ist
version is much more dynamic. Van de Velde's "urgent warning against Karezza " was prob
ably responsible in part for the consensus atnong Western sex
ologists that coitus without the tnan's orgastnic ejaculation was
harn1ful to hin1. Masters and Jo hns on disputed this opinion. They
also recognized that tnale org asn1 and tnalc tjaculation n1ay not be
the sante. They not only suggested that a n1an need not tjaculate
t•vt'ry titne. but even introduct'd their own techniqut'to delay
tnale ej�Kulation. Their.. squeeze technique," probably Tantric in
inspi ration. requires the rnan to withdr aw when he tcels his eli
nux is near, and then the won1�u1 to pinch his penis frenulun1
(under the glans ridgt·) with her thun 1b and two tlngers. The best Taoist ntethod ditlcrs fron1 the "squeeze technique "-The Mystic Master of the Grotto, and Masters and Johnson
and perhaps is superior to it-in that it does not require with
drawal, or any effort by the woman, or-if the man wants to be
discreet-even the woman's awareness. The art of male orgasmic
brinkmanship will be described in detail in chapter 16. The mainstream Taoist concept of sexual health may have
gotten support, however tenuous, from a recent experiment con
ducted at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Nancy Os
trowski and other researchers found that male golden hamsters
allowed to have sex on demand showed a weakening of defensive
"killer cells" in their immune system. As this experiment was
only tentative, it must be augmented by further tests. For now we
can only assume from its findings that since the male hamsters
probably ejaculated every time, the weakening of their immune
system was a result of ejaculation. We might extrapolate further
and apply this to ejaculation in men. It is conceivable that ex
perimen tation on human beings will conclude that while sexual
activities strengthen health in the long run, ejaculation lowers im
munity, at least tem porarily. THE G SPOT
Now that they agree that women do have orgasm, contemporary
sexologists have found themselv es in a controversy about its exact
nature. Freud distinguished clitoral from vaginal orgasm, calling
the former immature and neurotic. Masters and Johnson, like
Kinsey before them, stated that all female orgasms involved the
clitoris directly or indirectly. The debate on clitoral versus vaginal orgasm, started by Freud
and put to an end-for a while-by Masters and Johnson, was re
kindled by sexologists Beverly Whipple and John Perry in 1980,
when they announc ed the findings of their research on the G spot. In the early 1940s, while doing research on birth control, the Ger
man gynecologist Ernst Grafenbcr g claimed to have discovered a
bean -size spot on the front wall of the vagina, about two inches
from the entrance. The wel l-hidden spot was difficult to locate
in self-examination or dur ing mission ary-pos ition intercour se. Grafenberg fi>und this spot extremely sensitive to deep pressure;
when stimu lated, orgasm resulted. Wh ipple and Perry termed
lOt) ANC IENT SE CRE TS FOR MODERN LOVERS
this little erogenous area "Grafenberg spot," or "G spot." Of the
approximately four hundred women volunteers their team exam
ined, all were found to have the G spot. Whipple and Perry announced that stimulation of the G spot
by deep pressure led to a deep "cervical" orgasm in the female,
dissin1ilar to the usual clitoral orgasm, and that during such deep
orgasm rnany women ejaculated a fluid, sometimes abundantly. In the past this ejaculation may have embarrassed some women
because they thought, incorrectly, that it was urine. Whipple and Perry were joined by Alice K. Ladas, a psycholo
gist and sexologist, and her husband, Harold, who had been on a
similar track researching clitoral and vaginal orgasms. The findings
of the four are still controversial today, but they seem to confirm
some older beliefs formerly ignored or rejected by the scientific
community. It will be interesting to see their confirmation by fu
ture research. While the existence of the G spot and its function in relation
to deep vaginal orgasm still have not been accepted by all sexol
ogists, the ancients seem to have made use of the G spot either
through experience or by instinct. The Taoists never described a
specific feature that might be the G spot, but there is evidence they
understood it all the same. The optimum intercourse positions
for intense stimulati on of the G spot, as pointed out by Gr�iten
berg, Whipple and Perry, and other sexologists, are rear entry
and woman's feet on man's shoulders. These two lovemaking
positions happened to be an1ong the most popular in China for
centuries. When one considers a n1ajor goal of the Art of the
Bedchamber, to excite and please won1en sexually, an empirical
knowledge of the G spot seen 1s con finned. Mast ers and Johnson, perhaps the n1ost renowned atnong
rnodern sexologists, exploded n1any sexualrnyths long held in the
Western world. They clain1ed, tor ex�unplc. that the size of a nun's
pt·nis has noth ing to do with his sexual satisfaction or that of his
partner� that the n1alc-on-top, face-to-t:Ke position in intercourse
is not necessa rily the n1ost natural and satisfying; that sexual ab
stinence for long periods tnay not be benefic ial� and that older
peopk can continue sexual activity wdl into their eighties and
nineties. Mast ers and Johnson's successful treatn1ent for st·xually
dysfunctioning couples, instead of hunting tor Freudian ghosts 13
Recapture the Spring
Exercises /or Sexual Vt"gor
THRO UGHOUT THE CENTU RIES the Taoist Chinese have discreetly
but avidly sought for the magic to enhance their sexuality. Among
their efforts arc a variety of therapeutic mind-body exercises to
invigorate then1 sexually. Erotic exercises and therapy, as noted
before, are known as lwi-clllm, or "recapture the spring." (In classi
cal Chinese, as has been n1cntioncd, the word tor "spring " not
only denotes the season, but also alludes to youth and sexuality.) Contrary to what 1nany Westerners and even n1any Chinese
believe today, the ancien t Chinese were concerned with physical
cultur e, and engaged widely in dan cing. sports, and tnartial arts. Son1e ten centuries ago. however, when the in1perial systen1 of
literary con1petition dotninated the aspirations of educated Chi
nese, tnany of the1 n beg an neglecting physical activity. By the
tenth and eleventh cen turies, scholars virtually scorned physical
exer cise as unc outh. Son1e Taoist and Uuddhist priests. acrobats,
kung fu rnasters, practitioner s of litl.·-nurturc, and devotees of
sexual enhatKcnlent, thou gh. con tinu ed to practice and develop
various forrns of physical cultur e wit h thL' n1ind-body approach. Sex ually orient ed exercis e and therapy arc believed to tune up
sexual orga ns, t<..)rtif y sexual stat nina, sharpen sexual sensations,
and generally incr ease pleasur e in the bedroon1. Because these
tnainly r[loist exercises and th erapy \VL'rc often jealously guarded
sccr l'ts, revealed only to funily n1e1nbcrs and trusted discipl es,
tnany of thcn1 arc lost. l)thcrs have been preserved and now are public knowkdgt.'. These. nurnhering in the hundreds.. ut.· usdtJI
and \vithin reach of everyont.'. If tht.·y an· practin·d propt·rly and
t:tithfully, one tnay ted the eftC..·cts after st·vcra ltnonth s.
As rnentioncd previously, two of tht.· best exercises, tai chi
chuan and (lli-krm.l!. arc ainlt'd broadly at litC..·-nurturt· hut can
strengthen spccitically sexual starnina. Instructions for tai chi
chuan, a con1bination of shadowboxing, �yn1nastics. and ther a
peutic ballet, an.· too cornplcx to he covt.'rt.·d here. This art is best
learned fron1 a tutor. Clli-krm.l! is so pott'nt, and its dTects so little
understood by n1odcr n science, that unless it


