Certification Benefits

The Value of the Khadro Education Program

Khadro Chi Nei Tsang as a Way of Life

Education in Khadro Chi Nei Tsang is also beneficial for those who don't intend to become practitioners.

Many of us drain ourselves of our vital life energy in pursuit of what we consider the most important thing - our careers. When we give a career pride of place, we invest all our life energy into it; we trade our life force for a salary.

The dedication of our entire life energy to career and livelihood leaves us feeling exhausted, depleted, frustrated, and angry. Because we are so stuck in this dysfunctional pattern, we don't see any possibility of change. Instead, we grasp at our livelihood - which, we tell ourselves, at least enables us to sustain our lifestyle, however unhealthy it may be.

Overvaluing livelihood and lifestyle
We're driven by the fear that if we don't work harder and put in longer hours, we'll lose that livelihood. We go dutifully, day after day, to a job we hate, subjecting ourselves to the abuses (real or perceived) hurled at us by our "superiors." All the while, we become angrier and more frustrated. We eat badly, sleep badly, and develop an increasingly warped view of ourselves and the world; as a consequence, we maintain truly harmful relationships with ourselves and with others. We lose sight of our own divinity and uniqueness and live in fear and contraction, dishonouring our own inner knowing.

I believe that through this process of over-identification with livelihood and lifestyle, each of us stands to lose our life energy - leading us to a sense of loss without knowing exactly what has been lost. What's more, this sense of loss will create the conditions for adverse physical symptoms to emerge.

Making the soul whole
In Tibetan Bon Po tradition, this loss is tantamount to "soul loss." For the soul to feel whole, it must feel a dynamic, active flow of elemental energies and a sense of integration of the being at all levels. When an elemental part of us is damaged, disowned, traumatized, and neglected, that part is lost and becomes inaccessible to us. Spirits contained in the elements are the children of the soul. That's why, when we lose our Elemental Spirit, we are considered to have lost a part of our soul.

When we retrieve an elemental part of ourselves, we also retrieve a part of our soul; because of that, we feel more integrated and whole. This sense of wholeness enables us to create space within ourselves, with the courage to contain and embrace all parts of ourselves with joyful enthusiasm and gratitude for the life that we have - even when things are not what we consider perfect. It is with this attitude of joyfully owning all parts of ourselves that we gain wholeness of our being at the level of the body, mind, spirit, and soul.

The myth of perfection
With this acceptance and understanding, we see with new eyes that there is no such thing as perfection - which is, after all, a man-made criterion of measurement. Instead, we see potentialities contained in the space within ourselves and in the external space around us. These potentialities are greater than "perfection" - a word that impliessomething static, something complete that leaves nothing to work toward. "Potentialities" imply a continuum for growth and hidden potentials in each of us waiting to be discovered, explored, developed, and integrated into our soul parts so we can be the being that we are to be and to become - living in a dynamic relationship with ourselves and with our external elements.

With these new eyes, we develop a fresh awareness of the elements that surround us. We learn that we truly have a kinship with our environment; since our environment is our kin, we become its stewards. What we do to it affects us, whether positively or negatively. We suddenly awaken to the beauty and vitality of nature. We live with nature and elements as part of ourselves, within and without.

How trouble manifests itself
Physical symptoms vary from one person to another, depending on each individual's vulnerabilities. In a person who had stomach problems as a child, the sense of loss might produce a physical symptom related to digestion, such as a sugar imbalance, in adulthood. At the same time, such a person will have issues with trust in relationships with family, friends, peers, colleagues, and even the environment; these issues, in turn, will lead to anxiety attacks in various forms.

I usually see individuals when there is no apparent medical solution. At first, the individual does not see this situation for what it is: a wonderful opportunity for healing, leading to spiritual and soul retrieval - which is then amplified in personal growth, spiritual growth, and self-empowerment.

