very effective treatment against HIV-1 and other strains of the virus which causes AIDS. Acemannan, the major carbohydrate fraction in the gel of Aloe, accelerates wound healing, modulates immune function and demonstrates antineoplastic and antiviral effects.

This has been patented and approved in Europe to stimulate the immune system of AIDS patients. It has demonstrated activity against leukaemia virus and solid tumours based on findings from animal studies.

Dr. Lawerence G. Plaskett, a fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry says: "The action of substances in Alow vera does activate and intensify the immune response, and this constitutes one of the fundamental scientifically established actions of aloe upon the body".

It has shown most promise in treating the cancer. In 1989, researchers from Okinawa, Japan reported in Japanese Journal of Cancer Research, that Aloe contained at least three anti-tumour agents. They reported that aloe was found to be effective in the treatment of tumours.

Aloe can stop immune system damage caused by sun burns. The use of Aloe enables the body to heal up from cancer and the damage done to it by conventional treatment.

The immune system is boosted, tumour shrunk so that cancer does not spread, and new healthy cells begin to grow. In a preliminary study of 50 patients suffering from lung cancer, gastrointestinal tract tumours, brain stem gliomas and breast cancer were treated with the use of aloe.

Although no one has yet proposed that Aloe vera is a cure for cancer, it is evident from research conducted through the world for over last 30 years that Aloe can. Aloe works both with intelligence and wisdom.

N.M.C. Nayanakantha, Asst. Botanist, Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, Dartonfield, Agalawatta.