 would be in charge of
engineering. I couldn’t wait t o find out how much of the
load Tim would be capable of carrying. The Me dical M anager product was more than fifteen
years ol d by the time Tim began working with it. It had
been designed for small doctor practices and was now
being used to run large clinics and sprawling managed
care or ganizations. It was not unusual for some of our
larger d ealers to install systems that supported hundreds
of users. If this kept up, we w ould eventually outgrow the
technical capabilities of the software. In addition, our
clients were beginning to ask us to modernize the overall
product. The writing was on the wall: unless we did
something, our days were numbered. If we wanted a
solid foundatio n for the future, we were going to have to
completely rewrite the product. This was not a  decision for the faint of heart. It was
going to take a tremendous investment, putting at risk
years of development resources and millions of dollars. As I  pondered over the enor mity of the project that lay
before us, it fin ally hit me—this was the real reason that
Tim had been sent to us. He had been sent to reengineer
The Medical Manager into a t otally new product with the
latest development technology. We couldn’t afford to stop the rapid pace of
development o f the existing system, so I gave Tim the go-
ahead to hire an entire additional development team to
build the new product. Intergy would be the new
product’s name, and it was a good thing we were building
more buildings because we were certainly going to need
them. I trusted Tim implicitly and gave him whatever he
asked fo r. It took us close to five years to release the new
product, but when all was sa id and done, we ended up
with a product that would kee p us in the marketplace for
many y ears to come. As I loo k back now, it is so obvious
that we could never have su cceeded as we did without
Tim showing up exactly when he did. How in the world
does this keep happening, again and again. 4 2. M e a n w h i l e — B a c k  a t  t h e  R a n c h
T here was so much work to do at Personalized
Programming that I pretty much worked all my waking
hours—except for my morn ings and evenings in the
Temple. The Temple community was so stable that it
hardly took any of my management time. Radha was able
to manage the Temple and its finances even though her
position as the chief financia l controller at Personalized
Programming kept her working day and night. In the
midst o f all this transformatio n, the Temple was about to
experience a change of its own. At the end of 1994, Amrit had a major falling-out with
his followers. As is the case with so many people we put
up on a pedestal, some inappropriate behavior from his
past came to light, and the situation proved extremely
difficult for everyone. When I heard that Amrit had
actually left the community, I invited him and his wife to
come s pend s ome quiet time living with us at the
Temple. To be there when a person is soaring high is an
easy relationship. To be there during hard times requires
deep fri endship. All of us had  received a great deal from
Amrit over the years. We were humbled at the
opportunity to give something back. Radha had been living in the Jenkins house for several
years by then. Since it was  the nicest house on our
property, she immediately offered to move out. In
December 1994, Amrit and his wife moved into that
house a nd ended up living t here for the better part of
three years. It w as an amazing experience to be that close
to such an evolved person going through such a life-changing experience. While he was here, Amrit simply
allowed the situation to p ut him through whatever
changes he needed to go thro ugh. Situations like this are
like fir e, and Amrit just w anted to use that fire for
spiritual purification. He wasn’t sad, he wasn’t hurt, and
he wasn ’t scare d—he was just completely surrendered to
going through the experience. I constantly saw in Amrit
what I always saw inside of  me: when push comes to
shove, I don’t care what it takes, just free me from
myself. The only meaningful prayer is that this white-hot
fire be so dest ructive to the personal self that it severs
the cord that binds. Standing soul to soul, Amrit and I
had that in common—liberation at any cost. I didn’t isolate myself from what Amrit was going
through. I wanted to share the experience of exploring
what it would be like insid e if everything were taken
away outside. I recalled Kin g Solomon’s wisdom: For
every thing there is a season, a time for every purpose
under heaven. I had been honored to know Amrit as a
world-renowned teacher; I was now all the more
honored to be close to him as  he passed through a period
of g reat darkness or, better  put, as a period of great
darkness passed through him. He never complained, and
he never got depressed or despondent. He just spent
each day surrendering at a deeper and deeper level. Reality was what it was—mig ht as well use it to let go of
the personal self. As with  all things, in time the energy began to shift. The noise of the past subside d and opportunities for the
future began to open up. One  day Amrit asked me to take
a dr ive with him to see a place he had found in the Ocala
National Fores t. It was in a very small town less than an
hour and a ha lf south of the Temple. I couldn’t believe
the place when I saw it. It w as an absolutely beautiful
giant house sitting on the sh ore of a gorgeous lake, and
there were also five or six cabins on the property. It was a
perfect home for Amrit and  his family. Every place Iwalked, I felt Amrit. I had k nown him for years, and I
knew his taste. You could no t have custom built a home
specifically for him that was more perfect than this place. I ha d to hold back tears as I realized—it was over. The
period of darkness had passed. I encouraged him to buy
the property if he could afford it. He then told me the
price. I  couldn’t believe my ears—it was the deal of the
century. I learned a lot  about surrender by being with Amrit
during this whole ordeal. What I saw was that no matter
who we are, life is going to p ut us through the changes
we n eed to go through. The question is: Are we willing to
use this force for our transformation. I saw that even
very int ense si tuations don’t have to leave psychological
scars, if  we are willing to proc ess our changes at a deeper
level. My surrender experiment had already taught me to
deeply honor the transformative power of life. Sharing
that time with Amrit would  prove to be all the more
important since life as I knew it was once again about to
go through a major, unexpected change. S e c t i o n  V I I I
Embracing Explosive
Expansion4 3. T h e  M e d i c a l  M a n a g e r  S p r o u t s  W i n g s
I f yo u ha d asked  me in 1995 what I thought the future of
Personalized Programming looked like, I would have told
you tha t we had grown about as big as we could, and the
challenge was  going to be staying at the top of our
industry. If you had asked me about my surrender
experiment, I would have told you that the relentless
practice of letting go of myse lf in order to fully embrace
what was unfolding around me was having a profound
effect on my sp iritual growth. It had, in fact, become my
way of life. I h ad seen time a nd again that letting go not
only led to amazing results, but it also left me in a state
of p rofound inner peace. I w as not in charge; life was in
charge, and there was an underlying sense of enthusiasm
and excitemen t about getting to see what was going to
happen next. After all, just lo ok at what had happened so
far. By the end of  1995, Personalized Programming had
grown t o seven ty-five employees and had enough work
to keep  us busy for a very long time. I loved what we
were doing, and we were obv iously very good at it. Our
revenues had reached ten million dollars a year, and
since most of that was royalty payments, we were
profiting five to six million a year. The Medical Manager
itself was more than fifteen years old by then, and it was
touching the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. In
my limited view of things, I saw us going


 the all-pervasive spirit
I too was part of the indivisible flux of energies out of which the observer
and the observed condensed in a reciprocal and mutually sustaining rela -
tionship. Little did I know at the time that this confrontation was to put an end
to my incipient desire to study medicine, or that five years later I would
spend the last two years of Michael’s life living and working with him at his
pottery in Cornwall. Suffice it to say that I left with a simple desire, ‘I want
to learn to make pots like that’. At the time I could not have known that such objects are ‘born, not
made’. Michael’s pottery was more laboratory than studio, where the energies
of nature were harnessed and condensed. One did not make things; one par -
ticipated in their emergence. And should one ever forget this, one could be
certain that Michael’s anger would re-establish the balance. On one such occasion, after being at Wenford Bridge for about six months,
I had been making bowls all day and was beginning to feel that I was gaining
some mastery over the medium. Michael came into the workshop at one
end and made his way slowly through the long, narrow room, once used as
a skittle alley, attached to the former inn which he and Mariel had converted
into their home and the pottery. Michael surveyed the shelves of bowls for
an alarmingly long period of time and, turning to me with a withering
expression on his face, exclaimed, ‘You haven’t begun to take that shape into
yourself’. And with no further discussion he left. It was the first time that I was to experience the restorative power of im -
personal anger. Such outbursts were not infrequent, and no explanation was
ever offered. One was expected to take the medicine and make the necessary
changes. It was in this way that I gradually came to understand that the mak -
ing of a good pot involved a kind of sacrifice. How naïve of me to have im -
agined that the price of beauty was anything less than oneself. Later on, whenever I found myself in a foreign city, I would spend hours
in the ceramics department of the national or archaeological museum. Looking at the pots there, I would often have the feeling of experiencing
them from the inside, as if I knew what it was like to be that object. I felt
its body as my own body. This capacity was no doubt partly due to a natural
affinity, but it had also been refined over the many years I had spent making
such objects. 161you are the happiness you seek
     It was as if my own understanding of the materials and processes that are
gathered together in the making of a bowl had given me access to the inner
life of the object I was contemplating. Over the years, I noticed that this
capacity extended beyond my chosen medium of ceramics and included,
to a greater or lesser degree, other art forms, such as painting, music, sculp -
ture, architecture and dance. The Greek philosopher Plotinus referred to this when he said, ‘In this
state of absorbed contemplation, there is no longer any question of holding
an object in view; the vision is such that seeing and seen are one; object and
act of vision have become identical’. *
     The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer referred to the same
experience when he said, ‘Aesthetic pleasure in the beautiful consists, to a
large extent, in the fact that, when we enter the state of pure contemplation,
we are raised for the moment above all willing, above all desires and cares;
we are, so to speak, rid of ourselves’. †

the taste of nature’s eternity

Everyone experiences this collapse of the subject–object relationship many
times in their lives, although it is not always recognised as such. In fact, when
we seek an experience, we invariably do so not for the sake of the experience
itself but for its capacity to bring to an end the subject –object relationship,
and the inevitable feeling of separation that attends it, thereby giving us a
taste of the unity of being. In sexual intimacy, all one’s disparate energies are gathered together in
the intensity of the moment, suspending the thinking process which habit -
ually divides the intimacy of experience into the subject –object relationship,
and through which the apparently separate self escapes the now. There is just
the moment, no self and no other, no body and no world, no lover and
no beloved. Not even a moment, for without reference to thought, there is
no experience of time. We are taken to eternity. For the apparently separate self, this collapse of the distinction between
itself and the other feels like a death. Of course, in reality, an illusion cannot die. 162* Plotinus, The Enneads  v.1–8. †  Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Vol. 1, Sect. 68 (1819). the all-pervasive spirit
It simply ceases to veil its reality. However, the ego does not know this. Thus,
what it experiences as death is, in reality, the shining forth of our shared
being. It is the experience of love. This is why love and death are so closely
related in art and literature. It is for this reason that the poet Kathleen Raine wrote, in ‘Woman to
Lover’, ‘I am the way to die’. * Little does the separate self realise that in all
of its desires, and perhaps especially in its desire for sexual intimacy, all that
it is really seeking is to bring itself to an end, like the moth that seeks to
unite with the flame. When the separate self is reconstituted after its dissolution in eternity,
it emerges ‘trailing clouds of glory’, † still shimmering with peace and joy,
which, at least until it fades, it will bestow on everything and everyone with
whom it comes in contact. It is the experience to which writer W. B. Yeats
referred when he said, ‘I felt that I was blessèd and could bless’. ‡

Many people enjoy walking in the countryside because, in the absence of
any sense of separation in nature, they access their shared being, which is
prior to the arising of ego. For the same reason, many people love to live
with animals because they model the quality of just being, wordlessly
awakening the same being in us through sympathetic resonance. For others food may be a portal into their true nature, although it is
usually not recognised as such, not least because it is more often appropriated
by the ego to satiate its voracious sense of lack. Little do we realise that, when
eating a delicious meal or savouring a fine wine, we are literally tasting our
self. Stephen Mitchell’s rendition of Rainer Maria Rilke’s  Sonnets to Orpheus
illustrates how just the taste of an apple has the power to divest reality of the
limitations that the mind confers upon it, revealing its nature of beauty. What miracle is happening in your mouth? Instead of words, discoveries flow out
from the ripe flesh, astonished to be free. 163* Kathleen Raine, Collected Poems, Counterpoint Press ( 2001 ). †  William Wordsworth, ‘Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood’, Poems, in
Two Volumes  (1801). ‡ W. B. Yeats, ‘Vacillation’, Verse iv. you are the happiness you seek
Dare to say what ‘apple’ truly is. This sweetness that feels thick, dark, dense at first;
then, exquisitely lifted in your taste,

grows clarified, awake and luminous,
double-meaninged, sunny, earthy, real –
Oh knowledge, pleasure – inexhaustible. *