An opportunity for growth
The receiver will gradually integrate that lost part of himself or herself. Of course, he or she will, from time to time, feel anxiety, as we are creatures of habit - but will find that this feeling no longer has the same power. The receiver now sees that the place where anxiety resides is really a powerful place where he or she discovered his or her potential to trust and to build healthy relationships with him/herself and with the nature and elements of the external world. When this receiver, reflecting on a given situation, says: "I used to feel this way, but not any more," it means that he or she has outgrown that "negative" aspect of him/herself. This attitude allows us to engage our lives fully, joyfully, and enthusiastically in the present.

When we get sick and are unable to recover, it is often because we identify with our sickness, as though we were our sickness. We lose sight of the pure potential that we each bring with us. If, when we are sick, we can view this sickness as a message from deep within ourselves telling us that we need to attend to some deep issue relating to our soul, putting our busy rhythm of activity on pause and attending to the message, then the sickness will disappear because there is no need to keep the message on. The aborigine of Australia has a similar concept: They believe that the cellular memory remembers wholeness; when some part of us is broken, injured, hurt, or diseased, that part can be reminded of its wholeness and the body will heal itself.

In the West, we have lost this intuitive sense. We don't listen to our inner messages - we're simply too busy. My father used to proclaim with pride that he was so busy that he did not even have time to go to the toilet. This was meant to be a sign of his dedication to his work - something to which many of us can easily relate.

A message from within
The example above described an individual with a message coming from deep within. Since this person was physically predisposed to stomach problems, it was felt at that level. What was visible was the physical discomfort; what was invisible was the sense of loss. The process of Chi Nei Tsang enabled this person to go beyond his or her physical discomfort, launching a deep and intimate relationship with himself or herself - engaging this person in a dynamic and active relationship with all the elemental spirits internally and the external ones as well, and allowing this person to experience himself or herself as an expanded individual with space enough within to contain and embrace every aspect.

The Earth Element, according to traditional Chinese medicine as well as the Tibetan Bon Po tradition, contains information about the self, so that everything pertaining to the self is stored in this element. Issues related to the Earth Element might manifest symptoms relating to digestive disorders, sugar imbalances, anxiety, inability to trust, and a feeling of ungroundedness. We may habitually be late, as though we have too much to do and not enough time in which to do it. However, the spaciousness of the Earth enables us to feel our connection to the Earth Element (Mother Earth) and this connection enables us to sense an expanded space of the Earth Element, which informs us that we are rooted, grounded, supported, and nurtured. Because of this, we begin to develop a different sense of time: We are on Earth time, and we notice that our daily encounters with beings are synchronous events. Indeed, when we are on Earth time, how can we be otherwise?

Directing our own existences
As we engage in our lives, we find that we are indeed powerful beings, able to direct the events of our own existences. Because we are listening and hearing the messages of our deep selves, we transform our "negative," non-productive energies into "positive," productive energies, giving us a sense of well-being. We recognize that the Elements are in a constant dynamic and active flow, and that if we provide enough space, "negative" energies will transform themselves. We realize that there is no rush and nothing to do, except to abide in them and observe them. Thus Chi Nei Tsang helps individuals to feel that they are living meaningful, fulfilled, and enriched lives, which previously had been elusive to them.

Practitioners of Chi Nei Tsang cultivate and develop their own chi through their own individual practice and are able to carry this energy, which they utilize during the treatment with the receiver. By clearing congestion and stagnancy and cutting through energy cysts, ChiNeiTsang practitioners are able to bring light and healing to this place in the receiver. Because there is space in this place, the receiver is able to perceive lightness, space, and light. The receiver discovers this potential within him/herself which was previously hidden and inaccessible to him or her. This discovery leads to healing of the individual as he or she realizes that it is this congestion, stagnancy, and immobility that were causing the physical symptoms; now that he or she is hearing the message of the Soul via the symptoms, there is no need to repeat the message in the form of physical symptoms.

Chi Nei Tsang practitioners assist the receiver to integrate that part of himself or herself; the space that is retrieved is filled with pure healing light and the corresponding Elemental Spirit.