Dr. Antonietta Francini has not had an easy life. Stricken with post-traumatic stress syndrome after World War II and subsequent terminal cancer, she is a true example of courage, determination, faith, and the ways in which one woman can walk through struggles and come out a better person for it in the end. Now retired, Dr. Francini shares the compelling details of the second part of her life and how she has attained a happy, rewarding life-even into her eighties. She divides her story into two parts that first detail the story of her life and then explain the philosophy that guided her behavior throughout her extraordinary spiritual journey. Upon receiving her cancer diagnosis in 1965, Dr. Francini shares how she found healing with the help of surgery, diet, yoga, meditation, visualization, and breathing exercises. But it was not until she experienced a spiritual awakening in India that she learned to completely heal her soul and understood the power of unconditional love. As she offers a glimpse into her journey, she shares the cultural and spiritual factors that influenced her well-being and how she eventually evolved through forgiveness and selfless love. Seeking Health and Joy shares the extraordinary life story of one woman's hard-earned, joyful wisdom as she learns to embrace the cosmic powers for successful aging.

Seeking Health and Joy

Overcoming Cancer and Embracing the Path of Yoga for Forgiveness and Peaceful AgingBy Antonietta Francini

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Dr. Antonietta Francini, MD, MA
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-2709-2

Contents

Introduction - Warm Welcome to the Reader!.........................................xiiiChapter 1. My Recent Birthday!.....................................................1Chapter 2. The Meaning of my Life and Goals........................................7Chapter 3. Trip to India meeting Sree Gurudev Swami Muktananda.....................30Chapter 4. Moving to Canada........................................................43Chapter 5. Meeting the Incas in Peru...............................................70Chapter 6. The Return Trip.........................................................106Chapter 7. Back to Canada..........................................................114Chapter 8. Trip to the Arctic Circle, Inuvik and Alaska............................117Chapter 9. Egypt, the Nile and the Great Pyramid...................................130Chapter 10. An Anthology of Ancient Wisdom.........................................137Chapter 11. Ancient Hindu Wisdom- Isavasya Upanishad...............................152Chapter 12. Mysticism and Science of Forgiveness...................................167Concluding remarks.................................................................171The last words:....................................................................173References.........................................................................175Endnotes...........................................................................177

Chapter One

My Recent Birthday!

On November 27, 2011 I turned 86 Great date!

What I was thinking that day was very interesting and I wrote it down as follows:

"When you get old every day may your last one! Finally you are able to live fully in the "now" without caring very much about the dead past and the non existent future!

When you reach your seventieth birthday, you are "born again"!

Every perspective is different, and mostly you cannot be employed anymore, as nobody wants you: they do not trust your "efficiency"!

So the ghost of career and money that forced you to struggle like a slave of society and run all your life suddenly disappears and you have no duties and no future ...!

But, what a wonderful freedom, peace and joy!

Finally your consciousness expands and you have time for whatever you want to do!

You feel the surge of subtle vibrations and creativity as you are not constricted by routine and economic duties. You can work on yourself and increase the subtle powers that keep your body flexible and renovated. Finally you can really enjoy life!

Life has a Spiritual and Practical Value.

We can achieve the Perfection of Peace and Joy when we are able to forgive ourselves, others and overcome the ups and downs of human life.

The Kybalion, ancient Egyptian Wisdoms, says:

The hidden meaning of our life is our evolution from simple human beings to conscious co-creators of Perfection!

"The Principles of Truth are Seven; he who knows these, understandingly possesses the Magic Key before whose touch all the Doors of the Temple Fly Open."

The first Principle says that:

"We live in a world where everything is connected and everything is vibration."

This is the Truth that ancient wisdom discovered and that modern science re-discovered with the efforts of Einstein and other scientists.

The fundamental trick is to vibrate on the harmonious tune!

Finding this mysterious harmonious tune was one of the guiding Principles of my life!

Besides being happy and healthy in my 86 birthdays, it was a warm feeling to have my family around me and to live in my own house for the first time in many years. So, the first thought of gratitude must go to the benevolent Cosmic Forces that helped me reach a situation of comfort and stability which is a rare event, given the whole course of my wandering life.

The season was pleasant and still warm allowing long walks in the beautiful surroundings. I live in northern Canada, in a small village on the shore of a very large lake called Nipissing. It is a pristine setting for nature, for wildlife and for the ancient native Shamanic tradition. It is a climate of spiritual awareness, tranquillity and far away from the agitation of modern large cities. The air is fresh and pure, with the gentle perfume of ancient pines and of all kind of evergreens and deciduous trees.

The first thing I did after settling in my new house was to walk in the forest nearby and find two baby pines: a spruce and a white pine. With the help of my family we transported them to the backyard of my house and planted them with lots of good soil. So I have two new baby trees to care for. Next, I got into the brilliant idea of buying three plants of roses: white, red and pink; all were beautiful in full bloom. I planted them under my balcony with the hope of enjoying their perfume and colourful presence; but the next day all the flowers were gone. I first imagined that a very strong wind must have blown away the buds and asked my neighbour if she had felt the storm.

"No", she said, "there was no storm! But around two in the morning I got up and saw three large deer eating your roses!"

What a shame! I love deer but they should not eat my roses! Well the reality is that they eat everything tasty; and the roses are certainly very tasty!

So, in preparation of planting a garden next year, my son prepared a large construction, like a huge box full of good soil and four two meter tall posts at the corners. The posts will hold a good fence to prevent deer and other nice vegetarian animals to feed on our future food. A good fence is the only way to combine our home grown vegetables with the pleasure of living close to wildlife!

I moved to this new home at the beginning of August 2011 and the season was perfect to explore the nearby lakes with my kayak. I put the kayak on top of my small Nissan and away I went to lakes and rives People told my son that in few weeks I was already famous in town as the "kayak-lady."

The environment around here is incredibly beautiful. This was the land of the original native tribe of the Nipissing; they were rich and prosperous with the abundant fishing in the lakes and the large amount of different species of wildlife. They were not in touch with the traders from Europe and they never hunted to sell the furs Unfortunately, some of their southern neighbours got involved in the greed and aggressiveness of the newcomers and depleted their hunting stocks. So, to find new sources of income, they moved north to take possession of the fertile land of the Nipissing. The dramatic story that elders still narrate is that the Nipissing's territory was invaded from the south and only a few of them escaped the massacre by rowing in their canoes to the end of the lake and entering a river that was unfamiliar to the persecutors. Many years passed before some families returned to their original settings.

It was interesting and emotionally moving for me to get in touch and talk to them. This is how I got involved in shamanic culture; I now belong to a drumming circle and to a dream circle. For the moment, I am still an apprentice and do not own my own drum! That will come later when I am more advanced!

During my paddling and exploring lakes and rivers I had to always be alert about the wind conditions. I did not know that there are often...