     In many ancient cultures, aesthetic experience was considered sacred. In these cultures, the making and drinking of tea, walking in the landscape,
the playing of a musical instrument, sharing a meal, the raising of children,
the making of a home, in fact every moment of embodied experience, was
considered an opportunity, even an invitation, to merge with the divine. We may place flowers in our home, a painting on the wall, a jar on a shelf
or a bowl on the table. In doing so, we intuitively recognise the power of
certain objects to solicit the mind, to invite it away from its habitual discur -
sive patterns and introduce a pause in which its background may be revealed. In a glance at a photo of a loved one on the mantelpiece, we are taken first
to the person and then to the love we share. Our shared being shines. *     *     *

Sensory experience is, for many people, the primary portal through which
they briefly taste their innate joy. As William Blake observed, the five senses
are ‘the chief inlets of Soul in this age’. † That is, sense perception is the
means by which the mind briefly returns from its adventure in time to the
immediacy of the now. Without the filter of thought and feeling that char -
acterises our normal experience, the distance between our self and our cur -
rent experience subsides, and the joy that is the very nature of our being
shines forth. In the experience of enjoyment, we, awareness, are tasting the innate joy
of our own being. This understanding is concealed in common parlance in
a phrase such as, ‘I enjoyed myself at the party last night’. The object, event
164*


carotenes)	and	minerals	(iron	and	zinc)	may	be	advisable	not	only	to	improve
the	general	health	of	the	elderly	but	also	to	improve	cognitive	function. ”
66
This	conclusion	advocates	plant-based	foods	and	condemns	animal-based
foods	for	optimal	brain	function. Yet	another	study	on	several	hundred	older
people	found	that	scores	on	mental	tests	were	higher	among	those	people	who
consumed	the	most	vitamin	C	and	beta-carotene. 67
	Other	studies	have	also
found	that	a	low	level	of	vitamin	C	in	the	blood	is	linked	to	poorer	cognitive
performance	in	old	age,
68,	69
	and	some	have	found	that	B	vitamins,
69
including	beta-carotene,
70
	are	linked	to	better	cognitive	function. The	seven	studies	mentioned	above	all	show	that	one	or	more	nutrients
found	almost	exclusively	in	plants	are	associated	with	a	lower	risk	of
cognitive	decline	in	old	age. Experimental	animal	studies	have	not	only
confirmed	that	plant	foods	are	good	for	the	brain,	but	they	show	the
mechanisms	by	which	these	foods	work. 71,	72
	Although	there	are	important
variations	in	some	of	these	study	findings—for	example,	one	study	only	finds
an	association	for	vitamin	C,	and	another	only	finds	an	association	for	beta-
carotene	and	not	vitamin	C—we	shouldn’t	miss	the	forest	by	focusing	on	one
or	two	trees. No	study	has	ever	found	that	consuming	more	dietary
antioxidants	increases	memory	loss. When	associations	are	observed,	it	is
always	the	other	way	around. Furthermore,	the	association	appears	to	be
significant,	although	more	substantial	research	must	be	done	before	we	can
know	exactly	how	much	cognitive	impairment	is	due	to	diet. What	about	the	more	serious	dementia	caused	by	strokes	(vascular
dementia)	and	Alzheimer’s. How	does	diet	affect	these	diseases. The
dementia	that	is	caused	by	the	same	vascular	problems	that	lead	to	stroke	is
clearly	affected	by	diet. In	a	publication	from	the	famous	Framingham	Study,
researchers	conclude	that	for	every	three	additional	servings	of	fruits	and
vegetables	a	day,	the	risk	of	stroke	will	be	reduced	by	22%. 73
	Three	servings
of	fruits	and	vegetables	is	less	than	you	might	think. The	following	examples
count	as	one	serving	in	this	study:	1/2	cup	peaches,
1/4	cup	tomato	sauce,	1/2cup	broccoli	or	one	potato. 73
	Half	a	cup	is	not	much	food. In	fact,	the	men	in
this	study	who	consumed	the	most	fruits	and	vegetables	consumed	as	many	as
nineteen	servings	a	day. If	every	three	servings	lower	the	risk	by	22%,	the
benefits	can	add	up	fast	(risk	reduction	approaches	but	cannot	exceed	100%). This	study	provides	evidence	that	the	health	of	the	arteries	and	vessels	that
transport	blood	to	and	from	your	brain	is	dependent	on	how	well	you	eat. By
extension,	it	is	logical	to	assume	that	eating	fruits	and	vegetables	will	protect
against	dementia	caused	by	poor	vascular	health. Research	again	seems	to
prove	the	point. Scientists	conducted	mental	health	exams	and	assessed	food
intake	for	over	5,000	older	people	and	monitored	their	health	for	over	two
years. They	found	that	the	people	who	consumed	the	most	total	fat	and
saturated	fat	had	the	highest	risk	of	dementia	due	to	vascular	problems. 74
Alzheimer’s	disease	is	also	related	to	diet	and	is	often	found	in
conjunction	with	heart	disease,
53
	which	suggests	that	they	share	the	same
causes. We	know	what	causes	heart	disease,	and	we	know	what	offers	the	best
hope	of	reversing	heart	disease:	diet. Experimental	animal	studies	have
convincingly	shown	that	a	high-cholesterol	diet	will	promote	the	production
of	the	beta-amyloid	common	to	Alzheimer’s. 53
	In	confirming	these
experimental	animal	results,	a	study	of	more	than	5,000	people	found	that
greater	dietary	fat	and	cholesterol	intake	tended	to	increase	the	risk	of
Alzheimer’s	disease	specifically,
75
	and	all	dementia	in	general. 74
In	another	study	on	Alzheimer’s,
76
	the	risk	of	getting	the	disease	was	3. 3
times	greater	among	people	whose	blood	folic	acid	levels	were	in	the	lowest
one-third	range	and	4. 5	times	greater	when	blood	homocysteine	levels	were	in
the	highest	one-third. What	are	folic	acid	and	homocysteine. Folic	acid	is	a
compound	derived	exclusively	from	plant-based	foods	such	as	green	and
leafy	vegetables. Homocysteine	is	an	amino	acid	that	is	derived	primarily
from	animal	protein. 77
	This	study	found	that	it	was	desirable	to	maintain	low
blood	homocysteine	and	high	blood	folic	acid. In	other	words,	the
combination	of	a	diet	high	in	animal-based	foods	and	low	in	plant-based
foods	raises	the	risk	of	Alzheimer’s	disease. 78
Mild	cognitive	impairment,	the	stuff	jokes	are	made	of,	still	permits	the
afflicted	person	to	maintain	an	independent,	functional	life,	but	dementia	and
Alzheimer’s	are	tragic,	imposing	almost	impossibly	heavy	burdens	on	victims
and	their	loved	ones. Across	this	spectrum,	from
minor	difficulties	in	keeping
your	thoughts	in	order	to	serious	degeneration,	the	food	you	eat	can
drastically	affect	the	likelihood	of	mental	decline. The	diseases	I’ve	covered	in	this	chapter	take	a	heavy	toll	on	most	of	us	in
our	later	years,	even	though	they	may	not	be	fatal. Because	they	are	notusually	fatal,	many	people	afflicted	with	these	illnesses	still	live	a	long	life. Their	quality	of	life,	however,	deteriorates	steadily,	until	the	illness	renders
them	largely	dependent	on	others	and	unable	to	function	in	most	capacities. I’ve	talked	to	so	many	people	who	say,	“I	may	not	live	as	long	as	you
health	nuts,	but	I	sure	am	going	to	enjoy	the	time	I	have	by	eating	steaks
whenever	I	want,	smoking	if	I	so	choose	and	doing	anything	else	that	I	want. ”
I	grew	up	with	these	people,	went	to	school	with	these	people	and	made	great
friends	with	these	people. Not	long	ago,	one	of	my	best	friends	suffered	a
difficult	surgery	for	cancer	and	spent	his	last	years	paralyzed	in	a	nursing
home. During	the	many	visits	I	made	to	the	nursing	home,	I	never	failed	to
come	away	with	a	deep	appreciation	for	the	health	I	still	possess	in	my	old
age. It	was	not	uncommon	for	me	to	go	to	the	nursing	home	to	visit	my	friend
and	hear	that	one	of	the	new	patients	in	the	home	was	someone	whom	my
friend	and	I	knew	from	our	earlier	days. Too	often,	they	had	Alzheimer’s	and
were	housed	in	a	special	section	of	the	facility. The	enjoyment	of	life,	especially	the	second	half	of	life,	is	greatly
compromised


