Over the years what has developed at Indralaya is a unique place of natural beauty, devoted to living in harmony with the life of the natural world.

Those who attend have been committed to putting into living practice, within the daily life of the community, the first object of the Theosophical Society: "to form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity."

They have also worked together to create an environment of peace, rich with activities designed for the life of the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. It is our hope that all who experience Indralaya whether adult of child, return to the everyday world having grown inwardly in some significant way, be it small or great.

We offer the "Wisdom Well" as a way for you to draw from the reservoir that has been created by the collective community experience of Indralaya. May you find refreshment!

THE GOLDEN STAIRS

A clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a brotherliness for all, a readiness to give and receive advice and instruction; a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defense of those who are unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the sacred science depicts -- these are the golden stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the Temple of Divine Wisdom.

--H.P. Blavatsky

THE TREE: A Model for the Healer, by Dora Kunz

Healers' Third Invitational Workshop, 1980
Camp Indralaya, Orcas Island, Washington

A tree seems to me to be a symbol of what the healer should be. By that I mean that a tree is firmly rooted in the earth, and it has a sense of belonging to the very landscape. From this connection comes the sense of rootedness; but the tree is also always reaching toward the sun. The tree gets its nourishment from both the earth and the sun, and there is a constant exchange with its whole environment.

We are like trees in that we have an unconscious desire to belong and we, too, are stretching, searching for spiritual experience and striving to be attuned to spiritual forces. We also have an interdependency with our environments, making exchanges physically as well as emotionally. The tree reacts spontaneously to its environment, but humans are more complicated and not as direct. We have two powers which the tree does not have: power of mind and a sense of self-awareness. Our minds have many facets and are capable of many different processes but there are two which we use constantly: one is our constant awareness of the differences in things (categories); and the other is memory storage. Our memories are an important part of our experiencing. If our memories did not process and store our experiences we could not call upon those memories and learn from them, but rather each time would approach the same situation as if it were the first time.

When we remember experiences from the past, we so often think of events which have hurt us rather than those which were happy. Of course this is not true of everyone because we as individuals react differently. When we are under stress -- or if we know that we will be under stress -- we do not necessarily associate it with the moment. Very often we unconsciously go back into our memories and react to the stress of the past and not to the experience of the present. Part of that may be based on reality but part may be blown all out of proportion. If the memory holds onto painful experiences, it leads to disease.

When you are ill, you should reduce everything to its most basic simplicity. Acknowledge the condition but let go of the attachment to the illness. Attachment to one's psychological patterns is the main deterrent to healing. Most people are not aware that they "hold onto" their dis-ease, that they form an attachment to it. But you can learn to undo this attachment, this negative memory pattern.

Think of yourself as relaxed: visualize a time in your life when you felt the most "whole". Visualize light. At the break, say to to yourself, "This is a fresh day for me." It is so simple to say that. Or you can say to yourself, "I may have to face some stress today, but I will face it fresh." Or remember the analogy to the tree, and just as the tree picks up the sunlight, think of that energy flowing through you, down your spine, going around to the solar plexus, and then radiating outward. These seem simple, do they not? They are, but they require your undivided attention.

Remember that there is a universal power, a force that has order as its basis. To heal, one must become attuned to that universal power. It does not require intense effort or long years of study, but rather a strong desire to heal and an opening up to your own sensitivities. Those simple visualizations, those relaxed thoughts of letting the energy pour through you are examples of just how simple it is. So firmly plant your beliefs and your will in helping the ill, then open yourself up to the energy of universal power and visualize the light flowing through you -- this is the simple truth of real healing. You must care.

There will continue to be additions to this "Wisdom Well".