Bruno Groening

An in-depth study of the teachings of Bruno Groening

"My teachings are a definite statement of a fundamental truth. Many of my friends have adopted them and found them successful. Their acceptance of these teachings led to a complete transformation of their attitude, and in many cases even brought about an improvement in their state of health." Bruno Groening never committed his teachings to paper. He did not want to create a new philosophy or ideology. He had only one aim: to help those in distress. He gave them a doctrine of faith to take on their way. It was not based on intellectual or scientific essentials, but rather on the intuitive perception of spiritual laws. On closer inspection this is revealed as being unbelievably complex and far exceeds the aspect of healing. He appealed to people to believe in the qualities of goodness and translate these concepts into action. The Christian commandment of love for one's fellow man is the core of his teachings.

The cause of illness

Many people today believe that illness is a random occurrence that manifests out of the blue and overwhelms a person. But Bruno Groening said: "The further a person withdraws from God, wittingly or unwittingly, the less life there is in his body and his organs do not function as they should. He has lost contact with the great, divine source of his energy and eventually he even loses what little remains. Cut off from the power of God, his body becomes a wreck." How a person regains his health Groening described as follows: "God created man fair, good and healthy, which is how he wanted him to be. Initially there was an indestructible bond between God and man, and all was love, harmony and health. But when the first person paid attention to the evil voice from beyond this unity, the close contact was destroyed and a great chasm developed between God and man. There is no contact between the two. On his own, man, no matter how devout, no matter how much he prays, is a constant target for the devil, who drags him down into the depths. And it is down here where you are at present, on your way through life. You are experiencing misfortune, pain and incurable suffering. I say to you: 'Do not go any deeper! I call upon you to change your ways. Come back up and I will build you a bridge across the chasm. Cross over from the path of suffering to the divine path! Here there is no misfortune, no pain and nothing is incurable. This is the path back to God'"

The great reversal

Over and over again Bruno Groening appealed to people to change their ways. He reminded them that they had to activate their faith in the qualities of goodness and put an end to their bad habits. Primarily he admonished them not to think of their illness. He pointed out that illness came from the devil and is evil. To pay attention to it is to occupy oneself with what is evil. This retards the healing process and may even render it impossible. "To pay attention to illness is to hold on to it and block the path of divine energy." Man must detach himself from illness, regarding it not as his property but as an evil intrusion. "Illness does not belong to man!" Bruno Groening offered to take away illness from people. "Give me your illness and your worries! Alone you cannot deal with them. I will bear them for you. But give them to me voluntarily; I cannot steal them from you!" "Lay bare your illness so that I can take it from you; this is the right thing to do. If you hold on to it, I can do nothing. The seventh Commandment forbids it: 'Thou shalt not steal!' "If I take this illness by force, I would sin. I dare not steal! He who loves his illness will hold on to it, but he who can forget it will give it to me, not only in thought but also in deed. You must listen to my words! I don't want to influence you. If you give me your illness I will take away all your suffering!" Just how important Bruno Groening considered a change of attitude in the individual is illustrated by the following extract from the book "Die grosse Umkehr" by Kurt Trampler: "In private talks too Groening made the resolute observation that he was responsible to God that 'healing through pure divine energy' could only be given to those sufferers who at least were willing to live according to divine law and withheld from those who were not prepared to forego evil. "I could" he said "perform mass healing by saying: all the sick people in a certain city or country will recover. But then, would not more be lost than gained? Would those among the sick who were bad be prepared to change their ways? Would they not misuse their newly gained health? No! First a person must change his inner attitude; first he must be prepared to tear out whatever is evil and find his way to God. Only then is he worthy of being healed." The following words of Bruno Groening clarify this remark and explain the origin of illness:

