2010
Chiu-Nan Lai, Ph.D.
Q: How did you find the purpose of your life, while letting go of the worries about practical constraints?
A: We face different smaller goals at different junctions in our lives, but the main life purpose generally does not change. According to Dr. Rudolf Steiner, the astrological positions of the Sun, Moon and Earth at the moment of our birth will repeat itself every 18 years and 7 months. If we forget our life purpose, we will receive strong reminding signals at every 18th-year-7th-month. We only need to allow ourselves to quieten, and listen to our heart’s innermost feelings and external opportunities. Our intuitive calling and inner guidance is very strong; if we do not heed it, we will often meet obstacles, and do not feel happy. When we meet certain difficulties in life, take a break to ask ourselves if we have missed the direction? Have we taken a misguided path at the crossroads of our life?
Many decisions in my life came from inner guidance; I might not know exactly why I was doing what I did, but I came to understand much later. Inner guidance has been strong and irresistible, and I need to let go of practical constraints – whether it was converting from a meat-based to a plant-based diet, giving up research work and going India to explore the meaning of life, or letting go of secluded quiet lifestyle and founding Lapis Lazuli Light and dedicating myself to teaching. If the big direction and purpose of our life is in benefitting others, we need to learn letting go of our small-minded judgments, habits and worries. Be flexible in letting go or taking up (new roles) when opportunities arise, only then can we accomplish our big life goal.
Q: Dr. Lai, there are certain descriptions of the dying process in Buddhist teachings that may create fear in people. Take the example of the Pure Land tradition, it encourages that dead bodies be left untouched for 8 hours so that the deceased will not feel pain or ensuring that the eight levels of consciousness have left the body. Due to this, some people do not dare to donate one’s organs after death. Some people even described that the spirits of people one has wronged in the past will come disguised as spirits of loved ones to lure the deceased to suffering lower realms. These descriptions do not align with western research on Near Death Experiences (NDE) and Life after Death, which feels that death is not a frightening experience. How do we reconcile the contradictions?
A: There are also frightening anecdotes in NDE research. Some people from NDE returned from ‘hell’, though such cases are fewer. Those who experienced such frightful episode were not very willing to share. Such occurrences of patients returning to life after pronounced clinical death are rare in medical history; hence they are considered special cases. These people started their dying process, but consciousness and body are not totally split, so they are able to return to life. What Buddhist teachings described are all possibilities of human experiences; positive or negative experiences are dependent on individuals. People who are not prepared for death in their lives or who do not have a spiritual practice, will often feel tremendous fear and suffering upon this body-consciousness split. Losing our loved ones or possessions in life is suffering enough; it is not difficult to imagine the pain of losing our precious body upon death. Confronting our usual fears and problems is inevitable upon death, why don’t we prepare ourselves earlier? Western understanding of NDE and Buddhist teachings do not contradict each other. People with a spiritual faith will see the icons of their faith; Jesus Christ, Buddha, etc will appear.
Q: Is meditation able to bring about healing?
A: There are various meditation techniques. Counting breath calms one’s mind. If this is complemented with insight/mindfulness practice (vipassana) – when we relate to all body sensations, emotions and thoughts with equanimity – suppressed emotions will surface and resolve. For past wounding that is stored in our brain stems, we need to use specific techniques for healing it, like tapping, rolling eyeballs, etc. Meditation alone do not access to brain stems.
Q: Do lyrics in modern popular songs affect our body and consciousness adversely? What kind of negative impact? Most pop songs contain negative contents.
A: What we see, hear, smell always affects our body and mind. Hearing especially, it affects our emotions and thoughts. It’s important to protect our ears, only listen to positive uplifting messages.
Q: I’ve once consulted a Homeopathy Practitioner. She said that illness is an outcome; the root of illness originates from emotional states, like sadness, stress, fear, etc. How do I know the causes of my illness?
A: Emotional states and physical health are related, but it is not the only cause. There are other factors like environment, diet and prenatal conditions. Hence, we have been publishing different techniques of healing and preventing illnesses in books and magazines all these years. First, cure your illness, then take time to find its root causes. In my book ‘Reclaiming the Joy of Mind’, I’ve included a questionnaire that lists various events or circumstances that our body or mind experience that could be possible causes of illnesses. It is a reference, and in answering the questions, you may perhaps find the causes.
Q: By not accepting vaccination, is this bringing greater benefit to our body?
A: Yes. Please refer to article ‘The price of vaccine inoculation’ published in Lapis magazine (February 1999 issue).
Q: My mother is diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and currently undergoing the standard treatments. Prior to cancer, she is also suffering from symptoms likened to Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), of which doctors in rheumatology still could not confirm the diagnosis. The clinical observation only verified that it’s not a dislocation of bones. Please advise on ways of care-giving to my mother who has these illnesses. I observed that she has brief and faint in and out-going breaths. How can I improve this condition in order to prevent implications resulting from insufficient oxygen intake?
A: 1. Wireless radio waves and dirty electricity (electrical pollution) in the environment will cause the problems your mother is facing. These few years, our magazines have described these. First, apply the ways to protect oneself: Aura-soma, electric-magnetiser (energy enhancer), mantra, writing 6-syllabled mantra around a drawing (refer to article ‘Living Beyond Space & Time in 21st Century’, in May issue of Lapis magazine), convert all wireless devices in the house to cabled (eg. Mobile phones, land line telephones, internet cables), give away your microwave oven, place a piece of cobalt blue colour (#866) filter paper on a photograph of your mother as a measure of protection.
Beside these, do breath- and-visualisation techniques (refer to book ‘Dr. Lai’s Health Tips’) and use pendulum to clear the dull energy around an uncomfortable spot in body. Magenta colour filter sheet aids breathing if you put it on your chest. Place cobalt blue colour filter sheet on your water bottle/container and sun it for an hour; water from the container has protective function. Choose organic and natural vegetarian food in your diet. Supplement diet with Lightning Enzyme (Synergy company).
- Use pendulum to relieve energy from your palms and soles will perhaps helps breathing. (refer to article ‘energy resuscitation’ in February issue of Lapis magazine).
If your mother has a spiritual faith, remind to think of uplifting spiritual practices. For example, reciting the name of Amitabha Buddha, 6-syllable mantra, compassion mantra, practice of Medicine Buddha (a copy of it can be obtained from Lapis for free). Visualisation practice of Medicine Buddha in your heart is a very effective technique.