Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Gong: Worthy of a Separate Post

So, I received an interesting anonymous comment regarding the post about me going to a Gong Bath. Here it is:

"You are treading a thin line my friend...

In a world where people are constantly grasping for deeper meaning, deeper spirituality, and a higher purpose, energy healing is one more New Age philosophy which presents itself very desirably to human nature. Born with sin, we all come in to the world with the strong belief that we are the center of the universe – that we are in control of our health, our bodies, our lives, our circumstances, and our destinies. Those who have not turned to God for the answer have no choice but to search within themselves.

The practice of energy healing is not in itself a religion, but is a pathway to one's own spirituality. It leads you down a personal journey that encourages you to focus on yourself and how your energy is in synch with the energies of the cosmos, the earth, and all other life. Through this, one can supposedly be taught to heal himself or herself by using clairvoyance to “visualize” where the negative energy is in order to determine the cause of the problem, may it be physical, emotional or spiritual.

The use of energy healing encourages one to put their full trust in themselves and their own bodies, which is a form of worship. For most who participate in energy healing, no recognition is given to the one true God, nor does He receive any praise for healing. The person using these methods of healing has made himself into his own god. Getting involved in energy healing is spiritually dangerous, to say the least.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the One who came to heal. “Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest'” (Matthew 11:28). God does not want or expect us to help ourselves. He is the source of life, of all that is good and true. Those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus will never come to a place of spiritual healing. “'For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes – so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them'” (Matthew 13:15).


And here is the reply I wrote last night:

This is very interesting, and I have to say that I am glad I did not read Anon's comment prior to me attending the Gong Bath, and also that when I came home from the experience, I did not read the comments but first wrote my feelings down, which I will post later.

I have to say I agree mostly with Anon (Gasp! Shudder! Oh My! Has Manic Gone Insane?!?!)... but I sensed a bit of accusation in his/her comment and I would like to clear some things up: I am not looking to replace my one true God. I am a very spiritual and God-loving person. Our family prays, we attend church, we look to God when we are sad, confused, happy, scared, joyful. I have no fear that the one true God does not have a place for me by His side when I die and go to Heaven. And, maybe this is pompous or egotistical for me to think, but I do think I'm going to Heaven.

At the Gong Bath, I fully questioned the intent. After the fact, when the "Gong Guy" (For lack of a better title) was explaining how the sound waves radiate, yadda yadda, I wondered about it, and I wondered this aloud to my friend whom I attended with, "So, does this guy think he's a god? And that he is a healer? Do the Buddhists believe in the God we believe in?"

I questioned everything. I simply wanted to take an experience and learn from it. I did put my intentions toward some people I love who are sick and in need to focus to their health. However, I did not pray to a Gong to make my friends and family healed.

I was just open to experience my own personal feelings, and that's exactly what I did.

Anon wrote: "God does not want or expect us to help ourselves." I had to wonder, if God does not want us to help ourselves, when we cross the street, should we not look both ways before we cross, knowing God is there to help us? Should we use no caution in our lives just by the mere fact that we know He is there for us?

I spent a lot of time last night thinking about Anon's comments, and I do not know very much about spiritual healing, energy and all that la-dee-da stuff; it is very obvious Anon is a well-versed and educated person on the subject. I began thinking of things like this:

If a person chooses the healing option of energy or spiritual channelling or whatever it is the gong (or other healing options for that matter) has to offer, how is that different than a person choosing to use a medicine or surgical procedure to be healed? Is the doctor then the god? Does God not work through the hands of the surgeon to help heal? Do you (and when I say 'you' I mean anyone reading this, not just Anon) think that since "God does not want or expect us to help ourselves," that when we become sick, we must just say, "This is what God wants and I should just accept it?"

I'm just trying to play devil's advocate here, because I am really interested in how or why the experimental healing through energy, etc. is different or more wrong than using experimental drugs to cure cancer.

I'm not angry with Anon, although that "treading a thin line, my friend" might not have been the best way to present your opinion, for none of my "friends" refer to themselves as Anon. You're absolutely welcome to share your opinion, but your comment sounded like you're accusing me of something other than me having an experience in my personal life. That's all that I did, not that I need to receive permission from anyone, especially an anonymous anyone.

I think Anon did a good thing. He/she opened my eyes up to the whole reasoning behind the Gong Bath. I will not venture to say it was a wrong thing to do, and I will share my experience with you -- I freewrote down my feelings without thinking, just feeling how I felt about an hour after the experience, and will post it unedited later.

I do think Anon stopped me from getting the full experience because he/she drove other thoughts into my mind when I was just trying to feel the experience without others' opinions.

I, in no way, went to this 'event' in search of a higher being.

I have my higher being. And His name is God, and I look to Him for all the good that is in our world, and I look to Him for solace and understanding, for love and compassion. There is no other God, and I'm not preaching here; you obviously have your wits about you, Anon, and I thank you for opening the eyes of anyone who might be in search of something other than God. However, I am not one of those people.