"Ho did it actually come about that man became ill? Originally he was never ill. People have become bad. They have become worse from generation to generation. The situation has reached the point that it is almost impossible to remain alive. There are quarrels and arguments in families and more war than peace among nations! Worries bring emotional suffering to humanity and have taken such deep root that people must fall ill. One person burdens the next emotionally. Peoples thinking is warped, they have withdrawn from what is natural and many have lost their belief in God. But he who leaves the divine path loses his health." If a person wishes to regain his health through Bruno Groening he must be prepared to forego "badness". He must turn his back on what is bad - the illness - and part with it, no longer think about "my asthma, my rheumatism" and so on. This is not always easy. It demands inner change and a radical transformation in the way of thinking. The focal point to dwell on is not, as usual, the illness but rather good health, and there must be the firm conviction that even incurable illnesses can be cured. What incredible demands Bruno Groening made on those seeking help! Logical thinking balks at taking such provocative challenges seriously. How can joints deformed by rheumatism regain their normal condition and paralysed limbs their functions? How is it possible to pass on an illness to Bruno Groening without his undertaking the slightest treatment or even listening to a list of symptoms? Is this not an insult to every rationally minded person? Indeed, it is a tremendous change of attitude that Bruno Groening expects of people; it demands putting aside every scientific, every logical way of thinking and adopting a belief in something higher. His teachings are based on totally different fundamentals to the rational thought of today's material spirit of the times. This is why he often said: "An attitude that conforms to reason can most certainly not understand me."

The healing stream

Bruno Groening referred to himself as the mediator of a spiritual power that emanates directly from God and effects healing. He called this divine power "the healing stream." In order to explain the nature of the healing stream, he compared God with an electric power station and man with a light bulb. Just as the light bulb can only fulfil its purpose when the current from the power station reaches it, so man can only live in divine order when he receives energy from God. To himself Groening assigned the role of a "transformer". Be transforms the sublime, divine energies in such a way that each person receives only as much as he can absorb. His own capacity to absorb energy was immeasurable. This was why; on the property Traberhof near Rosenheim for example, thousands of people simultaneously felt the healing energy and mass healings took place. Bruno Groening explained that in primordial times there was direct contact between the "power station", God and the "recipient", man. People lived on earth as God's children in supreme unity with their Father. But in turning away from God they moved out of the orbit of divine order and

fell victim to want and misery. The contact between God and man was severed. In time an ever increasing chasm developed, which man on his own could not bridge. "And as man could never again return to the divine path because the bridge that led across it had been destroyed, and he and his fellow men were crowded together in a miserable little heap and wandered around aimlessly, I have rebuilt this bridge. I have set it up once again. If you make use of it, if you cross over it you will come to the divine path and you too will make contact with the great, unique, divine work and receive the one and only healing stream, which will enable you to lead a good - and particularly a healthy - life." "Whoever crosses this bridge and takes the true, divine path will feel quite different. He will be amazed by everything he finds here, which he was unaware of before. It is here that you will make contact with the great, divine power station." He who follows the teachings of Bruno Groening and attunes himself to the divine energy will feel the healing stream in his own body. He will absorb an entirely new awareness of life: pain, worries and want will yield to health, harmony and joy. He will come to realise that God is not enthroned as a merciless judge high above the stars, but is here with mankind as a loving Father and wants to help. The chasm has been bridged. Once again man experiences the primordial state.

Tuning in
How does a person absorb the healing stream and attune himself to divine energy? Bruno Groening recommended the following stance for the body: sit upright on a chair, keeping the back free. Arms and legs should not be crossed and "the hands, palms upward, should rest on the lap. In addition, it is important to switch off distracting thoughts and concentrate on what takes place in your body. An open, devout, mental attitude is a pre-condition. In this way a person attunes himself to the inflowing healing stream. Bruno Groening said: "God provides us with all good things, but we must absorb whatever he sends us. So do it!" He explains the importance of the body stance as follows: "Whoever still has a mobile body frequently loves to adopt a cramped posture and this is also power; the power of habit. He can sling one leg over the other and lounge about, but not when he wants to receive the divine stream. For this he must be unencumbered and sit - or stand - with open, empty hands, palms upward." Kurt Trampler wrote in his book Die grosse Umkehr. "In addition to the inner preparation, an apparently minor but very relevant external matter is important. One should sit with a free back, and neither legs nor hands should touch each other. In Groening's opinion, if the hands touch, the result is a short circuit in the upper body. And when the legs touch or are crossed, the result is a short circuit in the lower body. Whoever makes a habit of sitting incorrectly may even, in the long term, develop some very unpleasant illnesses."