 the presence of heat and water that, according to Ragner
Berg, they are "rendered valueless for nutritive purposes." The most important of all protein components, lysine, is
destroyed by heat, as is the essential glutamine. Other protein
factors are transformed and modified to lower forms and
hence rendered less available to the body. Cooking decidedly alters the fat of food and usually renders
it less digestible. In the process of frying, the fat so permeates
the food and surrounds the individual food particles that they
do not readily yield to the action of digestive juices. For this reason foods which are fried in fat are very difficult to digest. If sufficiently high temperatures are used in cooking fats, free fatty acids develop which are not only difficult to digest, but
are in some cases definitely poisonous. When vegetable oils
undergo the process of boiling or frying the toxic irritant
known as acrolein is produced. In this connection it may be
pointed out that acrolein has often been described as a possible cause of cancer. Its name may be found in most
medical lists of possible dietary carcinogens. T
ARS
   The formation of tars cannot be overlooked in considering
the chemical effects of cooking. Tars are found in smoke and
soot, and they form in any organic compound which is subjected to great heat over a sufficient period of time. Meat,
eggs, potatoes, toast, and other foods which are scorched by
heat until black forms on the outside may contain tar. Roasted
coffee and coffee substitutes derive their flavor from the tars
which form when the coffee beans or cereal grains are roasted. It has long been known that sufficient exposure to the tars
found in soot and smoke tends to cause cancer. The heavy
consumption of tars found in certain cooked foods may be no
less irritating and no less cancer-causing. Dr. Angel Roffo described the physical characteristics of tars obtained from
roasted coffee beans as the same as those obtained from
tobacco. He also found that both were carcinogenic when
given to experimental animals. Thus the consumption of tars
in certain roasted and over-heated foods ranks as a possible
cause of cancer and other diseases in modern life. A
DDITIONAL CHEMICAL CHANGES
   Many food factors other than those already mentioned may
be impaired or lost in the presence of heat. Starch is partly
hydrolyzed by heat, and the soluble sugars and dextrin of
foods are polymerized to some extent. Peptic substances are
also affected and undergo dissolution during the cooking
process. The "anti-lameness" chemical of raw cream, discovered by Wulzen and Wagtendonk of Oregon State
College, is known to be destroyed by either boiling or
pasteurization. The "filtrate-f actor" of certain vegetables,
which controls the aging process of the body, is reported by
Morgan and Simms to be easily lost when vegetables are boiled. Certain hormones, including those from the adrenal
cortex, which have been successfully used in improving
animal health, are thermolabile and are destroyed at the
relatively moderate temperature used in pasteurizing milk. Other activating substances which may exist in food but have not yet been chemically isolated and studied may or may not
undergo deterioration in the cooking process. It may be that simply altering the physico-chemical state of
food through the use of heat is sufficient to account for
certain adverse effects resulting from using the food. It is known that the toleration point of both minerals and vitamins
as are normally found in uncooked foods is much higher than
is the case when these nutritive factors are given in purified
form. The use of purified minerals and synthetic vitamins
shows this quite clearly. Minerals and vitamins must be found in an organic combination with other food nutrients if they
are to be used efficiently by the body. With rare exceptions
we must rely on the plant to synthesize the minerals of the
earth into combinations which are entirely non-toxic. Such
combinations remain non-toxic when transferred to the animal as milk, eggs, or flesh. However, in the presence of
heat certain nutrients are destroyed and hence the delicate
chemical balance is altered. It is known that in the case of
proteins the modification of the com plex structure renders some of the protein factors useless to the body. Even when
calcium is not lost in the presence of heat it is often rendered
less assimilable, as has often been pointed out by nutritionists
in connection with pasteurization of milk. It is hence possible that many other minerals, and perhaps vitamins and other
factors, may also be rendered either useless or toxic to the
body, as the complex chemical combinations are broken
down by heat. Evidence of this is seen by the fact that leukocytosis, an
increase in the number of white corpuscles of the blood,
follows the exclusive consumption of cooked foods. Biologists have called this "digestive leukocytosis" and
consider it a normal reaction to the digestive process. However, Dr. Paul Kouchakoff, of the Institute of Clinical
Chemistry in Lausanne, Switzerland, conducted some 300
detailed experiments which indicated that leukocytosis was the specific effect of eating heat-processed foods and never
occurred after a meal of raw food. Reporting at the First
International Congress of Microbiology at Paris in 1930, Dr.
Kouchakoff pointed out that temporary leukocytosis followed
the consumption of foods heated about 83-87 degrees C. If certain types of raw food were added to the cooked meal,
leukocytosis would be prevented, though when foods were
heated above 100 degrees C., no amount of raw foods would
prevent the condition. Likewise, when heat-processed foods
which had also been subjected to complex manufacturing processes were consumed, leukocytosis was unavoidable. In
this case, not only did the white corpuscles increase in
number, but the correlation of numbers between the different
kinds of white corpuscles was altered. In medicine, an increase in the number of white corpuscles
in the blood, together with disturbances in the percentages of
different kinds of white corpuscles, is known to indicate that
some kind of disease process is going on in our body. In time
of infectious illness, or when harmful extraneous substances
are introduced into our system, these changes in white corpuscle development always take place. We have reason to
believe that the "digestive leukocytosis" following the
consumption of cooked food is indicative that chemicals or
chemical combinations in food may become toxic and
harmful under the influence of heat, with the degree of toxicity dependent upon the temperature at which the food is
cooked. The European nutritionist, Prof. Ziegelmayer, well
illustrates the total biochemical changes that heat produces in
food in these words: "It is certain that cooking alters the
colloidal state of food: it decom
poses hi ghly molecular compounds, it alters the structure and surface tension of
molecules, the degree of dispersity, the osmotic tension, the
degree of dilution, the course colloid molecular and dispersed
statuses, the water binding capacity and the hydrophobe qualities of the colloids, it alters the viscosity and reduces the
falling gradient of energy.... The uncooked state secures the
maintenance of some food substances, prevents alterations of
the proteins, preserves the original mineral salts in their
optimum concentration.... The more the food energies are maintained in their intimate compound and correlation, the
greater the total effect and the higher the efficiency. " It is clear that all heat-processed foods undergo important
changes in chemical composition. They lose a part of their
mineral and vitamin content; their proteins are partly
destroyed and rendered less di gestible and nutritious; their
fats become less digestible and assimilable and sometimes become toxic. The starches and sugars are altered to some
degree. The foods lose all of their enzymes, their "filtrate
factors" and "anti-lameness" chemicals; their organic
combinations of minerals and catalytic agents are broken
down and altered, and some may become toxic. The complete chemical reaction to the cooking process covers considerable
scope, as may be seen, and it is of definite importance in the
science of nutrition, determining to some extent the value of
practically all known foodstuffs. 3
RAW FOOD IN PHYSICAL
STRUCTURE
COOKING INDUCES a rapid change in the physical state of all
foods. The degree of change is dependent upon the amount of
heat that is applied and its duration of process. The heat tends
to soften the food and break down the rough cellulose
material into a soft bulk. In so doing it renders certain foods
edible and more palatable, though not necessarily more appropriate as nourishment. The change in physical structure
of foods resulting from heat has an important effect upon the
teeth and gums, as well as upon digestion, assimilation, and
the rate of food movement through the intestinal tract. As
such it may have a definite effect upon the condition of human health. F
OOD, TEETH, AND GUMS
   It is believed that the buffer action of the cellulose of raw
plant foods tends to prevent erosion of dental enamel. In
experiments conducted by Carey Miller at the Agricultural
Experiment Station at the University of Hawaii, it was shown
that sweetened whole fruits, including grapefruit, guavas,
plums, mangos, and pineapples, had only slight erosive effects upon the


 subjects went weak from negative
stimuli, such as fluorescent lights, pesticides, and artificial sweeteners,
students of spiritual discipline s who had advanced their levels of
awareness did not go weak as d id ordinary people. Something important
and decisive had shifted in their  consciousness. It apparently occurred as
they realized they were not at the mercy of the world but rather af fected
only by what th eir minds believed. Perhaps the very process of progress
toward enlighten ment could be shown to increase man’ s ability to resist
the vicissitudes of existence, including illness. The Self had th e capacity to change things in the world by  merely
envisioning them; Love change d the world each time it replaced non-
love. Th e entire scheme of civ ilization could be profoundly altered by
focusing this power of love at a very specific point. Whenever this
happened, history bifurcated down new roads. It n ow appeared that these crucial insights could not only be
communicated with the world but also visibly and irrefutably
demonstrated. It seemed that the great tragedy of human life had always
been that the psyche is so easily deceived; discord and strife have been
the i nevitable consequence of mankind’ s inability to distinguish the false
from the true. But here was an answer to this fundamental dilemma, a
way to reconte xtualize the nature of consciousness itself and make
explicable that which otherwise could only be inferred. It was time to le ave life in New Y ork, with its city apartment and home
on L ong Island, for something  more important. It was nece ssary to
perfect ‘ myself ’ as an instrument. This necessitated leaving that world
and eve rything in it, replacing it with a reclusive life in a small town
where the next seven years were spent in meditation and study. Overpowering states of bliss returned unsought, and eventually, there
was the need to learn how to be in the Divine Presence and still function
in the world. The mind had lo st track of what was happenin g in the
world at lar ge. I n order to do research and writing, it was nec essary to
stop all spiritual practice and focus on the world of form. Reading thenewspaper and watching televi sion helped to catch up on the story of
who wa s who, the major events, and the nature of the curre nt social
dialogue. Exceptional subjective experiences of truth, which are the province of
the m ystic who af fects all mank ind by sending forth spiritual en er gy into
the c ollective consciousness, ar e not understandable by the majority of
mankind and are therefore of limited meaning except to other spiritual
seekers. This led to an ef fort to be ordinary, because just being ordinary
in itself is an expression of Divinity; the truth of one’ s real self can be
discovered through the pathway of everyday life. T o live with care and
kindness is all that is necessary. The rest reveals itself in due time. The
commonplace and God are not distinct. And so,  after a long circular jo urney of the spirit, there was a return to
the most important work, which was to try to bring the Presence at least
a little closer to the grasp of as many fellow beings as possible. The Presence is silent and conv eys a state of peace that is the  space in
which and by which all is and has its existence and experien ce. It is
infinitely gentle and yet like a ro ck. W ith it, all fear disappears. Spiritual
joy occurs on a quiet level of inexplicable ecstasy. Because the
experience of time stops, there is no apprehension or regret, no pain or
anticipation; the source of joy is unending and ever present. W ith no
beginning or ending, there is no  loss or grief or desire. Nothing needs to
be done; everything is already perfect and complete. When time stops, all problems disappear; they are merely artifacts of a
point of perception. As the Presence prevails, there is no further
identification with the body or mind. When the mind grows silent, the
thought “I Am” also disappear s, and Pure A wareness shines forth to
illuminate what one is, was, and always will be, beyond all wo rlds and
all universes, beyond time, and therefore without beginning or end. People w onder, “How does one reach this state of awareness,”  but few
follow th e steps because they are so simple. First, the desire to reach that
state was intense. Then began the discipline to act with cons tant and
universal for giveness and gentl eness, without exception. One has to be
compassionate towards everything, including one’ s own self and
thoughts. Next came a willingness to hold desires in abeyance andsurrender personal will at every moment. As each thought, feeling,
desire, or deed was surrendered to God, the mind became progressively
silent. A t first, it released whole stories and paragraphs, then ideas and
concepts. As one lets go of w anting to own these thoughts, they no
longer reach such elaboration and begin to fragment while only half
formed. Finally,  it was possible to turn over the ener gy behind thought
itself before it even became thought. The task  of constant and unrelenting fixity of focus, allowing not even a
moment of distraction from meditation, continued while doing ordinary
activities. At first, this seemed  very dif ficult, but as time went on, it
became habitual, automatic, requiring less and less ef fort, and finally, it
was ef fortless. The process is li ke a rocket leaving the earth. At first, it
requires enormous power, then less and less as it leaves the earth’ s
gravitational fie ld, and finally, it moves through space under its own
momentum. Suddenly, witho ut warning, a shift in awareness occurred and the
Presence was there, unmistakable and all encompassing. There were a
few mom ents of  apprehension as the self died, and then the absoluteness
of t he Presence inspired a f lash of awe. This breakthrough was
spectacular, mor e intense than anything before. It has no coun terpart in
ordinary experie nce. The profound shock was cushioned by the love that
is w ith t he Prese nce. W ithout the support and protection of that love, one
would be annihilated. There fo llowed a moment of t error as the ego clung to its e xistence,
fearing i t would become nothingness. Instead, as it died, it was replaced
by the Self as Everythingness, the All in which everything is known and
obvious in its perfect expression of its own essence. W ith nonlocality
came th e awaren ess that one is all that ever was or can be. One is total
and com plete, beyond all identities, beyond all gender, beyond even
humanness itself. One need never again fear suf fering and death. What happens to the body from this point is immaterial. At certain levels
of s piritual awareness, ailments of the body heal or spontaneously
disappear. But in the absolute state, such considerations are ir relevant. The bod y will run its predicted course and then return from w hence it
came. It is a matter of no importance; one is unaf fected. The body
appears as an ‘it’ rather than as a ‘me’ as another object, like thefurniture in a ro om. It may see m comical that people still ad dress the
body as though it were the in dividual ‘you’, but there is no way to
explain this state of awareness to the unaware. It is best to just go on
about one’ s business and allow Providence to handle the social
adjustment. How ever, as one re aches bliss, it is very dif ficult to conceal
that state of intense ecstasy. The world may be dazzled, and people may
come from far and wide to be in the accompanying aura. Spiritual
seekers and the spiritually curious may be attracted, as may be the very
ill who are seeking miracles. On e may become a magnet and a source of
joy t o them. Commonly, there i s a desire at this point to share this state
with others and to use it for the benefit of all. The ecstasy that accompanies this condition is not absolutel y stable;
there are also moments of great agony. The most intense occur when the
state fluctuates and suddenly ceases for no apparent reason. These times
bring on periods of intense desp air and a fear that one has been forsaken
by t he Presence. These falls m ake the path arduous, and to s urmount
these re versals requires great will. It finally becomes obvious that one
must transcend this level or cons tantly suf fer excruciating ‘descents from
grace’. T he glor y of ecstasy, th en, has to be relinquished as one enters
upon th e arduous task of trans cending duality until one is beyond all
oppositions and their conflicti ng pulls. But while it is one thing to
happily give up the iron chains of the ego, it is quite another to abandon
the g olden chains of ecstatic joy. It feels as though one is giving  up God,
and a new level of fear arises, n ever before anticipated. This is the final
terror of