Now, how about we all go grab a pack of Tim Tams and an appletini and share the love!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

ahh share the love indeed... I've got carmel and tia maria what flavours of tim tams do you have ??



Well said!!!! btw...... The my friend your treading a fine line creeped me out.....

Drewpy Drew said...

Right on Manic!

Speaking as someone who firmly believes in the one true God and has taken Jesus as my Lord and savior and suffers from chronic health problems, I have some insight on this subject.

Point 1: Anon, if you are so strong in your faith, why are you so embarrassed that you feel the need to hide your identity?

Point 2: Read the whole Bible. The Lord gave us the earth to use and take care of. He also gave us our brains. If we are able to find ways to heal ourselves, (medicine, herbs, acupuncture...) we should grasp them.

I don't worship the medicine that helps me get out of bed every day, but I thank God that he gave us doctors and scientists to help me out. If I am stuck in bed, how can I reach the world for Him?

To not use the gifts He has given us to better the world and ease suffering is to hold Him in contempt.

Point 3: You will better reach people if you don't talk down to them.

Don't mess with Manic Mom.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Ramblin'--no got no tim tams here in da u.s. baby! Me sad.

Dres--Thank you for your opinions! I do not know why Anon chose to be Anon. I didn't feel threatened or upset by his/her opinions. In fact, they were a good topic opener, and they got me thinking!
I am pretty sure Anon's intention was not to mess with me. Even hubby don't mess wit da Manic! ; )

Oh How Funny! My word verification is: WWJD...

hahahah, just kidding but it did start with a WD so that made me think of WWJD.

Peace.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Oops, not DRES, I meant DREW. Geeze, I must be getting all confused because of all the freaky energy channelling I got last night. I'm a little discombobulated.

Oh wait, that's me normal!

Anonymous said...

Hey Manic...

Maybe Santa will bring you some tim Tams??? Carmel ones, Latte ones, and plain ones.... ohhh they would be great for a Tim Tam slam... since it's cold over there.....

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Ramblin--no way in hell have I been good enough for Santa to bring Tim Tams... unless they are Coal flavored! LOL

Anonymous said...

ya just never know Manic Stranger things have happend... ;)

xxxx said...

Manic, if you get Tim Tams, you better save me one!!!

Chrissy said...

First, what are Tim-Tams?

Second, did you receive the tail end of our snowstorm?!

Third, great post.

Fourth, I will never be Anonymous. :-)Chrissy

violetvirus said...

Great one, MM!

my word verification is jyygi...I'm trying to pronounce it...hahaha...

No Tim-Tams in d US?..I saw them in dept store d other day and was thinking of trying some since it's very much talked about..I could send you and Swishy some if you want...haha :P

Save Sheila said...

As long as you believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, it's not egotistical to think you'll be with God when you die. It's just the truth! You can believe wholly in God, but still be curious about other things. And God helps those who help themselves; that's why he gave us brains!

Kari Lee Townsend said...

Nicely, nicely said, Manic. And everyone else! And I want some Tim Tams. Haven't a clue what they are, but I want one just the same;)))

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Thanks guys for your thoughts. I like what you all have to say about Jesus, God, brains, faith, and all that good stuff!

Tim Tams are these luscious chocolaty cookie things that they don't have in the U.S. for whatever effed-up reason! Ramblin Rose and I did a trade (a sort of across-country-chocolate drug deal!) and she sent them to me. I sent her Reese's because they don't have them in Australia! You can google Tim Tams and order them to your house. I suggest the caramel ones.

C-mommy--we did get part of a storm last Friday -- snow day for the kids that day. Misery day for me. LOL!

And I know you guys weren't the Anon. I would like more insight from him/her though, especially now that I've responded.

Later, I will post what I felt like immediately after the Gong Bath. I can't say it's been 'life-altering' by any means. Just an interesting experience.

Unknown said...

I know nothing of this Gong Bath thing, but it sounds pretty cook, and if all it does in the end is make you relax, then it was worth going, right? I mean, mother's need every chance to relax they can get!

Your comments back to Anon were so great there is no need to comment further on that!

you go girl!

Frannie Farmer said...

Whoa! Call in sick to blogland for a few days and look at the controversy.
My late thoughts are; as a woman of great faith and a strong belief that Jesus Christ is the one true God, I don’t think it is smart for me to turn a blind eye to things that seem objectionable. Isn’t it better to have knowledge about something, rather than harbor judgment?
I have to go to the whole Scientology debate. Before I could personally deem it hokey, I needed to understand it. Do some research. Like Drew said, read the entire Bible .. don’t pick out bits and pieces and use them against others.
Anywho .. JMO …the more educated I am about these things, the more I can bask in the knowledge of what I know is true and right and good.