Bruno Groening called the conscious absorption of energy, "tuning in." Where and when this takes place is not important. What is important is that the recipient sits quietly, blocks out distracting thoughts and pays attention to what takes place in his body. Bruno Groening constantly asked his audience what they felt and added: "I must keep repeating that you must pay attention to your body and what is happening inside it; not around it, but inside it." Everybody experience the healing stream differently. For one person it is a subtle tingling sensation, for another it is a feeling of heat or cold. A third finds himself compelled to move his arms and legs, and a fourth may have to shake himself. The healing stream calls forth the most diverse reactions in different people.

Regulations
Some people experience pain when they absorb the healing stream. Groening called this a "regulation pain". It is an indication that a change is beginning to take place in the body. It is caused by the healing stream and indicates that the sick organ is being cleansed. Kurt Trampler writes about this as follows: "Frequently those seeking help are confused by the regulation pains. But they are necessary. Some people fear they are having a relapse when they occur and feel they must go to the doctor." Groening said: "This is why I draw your attention to this matter. When the regulation pain begins, bear it patiently. Nothing serious is about to happen. It is an indication that the person is beginning to recover." These regulation pains can also vary. They may be similar to those of the illness, but more intense. They can also be quite different. Every case is individual as everybody reacts in his own way. The pains cannot be avoided. They are a part of the cleansing process and remove the impurity of the illness spiritually from the body. Bruno Groening explained the phenomenon of regulation pains by comparing the body with a dirty milk churn. What, he asked, was to be done when the sour smelling milk in the churn was to be replaced by fresh milk? First the bad milk must be poured out, and then the churn must be cleaned. It is the same with the human body. The person must first distance himself mentally from the illness (pour out the bad milk) then the body must be cleansed of impunities (regulation pains) and only when the vessel is clean can the fresh milk be poured in (health enters the body). Alternatively he compared the human body with a fruit bowl: "Take a bowl filled with fruit, which is left to stand until the fruit turns bad. If somebody now comes along and offers you fresh fruit, you would not place this fresh fruit on top of the bad fruit. You must first throw out the bad fruit and clean the bowl before you put in the fresh fruit.

Compare the bowl with your body, the bad fruit with your sick organ and the fresh fruit with what you hope to receive. But this will not be possible if you cannot throw away the bad fruit; in this case, if you constantly dwell on your illness."

Free will
If pain occurs it is not always easy to believe that it is a sign of recovery. Many people become uncertain. Are these regulation pains or symptoms of the illness? Then begins an inner battle as to whether to give greater credence to illness or to health. This is the moment when the decision is made whether the person is to receive healing or, alternatively, how long the healing process will take. It depends on which belief is stronger: his belief in his illness or his belief in his recovery. If he continues to believe in his illness, he will retain it. But if he decides to believe in health, the healing process will occur. The decision is his. This is a vital aspect of Bruno Groening's teachings. He continually emphasised that man has inviolable free will, the highest gift that God can bestow upon a living being. It raises him from the level of a creature, blighted by the fall, to that of a free child who follows the Commandments of its Father, not compulsively but voluntarily. On the other hand, it also enables him to violate divine law. Bruno Groening had the greatest respect for the individual's free will. This is why he can only help those who allow themselves to be helped; those who are prepared to break with their illness. He can only take from them what they give him of their own free will. Whoever clings to his illness, and thinks and talks about it constantly, will wait in vain for healing. Bruno Groening said: "I'm allowed to help a person find the good path, but I'm not allowed to make this decision for him, nor am I allowed to force him onto it. The decision to seek the path is his alone."

Good and evil

If man, through free will, can make his own decisions, the question arises: what alternatives are offered to him? Bruno Groening comments as follows: "Never forget, my friends, that man lives between good and evil. He lives between the two. Here is the good, here is the evil. In between is man. He decides." Man has the choice. He can do good or evil. If his neighbour is in trouble he can help him, he can ignore him, he can even exploit the situation for his own benefit. He is free to do as he wishes. Throughout his life - consciously or unconsciously - man is at crossroads and has to choose either the good or the bad path. In most cases the events that shape his life are ordinary, everyday matters.

