puzzle together to create a kind of philosophical Rorschach.
There seemed to be two events happening at any given reading. First, Edgar Cayce the man would lapse into a type of simulated coma, leaving his physical body, directing his consciousness towards his higher self. Once outside of time and space, other spiritual assistants such as a “keeper of the [akashic] records” would guide his higher self. The Akashic Records are an ancient Vedic era idea suggesting that all thoughts and events here on this earth are recorded upon a very fine substance called akasha, and these records can be accessed by those who know how to focus their mind and direct their spirit. Mr. Cayce accessed this huge library of events for multiple topics found in the readings. We can call this the introspective aspect.
Second, the readings were influenced by who was in the room at the time of the reading, including the person for whom the reading was given, the stenographer, and any friends and supporters. As Mr. Cayce left his body to get information for the client, he would also access the collective consciousness created by all attendees. It was akin to linking multiple databases together to have a better chance of getting clearer information about any given topic. If someone had knowledge of an aspect of the information needed for the reading, this psychic pool would be contacted to facilitate the desired goal of the request. This could also, at times, affect the language that was used or the quality of the reading.
Many things had an influence upon the quality of the readings—Mr. Cayce’s physical health (and foods he would take), the sincerity and motive of the person asking for a reading, and the surreptitious motives of people in attendance, to name a few. We can call this the transpective aspect.
Often there was an intertwining of these two views, the introspective and the transpective. The database that Mr. Cayce would read into seemed to get more accessible as time progressed; the more you do something, the more proficient you become. The quality of the readings also benefited from the focus and sincerity of the inquirer.
Most of the Cayce readings, over 9000, are centered on physical healings. After all, if you are seriously ill, getting better is your number one priority; who you were in 1569 can wait until the bleeding stops.
The three main areas that comprise our self—body, mind, and spirit—are addressed consistently as being a unity (not a trinity) in the Source’s physical healings. You need the soul to heal the body, to paraphrase the father of Western medicine, Hippocrates of Cos, and this is apparent when understanding the subject of healing.
Concerning the readings for the body, there are four subcategories that the Cayce Source consistently returns to: assimilation, circulation, elimination, and relaxation. These can be corroborated to a high degree by traditional Chinese medicine and Indian ayurveda.
Assimilation includes the type of nutrients taken, the combinations in which they are taken, and how the body digests the various properties. The mind was consistently mentioned as being needed for quality digestion. In other words, you cannot have your mind refracted upon five different tasks or ideas while you are eating and expect to get the most from your food, especially if focused upon the negative. This is contrary to the contemporary notion that multitasking is the best way to get work accomplished and that eating when upset may actually make you feel better.
We can pause here for a minute to contemplate the teachings of the great Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. His teachings prompt us all to cultivate mindfulness for ourselves so that, in classic Buddhist tradition, you are aware—aware of what you are doing, why you are doing it, and to whom you are doing it. The majority of busy urban people are vague on all three points and probably do not consider the act of eating to be part of a spiritual practice. Thich Nhat Hanh teaches a simple and profound mindfulness exercise relating to eating1:
“Contemplating your food—
‘This plate of food,
So fragrant and appetizing,
Also contains much suffering.’”
Mindfulness here means awareness. Awareness means empathy with those around the globe who sacrifice themselves as laborers often under harsh conditions so that the luxuriant marketplaces of the industrialized West can offer African chocolate, South and Central American coffee, and Southeast Asian rice. When you pray for your food mindfully, you are praying for those people who labored with difficulty as well as all the people in the profit line, from farmer to exporter to grocery buyer. In Buddhist tradition, this is getting your heart and stomach right or, to employ an American vernacular, “gettin’ all your cows headed on the same trail.”
According to both the Cayce Source and ancient Eastern wisdom, you are less effective in any one thing when your attention is bifurcated or trifurcated, as it were. Your body needs your mental attention when you are taking nutrients, if you wish to get the most from your food. Assimilation equals absorption of the food and of the vibration of the plant or animal.
Some Eastern teachers have noted that the widespread violence in the U.S. is energetically linked to (1) the violence that is in the meat supply that we abundantly consume (what we feed our bodies) and (2) the violence that we feed our minds with video games, television, and movies. One somewhat alters the vibration of the meat (or whatever nutrient) by practicing this mindful awareness recommended by Thich Nhat Hanh and in so doing makes the act of consuming a type of prayer.
The Cayce Source approaches this same issue from a slightly different slant. The basic idea is that God is everything but becomes altered or distorted through the activities of mankind. All material things have their inception as an idea, just as all physical phenomena are ideas of the Creator. Humans take these ideas and filter them first through an individual perception and then through a given cultural perception. The actual thing is always at least twice removed from its original nature. To see something as it truly is, we have to transcend both our cultural and personality biases. Although not impossible, it is not an easy task.
When matter comes into being, what has taken place? The Spirit ye worship as God has moved in space and time to make for that which gives its expression; perhaps, as wheat, as corn, as flesh, as whatever may be the movement in that ye call time and space. 281–24
The movement referred to in this reading is what I alluded to, regarding both types of bias—both occurring “in space and time.”
Assimilation is akin to digestion, and we cannot digest that which we are unable to receive. We cannot receive that which we are unaware of and ungrateful for. The timeless myth told by our assimilation is this: “[The Lord] has given food and provisions to those who worship and revere Him.”2 and “Heavenly Father, receive this, make it holy. Let no impurity of greed defile it. The food comes from Thee; it is for Thy temple. Spiritualize it. Spirit to Spirit goes.”3
Circulation is what happens after assimilation, when nutrients hit your blood stream. It also refers to the larger context of cardiovascular and lymphatic circulation. You may think of the lymph in your body as the “white blood” with special vessels that transport lymphatic fluid through lymph nodes, which are especially congregated in your armpits and groin area. It is one of the numerous ways your body cleans out your tissues and blood stream. The lymph system does not have a pump like the cardiovascular system does, so muscular movement is needed to move lymph through the body.
One of the ways recommended to manually accomplish this pumping is through therapeutic massage. Massage therapy was recommended in the Cayce readings for numerous purposes, often to enhance the circulation of blood and lymph, to coordinate glandular and nervous activities, to work medicinal solutions into the body, and to compliment osteopathic adjustments.
Increasing circulation is one of the many things for which a good, therapeutic
