There are two ways in which our needs can be taken care of. One is the material. For example, when we have ill health we can go to a doctor for medical treatment. But a time comes when no human aid can help. Then we look to the other way, to the Spiritual Power, the Maker of our body, mind, and soul. Material power is limited, and when it falls, we turn to the unlimited Divine Power. Likewise with our financial needs; when we have done our best, and still it is inadequate, we turn to that other Power.
To know God is the most important way to heal all disease- physical, mental, spiritual. As darkness cannot remain where light is, so also the darkness of disease is driven away by the light of God’s perfect presence when it enters the body.
The unlimited power of God is working behind all methods of healing, whether physical, mental or vital. This fact must never be forgotten, for if one depends upon the method and not upon God, he automatically hinders and limits the free flow of the healing power.
Your duty is to bring your need to God’s attention, and to do your part in helping God to bring that desire to fruition. For example, in chronic diseases, do your best to help promote healing, but know in your mind that ultimately God alone can help.
An unlimited source of protection for man lies in his strong thought that, as a child of God, he cannot be affected by disease.
Do your best to remove the causes of illness and then be absolutely unafraid. There are so many germs everywhere that if you began to fear them you would not be able to enjoy life at all… Be fearless.
Keep smiling within, pulsating with deep joy, ever ready to act, and spiritually ambitious to help others. These attitudes are not only good exercises for the mind; they also keep the body constantly supplied with fresh cosmic energy.
He who finds joy within himself discovers that his body is charged with electric current, life energy, not from food but from God. If you feel that you can’t smile, stand before a mirror and with your fingers pull your mouth into a smile. It is that important! When one is joyful within, he invites the help of the inexhaustible power of God. I mean a sincere joyfulness, not that which you feign outwardly but do not feel within. When your joy is sincere you are a smile-millionaire. A genuine smile distributes the cosmic current, prana, to every body cell. The happy man is less subject to disease, for happiness actually attracts into the body a greater supply of the universal life energy.
In the vault of the mind lie all the chains of bondage, as well as the keys to freedom.
Mind power carries with it the unfailing energy of God; that is the power you want in your body. And there is a way to bring in that power. The way is communion with God by meditation. When your communion with Him is perfect, the healing is permanent.
Extract from the book “Where There is Light” by Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda.