Take, for example, a friendship that is broken because an honest word spoken by a friend has unleashed momentary rage; or a job is given up because of problems with a superior staff member; or a once-in-a-lifetime offer is passed up because of wounded pride. How often does one make spontaneous decisions, which are later regretted but cannot be reversed? A brief moment can decide the course of an entire life, for better or for worse. But how does this come about? What do the concepts "good" and "evil" symbolise? Is life not a chain of coincidences to which man is helplessly exposed? Goodness, explains Bruno Groening, emanates from God. Evil emanates from his opponent, from Satan. He really exists and has made it his goal to destroy everything good, everything divine. Bruno Groening said: "Who does it, who leaves no stone unturned in his efforts to destroy that is good, what is divine? Where does illness come from, the illness that attacks everything on earth? Take what you will; a fruit or anything else that lives, again and again Satan tries to destroy everything. He even manages to gnaw on humanity." "Satan, who exists on earth, tries by every means to destroy the good and the divine." "Where God is, there is love. Where Satan, there is war." In the spirit world God and Satan are the magnetic poles. God is life, Satan seeks to destroy it. Both sides have marshalled hosts of followers and the battle rages relentlessly. Both sides command immense energies. Bruno Groening described them in simple words: "Divine energy is positive and attracting and the evil, devilish and satanic is negative and repelling." Man can absorb them both and allow them both to influence his body and his soul. The one will strengthen and build him up, the other will weaken and pull him down. Positive energy is the carrier of health, negative energy the carrier of sickness. Sickness comes from evil, said Bruno Groening, and is not - as frequently claimed - a punishment from God. He called such ideas lies, and resolutely rejected them. God does not punish! Sickness comes from wrong thinking and wrong deeds. Once the cause is removed the effect will also vanish, and this is God's will. "Do not believe, as people do, that illness is a punishment from God. Compare it with a child who leaves its parents home. From then onwards the parents can no longer shield it and protect it. We too have left our Father. We must never forget that we are simply and solely God's children. Only he can help us! And he will help us once we have found the path pack to him."

Thoughts are energies

Bruno Groening frequently called on his listeners to check their thoughts and only accept the good ones. God and Satan are not only sources of energy but also sources of thought. They constantly send out thoughts: God the good, Satan the bad. According to Bruno Groening man himself is unable to produce thoughts, he has merely the capacity to absorb them. "It is so important which thoughts a person absorbs, for thoughts are energy. If a person seeks what is good, then God will help him. If he wants hat is evil, then Satan will help him." Man is not unwillingly subjected to whatever comes info his mind. He himself can decide which thoughts he will tolerate and which not. But he must make this choice carefully, not superficially. There is an energy behind every thought; a positive one is constructive, a negative one, destructive. A joyful message inspires, a negative one destructs! Thoughts are energies, spiritual energies. They embody a power, a power which humanity today is barely aware of. A thought born of love can inspire a person to lay down his life for another. A thought spawned from hatred can drive him to kill another. "Beware of every evil thought. By now you must have realised that if you accept one evil thought, more evil thoughts crowd in and after that you speak evil words. Whatever you absorb you must give forth again." "By accepting one evil thought you become the servant of evil, you really become the servant of Satan! Let it be a warning to you!" But what can a person do to counteract depressing, doubting, fearful or compulsive negative thoughts? How can he protect himself? How can he protect himself? They suddenly materialise from nowhere and assail him, trying to dominate him emotionally. What is he to do? Satan wants to lead him astray with negative thoughts, no matter how small, how unimportant they are. He wants to force him off the divine path. He wants him to be anxious, angry, in doubt about what is good, and he wants him to violate God's Commandments. To accomplish this, he leads him to believe that man is a plaything at the mercy of bad thoughts and feelings and is unable to resist them. But these are lies. God has created man in such a way that he can make his own decisions about his thoughts, speech and actions. When a wrong thought flashes before his inner eye, he can quietly but firmly reject it. If he remains resolute, the evil thought has to yield and cannot ensnare him. Man determines his own destiny with his own free will. "Han acts according to his will. As the will, so the thought. The thought motivates the deed." With the aid of a simple example Bruno Groening made it very clear what great significance thoughts have. When building a house the initiative is the wish to build it. The thought concretises and an exact plan is drawn up. Until then the building only exists in the imagination of the future owner. The actual construction is the final step on a path of countless decisions and preparations.