 what we can see, hear, smell,
taste, and touch. But when we perceive without interpreting or mental
labeling, which means without adding thought to our perceptions, we can
actually still sense the deeper connectedness underneath our perception
of seemingly separate things. The other more serious reason for the illusion of separateness is
compulsive thinking. It is when we are trapped in incessant streams of
compulsive thinking that the universe really disintegrates for us, and we
lose the ability to sense the interconnectedness of all that exists. Thinking cuts reality up into lifeless fragments. Extremely unintelligent
and destructive action arises out of such a fragmented view of reality. However, there is an even deeper level to the hole than the
interconnectedness of everything in existence. At that deeper level, all
things are one. it is the Source, the unmanifested one Life. It is the
timeless intelligence that manifests as a universe unfolding in time. The whole is made up of existence and Being, the manifested and the
unmanifested, the world and God. So when you become aligned with the
whole, you become a conscious part of the interconnectedness of the
whole and its purpose: the emer gence of consciousness into this world. As a result, spontaneous helpful occurrences, chance encounters,
coincidences, and synchronistic events happen much more frequently. Carl Jung called synchronicity an acausal connecting principle. This
means there is no causal connection between synchronistic events on our
surface level of reality. It is an outer manifestation of an underlying
intelligence behind the world of appearances and a deeper connectednessthat our mind cannot understand. But we can be conscious participants in
the unfolding of that intelligence, the flowering consciousness. Nature exists in a state of unconscious oneness with the whole. This, for
example, is why no virtually no wild animals were killed in the tsunami
disaster of 2004. Being more in touch with the totality than humans, they
could sense the tsunami's approach long before it could be seen or heard
and so had time to withdraw to higher terrain. Perhaps even that is
looking at it from a human perspective. They probably just found
themselves moving to higher terrain. Doing this because of that is the
mind's way of cutting up reality; whereas nature lies in unconscious
oneness with the whole. It is our purpose and destiny to bring a new
dimension into this world by living in conscious oneness with the totality
and conscious alignment with universal intelligence. Can the whole use the human mind to create things or bring about
situations that are in alignment with its purpose? Y es, whenever there is inspiration, which translates as in spirit, and
enthusiasm, which means In God, there is a creative empowerment hat
goes far beyond what a mere person is capable of.C H A P T E R  T E N  A  N E W  E A R T H
Astronomers have discovered evidence to suggest that the universe came
into existence fifteen billion years ago in a gigantic explosion and has
been expanding ever since. Not only has it been expanding, but it is also
growing in complexity and becoming more and more dif ferentiated. Some scientists also postulate that this movement from unity to
multiplicity will eventually become reversed. The universe will then stop
expanding and begin to contract again and finally return to the
unmanifested, the inconceivable nothingness out of which it came and
perhaps repeat the cycles of birth, expansion, contraction, and death
again and again. For what purpose? Why does the universe go to all the
bother of existing? asks physicist Stephen Hawking, realizing at the
same time that no mathematical model could ever supply the answer. If you look within rather than only without, however, you discover that
you have an inner and an outer purpose, and since you are a microcosmic
reflection of the macrocosm, it follows that the universe too has an inner
and outer purpose inseparable from yours. The outer purpose of the
universe is to create form and experience the interaction of forms the
play, the dream, the drama, or whatever you choose to call it. Its inner
purpose is to awaken to its formless essence. Then comes the
reconciliation of outer and inner purpose: to bring that essence
consciousness into the world of form and thereby transform the world. The ultimate purpose of that transformation goes far beyond anything the
human mind can imagine or comprehend. And yet, on this planet at this
time, that transformation is the task allotted us. That is the reconciliation
of outer and inner purpose, the reconciliation of the world and God. Before we look at what relevance the expansion and contraction of the
universe has to your own life, we need to bear in mind here that nothing
we say about the nature of the universe should be taken as an absolute
truth. Neither concepts nor mathematical formulae can explain the
infinite. No thought can encapsulate the vastness of the totality. Reality
is a unified whole, but thought cuts it up into fragments. This gives rise
to fundamental misperceptions., for example, that there are separate
things and events, or that this is the cause of that. Every thought implies
a perspective, and every perspective, by its very nature, implies
limitation, which ultimately means that it is not true, at least notabsolutely. Only the whole is true, but the whole cannot be spoken or
thought. Seen from beyond the limitations of thinking and therefore
incomprehensible to the human mind, everything is happening now. All
that ever has been or will be is now, outside of time, which is a mental
construct. As an illustration of relative and absolute truth, consider the sunrise and
sunset. when we say the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening,
that is true but only relatively. In absolute terms, it is false. Only from
the limited perspective of an observer on or near the planet's surface does
the sun rise and set. If you were far out in space, you would see that the
sun neither rises nor sets, but that it shines continuously. And yet, even
after realizing that, we can continue to speak of the sunrise or sunset, still
see its beauty paint it, write poems about it, even though we now know
that it is a relative rather than an absolute truth. So let us continue to speak for a moment of another relative truth: the
coming into form of the universe and its return to the formless, which
implies the limited perspective of time, and see what relevance this has
to your own life. The notion of my own life is, of course, another limited
perspective created by thought, another relative truth. There is ultimately
no such thing as your life, since you and life are not two, but one.A New Earth
A  B R I E F  H I S T O R Y  O F  Y O U R  L I F E
The coming into manifestation of the world as well as its return to the
unmanifested its expansion and contraction are two universal movements
that we could call the outgoing and the return home. Those two
movements are reflected through the universe in many ways, such as in
the incessant expansion and contraction of your heart, as well as in the
inhalation and exhalation of your breath. They are also reflected in the
cycles of sleep and wakefulness. Each night, without knowing it, you
return to the unmanifested Source of all life when you enter the stage of
deep, dreamless sleep, and then reemer ge again in the morning,
replenished. Those two movements, the outgoing and the return are also reflected in
each person's life cycles. Out of nowhere, so to speak, you suddenly
appear in this world. Birth is followed by expansion. There is not only
physical growth, but also growth of knowledge, activities, possessions,
experiences. Y our sphere of influence expands and life becomes
increasingly complex. This is a time when you are mainly concerned
with finding or pursuing your outer purpose. Usually there is also a
corresponding growth of the ego, which is identification with all the
above things, and so your form identity becomes more and more defined. This is also the time when outer purpose growth tends to become
usurped by the ego, which unlike nature does not know when to stop in
its pursuit of expansion and has a voracious appetite for more. And then just when you thought you made it or that you belong here, the
return movement begins. Perhaps people close to you begin to die,
people who were a part of your world. Then your physical form
weakens; your sphere of influence shrinks. Instead of becoming more,
you now become less, and the ego reacts to this with increasing anxiety
or depression. Y our world is beginning to contract, ad you may find you
are not in control anymore. Instead of acting upon life, life now acts
upon you by slowlyreducing your world. The consciousness that identified with form is now
experiencing the sunset, the dissolution of form. And then one day, you
too disappear. Y our armchair is still there. But instead of you sitting in it,
there is just an empty space. Y ou went back to where you came from just
a few years ago. Each person's life each life?form, in fact represents a world, a unique
way in which the universe experiences itself.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Most people, in their restless search for


