Author’s Foreword
There is an ancient Chinese teaching that speaks of the Heart having seven magical orifices. These are not physical connections to the veins and arteries but rather metaphorical apertures that open up to reveal wonders of insight, health and understanding. They are called the Eyes of the Heart, and they are pathways of consciousness whose doors can be opened or closed depending upon one’s intention and experience. When these doors are open, one has the freedom to act with clear conscious awareness in the present moment, as opposed to when they are closed and one is chained to reaction from the repetitive programming of the past.
These Eyes are the senses of the spirit, which also relate to the seven primary openings in the skull. They share the eyes (2), nose (2), ears (2) and mouth (1) with our major physical senses to provide us with a broad range of tools that build a complete and intimate relationship with the world around us. Each one of The Seven Journeys provides a unique pathway that clears the vision of its corresponding Eye. According to this philosophy, the number of Eyes that are open will determine how we form and accumulate all of the beliefs, emotions and physical circumstances in our life. By assessing these manifestations, the Eyes of the Heart can then be “examined” to diagnose problems and “treated” to heal wounds. When we examine what is blocking our Heart’s vision, we are diagnosing; and when we open the Heart’s Eye, we are treating. This book bridges Traditional Oriental Medicine with ancient shamanic wisdom by creating a modern method that accomplishes just this. I have named this approach The Seven Journeys, and they provide a safe and effective way to open the Eyes of the Heart, one by one, and as they pertain to a person’s individual needs.
The Seven Journeys accomplish this by offering explorers of truth a new way to investigate their vast internal landscapes of health. Searching unexplored caverns of the mind and revealing hidden worlds of the spirit is performed through the use of the shamanic journey. In this way, one will gain an experience of spirit that presents profound and empirical knowledge regarding their particular health concerns. This method does not require years of practice or extensive, disciplined training to yield successful fruits. A centered focus, combined with a willingness to examine the possibilities that awaken from the sleeping places within, is all it takes to bring about immediate results.
At first, The Seven Journeys were formed based upon my own personal need for a more complete system of integrative, holistic medicine. Specifically, I needed one that offered clearly defined and well-organized routes from the body, to the mind and to the spirit. Then, I provided them to my Oriental Medicine clients who were requesting a deeper level of healing and were ready to assume the growth and responsibility that came with it. After 10 years of exploration, progress and refinement, they are now organized in this format as a passageway to better health for all who desire to receive their insights.
While working within this alternative healthcare system, I have seen miracles — from what modern Western medicine would label as a “spontaneous remission” to other healings that would most definitely stretch science’s definition of logical explanation. I’ve witnessed numerous psychiatrically and medically labeled/diagnosed people transform into healthy, wholly functioning individuals as a result of their work within this realm. For healing in and of itself on any level is indeed a miracle, but no more so than the events unfolding before our eyes and within our grasp disguised as the ordinary everyday. It is my intention for this book to help Open the Eyes of our Hearts by promoting recognition of the subtle aroma of life’s blossoms that shout out from the sacred soil of the mundane. When this is accomplished, we find that this scent of the magical is found in the exact spot where we are standing in today.