It is exactly the same with healing. First the wish for health has to be there. Then comes the mental detachment from the illness and the belief in recovery. The final stage is the physical healing of the body. But this is not a human act. It is an act of grace from God. Man cannot earn it, but he may attain it.

Man is spirit
Bruno Groening spoke to his audiences about the intrinsic nature of man: "Who are you?" he asked them. Some of them answered by giving their names, for none of them knew what to say. He tried again: "Are you body?" The response was an uncertain "yes". "No!" came his categorical response. Then came his next question: "Who are you really?" There was no answer. He explained that man had always been spirit, never body. At birth God loaned him a body for his life on earth, and when he returned home he would have to relinquish it again. His soul was the connecting link between the spirit and the body, and it would take both the good and the bad experiences from here into the world beyond. The soul is the bearer of the divine spark, and the instant a person attunes himself in faith to God, the direct correlation to him is established. But if the soul closes in disbelief, the contact with God is severed. The body is, therefore, not the essential part of man but merely the earthly envelope for the spirit and soul. So when the body dies this is not the end, as many people nowadays believe. Life continues. It is not tied to the body. Man is spirit and his body is a gift that God gives him as a tool for his life on earth. The actual assignment of man is to use his body for good deeds and, with its help, transform good thoughts into actions. But free will also enables man to abuse his body for evil ends, by stealing, killing and destroying. Through his deeds man declares in whose service he stands; in the service of God or Satan. This does not mean that man as such is either good or bad, but rather that: "Man is and remains divine; he is never devilish, never satanic, never evil. But when he withdraws from God and neglects himself, he can be afflicted by evil. Evil takes hold of him and he is forced into allegiance with it. It is not man who commits evil, but the devil. We cannot expect anything good from evil. And from God we cannot expect anything evil." "When man is weak he falls victim to evil. Be plunges downwards and lacks the strength to regain the upward path. He falls into the clutches of evil and is at its mercy. If no helping hand comes to drag him out of this situation he is lost for a considerable time and will have to serve evil." It is the duty of everyone to keep his body in order. But every negative thought, every angry word and every evil deed has a damaging effect upon the body, which means that if the spirit is not linked to God and yields to negative energy it can result in illness in the body. But once the soul opens again to receive the incoming stream of divine energy and connects with the spirit, the body recovers. It is for this reason that the individual's mental attitude is so decisive. A healing can never be promised. Everything depends upon the individual himself: on the way he attunes to goodness and takes the teachings of Bruno Groening to heart. Treating the

body can only counteract the consequences but cannot remove the cause. Only man himself can do this by putting the "great reversal" into effect.

God is the Supreme Doctor

Only God can truly heal; not man. God is the Supreme Doctor. For him nothing is incurable, nothing is impossible. Time and again Bruno Groening said: "Trust and believe that divine power helps and heals!" All he expects from someone seeking help is the willingness to trust him and belief in God, his healing energy and his own recovery. If a person can fulfil this pre-condition, Bruno Groening can help him. And he offers him support if his faith is weak: "If today you still cannot believe, I will do so for you until you can truly believe. And if today you still cannot ask, you still cannot pray for help, I wil1 also do so for you." And so, through Bruno Groening, everybody can receive God's help. Nobody is excluded; God's help is available to everybody for the grace of God is universal. Man must experience that God is not a judge meting out punishment, but a loving Father. All people are His children and He is their Friend and Redeemer. Through Bruno Groening man can once again experience God's miracles. The lame will walk, the blind will see and those who are burdened will experience the joy of life. God is the Supreme Doctor and Helper for everybody. Nothing is impossible for Him. Bruno Groening said: "There is much that cannot be explained, but nothing that cannot occur."