as-
sium. In this form salt appears to be non-toxic, and it serves the
body without producing any detrimental side-effects. Common table salt is sodium chloride, in its purified state, in
the absence of any other nutrients as are normally found in food. Its use as a seasoning to foods extends back to the origin of
recorded history, though it was first used only at the tables of
the upper classes. In the Middle Ages its use had spread to most
of the European population, and about 150 years ago it was
manufactured and distributed on a large scale for the first time
in America. Today the substance is used in all nations by all sec-
tions of the earth's civilized population. The average individual
in the United States consumes from lo to 15 grams of salt each
day. Our discussion here concerns the effects of the pure crystalline
product, common table salt. Until a recent era no such discussion
would have been possible, for salt was regarded as essential for
health, without evidence, and investigations which might lead to
other viewpoints had not been made. Today the old viewpoints concerning salt have been proven false in almost every particular,
and medicine has established a new basis for its conclusions on
the subject. However, many of the professional workers in medi-
cine and the other healing arts are yet unaware of present knowl-
edge concerning salt, and the layman is without opinion or he
accepts the unscientific doctrines of the past. Of first consideration is the question: Is salt necessary for the
support of animal life and human life, and a condition of health
associated therewith? Popular conception has long decreed an
affirmative answer. Wild animals are said to make use of salt licks
at frequent intervals. Domestic animals are said to have a desire
for salt, and the substance is provided for many of them. Primi-
tive races are thought to utilize salt at every opportunity. With-
out salt, it is believed, animal and human life must necessarily
suffer, and possibly perish. I
But is this true? In the wild animal kingdom there is very sel-
dom any consumption of salt. The story of salt licks seem to be
as old as history itself, but it has little basis in fact. Salt licks and
outcroppings do exist, but they are not at all prevalent. Men who
have been active the greater portion of their lives as hunters, fish-
ermen, and trappers report that they have never seen a salt lick. It is doubtful that many wild animals see or use them either. In some areas inhabited by wild animals there are absolutely
no salt licks to be found. The deer is one of the few animals
that has been seen at outcroppings of salt. However, many
deer live in regions where no salt exists, and upon capture they
refuse all salt that is offered them. Most other wild animals also
refuse salt when first offered, though a long period of captivity
with salt feeding may alter the animals7 desire for the substance. Among domesticated animals salt is being used and has long
been used, though not because of any expressed animal craving
or because farmers have found it necessary for the animals' health. t The animals do seem to crave salt after they have used it for a
time, but this is not true of the first feedings. The basic purpose
of using the salt is to increase the animals7 weight more rapidly,
which it does very satisfactorily. However, the abnormal increase DANGERS IN MODERN FOODS COMMON SALT
in weight seems to decrease their resistance to disease, and some
ailments among farm animals have been traced to their provisions
of salt. Upon removing these provisions, health tends to improve. When the earth's primitive races were discovered and visited
by Europeans, a few racial groups were found to use moderate to
heavy amounts of salt, but the majority used no salt whatsoever. Some had no knowledge of its existence; others, who lived near
the sea, had easy access to the product, but they did not use it
with their food or in any other way. Dr. Benjamin Rush made a study of American Indian life at the
close of the eighteenth century, and though he found the primi-
tive Indians to be very healthy, he reported that he could not
"find that the Indians used any salt in their diet till they were
instructed to do so by Europeans17 In 1864 Dr. Hoffman wrote
of his experiences with the Indians of the Western plains. Of
these people he reported that "anything they could taste salt in
they would invariably refuse:' and he remarked that even when
hungry they would abstain from foods that had been salted. Yet
he commented upon their magnificent state of health and pointed
out that a "more athletic, hearty, stout and robust class of men
cannot be found in the world than these very Indians:' He stated
that many "of them are over six feet high, others of medium size,
and they will endure more hardship, stand more fatigue, have
better lungs, suffer less from sickness, live longer, on a general
average, than the white race, who have all conveniences17
Many primitive racial groups of the present era, who yet adhere
to the native dietary customs, abstain from salt. Some of the
more primitive Indian groups of Alaska and northern Canada
not only do not use salt but they undertake the most heroic
measures to remove it from commercially prepared salted meat. They soak it overnight in water, then add fresh water and boil
it an hour, later remove the water, then add fresh water and cook
it again, simply to get a salt-free food. The arctic traveler, Vilh-
jalmur Stefansson, has pointed out that the primitive Eskimos
dislike salt and will never use it. On the South Sea Islands many
semi-isolated Polynesian and Melanesian groups get no salt except
I: 8 I that which remains on the fish they consume. In central Africa
, salt is completely unknown by some of the primitive groups. Even in China salt has been a rare item of diet. One has only to
go beyond the bounds of civilization to find that salt is neither
regarded as necessary nor desirable. It should be clear that salt is not essential for the support of
animal or human life. In nature its use is the exception rather
than the general rule. A more important question, however, is
still unanswered: Does the use of salt seriously interfere with
health and cause physical harm? Judging from the superior physi-
cal condition of both wild animals and primitive races living with-
out salt one might suspect that it does, but before drawing any
conclusions therefrom it is necessary to consider more definite
and practical information on the subject, as well as the theoretical
observations involved. Salt seems to have a deleterious effect on the process of diges-
I tion. This was explained as early as 1900 by Linossier, who showed
that the amount of salt consumed at any ordinary meal retarded
protein digestion as much as would a reduction of 40 to 50 per
cent in the amount of pepsin (the digestive ferment necessary to
digest proteins). A further explanation for the digestive impair-
ment may be that, in disguising the flavor of foods, salt hinders
the exact adaption of the digestive juices to the particular food
being eaten. ~;ke other purified minerals, salt has a tendency to raise the
osmotic pressure of the body and interfere with the passage of
solvent through the membrane lining of the blood vessels. As
the tissues are adapted to a specific osmotic pressure at all times,
any factor which tends to raise it above normal, is attracted to
the kidneys for elimination through a process which physiologists
define as "selective excretion17 Large amounts of salt are thus
attracted to the kidneys for elimination. As the kidney tissue
itself appears to be particularly sensitive to salt, in the course of
time it may undergo some damage. Even in the early stages the
normal excretion of water by the kidney cells may be partly in-
hibited. In the latter stages there is occasionally the development COMMON SALT DANGERS IN MODERN FOODS
1
of Bright's disease. Some physicians recognize that salt is a
I
I I significant factor in producing this ailment, and hence they
usually recommend a salt-free diet for all patients so afflicted. As the kidney function becomes impaired through the use of
salt, elimination of the salt is also impaired and some of the
material must then be stored in the body, until it can be elimi-
nated at a more favorable opportunity. As a part of the body's
regulatory apparatus, the body stores toxins and unuseable mate-
rials in its comparatively inactive tissues, such as bone, cartilage, 1
and connective tissue. These tissues, particularly the subcutane-
ous connective tissues, become the site for salt deposits when
~ the substance can no longer be eliminated. The salt is diluted
I
I with the water, the water serving to hold the salt in solution and
thus protect the tissues as much as possible from irritation. By
being held in the subcutaneous tissues the salt is kept from cir-
culation and hence from damaging the more vital parts of the
body. We thus find the development of edema - a water-logging
of the tissues -which serves a physiological need and acts as a
defense mechanism. The primary cause of edema in such cases
I is the excessive amount of salt in the


AN WHO HAS COME DOWN THE MOUNTAINS TO GATHER
SPECIAL PLANTS OF WHICH THE ASHES PREVENT GOITER
131. X-RAYS OF TEETH OF THREE CHILDREN IN ONE FAMILY SHOW PROGRESSIVE
INJURY IN YOUNGER CHILDREN
132. X-RAYS ILLUSTRATING PROGRESSIVE INJURY IN TWO YOUNGER CHILDREN IN
FAMILY
133. X-RAYS COMPARING DEFORMITIES OF FACIAL FORM IN CHILD BORN AFTER
LONG LABOR WITH BETTER FACIAL FORM IN SISTER BORN AFTER SHORT
LABOR
134. GIRL SHOWING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LACK OF PELVIC DEVELOPMENT AND
DEFORMITY OF FACE

