Now I understand better the relationship between spiritual awakening and illness, including tooth decay. Awakening causes a major and irreversible shift in identity – it can change one’s role in society and one’s concept of self. This is part of the reason awakening can be psychologically and emotionally stressful.
In some of us this shift occurs more slowly and in others the transformation is very quick. Likewise, there is a physical component to consciousness. When our consciousness changes at a core level we can experience physical changes along with mental, emotional and spiritual changes. One way to understand the physical component of consciousness is to consider that different parts of the body hold or are correlated with different emotions and aspects of self. As a general matter teeth hold our attachment to our identities. (In The Subtle Body by Cindi Dale - see page 377 - the author includes a diagram pinpointing which emotional issues can underlie disease in individual teeth).
In my case, spiritual transformation was - and, for that matter, continues to be - quick. These rapid changes meant that I needed to process large amounts of emotional energy to maintain physical - including tooth - health! Ten or so years ago, however, it was just dawning on me that I had a spiritual self. This was the extent of my insight into the process! As a result, I was frightened, as if my teeth might fall, en mass from my gums, in a landslide of enamel, pulp and nerves! I was too young - I felt - to be considering false teeth, implants or bridges!
Driven by the commands of the dentist and my own fear, I brushed and flossed at every opportunity. I began gargling religiously with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water hoping to kill the dastardly decaying- causing bacteria before it had a chance to go to work on my teeth. Yet, the situation continued to spin out of control with additional crowns, more decay and a firm promise of future work necessary to maintain the integrity of my mouth.
During one visit, I asked my dental hygienist if there was anything more effective than hydrogen peroxide at preventing decay. The hygienist looked at me with grave and sympathetic eyes. She shook her head slowly as if to say "no". Then she replied sadly, “Only Listerine.”
And so I switched to gargling with Listerine. Still, the decay kept coming....
Yet, in this moment, when I heard from the hygienist that there was nothing certain I could do to stop the spread of disease in my mouth, I experienced a turning point. In this moment, when I should have given up all hope, things began to turn around. In this moment, I made a decision.
(for more, see next post)