MAPS
I.  CANADA
II. SOUTH SEA ISLANDS
III. AFRICA
IV. AUSTRALIA
V. NEW ZEALAND
VI. PERU

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE
THE gracious reception given to my several reports of field studies among primitive racial groups
and the many requests for copies of those brief reports and for further data, together with the need
for providing interpretations and applications of the data, have induced me to consolidate my
investigations. There have also been many requests from my patients and from members of the
medical and dental professions for concise statements as to what I have found that would be useful
as preventive procedures. In addition I have been conscious of an opportunity for helpfulness to
the members of the various primitive races that I have studied and who are so rapidly declining in
health and numbers at their point of contact with our modern civilization. Since they have so much
accumulated wisdom that is passing with them, it has seemed important that the elements in the
modern contacts that are so destructive to them should be discovered and removed. There has been a deep sense of obligation to the officials of many countries for the great
kindness and assistance that they have so cheerfully given by providing the opportunity for these
investigations. The list of these individuals is much too long to mention them all by name. One of
the joys of my work has been the privilege of knowing the magnificent characters that are at the
outposts earnestly striving to better the welfare of the natives whom they are ministering to, but
who are distraught with the recognition that under the modernization program the natives decline in
health and become afflicted by our modern types of degenerative diseases. It would be fortunate if
each of these field workers could be provided with a copy of this report which they have helped to
make possible.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 7/250    In order to make this information available to as wide a group as possible, I have avoided
technical language and will ask the indulgence of professional readers. There are some individuals whose assistance I must acknowledge specifically: Reverend Father
John Siegen and Doctor Alfred Gysi of Switzerland; Mrs. Lulu Herron and Doctor J. Romig of
Alaska; the Indian Department at Ottawa; the Department of Indian Affairs at Washington, D. C.;
the officials of the eight archipelagos studied in the Pacific; Colonel J. L. Saunders of New
Zealand; the Minister of Health, New Zealand; Dr. W. Stewart Ziele of Sydney, Australia; Sir
Herbert Gepp of Melbourne, Australia; Doctor William M. Hughes, Minister of Health, Canberra;
Dr. Cummiston, Director-General of Health, Australian Commonwealth, Canberra; Doctor Rapael
Cilento of Queensland, Australia; Mr. E. W. Saranealis, Thursday Island; the Department of
Health of Kenya, Africa; the Department of Health for Belgian Congo, Brussells; the Department
of National Parks, Belgian Congo; Minister of the Interior, Peru; Doctor Albert Giesecke and
Esther Giesecke of Peru; the Directors of Museums in Sydney and Canberra, Australia; Auckland,
New Zealand; Vancouver, and Toronto, Canada; Washington, New York and Chicago, the
United States; Juneau, Alaska; Rome, Italy; and Cairo, Egypt; the publishers of the Ohio State
Medical Journal, the Journal of the American Dental Association, the Dental Digest and the Dental
Items of Interest; my faithful secretary, Mrs. Ruth MacMaster; Professor W. G. Garnett who so
kindly provided the critical reading of the manuscript, and the publishers who furnished
constructive suggestions and cooperation. To these and a host of others I am deeply indebted and
profoundly grateful. WESTON A. PRICE
8926 Euclid Avenue,
Cleveland, Ohio, 1938. TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
THIS text provides a new approach to some problems of modern degeneration. Instead of the
customary procedure of analyzing the expressions of degeneration, a search has been made for
groups to be used as controls who are largely free from these affections. After spending several years approaching this problem by both clinical and laboratory research
methods, I interpreted the accumulating evidence as strongly indicating the absence of some
essential factors from our modern program, rather than the presence of injurious factors. This
immediately indicated the need for obtaining controls. To accomplish this it became necessary to
locate immune groups which were found readily as isolated remnants of primitive racial stocks in
different parts of the world. A critical examination of these groups revealed a high immunity to
many of our serious affections so long as they were sufficiently isolated from our modern
civilization and living in accordance with the nutritional programs which were directed by the
accumulated wisdom of the group. In every instance where individuals of the same racial stocks
who had lost this isolation and who had adopted the foods and food habits of our modern
civilization were examined, there was an early loss of the high immunity characteristics of the
isolated group. These studies have included a chemical analysis of foods of the isolated groups and
also of the displacing foods of our modern civilization. These investigations have been made among the following primitive racial stocks including both
isolated and modernized groups: the Swiss of Switzerland, the Gaelics in the Outer and Inner7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 8/250Hebrides, the Eskimos of Alaska, the Indians in the far North, West and Central Canada, Western
United States and Florida, the Melanesians and Polynesians on eight archipelagos of the Southern
Pacific, tribes in eastern and central Africa, the Aborigines of Australia, Malay tribes on islands
north of Australia, the Maori of New Zealand and the ancient civilizations and their descendants in
Peru both along the coast and in the Sierras, also in the Amazon Basin. Where available the
modernized whites in these communities also were studied. There have been many important
unexpected developments in these investigations. While a primary quest was to find the cause of
tooth decay which was established quite readily as being controlled directly by nutrition, it rapidly
became apparent that a chain of disturbances developed in these various primitive racial stocks
starting even in the first generation after the adoption of the modernized diet and rapidly increased
in severity with expressions quite constantly like the characteristic degenerative processes of our
modern civilization of America and Europe. While tooth decay has proved to be almost entirely a
matter of the nutrition of the individual at the time and prior to the activity of that disease, a group
of affections have expressed themselves in physical form. These have included facial and dental
arch changes which, heretofore, have been accounted for as results of admixtures of different racial
stocks. My investigations have revealed that these same divergencies from normal are reproduced
in all these various racial stocks while the blood is still pure. Indeed, these even develop in those
children of the family that are born after the parents adopted the modern nutrition. Applying these methods of study to our American families, we find readily that a considerable
percentage of our families show this same deterioration in the younger members. The percentage
of individuals so affected in our American communities in which I have made studies varies through
a wide range, usually between 25 per cent to 75 per cent. A certain percentage of this affected
group has not only these evidences of physical injury, but also personality disturbances, the most
common of which is a lower than normal mental efficiency and acuteness, chiefly observed as so-
called mental backwardness which includes the group of children in the schools who are unable to
keep up with their classmates. Their I.Q.'s are generally lower than normal and they readily
develop inferiority complexes growing out of their handicap. From this group or parallel with it a
certain percentage develop personality disturbances which have their expression largely in unsocial
traits. They include the delinquents who at this time are causing so much trouble and concern
because of evidence of increase in their numbers. This latter group has been accounted for largely
on the basis of some conditioning experience that developed after the child had reached an
impressionable age. My investigations are revealing a physical structural change and therefore, an
organic factor which precedes and underlies these conditioning influences of the environment. The
fact that a government survey has shown that 66 per cent of the delinquents who have been treated
in the best institutions and released as cured, later have developed their unsocial or criminal
tendencies, strongly emphasizes the urgent necessity that if preventive methods are to be applied
these must precede and forestall the primary injuries themselves. While it has been known that certain injuries were directly related to an inadequate nutrition of
the mother during the formative period of the child, my investigations are revealing evidence that
the problem


result, he carne to the writer's laboratory and discussed the ques
tion of whether or not the electro-metric timing of ovulation
could be used in connection with artificial insemina tion. More
over, because the reports indicated that electro-metric records
suggested relationship between the developing ovaries and its
follicle, he further questioned whether or not they might not be
used to detect cancer. The result was a rewarding and very fruit
ful association over a number of years. Starting with the assumption that the electro-metric peaks
occurring during the menstrual cycle of normal women indicated
ovulation, Dr. Langman decided to use the technique as a means
of determining when best to employ artificial insemination. As
a result, he was equipped with the necessary technical apparatus,
including the electrode, the high input impedance amplifier and
the G. E. photoelectric recorder. Since Dr. Langman had had indifferent success in a series of
ten cases, using other timing procedures, artificial insemination
53 THE FE MALE FIELD
was attempted in those instances when the electro-metric shift
indicated that ovulation had recently occurred. To his and our
delight, the average of successes was considera bly higher using
the electro-metric technique than that employed by other
methods of timing ovulation. It seemed clear, however, that Dr. Langman's main interest
was not only in the timing of ovulation, but also in the problem
of malignancy in the generative tract in women. Fortunately, through a grant, and with the cooperation of the
Bellevue Hospital Gynaecological Service, more than a hundred
patients were examined electro-metrically. The records were
kept carefully and a marked voltage gradient between cervix of
the uterus and a reference electrode on the ventral abdominal
wall often appeared on the recording galvanometer. After a sufficient number of tests had been run to make sure
we were dealing with a valid finding, Dr. Langman and his
assistant examined something in the neighbourhood of one
thousand patients. These patients were on the wards of the
hospital and were subject to a variety of syndromes. They in
cluded fibromas, as well as the usual run of pathological events
in the generative tract of these women. In those that showed a
marked change in the voltage gradient between the cervix and
the ventral abdominal wall, careful watch was kept through sub
sequent laparotomy. There were a hundred and two cases where there was a sig
nificant shift in the voltage gradient, suggesting malignancy. Surgical con�rmation was found in ninety-�ve of the hundred
and two cases. The actual position of the malignancy varied all the way from
the fundus, to the tubes and to the ovarian tissue itself. It is
interesting to note that the electro-metric evidence of sharp volt
age change occurred in malignancies found not only in the im
mediate vicinity of the cervix but also through all the rest of
the generative tract, including the ovary itself. Thus we had an
astonishingly high percentage of successful identification of
r:J.alignancy in the generative tract, confirmed by biopsy. The fact tha t malignancy in the ovarian tissue was recognized
electro -metrically, and confirmed by biopsy-even though the
54 THE FEMALE FIELD
malignant tissue was several centimet res distant from the active
electrode in contact with the cervix-is in line with the dista nt
readings of the EKe and EEe. The order of magnitude of these
changes in voltage gradient was such that the possibility of
changing pH of the generative tract could be ruled out. Surprisingly enough, these findings were never picked up in
the literature and have not been extended further or repeated
under other conditions. This probably is because it is difficult for
people to recognize that these changes represent changes in the
�eld of the system; and, therefore-as in the case of the EKe and
the EEe-the active electrode need not be in direct contact with
the tissue which is showing the greatest changes in voltage
gradient. It took over thirty years before the EKe was perfected to the
point where it could become a useful adjunct in the clinician's
office. By that time the empirical results were so clear-cut that
the value of the electro-cardiogram could not be questioned. The
explanation of EKe, however, has never been really unravelled
satisfactorily. The fact that the electrodes do not have to be in
contact with the heart, that the change is exceedingly rapid and
cannot be explained by electro-phoresis or any of the other simple
answers to the transmission of changes of voltage gradient, was
finally ignored because of the value of the empirical results. Similarly, in the case of the electrical ovulation changes and
the malignancy changes in the generative tract of women, it is
not necessary for the electrode to be in direct contact with the
tissue showing the great change. But the voltage-change is trans
mitted over a distance promptly and in such a form that at
present the only successful explanation is that the electro
metric characters of tissue, in general, and of the generative
tract, in particular, are transmitted by the primary electro
dynamic field. 6
The results reported above suggested that the relationship be
tween ovulation and menstruation was not on quite such a firm
55 THE FE MALE FIELD
foundation as had been generally assumed. There can be no ques
tion that the chemistry of the endocrines is an important factor
in these activities of the generative tract. Primarily, however,
the chemistry provides the energy necessary for these activities,
and it has been almost entirely overlooked that the chemistry
involved in any physiological process must, necessarily, have
direction. The source of this direction can be assumed safely to be the
result of the activity of the nervous system and there is plenty
of evidence in the literature to suggest that in the hypothalamic
region of the brain there are nuclear masses whic h are concerned
primarily with the onset of ovulation, its completion and, also,
that another set of neural mechanisms has equal control over the
menstrual cycle. While experiments on ovulation in humans were going on,
parallel studies were carried out on experimental animals. With
the co-operation of the distinguished gynaecologist, Dr. Luther
Musselman, also Dr. Dorothy Barton, Dr. John Boling, and Dr.
Vincent Gott, and numerous patient and cooperative subjects,
studies were carried out on rats, in particular, on rabbits, cats,
and so on. Various stages in the oestrous cycle in animals were
found to have electro-metric correlates which are valuable indi
cators of the kind of physiological processes which are going on
during menstruation, and during the whole cycle of oestrous
phenomena. In addition to the original findings on the rabbit,
Dr. Gott, in particular, extended them to the ovulation phenom
ena in monkeys. As a result of the very generous cooperation of Dr. Gertrude
Van Wagenen. it was possible for Dr. Gott to study the ovulation
problem in a group of Rhesus females. Five animals, for a total of
twelve menstrual cycles, were studied. It was found that in ten
out of twelve cycles there was a significant and consistent peak
of negative voltage that was higher than any other peak in the
cycle and. because of its distinctive pattern, may be distinguished
from any other peaks in the cycle. This distinctive peak occurred
in every cycle between the eleventh and fourteenth day, and this
is the period in which most of the ovulations are known to occur. It is believed that this distinctive and reproducible peak is the
56 THE FEMALE FIELD
electrical concomitant of ovulation. Possibly the two cycles without a significant peak, between
the eleventh and fourteenth days, are anovulatory cycles which
are fairly common in the monkey. Bi-weekly or weekly records
of the abdominal vaginal potential difference were made in two
monkeys from the date of conception until delivery six months
later. In other animals, records were taken from the second
month of pregnancy to the date of delivery. The records tend to level out somewhat as pregnancy pro
ceeds, so that by the third month the graph is almost a horizontal
line. The cervix remains negative after the second week of preg
nancy until the beginning of the third month, except for rare
instances when it becomes positive. By the third month, the
voltage has dropped to near the zero line where it hovers until
delivery. Despite these characteristics which differentiate pregnancy
from the menstrual cycle, there are no significan t and consistent
changes during the first month of pregnancy that might permit
the detection of pregnancy a few days after conception. These results, together with the findings of Dr. John Boling
in the oestrous cycle of the rat, make it quite clear that electro
metrics of the field characteristics of the living organism can
provide useful information about the whole physiology of the
generative tract. Since all of these experiments stemmed from the basic assump
tion that the living organism possesses an electro-dynam ic field
as a whole, with constituent and subsidiary parts or local fields,
which are specific components of the living system, the well
controlled experimental findings confirmed the general validity
of the primary assumption. Any individual component of the whole system has, of course,
its own characteristic field which is a part of the field of the


 uncaring, cold-
killer consciousness of that which denies God. So, the lower astral is full of
entities who have made that kind of a decision. Wanting to adopt them as
your spiritual mentor is not really the best advice. Illnesses and Karma
When will a certain illness remit? In spiritual evolution, we said that karma
plays a very heavy component. Having strangled a lot of people to death
might delay your recovery from COPD in this lifetime—who knows? You
know what I’m saying? Don’ t forget, the evolution of consciousness
throughout time, it was at 190 for centuries, and before it was 190, it was
much lower than 190. It was way back at 50 or 60 or 70. It was normal in
those times to enslave or kill those you conquered. They weren’ t violating
any social standards or doing anything immoral. So, when you look back at
previous lifetimes, you’re going to discover what life was like in those
times. You can’ t contextualize it in terms of the year 2002. To execute one’ s
captives was normal, expected; in fact, you got executed for not executing
them! You understand? So, you have to have a certain context and
understanding when you begin to do any kind of karmic research and
realize what you’re talking about is the entity that lived in times when
living by your wits was the top of society. Royalty lived by their wits and
nipped each other in the purse as often as possible, and in the bed in
between. So you can hardly be surprised to find that the kinds of actions
that may have had unfortunate karmic consequences in this lifetime, if you
put ’em in the context of that time, weren’ t really all that bad, so as to
prevent yourself from attacking yourself spiritually. It can be that in this
particular lifetime, one won’ t allow a certain thing to heal until one feels
one has achieved the karmic purpose of that and sort of finished it, youmight say. So you might hang on to an illness—not consciously, but karmic
propensity may see to it that it persists for a while. “The pain in the nervous system from 800 and up is due to the fact that
the human nervous system hasn’ t evolved to that level yet: resist” (T rue). “But it does as a consequence of the spiritual work: resist” (T rue). Well,
questions arise constantly. People are growing and evolving and learning,
and we do the same thing, and so we are always asking questions. Somebody asked, “Why do you think the evolution of consciousness
becomes painful beyond a certain level?” It’ s great up to about 700; then
about 800 it gets painful. And I’ve always intuited that the nervous system
is not equipped for it and not evolved that far. It could be in a few thousand
years, but at this point, the nervous system is not that evolved. However, as
you progress in consciousness, the nervous system does begin to adapt to it. It actually strengthens; the nerves actually get thicker and capable of
handling more spiritual ener gy. Understanding Christ Consciousness
Has Jesus Christ ever physically reincarnated on the earth plane? “Jesus
Christ has reincarnated on the earth plane: resist” (Not true). No, my own
understanding of the second coming of Christ is that it occurred in 1986. The New Age people got really wild. There was a book, in fact, that Jesus
Christ was secretly living in Brooklyn somewhere! My understanding is that the human being, because he identifies himself
as a physicality, expects that the second coming of Christ is going to be a
physicality. My understanding of Christ Consciousness is that it’ s a level of
consciousness. And what reappears and dominates the planet is Christ
Consciousness and therefore, a physicality is really irrelevant and
immaterial. In 1986, the consciousness level of mankind—probably has to
do with the karma of human evolution—jumped from 180 to 207. When it
jumped from that which is negative to that which is positive, to me, that’ s
the real re-emer gence of the Christ Consciousness. When that which
represents Love, truth, and integrity prevails over that which is destructive
and nonintegrous, to me, that’ s the return or the emer gence of Christ
Consciousness in the form of Consciousness. I don’ t know that somebody at
the level of Christ would be interested in physicality. He might do it as ateaching tool. I myself wouldn’ t choose it, necessarily. I mean, you’d have
to appear on TV. You know what I’m sayin’, and all. When Certain Things in Your Life Keep Recurring
Is delving into past lives helpful? Yes. We’ve tried to demonstrate it up
here. You see, sometimes, mysteriously, strange things happen recurrently
in your life. There’ s no rational explanation. There was one series of rather
very strange kinds of events. They kept recurring... all were in dif ferent
countries and dif ferent circumstances, and the same kind of thing would
recur. I mean, I just knew there was something—I didn’ t believe in karma
in those days, but I knew it was something on some other level. And I
would tell my analyst about it, and he’d say, “It’s just your paranoia. You’re
connecting this all together as a logical sequence, because that’ s a quality of
the human mind.” I said, “That’ s true.” But statistically, that’ s very, very
unlikely, you know, that these strange things would recur. Of course, later
on when I did check it out karmically, then it just verified what I sort of
intuited as a fact. Then the question is, “Now what do you do about it?”
Well, you pray very intensely, and whatever the defect was in a past life that
accounts for this, you refute it—declare one’ s choice of the opposite,
dedicate one’ s life to the opposite. So, if you’ve been miserable toward little
dogs... Let’ s say this lifetime, you’re always getting bitten by dogs; you
know what I’m saying. You begin to wonder, “Is there something about me? Do dogs hate me, or what the hell is it?” You can be in the middle of
nowhere and a dog comes out of somebody’ s apartment and bites you in the
leg. You begin to wonder if you were once cruel to dogs and tortured them
to death, or something. It does make it more comprehensible. When we were talking about causality and overcoming the illusion of
causality, then I will just explain to you how I saw the universe when that
state came on. The most shocking thing initially was not only the
translucence and the Oneness of all things and the intensity of the Divinity
that shone forth through all of Creation, but the awareness that everything
was happening spontaneously as a result of its expression of its essence. Each thing is the perfect expression of its own essence as it manifests at this
moment of Creation. Everything is happening spontaneously of its own. And if you see that, you get transported to a dif ferent realm. In this realm
the illusion is that everything is creating something else from elsewhere.Everything is therefore dependent on something outside of itself. Everything is dependent on some external explanation for its existence,
which misses the essence of Reality: that each thing is being what it is
spontaneously because that’ s the way it expresses its essence at this moment
in the context of these conditions. You understand? Is that comprehensible? Each thing is being merely what it is. I looked at the cat, and there sits this
cat. And I was just struck with the profound perfection of its exquisite cat-
ness. It’ s sitting there, 101 percent radiating cat-ness and not anything else. And that cat-ness is not coming from elsewhere. It is not dependent on
anything outside of itself. But it’ s the unfoldment of its potentiality to be a
perfect kitty, and as it sits there and purrs, it’ s perfection at that moment. It
is being absolutely, 100 percent the infinite potentiality of kitty-ness at that
moment, right? It’ s not dependent on anything outside of itself to be what it
is. It’ s not dependent on anything outside of itself to be what it is. So, each
one of us is, in the same way, free then to express the potentiality of that
which we are as we are created in the context of our current karma and the
conditions of the world, you know? The Importance of Being over Level 200
The world went from 190 to the prevailing 207. That’ s extremely important,
because in a balance, if it’ s one feather to this way [A] or one feather to this
way [B], when you project out a laser beam an infinite number of millions
of miles, you are quite a way from here [A] over to here [B]. You
understand what I am saying? The slightest variation, when projected
throughout the consciousness of all of mankind over eons of time, so the
destiny of mankind is profoundly dif ferent than what it was. At 190, nuclear
wipeout was almost inevitable. Potentiality. Because it’